Essential Judaism: Updated Edition: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs & RitualsYou’ll find everything you need to know about being Jewish in this indispensable, revised and updated guide to the religious traditions, everyday practices, philosophical beliefs, and historical foundations of Judaism. What happens at a synagogue service? What are the rules for keeping kosher? How do I light the Hanukah candles? What is in the Hebrew Bible? What do the Jewish holidays signify? What should I be teaching my children about being Jewish? With the first edition of Essential Judaism, George Robinson offered the world the accessible compendium that he sought when he rediscovered his Jewish identity as an adult. In his “ambitious and all-inclusive” (New York Times Book Review) guide, Robinson illuminates the Jewish life cycle at every stage and lays out many fascinating aspects of the religion—the Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, the evolution of Hasidism, and much more—while keeping a firm focus on the different paths to living a good Jewish life in today’s world. Now, a decade and a half later, Robinson has updated this valuable introductory text with information on topics including denominational shifts, same-sex marriage, the intermarriage debate, transgender Jews, the growth of anti-Semitism, and the changing role of women in worship, along with many other hotly debated topics in the contemporary Jewish world and beyond. The perfect gift for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah or anyone thinking about conversion—this is the ultimate companion for anyone interested in learning more about Judaism, the kind of book its readers will revisit over and over for years to come. |
Contents
FIFTEEN YEARS LATER | 7 |
The Role of the Rabbi | 17 |
The Daily Services | 24 |
The Shabbat Services | 41 |
Festival Services | 46 |
Mezuzah | 53 |
Havurah | 66 |
Shul Etiquette | 73 |
O You Scribes and Pharisees | 324 |
Primary Subject | 330 |
Tosefta and Baraita | 337 |
Halakhah and Aggadah | 347 |
Proliferation and Persecution | 353 |
Some Important Midrashic Texts | 362 |
Sefer Yetzirah | 371 |
The Zohar | 377 |
CHAPTER 2 | 79 |
The High Holy Days | 94 |
Sukkot | 103 |
Shemini Atzeret | 110 |
TubShevat | 117 |
Counting the Omer | 127 |
Tisha bAv | 133 |
CHAPTER 3 | 140 |
Brit Milah | 147 |
Parent and Child | 154 |
Confirmation | 160 |
Divorce | 173 |
Illness | 184 |
CHAPTER 4 | 197 |
Whos Counting? | 204 |
151 | 209 |
Why Observe? | 222 |
Opponents of Halakhah | 232 |
TzedakahDoing Justice | 239 |
Tikkun OlamRepairing the World | 246 |
KashrutDietary Laws | 254 |
CHAPTER 5 | 263 |
The Torah | 269 |
Torah Comes First | 284 |
The Role of the Prophets | 294 |
Reading the Book | 304 |
Who Wrote the Hebrew Bible? | 311 |
From the Pairs to the Tannaim | 318 |
Shabbateanism | 388 |
Kabbalah in the Twentieth Century | 396 |
The Lasting Influence of Jewish Mysticism | 404 |
Philo Judaeus 20 B C E 50 C E | 410 |
Maimonides c 1135 C E 1204 C E | 419 |
Judah HaLevi 1075 C E 1141 C E | 424 |
Moses Mendelssohn 1729 C E 1786 C E | 432 |
Abraham Joshua Heschel 1907 C E 1972 C E | 449 |
From the Writings of Joseph Soloveitchik | 456 |
The Jews in the East | 463 |
Enlightenment and Emancipation | 470 |
Reform and Orthodox | 476 |
The Zionists | 483 |
The Evolution of AntiSemitism | 492 |
Exiles Return | 497 |
The Temptations of Assimilation | 503 |
An Open or Shut Case? | 512 |
Who Are We Now? | 519 |
APPENDIX 1 | 525 |
Conservative Judaism | 536 |
Reconstructionism | 548 |
Orthodoxy | 554 |
APPENDIX 2 | 561 |
APPENDIX 3 | 575 |
GLOSSARY | 595 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 647 |
Other editions - View all
Essential Judaism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs & Rituals George Robinson Limited preview - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
accept addition Adonai American authority become begins believe Bible blessing called century ceremony chapters Christian comes commandments congregations Conservative considered continue created death entire example faith falls festival final followed four give given God’s governing halakhah hand Hebrew holiday holy human idea important Israel issue Jerusalem Jewish Jewish community Jewish law Jews Judaism known liturgy live marriage meaning Mishnah mitzvah mitzvot morning Moses movement mysticism nature Numbers observant offer opening Orthodox passage perform period person Pesakh position practice prayer prophet question rabbis reading reason recited Reform religious result ritual rules Sabbath sages says scholars Shabbat synagogue Talmud Temple thought tion Torah tradition traditionally understand usually wear wife woman women worship writings written