Professor S.N. Eisenstadt has written numerous essays on Jewish Identity over the years. This volume brings together some of these. The major argument of the essays follows the Weberian view of Jewish historical experience as that of a distinct civilization, as a distinct Great Religion, the first monotheistic civilization - without, however, accepting many of Weber's concrete analyses.

S.N. Eisenstadt, Ph.D. (1947), Jerusalem, is Professor Emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is member of many academies, recipient of honorary doctoral degrees of the Universities of Tel Aviv, Helsinki, Harvard, Duke and Hebrew Union College. Recipient of many prizes and awards, he is author of more than 50 books.