Judaism Today: An Introduction

by Dan Cohn-Sherbok

Overview

For nearly four millennia Judaism was essentially a unified religious system based on shared traditions. Despite the emergence of various sub-groups through the centuries such as the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Karaites, Shabbateans and Hasadim, Jewry was united in the belief in a providential God who had chosen the Jews as his special people and given them a code of law.

In the modern period, however, the Jewish religion has fragmented into a series of separate denominations with competing ideologies and theological views. Despite the creation of the State of Israel, the Jewish people are deeply divided concerning the most fundamental issues of belief and practice.

Judaism Today gives an account of the nature of traditional Judaism, provides an introduction to the various divisions that currently exist in the Jewish world and identifies and discusses contemporary issues with which the Jewish faith engages in the twenty-first century. This refreshing new approach focuses on how Judaism is actually perceived and practised by Jews themselves and the problems currently facing Jews worldwide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826422316
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/22/2010
Series:	Religion Today
Pages:	191
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Rabbi Professor Dan Cohn-Sherbok has a Ph.D. in theology from Cambridge University, UK, and an honorary doctorate in divinity from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, USA. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Judaism, University of Wales: Honorary Professor, University of Aberstwyth: Visiting Professor at St Mary's University College and York St John University; and Visiting Research Fellow at Heythrop College, University of London. He has written numerous books, including The Paradox of Anti-Semitism, Dictionary of Jewish Biography," Atlas of Jewish History, Modern Judaism and Judaism Today."

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction: The Historical Background 1

1 The Basics 19

2 The Enlightenment and Modern Jewish Life 42

3 The Holocaust and the State of Israel 61

4 Modern Jewish Movements 88

5 Modern Challenges to Judaism 110

6 The Future of Judaism 134

Appendix: Jews Worldwide 161

Notes 170

Select Readings 175

Index 177

Editorial Reviews

"A remarkably comprehensive account, aimed at both the lay reader and the expert, of Judaism today. It covers religious, historical, and cultural trends and events with clarity. Some of Professor Cohn-Sherbok's views about the future of Judaism are sure to be controversial, but they are always based in remarkable learning." - Professor William D. Rubinstein, University of Aberystwyth, UK

The final chapter was published in The Jewish Chronicle, 21 June, 2010.

From the Publisher