Twenty three essays which are grouped into five sections. In the first, Ellenson reflects among other things upon the expression of Jewish values and Jewish identity in contemporary America. In the second section, he indicates how Jewish religious leaders in nineteenth century Europe labored to demonstrate that the Jewish religion and Jewish culture were worthy of respect by the larger gentile world. In a third section, Ellenson shows how the leaders of Liberal and Orthodox branches of Judaism in Central Europe constructed novel parameters for their communities through prayer books, legal writings, sermons and journal articles. The fourth section takes a look at twentieth century Jewish legal decisions on new issues such as the status of women, fertility treatments and even the obligations of the Israeli government towards its minority populations. The last section analyzes some contemporary works of legal and liturgical creativity: the new Israeli Masorti prayer book, David Hartman's works on covenantal theology and Marcia Falk's Book of Blessings.