An Introduction to Judaism: A Textbook and Reader / Edition 1

by Jacob Neusner

Overview

Judaism is an ancient religion, practiced through most of recorded history and having profound influence on both Christianity and Islam. It is a modern religion, too, still transforming the lives of many people. In this book, Jacob Neusner brings together these two aspects of the study of Judaism. He describes how Judaism is practiced in a particular time and place—America today—and surveys how Judaism took shape as people responded to political and religious crises. Neusner provides a wealth of primary texts in addition to his own analysis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780664253486
Publisher:	Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date:	02/01/1992
Edition description:	1st ed
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1320L (what's this?)

About the Author

Jacob Neusner is Distinguished Service Professor of the History and Theology of Judaism and Bard Center Fellow at the Bard College Institute of Advanced Theology in Annondale-on-Hudson, New York. He is the author of several books, including Judaism When Christianity Began, The Emergence of Judaism, and the popular textbook World Religions in America, all of which are available from WJK.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	A Word to the Student: Why Study Judaism?	xi
Part 1	The Jewish People: Judaism in the World Today
1.	Judaism at Home: Through the Year	3
	Grace after Meals	3
	The Passover Seder	8
2.	Judaism in the Family: Through the Cycle of Life	15
	The Rite of Circumcision	15
	The Bar or Bat Mitzvah	20
	The Marriage Ceremony	22
	Death and Burial	30
3.	Judaism in the Synagogue	37
	The World of the Synagogue: Daily Prayer	37
	Sabbaths of Creation, Festivals of Redemption	50
	The Days of Awe: Standing before God for Judgment	59
	Jewish Law and Learning: Halakhah and Study of the Torah	62
4.	How People Practice Judaism in America: The Jewish People and the Jewish Faith	69
	The Two Judaisms of America	69
	The Judaism of Home and Family	70
	The Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption	71
	Judaism at Home and Judaism in Public: The Civil Religion of American Jews	76
	Anthology for Part One The Jewish People: Judaism in the World Today
	Jack Wertheimer, Recent Trends in American Judaism	85
	Jacob Neusner, The Jewish Religious Experience in America: The Problem of Interpretation	117
Part 2	The Torah: Judaism in Holy Books and in History
5.	The Hebrew Scriptures of Ancient Israel: The Crisis Addressed by the Five Books of Moses	131
	Israel before Judaism: The Biblical Prelude	131
	The Yahwist's Judaism for an Imperial Israel, 950 B.C.E.	137
	Crisis and Resolution	141
	Event and Pattern	142
	The Model Judaism: The Priests' System for Israel after Exile and Return	145
	Sacred Perseverance and the Exegesis of the Everyday: Why the Priests' Judaic System of Sanctification Persisted	151
6.	The Beginning of Rabbinic Judaism: The Crisis Addressed by the Mishnah in 70 C.E.	157
	Pharisaism before, and Judaism after, 70 C.E.	157
	The Mishnah: History of Its System	163
	The Topical Program of the Mishnah	164
	The Mishnah's System as a Whole	167
	The Mishnah and Judaism	169
7.	The Mishnah	175
	Humanity in Crisis: What Can Israel Do?	175
	Women in the Mishnah	176
	Women: Yebamot, Chapter 10 (M. Yeb. 10:1-5)	178
	The Social Vision of the Mishnah	185
8.	The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: The Crisis Addressed by the Talmuds and the Midrash	193
	The Unfolding of the Mishnah's Tradition	193
	Systemic Changes in the Fourth Century: Canon, Symbol, Teleology	200
	The Crisis of the Fourth Century	207
9.	The Talmud of the Land of Israel, the Midrash, and the Talmud of Babylonia	211
	The Talmud of the Land of Israel	211
	The Midrash: Genesis Rabbah and Leviticus Rabbah	225
	The Talmud of Babylonia	235
	The Dual Torah: A Review. From the Mishnah through the Bavli	247
	Anthology for Chapters Six to Nine Rabbinic Judaism: Its Formative History and Holy Books
	Jacob Neusner, Deuteronomy and Sifre to Deuteronomy	257
10.	The Success of Rabbinic Judaism: From Ancient Times to the Nineteenth Century	269
	Why Judaism Triumphed amid Christianity and Islam	269
	A Judaism within Rabbinic Judaism: Hasidism	275
	Heresies against Rabbinic Judaism: Karaism versus the Oral Torah	279
	Heresies against Rabbinic Judaism: Sabbateanism versus the Sage-Messiah	284
	The Power and Pathos of Judaism	287
11.	The Advent of New Judaisms in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries	291
	The Fall of Judaism and the Rise of Judaisms	291
	A Judaism within Rabbinic Judaism: Reform	295
	Judaism within Rabbinic Judaism: Orthodoxy	300
	A Judaism outside of Rabbinic Judaism: Zionism	309
	Heresies outside of Judaism: Zionism	312
	Anthology for Chapters Ten and Eleven Rabbinic Judaism: Law, Philosophy, Mysticism, and Theology
	Isadore Twersky, The Shulhan Arukh: Enduring Code of Jewish Law	323
	Abraham J. Heschel, The Mystical Element in Judaism	339
	Emil L. Fackenheim, The Human Condition after Auschwitz	363
	Ben Halpern, The Jewish Consensus	375
Part 3	The Jewish People and the Torah
12.	Defining Judaism	385
	The Problem of Definition and How It Has Been Evaded	385
	Defining by Identifying an Integrating Symbol: "The Torah" as the Definition of Judaism	389
	A Review of the History of Judaism	392
	Anthology for Part Three How Encyclopedias Define Judaism
	Louis Jacobs, Judaism (Encyclopaedia Judaica)	405
	William Scott Green, Old Habits Die Hard: Judaism in The Encyclopedia of Religion	413
	A Word to the Teacher: Introducing Judaism	433
	Glossary	447
	Index	473

Editorial Reviews

In this textbook intended for the student and teacher of an introductory course in Judaism, Neusner describes how Judaism is practiced today in North America and surveys how Judaism took historical shape as people responded to political and religious crises. Includes many primary texts in addition to Neusner's analysis. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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