Demonstrating that many common assumptions about the traditional Jewish family are mistaken, this collection of essays - many previously unpublished - by thirteen leading scholars explores the subject both in its historical reality and as it has been perceived by Jews over the centuries. Individual essays examine Jewish marriage in rabbinic, medieval, and modern times; marriage as a literary and artistic metaphor; childhood and adolescence in Judaism and the role of the mother as ethical instructor; and the Jewish family in the community, where different Jewish cultures have preserved central elements of the tradition while developing unique expressions of family life.