Three groundbreaking works in Jewish studies illuminate previously unexplored dimensions of Sephardic culture, medieval Central European Jewish life, and modern religious institutional development. "New Horizons in Sephardic Studies," edited by Stillman and Zucker, breaks traditional disciplinary boundaries through twenty-two papers from a 1987 conference, spanning literature, linguistics, sociology, anthropology, history, and ethnography. Particularly significant are Genot-Bismuth's analysis of how Ottoman conflicts, Catholic doctrine, and trade relationships shaped Venetian Jewish communities, and Trigano's innovative "sociology of cognition" perspective on the Maimonidean controversy. The discovery of "A Hebrew Chronicle from Prague, c. 1615," edited by David and translated by Weinberger and Ordan, provides rare documentary evidence of Jewish life in late sixteenth and early seventeenth-century Bohemia, chronicling expulsions, false accusations, and community responses between 1389 and 1611. Contemporary religious institutional challenges find fresh perspective in Roozen and Hadaway's "Church and Denominational Growth," which analyzes congregational growth factors with direct applications for synagogue leadership navigating membership recruitment, institutional culture, and the spiritual priorities of baby boomers who increasingly value personal meaning over traditional institutional allegiance.