A unique collection of essays that deal with the intriguing and complex problems connected to the question of Jewish identity in the contemporary world. Based on a conference held in Budapest, Hungary in July 2001, it analyzes and compares how Jews conceive of their Jewishness. Do they see it in mostly religious, cultural or ethnic terms? What are the policy implications of these views and how have they been evolving? What do they portend for the future of world Jewry?

The authors present new data from west European and post-Communist countries (Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Ukraine) and re-interpret data from other European countries as well as from Israel and the United States, making this a truly comprehensive, comparative and contemporary work.