The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture

by Judith R. Baskin, Kenneth Seeskin

Overview

The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture is a comprehensive and engaging overview of Jewish life, from its origins in the ancient Near East to its impact on contemporary popular culture. The twenty-one essays, arranged historically and thematically, and written specially for this volume by leading scholars, examine the development of Judaism and the evolution of Jewish history and culture over many centuries and in a range of locales. They emphasize the ongoing diversity and creativity of the Jewish experience. Unlike previous anthologies, which concentrate on elite groups and expressions of a male-oriented rabbinic culture, this volume also includes the range of experiences of ordinary people and looks at the lives and achievements of women in every place and era. The many illustrations, maps, timeline, and glossary of important terms enhance this book’s accessibility to students and general readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521689748
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/12/2010
Series:	Comprehensive Surveys of Religion
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	558
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Judith R. Baskin is Knight Professor of Humanities and Associate Dean for Humanities at the University of Oregon. Her books include Midrashic Women: Formations of the Feminine in Rabbinic Literature and Pharaoh's Counselors: Job, Jethro, and Balaam in Rabbinic and Patristic Tradition, and she is editor of Jewish Women in Historical Perspective and Women of the Word: Jewish Women and Jewish Writing. She also served as sub-editor for post-biblical entries for The Torah: A Women's Commentary, which received the National Jewish Book Awards 2008 Jewish Book of the Year.

Kenneth Seeskin is Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor of Jewish Civilization at Northwestern University. He is the author of Maimonides on the Origin of the World, which was selected by Choice as one of the outstanding books in the humanities for 2006, and Searching for a Distant God: The Legacy of Maimonides, which won the Koret Jewish Book Award in 2000; he is also editor of The Cambridge Companion to Maimonides. He has received several teaching awards, including the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence at Northwestern University, Illinois.

Date of Death:

October 13, 1996

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables vii

List of Maps x

Contributors xi

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction Judith R. Baskin Kenneth Seeskin 1

1 The Hebrew Bible and the Early History of Israel Marc Zvi Brettler 6

2 The Second Temple Period Alan F. Segal 34

3 The Rabbinic Movement Hayim Lapin 58

4 The Jewish Experience in the Muslim World Norman A. Stillman 85

5 Jewish Life in Western Christendom Robert Chazan 113

6 Jewish and Judaism in Early Modern Europe Adam Shear 140

7 European Jewry: 1800-1933 Marsha L. Rozenblit 169

8 Jews and Judaism in the United States Pamela S. Nadell 208

9 The Shoah and Its Legacies Peter Hayes 233

10 The Founding of Modern Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Bernard Reich 258

11 Judaism as a Religious System Harvey E. Goldberg 288

12 The Centrality of Talmud Michael S. Berger 311

13 Jewish Worship and Liturgy Ruth Langer 337

14 Jewish Private Life: Gender, Marriage, and the Lives of Women Judith R. Baskin 357

15 Jewish Philosophy Kenneth Seeskin 381

16 Jewish Mysticism Hava Tirosh-Samuelson 399

17 Modern Jewish Thought Leora Batnitzky 424

18 Contemporary Forms of Judaism Dana Evan Kaplan 445

19 Jewish Popular Culture Jeffrey Shandler 465

20 Aspects of Israeli Society Judith R. Baskin 486

21 The Future of World Jewish Communities Calvin Goldscheider 494

Glossary 511

Timeline 519

Index 523