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The Jewish Cultural Tapestry: International Jewish Folk Traditions
Here, in one compact volume, is an illuminating survey of Jewish folkways on five continents. Filled with fascinating facts and keen insights, The Jewish Cultural Tapestry is a richly woven fabric that vividly captures the diversity of Jewish life.
All Jews are bound together by the common thread of the Torah and the Talmud, notes author Steven Lowenstein, but this thread takes on a different coloration in different parts of the world, as Jewish tradition and local non-Jewish customs intertwine. Lowenstein describes these widely varying
regional Jewish cultures with needlepoint accuracy, highlighting the often surprising similarities between Jewish and non-Jewish local traditions, and revealing why Jewish customs vary as much as they do from region to region. We visit the great Ashkenazic and Sephardic cultures of Europe and the
Mediterranean; the unique Jewish cultures of Iraq, Persia, Ethiopia and Yemen; the little-known cultures of the Bukharian Jews of Central Asia, the Cochin Jews of India, and the Kaifeng Jews of China. We read about regional religious practices, wedding ceremonies and marriage customs; different
traditions of Jewish music and Jewish dress; and the origins of Jewish names. Lowenstein also surveys Jewish cuisine around the world, offering easy-to-prepare traditional recipes, ranging from kugel and blintzes to Malawach from Yemen, T'beet from Iraq, Mina de Cordero from Turkey, and Passover
Soup from Uzbekistan.
From Europe to India, Israel to America, The Jewish Cultural Tapestry offers an engaging overview of the customs and folkways of a people united by tradition, yet scattered to the far corners of the earth. Packaged in an attractive large format, this beautifully illustrated volume would be a
meaningful gift for the holidays.
All Jews are bound together by the common thread of the Torah and the Talmud, notes author Steven Lowenstein, but this thread takes on a different coloration in different parts of the world, as Jewish tradition and local non-Jewish customs intertwine. Lowenstein describes these widely varying
regional Jewish cultures with needlepoint accuracy, highlighting the often surprising similarities between Jewish and non-Jewish local traditions, and revealing why Jewish customs vary as much as they do from region to region. We visit the great Ashkenazic and Sephardic cultures of Europe and the
Mediterranean; the unique Jewish cultures of Iraq, Persia, Ethiopia and Yemen; the little-known cultures of the Bukharian Jews of Central Asia, the Cochin Jews of India, and the Kaifeng Jews of China. We read about regional religious practices, wedding ceremonies and marriage customs; different
traditions of Jewish music and Jewish dress; and the origins of Jewish names. Lowenstein also surveys Jewish cuisine around the world, offering easy-to-prepare traditional recipes, ranging from kugel and blintzes to Malawach from Yemen, T'beet from Iraq, Mina de Cordero from Turkey, and Passover
Soup from Uzbekistan.
From Europe to India, Israel to America, The Jewish Cultural Tapestry offers an engaging overview of the customs and folkways of a people united by tradition, yet scattered to the far corners of the earth. Packaged in an attractive large format, this beautifully illustrated volume would be a
meaningful gift for the holidays.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published May 17, 2001
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About the author
Steven M. Lowenstein
16 booksSteven Lowenstein, scholar, teacher, and a writer was born in New York in 1945 into a family of German –Jewish refugees.
He received his master’s degree from the Princeton University in 1969 and went on earning doctorate degree from the Princeton University in 1972.
He taught at a number of universities, including Columbia University and Monmouth College, and worked as a researcher at YIVO and Leo Baeck Institute.
In the late 1970s Dr. Lowenstein moved to California where he is teaching Jewish history at the American Jewish University (formed from the University of Judaism and the Brandeis-Bardin Institute).
Beginning in the late 1970s Steven Lowenstein served as Isadore Levine Professor of Jewish History at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, California, USA.
He is the author of a large number of scholarly works, including The Jewish Cultural Tapestry: International Jewish Folk Traditions; The Berlin Jewish Community: Enlightenment, Family and Crisis, 1770-1830; and Frankfurt on the Hudson: The German-Jewish Community of Washington Heights, 1933-1983, Its structure and Culture.
He received his master’s degree from the Princeton University in 1969 and went on earning doctorate degree from the Princeton University in 1972.
He taught at a number of universities, including Columbia University and Monmouth College, and worked as a researcher at YIVO and Leo Baeck Institute.
In the late 1970s Dr. Lowenstein moved to California where he is teaching Jewish history at the American Jewish University (formed from the University of Judaism and the Brandeis-Bardin Institute).
Beginning in the late 1970s Steven Lowenstein served as Isadore Levine Professor of Jewish History at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, California, USA.
He is the author of a large number of scholarly works, including The Jewish Cultural Tapestry: International Jewish Folk Traditions; The Berlin Jewish Community: Enlightenment, Family and Crisis, 1770-1830; and Frankfurt on the Hudson: The German-Jewish Community of Washington Heights, 1933-1983, Its structure and Culture.
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