Studying Judaism

Studying Judaism PDF Author: Melanie J. Wright
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1472538889
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This volume in the Studying World Religions series is an essential guide to the study of Judaism. Clearly structured to cover all the major areas of study, including historical foundations, scripture, worship, society, material culture, thought and ethics, this is the ideal study aid for those approaching Judaism for the first time. Studying Judaism offers readers the chance to engage with a religious tradition as a diverse, living phenomenon. Its approach is 'critical' in two major respects: its use of the dimensional approach to the study of religions as an interpretive framework, and its focus on matters perceived as problematic by insider and/or outsider commentators, such as gender, demography, geo-politics, the 'museumization' of Jewish cultures and its impact on religion and identity. This book is the perfect companion for the fledgling student of Judaism.

Studying Judaism

Studying Judaism PDF Author: Melanie J. Wright
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1472538889
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
This volume in the Studying World Religions series is an essential guide to the study of Judaism. Clearly structured to cover all the major areas of study, including historical foundations, scripture, worship, society, material culture, thought and ethics, this is the ideal study aid for those approaching Judaism for the first time. Studying Judaism offers readers the chance to engage with a religious tradition as a diverse, living phenomenon. Its approach is 'critical' in two major respects: its use of the dimensional approach to the study of religions as an interpretive framework, and its focus on matters perceived as problematic by insider and/or outsider commentators, such as gender, demography, geo-politics, the 'museumization' of Jewish cultures and its impact on religion and identity. This book is the perfect companion for the fledgling student of Judaism.

Judaism in America

Judaism in America PDF Author: Marc Lee Raphael
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231512449
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Jews have been a religious and cultural presence in America since the colonial era, and the community of Jews in the United States today—some six million people—continues to make a significant contribution to the American religious landscape. Emphasizing developments in American Judaism in the last quarter century among active participants in Jewish worship, this book provides both a look back into the 350-year history of Judaic life and a well-crafted portrait of a multifaceted tradition today. Combining extensive research into synagogue archival records and secondary sources as well as interviews and observations of worship services at more than a hundred Jewish congregations across the country, Raphael's study distinguishes itself as both a history of the Judaic tradition and a witness to the vitality and variety of contemporary American Judaic life. Beginning with a chapter on beliefs, festivals, and life-cycle events, both traditional and non-traditional, and an explanation of the enormous variation in practice, Raphael then explores Jewish history in America, from the arrival of the first Jews to the present, highlighting the emergence and development of the four branches: Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Reform. After documenting the considerable variety among the branches, the book addresses issues of some controversy, notably spirituality, conversion, homosexuality, Jewish education, synagogue architecture, and the relationship to Israel. Raphael turns next to a discussion of eight American Jews whose thoughts and/or activities made a huge impact on American Judaism. The final chapter focuses on the return to tradition in every branch of Judaism and examines prospects for the future.

Studying Classical Judaism

Studying Classical Judaism PDF Author:
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664251369
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
What do we know about the history, literature, and religion of Judaism in its formative age? How do we know it, and why does it matter? In Studying Classical Judaism, renowned scholar and author Jacob Neusner addresses these and other important questions. Applying many of the same methods Christian scholars use to study Christianity, Neusner outlines what we now know about ancient Judaism. He points out the core-belief of normative Judaism and reveals the methodological underpinnings of the most cogent and up-to-date interpretations of the texts that determined classical Judaism.

Understanding Judaism

Understanding Judaism PDF Author: Mordechai Katz
Publisher: Mesorah Publications
ISBN: 9781578195176
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
What does the Torah say that makes it relevant to today? How can we understand the mitzvos? Why should I believe? Why be Jewish? What does a Jew have to do? Is science an enemy of Judaism?JEP has answers. For decades, the Jewish Education Prog

Studying the Torah

Studying the Torah PDF Author: Avigdor Bonchek
Publisher: Jason Aronson, Incorporated
ISBN: 1461630819
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
The traditional Jew has always accepted the study of Torah as central to his or her way of life. But without the ability to effectively analyze and interpret the text, one misses the opportunity to gain a deep and authentic appreciation of the Torah's beauty and profundity. In Studying the Torah: A Guide to In-Depth Interpretation, Avigdor Bonchek equips the reader with the proper analytic methods to make reading the Bible both a serious pursuit and a pleasurable pastime. In order for the reader of the Torah text to delve into its veiled, but ultimately visible, layered messages, he or she must first learn the appropriate interpretive techniques. These skills are the same as those used by the classic Jewish Torah commentators (Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, and others), all of whom were experts in what scholars today refer to as a "close reading" of the text. Among the "Keys to Interpretation" discussed in this book are the significance of word order, opening sentences, repetitions, word associations, psychological dimensions, and similarities and differences between texts. Each key is illustrated by several examples that offer fresh insight into otherwise familiar text, and the author offers his own original and comprehensive in-depth interpretation of two central biblical stories: the story of Joseph and the ten plagues.

Learn Talmud

Learn Talmud PDF Author: Judith Z. Abrams
Publisher: Jason Aronson, Incorporated
ISBN: 1461629349
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
Judith Abrams, author of the highly acclaimed The Talmud for Beginners, Volumes I & II, creates yet another way of making Talmud study easy and accessible for the novice. Rabbi Abrams has chosen to work with the Steinsaltz Edition of the Talmud, edited and with commentary by Adin Steinsaltz, one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century. This volume is a must for both student and teacher.

The Study of Judaism

The Study of Judaism PDF Author: Aaron W. Hughes
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438448619
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Considers Jewish studies as an academic discipline from its origins to the present. The relationship between Jewish studies and religious studies is a long and complicated one, full of tensions and possibilities. Whereas the majority of scholars working within Jewish studies contend that the discipline is in a very healthy state, many who work in theory and method in religious studies disagree. For them, Jewish studies represents all that is wrong with the modern academic study of religion: too introspective, too ethnic, too navel-gazing, and too willing to reify or essentialize data that it constructs in its own image. In this book, Aaron W. Hughes explores the unique situation of Jewish studies and how it intersects with religious studies, noting particular areas of concern for those interested in the field’s intellectual health and future flourishing. Hughes provides a detailed study of origins, principles, and assumptions, documenting the rise of Jewish studies in Germany and its migration to Israel and the United States. Current issues facing the academic study of Judaism are discussed, including the role of private foundations that seek inroads into the academy.

This is Judaism

This is Judaism PDF Author: Michael Keene
Publisher: Nelson Thornes
ISBN: 9780748725571
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 102

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Book Description
This is Judaism is a major new text for religious education at Key Stage 3 following the style of the This is ... series.

Studying the Jew

Studying the Jew PDF Author: Alan E. Steinweis
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674043995
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Early in his political career, Adolf Hitler declared the importance of what he called “an antisemitism of reason.” Determined not to rely solely on traditional, cruder forms of prejudice against Jews, he hoped that his exclusionary and violent policies would be legitimized by scientific scholarship. The result was a disturbing, and long-overlooked, aspect of National Socialism: Nazi Jewish Studies. Studying the Jew investigates the careers of a few dozen German scholars who forged an interdisciplinary field, drawing upon studies in anthropology, biology, religion, history, and the social sciences to create a comprehensive portrait of the Jew—one with devastating consequences. Working within the universities and research institutions of the Third Reich, these men fabricated an elaborate empirical basis for Nazi antisemitic policies. They supported the Nazi campaign against Jews by defining them as racially alien, morally corrupt, and inherently criminal. In a chilling story of academics who perverted their talents and distorted their research in support of persecution and genocide, Studying the Jew explores the intersection of ideology and scholarship, the state and the university, the intellectual and his motivations, to provide a new appreciation of the use and abuse of learning and the horrors perpetrated in the name of reason.

Future Tense

Future Tense PDF Author: Jonathan Sacks
Publisher: Schocken
ISBN: 0805242848
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
One of the most admired religious thinkers of our time issues a call for world Jewry to reject the self-fulfilling image of “a people alone in the world, surrounded by enemies” and to reclaim Judaism’s original sense of purpose: as a partner with God and with those of other faiths in the never-ending struggle for freedom and social justice for all. We are in danger, says Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of forgetting what Judaism’s place is within the global project of humankind. During the last two thousand years, Jews have lived through persecutions that would have spelled the end of most nations, but they did not see anti-Semitism written into the fabric of the universe. They knew they existed for a purpose, and it was not for themselves alone. Rabbi Sacks believes that the Jewish people have lost their way, that they need to recommit themselves to the task of creating a just world in which the divine presence can dwell among us. Without compromising one iota of Jewish faith, Rabbi Sacks declares, Jews must stand alongside their friends—Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and secular humanist—in defense of freedom against the enemies of freedom, in affirmation of life against those who desecrate life. And they should do this not to win friends or the admiration of others but because it is what a people of God is supposed to do. Rabbi Sacks’s powerful message of tikkun olam—using Judaism as a blueprint for repairing an imperfect world—will resonate with people of all faiths.