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Title: Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History by Joseph Telushkin ISBN: 0-688-08506-7 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 26 April, 1991 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.77 (43 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Judaism 101 for Jews and Non-Jews Alike!
Comment: In this fabulous book Rabbi Telushkin sets forth in simple, easily readible short essays each and every apect of Judaism, Jewish life and Jewish history. There is nothing that isn't covered and although the coverage is necessarily superficial, it is an incomparable resource for anyone seeking basic information about the Jewish people. Telushkin divides the book into sections covering the Jewish Bible, subsequent Jewish history, the holocaust the history of Zionism and Israel, the Jewish annual cycle, the Jewish life cycle and other aspects of Jewish life. Telushkin's love and fascination with Judaism shines through on every page. The book is not intended to be more than the title says it is, a basic introduction to Judaism. It is miles wide but only inches deep. Nevertheless, a thorough reading of this book will indeed give the reader a basic Jewish literacy.
Rating: 5
Summary: Useful introductory reference
Comment: When you're sitting around with friends and someone says "I wonder about...", this book is one to reach for. In a wide ranging set of short articles, Telushkin provides introductory information about Jewish religion, people and history. Each article is only a few paragraphs, so the reader can quickly gain an overview of the meaning and context of the idea. Other articles which relate to the idea you've looked up are referenced, so you can easily look up connected ideas. Although some concepts are either ignored or covered rather lightly, Rabbi Telushkin does a good job of covering most questions people ask about normative American Judaism and its history and culture. A useful introductory reference!!
Rating: 5
Summary: Extensive & Lighthearted Overview of "The Jewish Adventure"
Comment: Believe it or not, I started with this book by digging in, dishing out, page after page, on Amazon.com's Search inside option...
After having reached a hundred pages or so (the limited viewable amount kindly and generously made available by the Publisher - he must have known what he was doing, the smart chelloveck), I decided, well, what the heck, let's just buy it. I have not regretted it...
This book (670 pages in full length) astounds one as to its vast, elegantly segmented, multi-facetted and easy-and-friendly-to-use approach.
Its lighthearted and friendly tone may even cheer you up on some of the traditionally more dramatic and gruesome themes. The freshness is envigorating and encouraging. What the author manages to do is to almost never ever make what is called an authoritative statement (in my humble opinion, such so-called "authoritative statements" can generally, if not most of the time, be considered as partial and personal views/vistas), but usually always manages to give an alternative view on a specific subject.
The end-result is a vast and multi-sourced overview, a mild although quite thorough presentation of a great amount of subjects attending the History of the Jewish People.
This book is something like a must for its extensive vastness. By never unduly and wryly scratching below the surface of things, it remains easy and friendly to use, even allowing and lending itself to some sporadic readings, enabling one to gain some sporadic insights and knowledge on a quite great variety of subjects.
Well, Easy-Reading does it, every time. And here, Joseph Telushkin seems to have done a marvelous job.
To sum it up, this book is a pleasure, deserves actually six stars, is highly recommended, for just every and anyone.
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Post Scriptum, a personal note (being human, I just can't avoid it): There is an almost exasperating tendency of many Jews to define Judaism and Jewishness in their very own terms and within their own (at times petty) referential system. Even an often subtle author such as Joseph Telushkin makes this mistake in this otherwise magnificent and extensive Magnum Opus that is "Jewish Literacy" when he states that the Satmar and the Neturei-Karta positions can by no means be regarded as significant of the Jewish people. How wrong... He then compares the Satmar and Neturei-Karta positions towards Zionism as analogous to that of the Christian sect of Virginia's Snake handlers, a mere fringe of each movement, both, in his own words totally insignificant. I believe that the author somehow errs in not seeing that both Virginia's snake handlers and the ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionist position are the views of sincere fundamentalists, that feel in no way entitled to disregard a significant portion of their Scriptural inheritance (Mark 16;16-18 and B.T. Ketouvot 111a, respectively). Such utterances attempting to define fundamentalist movements and tendencies as a mere fringe, are tantamount to imply that most Jews and most Christians have always been experts at comfortably following a religious herd of some sort. Far be it! If you need to be reassured as to the remaining vital strength of some of Judaism's proponents and exponents, get Aviezer Ravitzky's fascinating and incisive book "Messianism, Zionism and Jewish Religious Radicalism", where the sheer vast amount of diverse sources and positions (most of them unavailable in all but Hebrew) are in a position to satiate even the most information-hungry and avid enquirer of true facts (it may even appease your soul to see that the so-called "religious tree" is not yet fully dead and dry). Finally, I was surprised and somehow disappointed about the total omission of a rather great figure, and a no less great individual, namely that of Menachem Mendel of Kotsk. But since this is my sole substantial disappointment to the vast gathering of factual information contained in "Jewish Literacy", this detail probably just emphasizes my general level of satisfaction and happiness with this small but nonetheless vast and handy encyclopedia of Jewish history that constitutes Rabbi Joseph Telushkin's "Jewish Literacy".
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Title: Biblical Literacy : The Most Important People, Events, and Ideas of the Hebrew Bible by Joseph Telushkin ISBN: 0688142974 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 08 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Jewish Wisdom by Joseph Telushkin ISBN: 0688129587 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 21 October, 1994 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: The Book of Jewish Values : A Day-by-Day Guide to Ethical Living by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin ISBN: 0609603302 Publisher: Harmony/Bell Tower Pub. Date: 22 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Jewish Holidays by Michael Strassfeld ISBN: 0062720082 Publisher: HarperResource Pub. Date: 05 July, 1993 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Choosing a Jewish Life : A Handbook for People Converting to Judaism and for Their Family and Friends by Anita Diamant ISBN: 0805210954 Publisher: Schocken Books Pub. Date: 24 February, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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