This book contains an in-depth assessment of God, human destiny, good and evil, chosenness, Torah, sacred obligations, prayer and messianism. The author, who is president of the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies, believes that Judaism is "a complex system of evolving beliefs." He spells out Judaism's sacred myths and salutes the emphasis upon ethics, justice, and community. Ariel concludes: "All of human life can be understood as the spiritual process of experiencing God within the world." The book ends with a letter to his children which he titles "Why Be Jewish?"