These two volumes, a product of a multi-year project to examine the challenges facing current Jewish religious leaders—rabbis, cantors, educators, and lay congregation leaders— and read at two conferences, is an attempt to place contemporary circumstances within a larger historical framework

To date little attempt has been made to Who belonged to the group know as "Rabbis" during early Talmudic period? How did the rabbis define their uniqueness? How did they organize and support themselves? What was the nature of the relationships between the members of this group? Between them and the Jewish community at large? Did the rabbis wish to become an integral part of Jewish society, or did they prefer to remain a distinct class exerting influence, to a greater or lesser degree, on society? This is one of the few monographs that tackles this subject head on.