The American Jewish Committee is proud to present this series of personal messages — printed in the New York Times and elsewhere over a five-year period — on the meaning of being Jewish today.

The authors of these statements have included a U.S. Senator, a Supreme Court Justice, college students, a Nobel Prize winning scientist and Nobel laureate, a professional football player, a NASA astronaut, an Ivy League president, writers, a U.S. Ambassador, a noted psychologist, an actor, a U.S. military cadet, and others.

The Jewish community offers an abundant diversity of intellectual, spiritual and cultural opportunities that can enrich and deepen one’s life. Jewish living, we believe, provides rootedness in the present and a link to our history and destiny.