The problems raised by the development of affirmative action and by the Jewish community's response to the complex social and legal issue are analyzed. The analysis focuses upon: initiation of affirmative action by presidential decree and its interpretation and implementation by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in the areas of college admission and hiring; the response of various segments of the Jewish community toward affirmative action's questionable turn toward preferential treatment and quotas, including the form of the response, its effectiveness, and what it reveals about being Jewish in America today; and the future of affirmative action and the role group interests should play in society. The analysis also attempts to draw attention to current circumstances that seem to provide an unusual opportunity for constructive action in the near future. Although the major Jewish organizations were firm backers of affirmative action in its neutral non-discrimination phase, they filed complaints when affirmative action provided preferential treatment and quotas. The failure of the bureaucracy to respond in a serious manner to the problem of reverse discrimination led to the "DeFunis" case in the Supreme Court. The Jewish organizations go beyond merely rejecting the legal institution of group rights; they are also critical of the ethnocentricity implicit in the very suggestion of group rights. The larger problem of balancing group interests and individual rights is considered. (SW)