Judaism category: 3160 books

Dramatic changes have taken place in the last decade with respect to the views of the American Jewish community toward Israel and Zionism. Since the beginning of the Second Intifada in 2000, the involvement of the Israel lobby in precipitating the Iraq War and promoting war on Iran, and Israel's widely...

The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of Jewish sacred writings) is of great importance in the history of both Judaism and Christianity. The first translation of the books of the Hebrew Bible (plus additions) into the common language of the ancient Mediterranean world made the Jewish scriptures...

Near-death experiences? Past-life regression? Reincarnation? Are these sorts of things Jewish?With a blend of candor, personal questioning, and sharp-eyed scholarship, Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz relates his own observations and the firsthand accounts shared with him by others, experiences that helped propel...

In Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction, Joseph Dan, one of the world's leading authorities on Jewish mysticism, offers a concise and highly accurate look at the history and character of the various systems developed by the adherents of the Kabbalah. Dan sheds light on the many misconceptions about...

Masterful.   Publishers WeeklyDoes death end life, or is it the passage from one stage of life to another?In The Death of Death, noted theologian Neil Gillman offers readers an original and compelling argument that Judaism, a religion often thought to pay little attention to the afterlife, not only...

Eating kosher is much simpler than most people think. This overview is intended to provide you with a flavor of what it means to eat kosher. Hopefully it will show you that the rules of kosher eating are firmly rooted in the Bible and are not so difficult to follow

This file includes 11 books: Medieval Hebrew (featuring The Midrash and medieval collections of Jewish biblical lore and legend), Hebraic Literature (translations from the Talmud, Midrashim, and KabbalaTales and Maxims from the Midrash by Samuel Rapaport, The Sayings of the Jewish Fathers (Pirke Abot),...

How did Jews perceive the first Christians? By what means did they come to appreciate Christianity as a religion distinct from their own? In The Christian Schism in Jewish History and Jewish Memory, Professor Joshua Ezra Burns addresses those questions by describing the birth of Christianity as a...

For five decades prior to his death in 1993, Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveitchik was the unchallenged leader of modern Orthodox Judaism in the United States. His understanding of both traditional Judaism and secular philosophy shaped two generations of rabbinic students at Yeshiva University, and charted...

An engaging and sobering look at memorializing in Judaism and why memory—ours and God's—is so central to people. Through a series of lively introductions and commentaries, over thirty contributors—men and women, scholars, rabbis, theologians and poets, representing all Jewish denominations—examine...

Why do random Jewish holidays keep springing up unexpectedly? Why are yarmulkes round? Who was the first Jewish comedian? What's "Christian humor" and have you ever even heard of that phrase? Who is "the Golem" and whom do you want it to beat up? These baffling questions and many more are answered...

Extremely Reform Judaism is one of the world's fastest growing denominations and also its most misunderstood— ever since the ancient forefathers first lifted their eyes to God to ask, "Why can't we have a Christmas Tree?"  How to Be an Extremely Reform Jew pokes irreverent yet good-natured...

A powerful—and empowering—gathering of women’s voices transmitting Judaism’s Passover legacy to the next generation. The Women’s Passover Companion offers an in-depth examination of women’s relationships to Passover as well as the roots and meanings of women’s seders. This groundbreaking...