Understanding Judaism

What does the Torah say that makes it relevant to today? How can we understand the mitzvos? Why should I believe? Why be Jewish? What does a Jew have to do? Is science an enemy of Judaism?JEP has answers. For decades, the Jewish Education Prog

This is the first of two volumes of edited sermons spanning the greater part of the second half of the twentieth century, and the first major collection of sermons from a Liberal Jewish point ofview produced in Britain since Claude G. Montefiore's Truth in Religion of 1906. It combines forthrightly radical thinking with spirituality, love of Jewish tradition, and an abundance of carefully documented quotations from classical Jewish sources. This combination yields many fresh insights into the interpretation of Scripture, as examined in Part I, and the significance ofthe Jewish festivals dealt with in Part II, and brings out the relevance of both to present-day intellectual and social issues. Both Parts will be found to contain many original ideas, novel formulations, and occasional touches of humour.

Judaism is primarily a religion of actions rather than beliefs. When the Jewish people accepted God's covenant, they committed themselves first to obedience and practice, and then to striving to understand the message implicit in the Torah. In Understanding Judaism: The Basics of Deed and Creed, a perfect textbook for independent and classroom study, Rabbi Benjamin Blech presents a comprehensive explication of the Jewish faith. What does it meant to be a Jew? How does religion affect the ways in which Jewish people think and act? What are the basic concepts of Judaism? This volume answers these vital questions.

Understanding Judaism covers the history of Judaism and explores how the religion has evolved and expanded. Readers learn about the branches of Judaism, Jewish beliefs, and the influence Jews have had on the world. This title also discusses anti-Semitism Jews have faced, both today and during history. Features include a glossary, references, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

In this first original English contribution to the series, Marcus Braybrooke, a former director of the Council of Christians and Jews, introduces Judaism to a Christian audience.

This is the first of two volumes of edited sermons spanning the greater part of the second half of the twentieth century, and the first major collection of sermons from a Liberal Jewish point ofview produced in Britain since Claude G. Montefiore's Truth in Religion of 1906. It combines forthrightly radical thinking with spirituality, love of Jewish tradition, and an abundance of carefully documented quotations from classical Jewish sources. This combination yields many fresh insights into the interpretation of Scripture, as examined in Part I, and the significance ofthe Jewish festivals dealt with in Part II, and brings out the relevance of both to present-day intellectual and social issues. Both Parts will be found to contain many original ideas, novel formulations, and occasional touches of humour.

Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein show that, contrary to previous explanations, this transformation was driven not by anti-Jewish persecution and legal restrictions, but rather by changes within Judaism itself after 70 CE--most importantly, the rise of a new norm that required every Jewish male to read and study the Torah and to send his sons to school. Over the next six centuries, those Jews who found the norms of Judaism too costly to obey converted to other religions, making world Jewry shrink. Later, when urbanization and commercial expansion in the newly established Muslim Caliphates increased the demand for occupations in which literacy was an advantage, the Jews found themselves literate in a world of almost universal illiteracy. From then forward, almost all Jews entered crafts and trade, and many of them began moving in search of business opportunities, creating a worldwide Diaspora in the process.