The generation of the late twentieth century experienced a rupture in Jewish time. As a result of our confrontation with Modernity, the integration of Jews into the American mainstream, the shattering tragedy of the Holocaust, and the miraculous rebirth of a Jewish State in the Land of Israel, we can no longer look easily to the past for lessons of faith and models of Jewish meaning. No longer do we confidently project ourselves into the future. So much of what was taken for granted in earlier times is now open to question. In this thought-provoking book, five celebrated leaders in Judaism, representing a broad spectrum of contemporary Jewish experience, reinterpret Jewish life, reenvision its institutions, and re-imagine its future in the shadow of the events of the twentieth century. Reflecting on the unique events of this century, these eminent scholars assert a shared recognition of human responsibility as the quintessence of God"s presence in the world. They imagine...