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Summary: Judaism for Dummies
Review: This book is like a comprehensive encyclopedia about Judaism. It can be read from cover to cover or you can also look up information by subject. It's a great find!
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Summary: One Man's Opinion - You have to be careful
Review: This is an excellent idea for a book (probably stimulated by the discussions of "cultural literacy" in the late 1980s.) The author is a friend of and co-authored another book with Dennis Prager.There are a large number of essays in here (346 - evidentally a few more in the revised edition) with a good index and a very clear and detailed Table of Contents. But one important point to remember is that this is one man's take on things as well as one man's selection of things to include. It is possible to disagree, in smaller or lesser degree, with what is written here and anyone truly knowledgeable would have all sorts of comments to make. You might even find a few things half wrong and even all wrong especially if you get down to the paragraph level. And on the other hand, you might run across a few things you might agree with a lot. The more you know, the more you would probably find in here to disagree with. You could write little essays on this. However, this is not all bad. Magazine type opinion is easier to read and sometimes more informative than a newspaper article, and the freer someone probazbly fells to say this is the way HE sees things, the better. So it is true this could educate people. The book could almost certainly probably limit the degree to which somebody could be wrong - HOW wrong somebody could be. Just remember that the whole thing is to some degree,opinion. The big problem is it may not be clear from here where you have something that is more universally held and where it's more really his (or sometimes some other people's too) take on things. You wouldn't know what sorts of things he might even revise his opinion on in time. The more you know, the more you could benefit from this book - you can pick up facts and know they are probably facts and ignore the opinion while maybe somehow learning something from that too. The more ignorant you are, the more it would seem to be useful - or perhaps be useful in another way. Even to someone who knows a lot it's certainly a reasonably good collection of topics. Again, this is not the final word! It would be useful on any of these things to read and think and ask further. This book has been translated into Russian (copyrighted in year 2000) evidentally because it was considered a good, true, reference book.
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Summary: EXCELLENT Resource!
Review: I purchased this book both because I've been interested in Judaism for as long as I can remember, and I recently took and Intro to Judasim course at college. I found it to be an invauable resource, especially on topics presented and discussed in class that I felt I needed or wanted to learn more about. It also helped put me ahead of the game at times, when I would just flip through the pages, stopping on topics that interested me. If you're taking a college Judaism course, you may want to consider this book, even if it's not a set book for class. It's comprehensive while still remaining concise and interesting. I spent many hours reading this book and came away far more knowledgeable (and with an A in the class!).
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Summary: fantastic book
Review: Really informative. And you can read it in sections. Great judaism reference, indispensible!
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Summary: awesome: understanding Judaism helps w/ Christianity
Review: This book explained everything and anything you wanted to know abou Jewish faith, history, culture, politics, holidays. It started me on a spiritual quest and journey!
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Summary: PURE TELUSHKIN
Review: As always, Rabbi Telushkin informs, educates with wit and mastery! May I also suggest a wonderful gem called "A LITTLE JOY, A LITTLE OY!" for an extraordinary composite look at Jewry!
The calender is terrific, but we found we had to also buy the book, so we didn't lose information. Miriam Fertel
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Summary: Mixed bag: too much Telushkin, too many pages, not scholarly
Review: Telushkin's effort is mixed in its success. It wants to tell you the "most important things to know" about Judaism, but it's really far too long to succeed in that. So it's not really a book, it's more of an encylcopedia. It's good in that Telushkin limits himself to about 2 pages for each entry, but it's not really an encyclopedia because, like the vast majority of writers about Judaism, he can't resist talking about himself more than about his subject. The most common word in this tome is "I." He can't tell us about oppression without spending half the time with a personal anecdote about a visit to refuseniks in the Soviet Union. He can't tell us about Abraham without waxing reflective about what Abraham means to him. And here the book is at its worst: every entry informed less by scholarly approaches than by personal anecdotes and repeated conventional wisdom masking as "the facts." For example, why do we need an entry at the beginning on "Noah" that is a combination of treating Noah as if he really existed (though Telushkin knows better -- he just forgets to tell the reader) and Telushkin's homily on him? It would seem to me to serve the book's purpose better to start with "Genesis" itself as an entry, and to talk about ancient myth and oral tradition, how it's viewed by different Jews, and what epochs it's treating. I don't need Telushkin's private thoughts on what Noah means to him. It's a book, not his bar mitsva. That said, the book has some very useful entries, if not particularly scholarly. A good example is "Did the Jews Kill Jesus?" For someone with no previous background, Telushkin's entry is to the point, blaming the Romans. Still, one with more grounding in history and texts, would want more.
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Summary: A groundwork for understanding
Review: This encyclopedic tome is wonderfully readable, filled with fascinating insights for Jews and non-Jews. It's not a book to read in one sitting, but it is written so clearly and enjoyably that I have found myself picking it up frequently, reading through a half-dozen entries, and have gradually worked my way through the book. One of the things I like most about the book is how it mixes the familiar and unfamiliar; covering topics that I think I know about, confirming some of my recollection but pushing me to understand things in new ways. For example, in the discussion about the ten commandments, Telushkin discusses the significance of not taking god's name in vain -- he points out that this is generally misinterpreted. He posits that the appropriate interpretation is that the "shall not" refers to acting in the name of god when one is doing something ungodly (i.e. doing bad things while claiming to be a representative of god). This is, in a sense, "ranked" as worse than murder. I thought this was very eye-opening. I've found the combination of history, biography, religious studies, and Jewish trivia to be very good reading. Numerous times I've read a section and turned to my fiance with a "you've got to read this." My understanding of Judaism is definitely better for the reading, particularly Judaism in the context of a mostly Christian society. I highly recommend this book. (By the way, I bought this very cheaply in the discount section of a local bookstore, so you may want to look around before making your purchase. But it would be worth the full price, even if you can't find it for less.)
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Summary: A joy to read.
Review: Telushkin is gifted. He can write about the arcane while sounding so familiar. He is comfortable while being thorough. This book is not just for Jews looking at their heritage. We Christians need to explore the wealth of the that heritage. After all, the Jewish tradition forms the foundation for our own spiritual journey.
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Summary: A gentle initiation into Jewish learning for today
Review: Over the ages, lifelong study of Jewish history, traditions, texts, laws, ethics, and wisdom was deeply imbedded in Jewish communities, and the brightest stars of Jewish scholarship were accorded special respect. The larger purposes of this study can be thought of as twofold: first, instilling cohesion in a people who experienced disfavor by the majority; second, and most importantly, transmitting to these people ancient, yet continually perfected, ideals designed as a blueprint for living within the framework of righteousness, kindness, tolerance, and fairness. Because that culture of study, the transmission of this complex body of knowledge, has ceased to be a key part of huge sectors of Jewish life in America, many Jews are unfamiliar with, or have only the foggiest notion of, the terms and ideas which comprise Jewish concepts and directing principles. Into this void comes Rabbi Telushkin with Jewish Literacy. As has been stated repeatedly in these reviews, this book consists of short essays that are grouped according to broad topics touching on the Bible, Jewish history, ethics, traditions and holidays, etc. It doesn't pretend to be an in-depth examination of its subjects, nor does it want to be. Today's gap in learning is so wide that Rabbi Telushkin wants to lay out the basics in accessible language that don't go on beyond the likely span of attention, and in an easily comprehended format that doesn't overwhelm. Its organization also doesn't require reading from cover to cover. Jewish Literacy is a brilliant achievement. It takes real skill to distill complicated subjects, such as the Talmud, to their essence in concise, informative, readable language, but the Rabbi has managed to do just that. He also brings the reader into deep ideas with a delicate wit that includes anecdotes and jokes. Much of this book is useful to non-Jewish readers, too. The section on the Bible (what's known as the Old Testament) is edifying, and the discussion of ethics can appeal to anyone who wants to live a good life. Other topics, dealing with history and antisemitism, might help non-Jews understand something of what life has been for Jews down the centuries. As a quick reference on myriad subjects, Jewish Literacy is unsurpassed. As a means of showing non-Jews what it means to be Jewish, it might quiet some errors of judgment. And as a beacon of guidance, it is simply wonderful.
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