This book tries to present the aim, spirit and content of the Book of Genesis. Most literature on the Book of Genesis consists of either a detailed commentary on the Book or a study of its different sources and components. This work intends, instead, to elucidate the main ideas implicit in the narrative and to describe the salient features of its chief personalities.

Israel and the United States constitute the two great centers of contemporary Jewish education. They both include several educational sub-systems which reflect alternative conceptions of what Jewish education should be. Therefore, the comparison of Jewish education in Israel and in the United States highlights major problems and variations of Jewish education today. This book is an exercise in that direction. It presents historical background to the two systems; a detailed analysis of curricula and subject areas, and a discussion of similarities and differences. The juxtaposition of Israeli and American Jewish education broadens our understanding of the two major communities of contemporary Jewry and, perhaps, of modern Jewish experience itself. The volume, then, is of concern for the student both of contemporary Jewry and of comparative education.