Dr. Steven Bayme serves as Director of the William Petschek Contemporary Jewish Life Department, AJC. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University in Jewish History and a B.A. in history from Yeshiva University. He is the author of Understanding Jewish History: Texts and Commentary, the co-editor (with Manfred Gerstenfeld) of American Jewry’s Comfort Level: Present and Future, and the co-editor (with Steven Katz) of Continuity and Change: A Festschrift in Honor of Irving Greenberg.