The World of the Yeshiva An Intimate Portrait of Orthodox Jewry

In the advance yeshiva, adult males spend long periods of time-sometimes their entire lives-studying and interpreting traditional writings on Jewish law and theology, all but totally cut off from the mainstream of American life, and indeed, the lives of most American Jews. Why is this East European incarnation of an ancient Jewish tradition flourishing in present-day America? What does its successful transplantaion tell us about Orthodox Jewish life?