Continuity and Change

This collection of essays was inspired by the desire to create a suitable tribute to Dr. Irving (Yitz) Greenberg. Dr. Greenberg has been one of the truly major figures in the American Jewish community for the past forty years. A community activist and a theologian of distinction, he has influenced not only the practical direction of Jewish life, especially through his work with the leadership of Jewish Federations throughout the country, but also the shape of contemporary Jewish thought through his writings on the Holocaust, the State of Israel, and traditional Jewish themes.

The outstanding list of authors who have contributed to this volume, writing on central issues in traditional and modern Jewish thought and history, are a testimony to Dr. Greenberg's repercussive presence and theological contribution. Those interested in the contemporary American Jewish community and the nature and shape of modern Jewish thought at the beginning of the new millennium will find this a valuable, thought-provoking addition to their libraries.

Steven T. Katz received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University in 1972. He is the director of the Elie Wiese! Center for Judaic Studies at Boston University, Boston, Mass., where he holds the Alvin J. and Shirley Slater Chair in Jewish and Holocaust Studies. His publications include Post-Holocaust Dialogues, which won the National Jewish Book Award in 1984; Historicism, the Holocaust and Zionism (1992); and the multi-volume study The Holocaust in Historical Context, of which volume one was selected as "the outstanding book in philosophy and theology" of 1994 by the American Association of University Publishers. His work on the Holocaust also includes editing two volumes about the impact of the Holocaust on Jewish thought, the most recent of which is Wrestling with God: Jewish Theological Responses During and After the Holocaust.

Steven Bayme serves as national director of the William Petschek Contemporary Jewish Life Department of the American Jewish Committee and of its Koppelman Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations. He earned a Ph.D. in Jewish history from Columbia University, and has served as visiting associate professor of history at the Jewish Theological Seminary and adjunct professor at Yeshiva University. He has also been a faculty member of the Wexner Foundation and the Nahum Goldmann Fellowship. His publications include Understanding Jewish History: Texts and Commentary, a survey of the Jewish historical experience, and Jewish Arguments and Counter-Arguments, a volume of essays on contemporary Jewish life. He frequently contributes to both scholarly publications and popular organs of opinion.