This introductory chapter discusses the growing social significance of Jewish day-school education within the context of the Jewish community. It looks more broadly at the developments within a relationship between school and community. Such questions provided the context and motivation for an international conference held in June 2006 at the Melton Centre for Jewish Education at the Hebrew University, organized with the support of the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Joint Distribution Committee, and the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education. This event was convened with the specific intention of encouraging researchers to think in new ways about the sociological functions of Jewish day schools. The chapter discusses the particulars of this conference as well as the research into the inner life of Jewish schools.
