The Jewish Mind (The Scribner library)
First published in 1977, The Jewish Mind is a sweeping intellectual history of the Jews. Raphael Patai takes readers on an insightful journey through three millennia; examines six great historical encounters between the Jews and other cultures; and analyzes the manner in which each of them left its mark on the Jewish mind. This historic venture is followed by another journey, perhaps even more fascinating: a journey into the depths of the contemporary Jewish mind, involving the exploration of Jewish intelligence giftedness, and genius; of the phenomenology of special Jewish talents; of Jewish personality and character; and of the physical and mental health of the Jews. Patai concludes with a note of optimism by emphasizing that basic Jewish values, which for two thousand years have been constants in the Jewish mind, contain the promise of the Jewish future.