Judaism Books - Page 13

If You Can't Say Anything Nice, Say It In Yiddish: Say It In Yiddish

L.B. Epstein

Amazon Price: $10.36 List Price: $12.95 By: Citadel Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $7.33

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Humor -> Satire
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Humor -> General
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Humor -> Satire, General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

emes 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Very funny, especially if you have a non-Yiddish speaker read it out loud.
I bought two copies as gifts. If you grew up hearing Yiddish, now you have the translations of what the Bubbe's were saying.

Accurate cover baloons--a little scary regarding "curses" 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I should have considered that the cover indicates "curses". There are plenty of mean-spirited curses, which frankly scared me; these are clearly idiomatic within Yiddish language, but were not what I expected. I should have purchased a Yiddish dictionary or thesaurus for my interest level. The book contains much more, and the curse section (i.e., a hex or spell vs. calling people nasty names when they take your parking spot) is not primary, and there are plenty of OTHER areas of the book which are FUN and INTERESTING. It's a personal choice, obviously, so a potential reader shouldn't disregard the book based on MY superstitious nature alone! I guess I just wanted to understand the terms I've heard TO SWEAR for my own venting agenda.

A very poorly produced book! 1 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This is arguably the most sloppily produced book I ever read:
The number of misspelled Yiddish words is enormous; the most frequenly recurring one is zid in place of zikh, or stub for shtub, cheyli for kheylik (or cheylik), toches-lecher for toches-lecker, etc. The gender of words is often wrong (di for der or vice versa).
The etymology of words is often inaccurate. The most blatant example:
Bobe-mayse is not derived from a story your grandmother told you, and you are free to use the word in her presence. It comes from a 16-th century translation into Yiddish by Elja Levita of the Italian romance "Bovo d'Antona" published under the name of "Bobe-bukh".
I am tempted to send the book back to Amazon for a $ 10 refund, even if I have to pay for return shipmen!

Kabbalah: A Love Story

Lawrence Rabbi Kushner

Amazon Price: $9.56 List Price: $11.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Broadway Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $5.64

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Genre Fiction -> Metaphysical
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Short Stories -> United States
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> World Literature -> United States -> Jewish American

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Kabbalah: A Love Story 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

A wonderful connection between the teachings of Kabbalah and a modern love story. The book makes the complex easier to understand. Our book group has decided to make this book our topic of discussion at our next meeting.

Editorial Review:

Sometime, somewhere, someone is searching for answers . . .
. . . in a thirteenth-century castle
. . . on a train to a concentration camp
. . . in a New York city apartment

Hidden within the binding of an ancient text that has been passed down through the ages lies the answer to one of the heart’s eternal questions. When the text falls into the hands of Rabbi Kalman Stern, he has no idea that his lonely life of intellectual pursuits is about to change once he opens the book. Soon afterward, he meets astronomer Isabel Benveniste, a woman of science who stirs his soul as no woman has for many years. But Kalman has much to learn before he can unlock his heart and let true love into his life. The key lies in the mysterious document he finds inside the Zohar, the master text of the Kabbalah.

The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis

Leon R. Kass

Amazon Price: $16.32 List Price: $24.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: University Of Chicago Press Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $14.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Reference -> Commentaries -> Old Testament
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Reference -> Criticism & Interpretation -> Old Testament
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Judaism -> Sacred Writings -> Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) -> Commentaries

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

As ardent debates over creationism fill the front pages of newspapers, Genesis has never been more timely. And as Leon R. Kass shows in The Beginning of Wisdom, it’s also timeless.

Examining Genesis in a philosophical light, Kass presents it not as a story of what happened long ago, but as the enduring story of humanity itself. He asserts that the first half of Genesis contains insights about human nature that “rival anything produced by the great philosophers.” Kass here reads these first stories—from Adam and Eve to the tower of Babel—as a mirror for self-discovery that reveals truths about human reason, speech, freedom, sexual desire, pride, shame, anger, and death. Taking a step further in the second half of his book, Kass explores the struggles in Genesis to launch a new way of life that addresses mankind’s morally ambiguous nature by promoting righteousness and holiness.

Even readers who don’t agree with Kass’s interpretations will find The Beginning of Wisdom a compelling book—a masterful philosophical take on one of the world’s seminal religious texts.

“Extraordinary. . . . Its analyses and hypotheses will leave no reader’s understanding of Genesis unchanged.” —New York Times

“A learned and fluent, delightfully overstuffed stroll through the Gates of Eden. . . . Mix Harold Bloom with Stephen Jay Gould and you’ll get something like Kass. A wonderfully intelligent reading of Genesis.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
 
“Throughout his book, Kass uses fruitful, fascinating techniques for getting at the heart of Genesis. . . . Innumerable times [he] makes a reader sit back and rethink what has previously been tediously familiar or baffling.”—Washington Post
 
“It is important to state that this is a book not merely rich, but prodigiously rich with insight. Kass is a marvelous reader, sensitive and careful. His interpretations surprise again and again with their cogency and poignancy.”—Jerusalem Post

Yeshua: A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church

Ron Moseley

Amazon Price: $10.39 List Price: $12.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Messianic Jewish Resources International Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $6.76

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Church History -> General
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Church History -> General AAS
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Reference -> New Testament -> Study

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

WHAT'S IN A NAME????? BIBLE BASED FACTS???? 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 35 people found this review helpful.

DECEPTION #1 - JESUS AND JEHOVAH ARE THE NAMES OF THE FATHER AND SON,
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT NAME YOU CALL THEM.
How can you think the names of salvation doesn't matter, would you allow me to call you any name I like? Would you allow your boss to put any name he liked on your pay check? NO, you wouldn't, so why do you think we can give the creator any name we want. Jesus and Jehovah are not the names of the father and son. These names come from the adversary Satan. The father and son both have Hebrew names this is confirmed in the original Hebrew text, and in your KJV. In the book of Psalms 68:4 we read this:
Psalms 68:4 Sing unto the Almighty, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name YAH, and rejoice before him.

Yes my people, the creator of heaven and earth, name is Yah. In your KJV the name listed, is JAH. That is incorrect, there is no letter J, J equivalent, or J sound in the Hebrew language. In fact the letter J is one of the newest letters in the English alphabet. It came into usage sometime after 1630; Jesus or Jehovah wasn't in the original 1611 KJV (King James Version).

Many of the Hebrew Prophets carried the name Yah within their names.

SUCH AS: OBADYAH which means Servant of Yah,
ZechariYah - Yah Remembers
IsaiYah - Yah is salvation
ZephaniYah - Yah Hides
The Phrase Hallelu'Yah means PRAISE YOU YAH.

Notice in your KJV (King James Version) the spelling of those names are different, Isaiah doesn't have the YAH at the end, nor does the other names and Hallelu'YAH has JAH in the suffix. Why is that? Simple the adversary Satan is trying to take the name of salvation away from you. He is deceiving you into calling upon false GODS. YAH's name mean THE ETERNAL, THE SELF EXISTENCE, Jehovah means nothing, it's a vain name. Yah said not to take his name in vain, this is one of the first commandments.
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of YAH in vain; for YAH will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

He will not hold you guiltless brothers and sisters, Christianity has put you into a confrontation with the most high. Christianity has deceived you into taking the creator's name in vain, you have made it useless, by calling him a false name. Jehovah is not a Hebrew name, Jehovah is not an English translation of the fathers Hebrew name. His name is on high; YAH does not need a translation for his name. All men on the face of the earth, in every language can pronounce his name, YAH.

In the KJV (King James Version) Exodus 20 doesn't mention Yah's name, it calls him by two titles, Lord and GOD.
Exodus 20:7, Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

The KJV says not to take the name of the Lord in vain. LORD is not a name it's a title, So is GOD. Lord and God both have roots in Paganism, both can be traced back to ancient pagan deities. Many bible dictionaries and concordance will tell you Wherever Lord and God is written in Scripture that the name should be YAH. If you have a concordance in your KJV bible, look under the name Yahweh, it will read this:

.........Whenever the words Lord and God appear in large and small capital letters, the original Hebrew reads YHWH.

YAH IS THE ALMIGHTY, THE CREATOR, THE HEAVENLY FATHER, THE MIGHTY ONE, THE ETERNAL, THE SET APART ONE. These are righteous titles, his name is above any title, he wants us to call upon him by his name. Jehovah is not his name, nor has it ever been.


Yah the almighty didn't name his son Jesus. Jesus is a Greco-Roman- English hybrid name. Just as Jehovah, Jesus is not a Hebrew name nor does it have any meaning, it too is a vain name. Jesus was not in the original 1611 King James Version of the bible,, . Nor was the name Jesus Present in any of the earlier English bible translations. The name Jesus isn't 500 years old. So how can this be the name by which men must call upon to be saved, if it didn't exist at the time the messiah walked the earth?

The messiah's true name is Yahoshua, it means Yah's salvation, his name tells his mission. Names are given in the Hebrew Culture based upon the character of the person. I was not born with the name Obadyah Ben Ysrayl, I took on this name after I found my true life calling. My name in Hebrew means Servant of Yah who is a son of Israel.

When the angel pronounced the messiah's name to Joseph, he told him his name would have something to do with saving:

Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son. and you shall call his name Yahoshua for he shall save his people from their sins.

He shall bring Salvation to his people Israel. The name Jesus, on the other hand, has no association with any thing, but deception.

Editorial Review:

* The early leaders of the Church were all Jewish
* The original Church was organized around the pattern of the Jewish synagogue
* Yeshua (Jesus) used numerous Jewish idioms in his teachings and was, perhaps, a Pharisee himself

Dr. Moseley illuminates the Jewish background of Yeshua and the Church in this best-selling book. Must reading for every believer.

Secrets of a Jewish Baker: Recipes for 125 Breads from Around the World

George Greenstein

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Ten Speed Press Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $17.97

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Baking -> Bread
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Diet -> Kosher
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

LOVE IT!! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I've been baking bread for 20 years as a home baker, and this is by far the best book I've run across! I checked it out from the library, then ended up buying my own copy and sending one as a gift. I have made several breads in the book. His method is easy to follow, I especially appreciate the organization tips. I also like that the recipes have directions for hand mixing, food processor, and stand mixer. I made sour dough yesterday. . . it turned out to be one of the best I've ever made!

My Favorite Bread Book! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This has become my absolute favorite bread baking book. Mr. Greenstein has recipes for the breads that my father would "drag" us to NYC to buy way back when. I only wish my father were still alive to enjoy these. The recipes are excellent, and I love the little baker's secrets he shares. I have yet to make the same recipe twice, as each one has been so good I want to try another. I LOVE THIS BOOK!

Editorial Review:

Winner of the James Beard award for best baking book, this classic title is being repackaged and expanded by venerable baker George Greenstein. This beloved book is full of excellent, accessible recipes for yeasted and quick breads.

The Dead Sea Scrolls - Revised Edition: A New Translation

Michael O. Wise, Martin G. Abegg, Edward M. Cook

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: HarperOne Amazon Marketplace: 83 new & used starting at $5.49

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Church History -> Dead Sea Scrolls
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> General
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

It may take me the rest of my life to reflect on and discern the amazing writ! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

"In their great variety and stunning richness, the Dead Sea Scrolls as captured in this groundbreaking translation offer modern readers an unprecedented glimpse of the complex roots of modern Christianity... texts encompass poetry and prose, teaching parables and magical tales, astrology, apocalyptic visions,..., stories of messiahs and antichrists,"



After Three Decades:
I followed the saga of DSS since I read in 1970 Wilson's account of the discovery, two decades later. I strove to get any information, even John allegro's imaginary cults, but not until the siege was overcome, that few years later I could read, all in one compendium, the text of the Scrolls in plain English. It took its place, in my library, next to The Coptic Gnostic texts. It may take me the rest of my life to reflect on and discern the amazing writ!
Three scholars of the second DSS generation offer a new translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, integrated with material never published or translated before. The book includes newly published Psalms (151) attributed to David, non-Biblical texts claiming Moses as their author, previously unknown fables about Abraham and Jacob, and many other writings that shed light on non-Temple Jewish thought, parallels showing the Jewish origins of Christianity and the close relationship between Judaism and early Christianity. Some of its amazing texts are, The Damascus Document (Geniza manuscripts), The vision of the Son of God, Psalm 151 (Chanted in the Coptic Church for 17 centuries), The War of the Messiah, Rule of Initiation, between many amazing poetry and prose.

Recent Developments in DSS:
The Dead Sea Scrolls represent a non-rabbinic type of Judaism enhancing our understanding of Second Temple Judaism and of early Christianity. They DSS provide textual treasures for New Testament scholars, and have been called the evolutionary link between Judaism and Christianity, demonstrating a variety of important parallels to Jesus ministry, showing that the Gospel message to be based on, and rooted in Judaism. The major intact texts, from Caves 1 & 11, now housed in the Shrine of the Book museum in Jerusalem, were published by the late fifties. Since then, mostly fragments from Cave 4, about 40% of the Scrolls remained unpublished and were not accessible until 1991.
Almost half of a century after the initial discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls, when the academic pressure for publication mounted, general access was granted through the photographs of the Scrolls. Late 1991 the photos were made available by the Biblical Archaeological Society in a computer reconstruction, based on a concordance. A nonofficial edition was announced, and the Huntington Library microfilm files of the scroll photographs were made accessible. In "The Current State of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Are There More Answers than Questions?" L. Grabbe stresses the need for Qumran scholarship to recognize how uncertain is much of our present knowledge of the Qumran material. Following are some issues which enhance your interest in this collection.

Psalm of thanksgiving: A:
I give Thee thanks, Adonai!
For Thou hast placed my soul in the bundle of life,
and Thou has protected me from all the snares of the pit.
And the violent sought my soul, when I trusted in Thy covenant.

The Damascus Document:
In 1896, in Ezra Karaite Synagogue, built Ca. 882 AD in Old Cairo, near Babylon fortress, the Damascus document was discovered amongst other ancient Hebrew manuscripts. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, half a century later, and the consequent publication of the Cave I first scrolls, marked a turning point in the scholars views on the Damascus Document. The similarity in language between the Qumran material and the Cairo Geniza manuscripts removed all doubt that the Damascus Document was composed during the Second Temple period.

War Scroll and the Essenes:
"The principal defining differences ...are the following: (1) the peace-loving Essenes contrast with the warlike spirit evident in some of the scrolls, especially the War Scroll; (2) the Essenes were mostly celibate, whereas the scrolls include many laws concerning women, children and even sexual intercourse; (3) the Essenes abhorred slavery, while the scrolls legislate the practice; (4) the Essenes took no oaths except when entering the group, whereas the scrolls contain numerous regulations for the taking and voiding of oaths; (5) the Essenes owned no private property, whereas the scroll-writers did; and (6) there are significant differences between the Essenes and the relevant Dead Sea Scrolls regarding entry procedures for new members. Cansdale concludes that the scrolls probably issued from one of the many Jewish sects whose names are not recorded in the meager sources at our disposal, perhaps a sect related to the Sadducees." Michael O Wise

The DSS and Hebrew Bible:
The Scrolls and the Scriptures provides much extensive and helpful information on careful studies of the Qumran documents. Proper study underlines that these documents reflect a much larger community and thought pattern than that of the small Qumran community earlier portrayed by DSS scholars. The scrolls may help us to understand and better interpret the OT Scriptures and the various ways in which these record eschatological and messianic ideas.
The basic problems concerned with the historical and literary context of the scrolls.
In an essay is by P. Davies, "Qumran and the Quest for Historical Judaism," records the uncertainties of our knowledge of who wrote the scrolls and the true meanings of the diversity of this collection, warning against reading them in the light of the rigid notions of late antiquity Judaism.

The DSS and Christianity:
"Those few scholars who persist in the view that a direct link can be made between Qumran and the New Testament are probably constructing an approach to the evidence which cannot be sustained. those links between the Qumran and the New Testament are more likely to be indirect." George Brooke
C. Evans reviews the role of the David figure in the scrolls, stressing how the virtues, achievements and promises of David contribute much to the Messianic character of the scrolls and how these provide a background for the understanding of the early Christian belief of Jesus. In " 'Son of God' as 'Son of Man' in the Dead Sea Scrolls? A Response to John Collins on 4Q246," J. D. G. Dunn contends that the figure of the "son of God" in this document refers to the descendant of David in the messianic prophecy of 2 Sam 7:14.


The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance For Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations : Pseudepigraphic and Non-Masoretic Psalms and Prayers (Dead Sea Scrolls)

Editorial Review:

A fully revised and updated edition of our translation of the complete Dead Sea Scrolls, making it the definitive translation of the Scrolls in English.

With new texts, updated introductions, a glossary of terms, and other new additions, this will become the definitive translation of the Scrolls, and the lead companion to our other Dead Sea Scrolls Guides: The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible.

Quick & Kosher - Recipes From The Bride Who Knew Nothing

Jamie Geller

Amazon Price: $24.41 List Price: $36.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Feldheim - Model: 730 Amazon Marketplace: 23 new & used starting at $22.06

Buy at Amazon.com

Features:

• Binding: hard cover
• Pages :368
• Dimensions: 9.5 x 10''

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Quick & Easy -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Quick & Easy -> General AAS
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Regional & International -> International

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The only cookbook that wants to get you out of the kitchen!

This is the hilarious story of Jamie Geller, a spunky young TV exec who came into marriage and kosher cooking without knowing a spatula from a saucepan. Determined to master cooking, yet pressed for time, she was dismayed to find that most cookbooks consider an hour of preparation time quick, and presumed more culinary skill than many of us have. So Jamie set out to compile her own special collection of quick and easy recipes and Quick & Kosher is the result of her quest.

This one-of-a-kind cookbook contains more than 160 recipes requiring no more than 15 minutes to prepare, 120 full-color photos, clear step-by-step instructions, reliable prep and cooking times, tips and techniques, and advice on pairing wines with various dishes. Recipes range from traditional to exotic, and are well indexed and cross-referenced.

Several special sections such as Setting up Your Kitchen, Secrets of the 15-Minute Chef and Shopping Like an Expert are the result of extensive insider interviews with food professionals who helped facilitate Jamie's path to culinary mastery. These sections offer practical answers to the questions you've always wanted to ask: how do I buy meat, fish, produce, groceries, and wine?

Is this a cookbook? An autobiography? A kitchen handbook for brides? It is all of these and more, for Quick & Kosher will amuse, inspire and teach even skilled cooks a thing or two. I wrote Quick & Kosher says Jamie Geller, because you and I are in the same boat. We want to serve up something tantalizing for dinner, but between kids, careers, and carpools, we have no time to patchka!

Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Disciplines (Pocket Classics)

Lauren F. Winner

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Paraclete Press (MA) Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $1.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> General
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> General AAS
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Judaism -> Jewish Life

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

What a Delight 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren F. Winner is a delightful instructional on applying practices from the Jewish tradition to Christian spirituality. Having finished seminary in 2001 and learning some of these practices in class, I was happy to be reminded of many practices I am apt to neglect. Her conversational way of weaving personal stories and old traditions make Mudhouse Sabbath a real joy to read.
Winner's call to live our daily lives more attentively is heard loud and clear. I was struck at how many spiritual practices Christians gave-up as Christianity moved west. As a Baptist and lacking very many sacraments, I appreciated her ideas for making some of the everyday activities of life more holy whether it is eating, resting, aging, or praying. Three chapters in particular, "Hospitality," "Body," and "Weddings," stand out to me as particularly good words. Her chapter on hospitality resonates with my desire to experience authentic Christian community. She compares the messiness of her apartment with the messiness of her own life. She confesses that an invitation for others to enter her life also invites others to see her as she really is. She states, "Having guests and visitors, if we do it right, is not an imposition, because we are not meant to rearrange our lives for our guests--we are meant to invite our guests to enter into our lives as they are." I became aware of my attempts to sabotage closeness with others by attempting to only presenting a sanitized version of myself.
Winner's confession of her struggle with her own body image is tender and assuring as she draws the reader in to her experiences as a woman. Calling us back to Scripture and tradition, many readers might be surprised and pleased at the opportunity to grow into a new way of thinking about the human body. She correctly calls Christians back to the creation story and to consider that Western Christians have been, "Enlightenment people who liked to live Christianity in their minds rather than in their bodies."
Though I already thought of marriage as a sacrament, I must admit there is little that is sacramental about how we have done it in my tradition. In her application of Jewish tradition toward Christian marriage, I found the examples of how "privacy gives way to community" thought provoking with regard to their potential for solving problems young Christians face, particularly evangelicals. I do a number of weddings and I began to immediately brainstorm ways to incorporate ways to "push married couples into their community."
I recommend this book to people young and old who have maxed out at the Christian bookstore and are looking to deepen their Christian walk through intentional practices. This is not a book that will fill your mind with tons of facts and figures for your consideration. But like the title suggests, Mudhouse Sabbath is creative invitation to intentional Christian living.

Back To The Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts

Amazon Price: $10.88 List Price: $16.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Simon & Schuster Amazon Marketplace: 78 new & used starting at $3.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Judaism -> Sacred Writings -> General
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Judaism -> General
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent introduction to classic texts 4 out of 5 stars.
87 of 87 people found this review helpful.

"Back to the Sources" provides a superb introduction to the classic Jewish texts: the Bible, Talmud, Midrash, medieval Bible commentaries (legal codes are discussed in the chapter on Talmud), medieval philosophical works, Zohar and other kabbalistic works, Hasidic teachings, and the prayer book. Each chapter is written by a different scholar, who is an expert in the text or texts at hand. All of the authors write clearly for non-experts and provide superb guidance, whether you are planning to start reading the texts or simply want to know more about them. Each chapter ends with helpful suggestions for further reading (although these are now somewhat out of date, since the book was published in 1984).

There is an interesting divide half way through the book: the first four chapters (on Bible, Talmud, Midrash and commentaries) focus on the literary characteristics of those texts: how they are organized, how style contributes to meaning, what knowledge they assume, how to read them, and so on. Each chapter does an excellent job of walking you through an extended passage of the text under consideration. Other than these analyses of particular passages, however, there is no systematic attempt to discuss or summarize the content of the work, much less consider its meaning or impact.

The last four chapters, on the other hand (covering philosophy, kabbala, Hasidic teaching and the Siddur), are much more focused on content, on what the texts are saying and what impact that has had in the development of Judaism. These chapters still include close-reading of significant passages of text, but they also provide extraordinarily helpful overviews of what these texts, as a whole, are trying to accomplish. The chapters on medieval philosophy and kabbala are particularly good -- even if I never get around to studying these texts, I now feel like I have a reasonably good grasp of what they are about.

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in these texts or in Jewish intellectual history, even if you have no plans to study the texts themselves.

Historical Atlas Of The Jewish People, A: From the Time of the Patriarchs to the Present

Tel Aviv Books

List Price: $50.00 By: Knopf Amazon Marketplace: 11 new & used starting at $9.86

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Asia -> General AAS
Subjects -> History -> World -> Jewish -> General
Subjects -> History -> World -> Jewish -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent Overview of History and Culture 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Professor Barnavi has done a great service both to Judaism and any students who are inclined to further their understanding of it. As a Christian proponent of this ancient faith upon which our own is based, I have found it an invaluable resource in my ecumenical studies involving history and development of Ancient and Modern Jewry and the vast knowledge accumulated over the thousands of years of its existance. It is a concise coverage of every age of its progression, along with a magnificent garnish of photographs and illustations which bring the entire process to life. I highly reccomend this book.

This atlas succeeds beautifully 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Few of the world's peoples can boast of a history as long and as varied as that of the Jews, or one encompassing such a range of achievements and tragedy. It spans more than three millennia and has touched most parts of the globe. This text sets forth this history graphically-in nearly a thousand detailed and accurate maps, brilliantly reproduced drawings, photographs, and paintings; plus chronologies and commentaries by dozens of leading experts. The result is a triumph of the bookmaking art-a comprehensive and dependable reference work.
Beyond the strictly historical, the Atlas also deals with many fascinating and important aspects of jewish culture-languages, literature, art, and music.

Editorial Review:

A comprehensive overview of more than four thousand years of Jewish history encompasses hundreds of maps, artwork, chronologies, and commentary to survey the Jewish experience--biblical background, religious developments, migrations, and more. 30,000 first printing. $60,000 ad/promo.