The Classics of Judaism

The Classics of Judaism PDF Author: Jacob Neusner
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664254551
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Book Description
Neusner introduces the reader to selections from all the documents of the Torah and Scripture that define the canon of Judaism in its formative stage

The Classics of Judaism

The Classics of Judaism PDF Author: Jacob Neusner
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664254551
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Book Description
Neusner introduces the reader to selections from all the documents of the Torah and Scripture that define the canon of Judaism in its formative stage

The Essence of Judaism

The Essence of Judaism PDF Author: Leo Baeck
Publisher: Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 169

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Book Description
First published in German in 1905 as Das Wesen des Judentums, Leo Baeck’s The Essence of Judaism is perhaps the most widely read example of German Jewish scholarship in the 20th century. Written as a response to Adolf von Harnack’s lecturesDas Wesen des Christentums (The Essence of Christianity), the book seeks to both define the fundamental principles of Judaism, and contrast them with other religions. But by outlining Judaism’s essence, Baeck also shows how the different denominations within Judaism are bound together by fundamental commonalities. Translated into English in 1936, it quickly became a classic in the English-speaking world, and has since been gifted at Bar Mitzvahs and featured on synagogue reading lists. In a world of religious plurality, the book remains highly relevant today. “The analysis in this masterly volume is set on a high level of historical knowledge, integrity of thinking and religious insight... A life dedicated to religious study and profound spiritual pondering has gone into The Essence of Judaism... [Its] study... is, therefore, valuable not only for attaining a clearer understanding of Judaism but also for achieving a clearer understanding of the background of the great world religions of Christianity and Islam... In the definition of what he regards as the essence of Judaism, [Baeck] often points out wherein it differs from Christianity, Buddhism and other systems of religious teaching.” — David de Sola Pool, The New York Times “A mature product of German Jewish genius... This beautifully written book may best be described as the swan song of German Jewish scholarship.” — Jacob Agus, Jewish Social Studies “In Leo Baeck the pith of the man and the writer is dignity, Jewish dignity. As a host in his home, as a guest in other homes, as a preacher in his synagogue, and as the leader of German Jewry within Himmler’s concentration camps, he is and has remained the shining incarnation of those rarest gifts: dignity coupled not with sternness but with radiant warmth.” — David Baumgardt, Commentary Magazine “This work will give back to many faith in their Judaism and will awaken a desire to immerse further in its study... It is not one of the least merits of this book that it awakens the desire for further instruction and immersion in Jewish scholarship and Jewish life... This work is based on a comprehensive mastery of the biblical and postbiblical literature, draws on other religions, and from belief in the value and mission of Judaism, creates a vivid warmth.” — Heinemann, Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums “This is an unusually important book... Baeck considered himself a ‘liberal’ Jew, but the synagogues in which he preached in Berlin were, by American standards, ‘conservative’... yet after the War he taught at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, where ‘reform’ rabbis are trained. Baeck and the book under review bring home to us the utter inadequacy of such labels. It was of his essence to stand above factions.” — Kauffmann, Religious Education “[The book] presents us [...] with what may briefly, and not altogether inaptly, be described as Prolegomena to Judaism. Within a very moderate compass we have an able characterization of Judaism, an interesting and warm exposition of its leading ideas and peculiarities... Dr. Baeck writes with enthusiasm... The book as a whole is stimulating.” — Wolf, The Jewish Quarterly Review

The People and the Books: 18 Classics of Jewish Literature

The People and the Books: 18 Classics of Jewish Literature PDF Author: Adam Kirsch
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 039360831X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
An accessible introduction to the classics of Jewish literature, from the Bible to modern times, by "one of America’s finest literary critics" (Wall Street Journal). Jews have long embraced their identity as “the people of the book.” But outside of the Bible, much of the Jewish literary tradition remains little known to nonspecialist readers. The People and the Books shows how central questions and themes of our history and culture are reflected in the Jewish literary canon: the nature of God, the right way to understand the Bible, the relationship of the Jews to their Promised Land, and the challenges of living as a minority in Diaspora. Adam Kirsch explores eighteen classic texts, including the biblical books of Deuteronomy and Esther, the philosophy of Maimonides, the autobiography of the medieval businesswoman Glückel of Hameln, and the Zionist manifestoes of Theodor Herzl. From the Jews of Roman Egypt to the mystical devotees of Hasidism in Eastern Europe, The People and the Books brings the treasures of Jewish literature to life and offers new ways to think about their enduring power and influence.

Basic Judaism

Basic Judaism PDF Author: Milton Steinberg
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780156106986
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
The classic, essential guide to the beliefs, ideals and practices that form the historic Jewish faith.

Recommendation Whether to Confiscate, Destroy, and Burn All Jewish Books

Recommendation Whether to Confiscate, Destroy, and Burn All Jewish Books PDF Author: Johann Reuchlin
Publisher: Paulist Press
ISBN: 9780809139729
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 106

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Book Description
While he was condemned himself for his stand, the book opened the eyes of scholars and political leaders to the need to understand and appreciate the wealth of religious truth and insight in the Talmud and other works. Reuchlin did not stop anti-Semitism in the Reformation by either Catholics or Protestants, but he stemmed the advance of those vowed to wipe Judaism out in Europe and began the long, slow movement in the West to appreciate and learn what Judaism really was."--BOOK JACKET.

The Way of Torah

The Way of Torah PDF Author: Jacob Neusner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description


Choosing Hope

Choosing Hope PDF Author: David Arnow
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 0827618891
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description
2023 Reference Book of the Year from the Academy of Parish Clergy Throughout our history, Jews have traditionally responded to our trials with hope, psychologist David Arnow says, because we have had ready access to Judaism's abundant reservoir of hope. The first book to plumb the depths of this reservoir, Choosing Hope journeys from biblical times to our day to explore nine fundamental sources of hope in Judaism: Teshuvah--the method to fulfill our hope to become better human beings Tikkun Olam--the hope that we can repair the world by working together Abraham and Sarah--models of persisting in hope amid trials Exodus--the archetype of redemptive hope Covenant--the hope for a durable relationship with the One of Being Job--the "hard-fought hope" that brings a grief-stricken man back to life World to Come--the sustaining hope that death is not the end Israel--high hope activists work to build a just and inclusive society for all Israelis Jewish Humor--"hope's last weapon" in our darkest days Grounded in a contemporary theology that situates the responsibility for creating a better world in human hands, with God acting through us, Choosing Hope can help us both affirm hope in times of trial and transmit our deepest hopes to the next generation.

The Genius of Judaism

The Genius of Judaism PDF Author: Bernard-Henri Lévy
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0679643796
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
From world-renowned public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy comes an incisive and provocative look at the heart of Judaism. “A smart, revealing, and essential book for our times.”—The Washington Post For more than four decades, Bernard-Henri Lévy has been a singular figure on the world stage—one of the great moral voices of our time. Now Europe's foremost philosopher and activist confronts his spiritual roots and the religion that has always inspired and shaped him—but that he has never fully reckoned with. The Genius of Judaism is a breathtaking new vision and understanding of what it means to be a Jew, a vision quite different from the one we’re used to. It is rooted in the Talmudic traditions of argument and conflict, rather than biblical commandments, borne out in struggle and study, not in blind observance. At the very heart of the matter is an obligation to the other, to the dispossessed, and to the forgotten, an obligation that, as Lévy vividly recounts, he has sought to embody over decades of championing “lost causes,” from Bosnia to Africa’s forgotten wars, from Libya to the Kurdish Peshmerga’s desperate fight against the Islamic State, a battle raging as we speak. Lévy offers a fresh, surprising critique of a new and stealthy form of anti-Semitism on the rise as well as a provocative defense of Israel from the left. He reveals the overlooked Jewish roots of Western democratic ideals and confronts the current Islamist threat while intellectually dismantling it. Jews are not a “chosen people,” Lévy explains, but a “treasure” whose spirit must continue to inform moral thinking and courage today. Lévy’s most passionate book, and in many ways his most personal, The Genius of Judaism is a great, profound, and hypnotic intellectual reckoning—indeed a call to arms—by one of the keenest and most insightful writers in the world. Praise for The Genius of Judaism “In The Genius of Judaism, Lévy elaborates on his credo by rebutting the pernicious and false logic behind current anti-Semitism and defends Israel as the world’s most successful multi-ethnic democracy created from scratch. Lévy also makes the case for France’s Jews being integral to the establishment of the French nation, the French language, and French literature. And last, but certainly not least, he presents a striking interpretation of the Book of Jonah. . . . A tour de force.”—Forbes “Ardent . . . Lévy’s message is essentially uplifting: that the brilliant scholars of Judaism, the authors of the Talmud, provide elucidation into ‘the great questions that have stirred humanity since the dawn of time.’ . . . A philosophical celebration of Judaism.”—Kirkus Reviews “Lévy (Left in Dark Times), a prominent French journalist and politically engaged philosopher, turns his observations inward here, pondering the teachings of Judaism and the role they have played in contemporary European history as well as in his own life and intellectual inquiry. . . . [Lévy’s] musings on the meaning of the story of Jonah and the relevance of symbolic Ninevahs in our time are both original and poetic. . . . A welcome addition to his oeuvre.”—Publishers Weekly

History of the Jews

History of the Jews PDF Author: Heinrich Graetz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Jews
Languages : en
Pages : 668

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Book Description


A Heart of Many Rooms

A Heart of Many Rooms PDF Author: David Hartman
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 1580237045
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
“This work is not addressed only to scholars of Judaism or theologians, but also, and primarily, to all Jews and non-Jews who would like to share the thoughts and struggles of a person who loves Torah and Halakhah, who is committed to helping make room for and celebrate the religious and cultural diversity present in the modern world, and who believes that a commitment to Israel and to Jewish particularity must be organically connected to the rabbinic teaching, ‘Beloved are all human beings created in the image of God.’” —from the Introduction With clarity, passion, and outstanding scholarship, David Hartman addresses the spiritual and theological questions that face all Jews and all people today. From the perspective of traditional Judaism, he helps us understand the varieties of twentieth-century Jewish practice and shows that commitment to both Jewish tradition and to pluralism can create bridges of understanding between people of different religious convictions.