Conflict and change are fundamental elements of social reality and of the Jewish historical experience. This collection presents the work of a distinguished group of scholars exploring the themes of social, political, religious, intellectual, and institutional movements and change in Jewish history. These scholars demonstrate that social change throughout Jewish life has assumed many different manifestations, and can occur in revolutionary and dramatic ways as well as in more common gradual and evolutionary processes. In the first volume, the essays revolve around two themes: Mobilizations and Contentious Politics, and Social Trends, Communal and Institutional Change. The second volume is devoted to Developments in Philosophy, Ideology, and Religious Practice. Taken together, these two volumes present scholarship rich with both historical and contemporary relevance, of interest to academics and students in Jewish studies and the social sciences, communal leaders and policy makers, and anyone intrigued by the Jewish experience.

Eric Levine (DSW, Yeshiva University, 1994) is Director of Social Work Alumni Engagement and a faculty member at the Touro College Graduate School of Social Work, USA. He has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, has authored some 60 publications, and is co-editor of the Social Work Forum. His current research focuses on social policy, contentious politics, and social change. Simcha Fishbane (PhD, Social Anthropology of Religion, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada 1988) is Professor of Jewish Studies in the Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Touro College, USA. He has published extensively on Jewish subjects and texts. His publications include The Method and Meaning of the Mishnah Berurah (1991) and The Shtiebelization of Modern Jewry (2011).