This book, the first full-scale biography of Israel Friedlander, sheds new light on the life and times of this scholar-turned activist. It follows him through the six major turning points of his brief life: his choice of Semetics as the focus of his scholaraly study, his joining the newly reorganized Jewish Theological Seminary, and his triumphs and disappointments in the academic and public arenas. It attemps to unravel the mysteries surrounding his appointment during World War I to an abortive Red Cross Commission to Palestine, and the subsequent mission of mercy which ended with his murder.