An accessible introduction to the many ways Jews understand Jewishness and identify themselves and their communities--throughout history and today.

Explores the religious and historical understanding of what it has meant to be Jewish from ancient times to the present controversy over "Who is a Jew?" It provides an understanding of how the Jewish people and faith developed, and of what the major religious differences are among Jewish movements today.

Sylvia Barack Fishman, PhD, a well-known author of many articles and books including Double or Nothing? Jewish Families and Mixed Marriage and Jewish Life and American Culture, is professor of contemporary Jewish life at Brandeis University, and codirector of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute. She speaks frequently at temples and Jewish communal events as well as at academic conferences.