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Cultures of the Jews #1
Cultures of the Jews, Volume 1: Mediterranean Origins
Scattered over much of the world throughout most of their history, are the Jews one people or many? How do they resemble and how do they differ from Jews in other places and times? What have their relationships been to the cultures of their neighbors? To address these and similar questions, some of the finest scholars of our day have contributed their insights to Cultures of the Jews , a winner of the National Jewish Book Award upon its hardcover publication in 2002.
Constructing their essays around specific cultural artifacts that were created in the period and locale under study, the contributors describe the cultural interactions among different Jews–from rabbis and scholars to non-elite groups, including women–as well as between Jews and the surrounding non-Jewish world. What they conclude is that although Jews have always had their own autonomous traditions, Jewish identity cannot be considered the fixed product of either ancient ethnic or religious origins. Rather, it has shifted and assumed new forms in response to the cultural environment in which the Jews have lived.
Mediterranean Origins , the first volume in Cultures of the Jews , describes the concept of the “People” or “Nation” of Israel that emerges in the Hebrew Bible and the culture of the Israelites in relation to that of neighboring Canaanite groups. It also discusses Jewish cultures in Babylonia, in Palestine during the Greco-Roman and Byzantine periods, and in Arabia during the formative years of Islam.
Constructing their essays around specific cultural artifacts that were created in the period and locale under study, the contributors describe the cultural interactions among different Jews–from rabbis and scholars to non-elite groups, including women–as well as between Jews and the surrounding non-Jewish world. What they conclude is that although Jews have always had their own autonomous traditions, Jewish identity cannot be considered the fixed product of either ancient ethnic or religious origins. Rather, it has shifted and assumed new forms in response to the cultural environment in which the Jews have lived.
Mediterranean Origins , the first volume in Cultures of the Jews , describes the concept of the “People” or “Nation” of Israel that emerges in the Hebrew Bible and the culture of the Israelites in relation to that of neighboring Canaanite groups. It also discusses Jewish cultures in Babylonia, in Palestine during the Greco-Roman and Byzantine periods, and in Arabia during the formative years of Islam.
355 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 20, 2015
This book strength is also it's weakness: it is a collection of disparate essays from various authors, not a coherent presentation of Jewish history. On the one hand that provides an opportunity to present multiple viewpoints that one author or a strongly edited book wouldn't. On the other hand there are huge gaps in the story (nothing on Alexandrian Jewry for which we have written contemporaneous sources - Philo anyone?), annoying inconsistencies in terminology and vast differences in quality, depth and interest between chapter to chapter.
So one of the worst chapters is that on the Biblical period - it's more a hermeneutic interpretation of the bible rather than a cultural history of the period based on archeological evidence. You won't find any judgement here on the historical veracity of the Bible. The last chapter on Arabian Jewry is equally mediocre although from almost the opposite extreme: it takes Quranic & Hadith accounts of early Islam & Arabia almost as canonical history & tries to understand Arabian Jewry based on that (false) assumption. Having read Tom Holland's amazing book on this period, I can't take that chapter too seriously.
The best chapters were the ones on the Second Temple, Roman rule, and Babylonian Jewry. Lots of interesting insights and new ideas.
While understanding the structure, is it too much to ask that Biale do some editing to ensure consistency of terminology - like the anachronistic use of the name Palestine to describe the area can drive you crazy - why would a historian not use contemporaneous names? Plus the fact that the introduction and conclusion are from the one volume edition with nothing specific to each subdivision makes you wonder besides finding the authors, and writing a few pages, what does it mean that Biale was the editor?
The book also assumes that you know quite a bit of both the history of the Jews and of Judaism. While this project was originally intended to be a definitive and modern history of Judaism for an educated audience of non- scholars, that book stills need to be written. The closest and best (although it's outdated and sadly out of print) that comes close is Daniel Jeremy Silver's History of Judaism.
After a break I'll move on to Volume 2. Hopefully with more sources, the quality will improve.
PS my comment below is really an earlier and less well edited version of this review.I clicked on wrong thingee and it didn't a comment instead of a review. So yes, you can skip it.
So one of the worst chapters is that on the Biblical period - it's more a hermeneutic interpretation of the bible rather than a cultural history of the period based on archeological evidence. You won't find any judgement here on the historical veracity of the Bible. The last chapter on Arabian Jewry is equally mediocre although from almost the opposite extreme: it takes Quranic & Hadith accounts of early Islam & Arabia almost as canonical history & tries to understand Arabian Jewry based on that (false) assumption. Having read Tom Holland's amazing book on this period, I can't take that chapter too seriously.
The best chapters were the ones on the Second Temple, Roman rule, and Babylonian Jewry. Lots of interesting insights and new ideas.
While understanding the structure, is it too much to ask that Biale do some editing to ensure consistency of terminology - like the anachronistic use of the name Palestine to describe the area can drive you crazy - why would a historian not use contemporaneous names? Plus the fact that the introduction and conclusion are from the one volume edition with nothing specific to each subdivision makes you wonder besides finding the authors, and writing a few pages, what does it mean that Biale was the editor?
The book also assumes that you know quite a bit of both the history of the Jews and of Judaism. While this project was originally intended to be a definitive and modern history of Judaism for an educated audience of non- scholars, that book stills need to be written. The closest and best (although it's outdated and sadly out of print) that comes close is Daniel Jeremy Silver's History of Judaism.
After a break I'll move on to Volume 2. Hopefully with more sources, the quality will improve.
PS my comment below is really an earlier and less well edited version of this review.I clicked on wrong thingee and it didn't a comment instead of a review. So yes, you can skip it.
June 2, 2009
Chapters by different authors, rather disparate in focus, though chronologically organised. Reminds me in that way of Ariès's 5 volume History of Private Life. Best chapter so far -- this is only volume 1, after all -- on Arabian Judaism in the early days of Islam.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews