Though the seemingly impossible dream of a sovereign Jewish state became a reality over sixty years ago, the question of Jewish identity remains as much an enigma as ever. That enigma is at the heart of Dr. Ruth Shamir's book as it explores the history -- at times tragic, at times triumphant -- of the evolution of Jewish identity in the modern era. Dr. Shamir skillfully guides the reader through a myriad of issues that are today at the center of a passionate debate both in Israel itself as well as in the Diaspora, where half of the world's Jews still live.