Judaism is a monotheistic religion with a history of over 3,500 years. 'Defining Judaism' illustrates the range of theoretical and practical issues required for comparative and historical study of the faith. The texts range from historical attempts to define individual 'Jews' to imagining Judaism as a religion like other religions, to modern and post-modern attempts to decentre these earlier definitions. The reader brings together a wide range of essays from influential scholars of ancient and contemporary Judaism to attempt a full picture of Judaism that will be of interest to all those involved in the study of religion.

This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.

Defining Israel: The Jewish State, Democracy, and the Law is the first book in any language devoted to the controversial passage of Israel's nation-state law. Israel has no constitution, and though it calls itself the Jewish state there is no agreement among Israelis on how that fact should be reflected in the government's laws or by its courts. Since the 1990s a number of civil society groups and legislators have drafted constitutions and proposed Basic Laws with constitutional standing that would clarify what it means for Israel to be a "Jewish and democratic state." Are these bills liberal or chauvinist? Are they a defense of the Knesset or an attack on the independence of the courts? Is their intention democratic or anti-democratic? The fight over the nation-state law-whether to have one and what should be in it-toppled the 19th Knesset's governing coalition and, even after its passage on July 29, 2018, remains a point of contention among Israel's lawmakers and increasingly the Israeli public. Defining Israel brings together influential scholars, journalists, and politicians, observers and participants, opponents and proponents, Jews and Arabs, all debating the merits and meaning of Israel's nation-state law. Together with translations of each draft law, the final law, and other key documents, the essays and sources in Defining Israel are essential to understand the ongoing debate over what it means for Israel to be a Jewish and democratic state.

A new approach to understanding Jewish thought since the eighteenth century Is Judaism a religion, a culture, a nationality—or a mixture of all of these? In How Judaism Became a Religion, Leora Batnitzky boldly argues that this question more than any other has driven modern Jewish thought since the eighteenth century. This wide-ranging and lucid introduction tells the story of how Judaism came to be defined as a religion in the modern period—and why Jewish thinkers have fought as well as championed this idea. Ever since the Enlightenment, Jewish thinkers have debated whether and how Judaism—largely a religion of practice and public adherence to law—can fit into a modern, Protestant conception of religion as an individual and private matter of belief or faith. Batnitzky makes the novel argument that it is this clash between the modern category of religion and Judaism that is responsible for much of the creative tension in modern Jewish thought. Tracing how the idea of Jewish religion has been defended and resisted from the eighteenth century to today, the book discusses many of the major Jewish thinkers of the past three centuries, including Moses Mendelssohn, Abraham Geiger, Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, Zvi Yehuda Kook, Theodor Herzl, and Mordecai Kaplan. At the same time, it tells the story of modern orthodoxy, the German-Jewish renaissance, Jewish religion after the Holocaust, the emergence of the Jewish individual, the birth of Jewish nationalism, and Jewish religion in America. More than an introduction, How Judaism Became a Religion presents a compelling new perspective on the history of modern Jewish thought.

From the Books of Enoch, Jackson identifies a paradigm of order as opposed to deviation, which defined orthodoxy and elect identity in a manner which was absolutely exclusive. Over 300 years "Enochic Judaism" developed three working models within this paradigm to explain their worldview and its implications. These three models concerned 1) the fall of the angels under Shemikhazah (ethnic purity); 2) the revealing of secrets under the leadership of 'Aza'el (cultural purity); and 3) the going astray of the cosmos through the sin of the angels who govern its phenomena (liturgical purity). Jackson examines the way in which this tradition was developed within the Dead Sea Scrolls literature and notes its acceptance as authentic and authoritative within the so-called sectarian literature in particular.

Can someone be considered Jewish if he or she never goes to synagogue, doesn't keep kosher, and for whom the only connection to his or her ancestral past is attending an annual Passover seder? In Religion or Ethnicity? fifteen leading scholars trace the evolution of Jewish identity. The book examines Judaism from the Greco-Roman age, through medieval times, modern western and eastern Europe, to today. Jewish identity has been defined as an ethnicity, a nation, a culture, and even a race. Religion or Ethnicity? questions what it means to be Jewish. The contributors show how the Jewish people have evolved over time in different ethnic, religious, and political movements. In his closing essay, Gitelman questions the viability of secular Jewishness outside Israel but suggests that the continued interest in exploring the relationship between Judaism's secular and religious forms will keep the heritage alive for generations to come.

Hebrew-English Torah: The Five books of Moses is a Study Edition of the traditional Masoretic text, placed next to the classic "word-for-word" Jewish translation; it features the most authoritative Hebrew text -- based on the Leningrad Codex and complete with cantillation marks, vocalization and verse numbers. The large format and the use of good paper are part of the design to allow a diligent Torah student to write on margins for more efficient learning. This printed edition comes with a free downloadable PDF edition of the title provided by Varda Books upon presenting to it the proof of purchase.

This brief introduction to Judaism is designed to help readers understand this important religious tradition. With both nuance and balance, this text provides broad coverage of various forms of Judaism with an arresting layout with rich colors. It offers both historical overviews and modern perspectives on Jewish beliefs and practices. The user-friendly content is enhanced by charts of religious festivals, historic timelines, updated maps, and a useful glossary. It is ideal for courses on Judaism and will be a useful, concise reference for all readers eager to know more about this important religious tradition and its place in our contemporary world.

Scholars have questioned every aspect of the story of Mattathias in 1 Maccabees; the revisionist narrative turns Mattathias and his Maccabees from the heroes of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah and idealistic fighters for religious freedom, into merely ambitious men who ruthlessly strove for power and usurped the high priesthood of Judaea. Dr. Benjamin Edidin Scolnic takes a fresh, unbiased approach to every element of the story: the incident at Mode n, Mattathias's priestly credentials and their implications for his beliefs, the meaning of personal ambition and the greater ambition to create the Jewish kingdom promised by the sacred biblical texts, the meaning of circumcision in his time, and the decision to fight on the Sabbath. Mattathias's actions of zealous violence, as controversial as they were in both his day and as they often are seen today, were primarily for the preservation of his religion and people. Dr. Scolnic asserts that it was Mattathias who defined Judaism and Jewishness for his time.

What are the "meta-values" of Judaism? Jewish tradition is rich with analysis of every topic imaginable, from major philosophical issues like belief in God and questions of good and evil, to detailed analyses about the finer points of Jewish practice. However it sometimes goes unnoticed that many Rabbis of the Talmud and Midrash have sought to explore how those sets of practices and beliefs cohere into a whole as a unit. The Great Principle of the Torah comes to analyze several of those claims and how the traditional and modern commentators interpreted those positions. This volume explores how those values interconnect, as well as their points of divergence. It is the ideal book for someone who is looking for a big picture perspective on what Judaism represents, as well as seeking to understand the rich diversity of opinion within the authentic Jewish tradition.