Creating Judaism : history, tradition, practice
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Creating Judaism : history, tradition, practice
Columbia University Press, c2006
- : pbk.
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 307-324) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
How can we define "Judaism," and what are the common threads uniting ancient rabbis, Maimonides, the authors of the Zohar, and modern secular Jews in Israel? Michael L. Satlow offers a fresh perspective on Judaism that recognizes both its similarities and its immense diversity. Presenting snapshots of Judaism from around the globe and throughout history, Satlow explores the links between vastly different communities and their Jewish traditions. He studies the geonim, rabbinical scholars who lived in Iraq from the ninth to twelfth centuries; the intellectual flourishing of Jews in medieval Spain; how the Hasidim of nineteenth-century Eastern Europe confronted modernity; and the post-World War II development of distinct American and Israeli Jewish identities. Satlow pays close attention to how communities define themselves, their relationship to biblical and rabbinic texts, and their ritual practices. His fascinating portraits reveal the amazingly creative ways Jews have adapted over time to social and political challenges and continue to remain a "Jewish family."
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments Chronology Introduction 1. Promised Lands 2. Creating Judaism 3. Between Athens and Jerusalem 4. The Rabbis 5. Rabbinic Concepts 6. Mitzvot 7. The Rise of Reason 8. From Moses to Moses 9. Seeing God 10. East and West Epilogue: Whither Judaism? Glossary Bibliographical Notes Index
by "Nielsen BookData"
