Rating: 
Summary: Great book, if a trifle one-sided
Review: There is wonderful information in this book and it is one of the most readable and enjoyable reference books around. The only reason why I cannot give it the full five stars is because it starts to display obvious bias when it hits the modern era, especially the Israeli portions. One particularly telling chapter is Black-Jewish relations which paints Jews as civil rights martyrs and blacks as fierce anti-semites. Still it is one out of hundreds of chapters, and the rest of the book is amazing.
Rating:
Summary: must-have
Review: This book is a must-have reference for jewish homes and libraries. It is also a pleaseure to read.
Rating: 
Summary: An amazing journey into Judaism.
Review: Rabbi Telushkin's ability to present Judaism is unsurpassed. Reading this book from cover to cover enabled me to re-learn things I forgot, to learn things I should have known, and to give me a sense of my roots, both religious and historical. The book is extremely readable; it is intelligent, easy to understand, and is done with a sense of humor. I was so enthralled with this book that I have continued to study Jewish Wisdom and Biblical Literacy with Rabbi Telushkin's other books.
Rating:
Summary: Useful introductory reference
Review: When you're sitting around with friends and someone says "I wonder about...", this book is one to reach for. In a wide ranging set of short articles, Telushkin provides introductory information about Jewish religion, people and history. Each article is only a few paragraphs, so the reader can quickly gain an overview of the meaning and context of the idea. Other articles which relate to the idea you've looked up are referenced, so you can easily look up connected ideas. Although some concepts are either ignored or covered rather lightly, Rabbi Telushkin does a good job of covering most questions people ask about normative American Judaism and its history and culture. A useful introductory reference!!
Rating:
Summary: I consider this book to be an essential part of my library.
Review: This is a very user-friendly book for anyone interested in Judaism. I use it as one of my resources for weekly commentaries on Jewish and Christian scriptures for an on-line group. Telushkin uses stories and humor as well as factual data to illustrate concepts and traditions. Don't let the book's size throw you -- it's a marvelous compendium of information that's easy to use, thanks to a great index and a straightforward table of contents.
Rating:
Summary: Useful introductory reference
Review: When you're sitting around with friends and someone says "I wonder about...", this book is one to reach for. In a wide ranging set of short articles, Telushkin provides introductory information about Jewish religion, people and history. Each article is only a few paragraphs, so the reader can quickly gain an overview of the meaning and context of the idea. Other articles which relate to the idea you've looked up are referenced, so you can easily look up connected ideas. Although some concepts are either ignored or covered rather lightly, Rabbi Telushkin does a good job of covering most questions people ask about normative American Judaism and its history and culture. A useful introductory reference!!
Rating:
Summary: A very informative and enjoyable book.
Review: The entries on different topics concering the Jewish religion, faith and people are short and concise. Rabbi Telushkin follows each entry with a short footnote on his sources, which encourages the reader in reading further on the recently read passage.
Telushkin dealt very fairly and even handedly with controversial topics such as the differing branches of Judaism. He neither condones nor condemed; he explained in a very logical manner the differences in teaching and arguments among the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox congregants.
I would highly reccomend this book to anyone, born a Jew, converting, or the merely curious.
Rating:
Summary: Honoring my Teacher
Review: It is a Jewish maxim to pay honor and give credit to our teachers. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin has given me the ability to learn about and apprreciate Jewish history, religion and the wisdom of the Jewish ages and sages in a composite text which reads like a novel. I use Jewish Literacy as a resource for my own teaching and writing and am grateful that such a masterful book exists. Thank you Rabbi Telushkin!
Amy Hirshberg Lederman
Author, "To Life! Jewish Reflections on Everyday Living"
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding introductory guide
Review: Rabbi Joseph Telushkin is one of the outstanding teachers and writers of Judaism living and working today. He has succeeded in writing works that reach a very broad public, and touching many who know very little about their own Judaism. In this encyclopediac work he chooses around three- hundred and fifty subjects in various areas of Judaism such as the Jewish Bible, t Jewish history, the Holocaust, the History of Zionism and Israel, the Jewish calendar, the Jewish life cycle and writes a short essay on each subject. He is a very clear writer who is capable of using examples from everyday life to forcefully make his points. The work is intended to provide ' literacy' that is basic knowledge about Judaism and it does so on a very broad range of subjects. I believe there is no other writer on Judaism today except Rabbi Louis Jacobs who provides this kind of encyclopediac knowledge in such an insightful way. If you are someone just getting interested in Judaism this is a very good book for you. And if you are someone who knows ' something ' and wants to know even more this work is also recommended. As someone who has studied Judaism for years I find that reading such a work not only refreshes my knowledge but fills gaps that I have. So this is a good book also for the more learned especially when traditional Jewish learning often means to repeat and go over and learn again that which one has learned before.
Rating: 
Summary: A little faulty on what it says about Falashas
Review: The Falashas are Ethiopian Jews. Telushkin gives them credit for being real Jews. Real Jews need to be directly descended from the Semitic Twelve Tribes of Israel. We have genetic studies showing the Falashas are generally NOT descended from any of the Tribes of Israel. Their dna shows too massively a close connection with those of regular Ethiopians (who also aren't descended from the 12 Tribes). Telushkin wrote this book in 1991 (I guess) and around that time DNA studies were in their infancy and far less known than now. But the copy I read showed a 2001 revision. So is one to conclude that the Falashas's sections were also updated around 2001 (when DNA studies were much better well known)? If so then Telushkin's ignoring the recent genetic evidence (or was he just not keeping track of such vital dna studies?). He says at one point that some rabbi authorities still maintain the Falashas to be directly from the Lost Tribe of Dan. I completely agree. That some rabbis still think that! We have positive and strong genetic evidence showing that is not in anyway the case. And if Telushkin knew this he should have explained that. Falashas are descended fromn converts to Judaism who live over 2000 years ago not actual Jews.
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