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4th out of 6 books
—
3 voters
Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know about the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History
"How much do you know about Judaism?"How did the Ten Lost Tribes become lost ? Are circumcisions performed on the Sabbath ? Which country first granted Jews equal rights ?When was polygamy outlawed for Jews ? Why does Jewish law compare gossiping to murder ? You'll find the answers to these questions -- and much more -- in this insightful and comprehensive guide. Written b...more
Hardcover, 784 pages
Published
April 26th 1991
by William Morrow & Company
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"How much do you know about Judaism?"How did the Ten Lost Tribes become lost ? Are circumcisions performed on the Sabbath ? Which country first granted Jews equal rights ?When was polygamy outlawed for Jews ? Why does Jewish law compare gossiping to murder ? You'll find the answers to these questions -- and much more -- in this insightful and comprehensive guide. Written by esteemed rabbi and bestselling author Joseph Telushkin, "Jewish Literacy" has become one of the most respected and widely u...more
I'm not one to rate books. I definitely wouldn't recommend this book to everyone. It's not a fun read. It's not absorbing. I would recommend it for one reason: It is what it claims to be. The book is, for the most part, without bias. The beginning is a clear, understandable summary of the Hebrew Bible. It moves on to discuss history and tradition. I began to study Judaism just over a year ago and this book was instrumental in enabling me to move quickly through "the basics". I highly recommend i...more
This is an amazing book. In the past I'd used it for study but only read assigned pages. I'd also used it for reference. Since whatever I read was so interesting and educational, I finally decided to read it cover to cover. I learned SO much. It's not for in-depth knowledge with its chapters of 2-3 pages or less. But enough to know at least a little bit about almost every Jewish topic of import regarding history, theology, tradition, modern Jewish issues, important Jews and Jewish scholars, the...more
I appreciate the usefulness of an encyclopedia of Judaism, but I can't get over the inflammatory statements (such as, 'Muslims like to build temples on the destroyed temples of other religions' or categorizing all antizionist jews as self-hating, and categorizing all antizionist gentiles as antisemitic). I felt the term antisemitic was thrown around fairly easily while at the same time making wild generalizations about non-Jewish groups. I am irreligious so I prefer an objective POV for these so...more
Rabbi Telushkin's Jewish Literacy is intended to serve as a general introduction to Judaism and Jewish culture and history. It performs more than admirably as such an introduction. Telushkin's prose is simple and elegant and capable of delivering large amounts of information with little wasted verbiage. His style is engaging as well as informative. This is no dry Judaism 101 textbook. Telushkin clearly has a love for this work and it comes through in his writing. He has an academic's grasp of th...more
Written by a rabbi for Jews hoping to understand more about their own cultural, historical, and religious background, but accessible to anyone, and I found it a fascinating read for a layman with a mostly Christian-inflected upbringing. Full of little nuggets that are often underplayed in a Christian education, like the deep roots of the supposedly Christian Golden Rule in Jewish writings (Leviticus) and teachings (Rabbi Hillel).
Really interesting for the first 600 pages. Har har.
Exactly what I was looking for in terms of a book on a religion - it's essentially a narrative encyclopedia about Judaism. Goes through the Bible, religious texts, historical periods, and then contemporary practice and custom (the last bit I skimmed through). It picks out events, people, ideas, and places that you should know about to have some sort of literacy when thinking about Judaism (and by extension, good parts of Christianity, Islam, a...more
Exactly what I was looking for in terms of a book on a religion - it's essentially a narrative encyclopedia about Judaism. Goes through the Bible, religious texts, historical periods, and then contemporary practice and custom (the last bit I skimmed through). It picks out events, people, ideas, and places that you should know about to have some sort of literacy when thinking about Judaism (and by extension, good parts of Christianity, Islam, a...more
Interesting reading about history and culture from a Jewish perspective. I like to look at things from another person's point of view - the different take on not taking the Lords name in vain was new to me, as well as some of the different Jewish sects and the background on the Talmud. There were a lot of words that I haven't ever heard and I wouldn't know how to pronounce them, so a lot of it won't stick with me.
I re-read this entire book or sections of it every year. It's written so that you can learn a little bit about the most important things in the Jewish religion from the Tanach to Ethics to History to famous people to rituals. It's fascinating and since there's only 1-3 pages on each topic, you can get a quick update on any topic
A well-set volume spanning a broad range of religious and cultural history. I had no idea that one of my favorite authors, H. Hesse, recommended Martin Buber for a Nobel Prize in Literature, or that Buber and Franz Rosenzweig collaborated on a new Bible translation from Hebrew to German, no small feat I imagine.
Rabbi Telushkin's books are always welcomed on my nightstand, as his writing style is unassuming, eloquent, yet basic. This book serves almost as an anthology to all things Jewish, which is great for non-Jews to learn "why they do that?" for a variety of holidays, events, customs, tenets, etc.
Considering Christianity is founded on many principles of Judaism, I think this book should be explored more by Christians than those of our own faith. This book certainly is written to assume that the audi...more
Considering Christianity is founded on many principles of Judaism, I think this book should be explored more by Christians than those of our own faith. This book certainly is written to assume that the audi...more
This is such an enjoyable and educational book! It is full of wise stories and insights about the Bible and Jewish life that will profit everyone who reads it. The Rabbbi is a gifted writer and exteemly knowledgeable.
The book is devided into a page or two chapters that are easy and pleasant reading. Every page brings new information or a slant on things I had never considered.
There are Christians who avoid what they call the OT believing it has little to do with them. But, we are Judeo Chrisit...more
The book is devided into a page or two chapters that are easy and pleasant reading. Every page brings new information or a slant on things I had never considered.
There are Christians who avoid what they call the OT believing it has little to do with them. But, we are Judeo Chrisit...more
This will be on my "currently reading" list for some time. Fat book filled with great Jewish histories. I keep it on my nightstand and read a story from it just about every night. This one will be one I keep.
This books is a good survey of Judaism. Not a deep-dive by any means, Telushkin gives 1-3 pages of explanation per topic in this 600 pg nonfiction. An excellent reference guide for the beginner.
I often take Rabbi Telushkin (especially his political and halakic positions) with a large grain or two of salt, but this book is a treasure trove of information that I turn to often.
For a non-Jew with a Jewish family, this book was invaluable. Lots of interesting info. We've given it to lots of Bar and Bat Mitzvot for their life collections.
Sep 23, 2010
Craig J.
added it
"Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History by Joseph Telushkin (1991)"
For a Boychik, raised as a Catholic, who's heart was called back to HaShem, this book began to sate the thirst for a knowledge he needs.
Concise and thorough. Everything you'd ever want to know about Jewish life. Kind of academic and not as readable as other jewish authors.
Ah, so while Diamont's book helped me decide how to be a Jew, this one made me want to study!
This book explained so much to me about my western Christian culture.
I'm finished! Other than the Bible, this is the longest (670 pages) book I've ever read. But it didn't seem tedious at all, as the format is chapters that are only 1-2 pages long. This was a great bed-time book for me to get up to speed on a huge variety of Jewish issues. You don't have to have mental energy for a regular length chapter or any complex paragraphs. It has short blurbs on famous people, events, or cultural realities. Overall, a great way to feel the ethos of the Jewish world that w...more
Great for all those "I should know this" moments!!
actually probably unlikely ever to stop reading this...
A good survey, not profound, but interesting.
Great, great resource
Rabbi Telushkin gives a very informative overview of what he feels we should know about our history. It is an interesting, fun read.
Love it
The short chapters on Jewish essentials make this a quick and easy book to read. Chapters are backed by scholarly references and historic anecdotes. It is best used as a reference guide.
This book isn't an absorbing read, but it is exactly as advertised. This book is, cover-to-cover, an overview of all of the important elements of Judaism. I found it an invaluable resource in my journey through conversion to Judaism, and found the references within it even more helpful. Telushkin has written or collaborated on other books about Judaism, and I would recommend those as reference and resource books as well.
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Associate of CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.
Ordained at Yeshiva University and Rabbi Telushkin pursued graduate studies in Jewish history at Columbia University.
More about Joseph Telushkin...
Ordained at Yeshiva University and Rabbi Telushkin pursued graduate studies in Jewish history at Columbia University.
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