663 - An Introduction to Judaism: A Textbook and Reader

An Introduction to Judaism: A Textbook and Reader
By Jacob Neusner
Louisville, Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992. 476 pp. $24.95.

Author, editor, and translator of over three hundred books, and professor of Jewish studies in several universities for almost thirty years, Rabbi Jacob Neusner is uniquely qualified to construct an effective picture of Judaism, designed for the "Introduction to Judaism" Course in universities and seminaries.

Included in this comprehensive compilation are descriptions by the author of Judaism as a living religion in America today. He limns Judaism in the home, in the synagogue, and in the community-observances, rituals and holidays, as well as life cycle events, and the impact of the modern world, including the Holocaust and the birth of the State of Israel, on modern Jewish life.

Since it would be impossible to deal with American Jewish life without exploring the background from which it emerges historically, the author provides us with a full description of the central theological and literary sources of the present scene.

664 - An Introduction to Judaism: A Textbook and Reader

No important subject is ignored. All in all, we have a superb treatment of Judaism, which is an excellent beginner's source for the study of the parent religion of Western civilization.

Dov Peretz Elkins
The Jewish Center
Princeton, NJ.