Books like Jewish literacy by Joseph Telushkin

A concise, 20‑year‑spanning survey of Jewish history, from its ancient origins to the modern State of Israel, exploring how religious teachings, cultural resilience, and global events have shaped the Jewish people.

Presents the first major code of Jewish ethics to be written in English, offering examples from the Torah, the Talmud, rabbinic commentaries, and modern stories to show how ethical teachings can influence daily behavior.

A rabbi introduces Gentiles to the origins, doctrines, traditions, practices, laws, institutions, and beliefs of the Jewish religion.

While on vacation, Rabbi Small's investigation into the magic, the mysticism, the truths, and the fables of the world's oldest religion begin when a girl appears and asks to be converted to Judaism.

* Why do Jews eat gefilte fish? * Why is a glass broken at the end of a Jewish wedding ceremony? * Why must the chapter of curses in the Torah be read quickly in a low voice? * Why are shrimp and lobster not kosher? * Why do Jews fast on Yom Kippur? * Why are some Matzot square while others are round? If you’ve ever asked or been asked any of these questions, The Jewish Book of Why has all the answers. In this complete, concise, fascinating, and thoroughly informative guide to Jewish life and tradition, Rabbi Alfred J. Kolatch clearly explains both the significance and the origin of nearly every symbol, custom, and practice known to Jewish culture-from Afikomon to Yarmulkes, and from Passover to Purim. Kolatch also dispels many of the prevalent misconceptions and misunderstandings that surround Jewish observance and provides a full and unfettered look at the biblical, historical, and sometimes superstitious reasons and rituals that helped develop Jewish law and custom and make Judaism not just a religion, but a way of life. L’chaim!

Synopsis: The last two centuries have witnessed a radical transformation of Jewish life. Marked by such profound events as the emancipation from the ghettoes of Europe, the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel, Judaism's long journey through the modern age has been a complex and tumultuous one, leading many Jews to ask themselves not only where they have been and where they are going, but what it means to be a Jew in today's world. Tracing the dramatic changes in Jewish religion, culture, and identity from the seventeenth century to the present, The Jew in the Modern World, Third Edition, remains the most complete sourcebook on modern Jewish history available. Now thoroughly expanded and updated, this critically acclaimed volume of primary materials features previously unpublished and inaccessible sources concerning the Jewish experience in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa; women in Jewish history; American Jewish life; the Holocaust; and Zionism and the nascent Jewish community in Palestine on the eve of the establishment of the State of Israel. The documents are arranged chronologically in each chapter and are meticulously and extensively annotated and cross-referenced. Providing useful tables detailing Jewish demographic trends, this unique text is ideal for courses in modern Jewish history, Zionism and Israel, the Holocaust, or modern European history. New to this Edition: Over 100 new documents address important issues to understanding modern Jewish history, including the status of women, and debates between traditional and secular Jews and the role of Zionism in modern Jewish life; Two entirely new chapters-Chapter 8, "Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewry," and Chapter 12, "Jewish Identity Challenged and Redefined"--Enhance the book's scope and chronology; Four new maps show the concentration of Jews throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East. The Appendix has been completely updated with the latest population figures.

"In The Woman Who Laughed at God, author Jonathan Kirsch takes us on a journey through Jewish history, and offers fresh and surprising answers to the provocative question "Who is a Jew?" Today, the Jewish world is divided by differences in faith and practice - but Kirsch's illuminating work reveals that Judaism has never been a strict and narrow orthodoxy. For every accepted tradition in Jewish faith there are countertraditions rooted in biblical antiquity. Diversity, Kirsch shows, is a core value of Judaism."--BOOK JACKET.

"Sigmund Freud once wrote of Jewish jokes: "I do not know whether there are many other instances of a people making fun to such a degree of its own character." Why this should be so is the subject of Jewish Humor, an erudite, opinionated, and hilarious examination of comedy as the mirror of culture, woven around more than a hundred of the best Jewish jokes - some classic, some newly minted - ever compiled." "The jokes are analyzed by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, a well-known authority on Jewish life who is as celebrated for his wit as for his scholarship. Through humor, Telushkin identifies the keystones of Jewish character: family love and torments; relations with God; the push of antisemitic oppression and the pull of assimilation; chutzpah and its flip side, self-denigration; the love of learning, the passion for arguing, the commitment to justice - and others. The specific issues Telushkin addresses include how Jews cope with persecution and discrimination (read how the most common antisemitic canard is punctured on page 107); how Jews view money and financial success (for the funny, shorthand version, see page 34); what Jews think about sex (there's a complex of jokes on pages 86-97); how Jews see rabbis and other religious leaders (the truth is bared on pages 149-159); what Jews think about violence (the one kind they like appears on pages 97-104); what Jews think about assimilation and intermarriage with non-Jews (take a guess or take a look at pages 125-145); and how Jews see other Jews (judge by the joke on page 82)." "Insightful, sometimes stinging, and always funny, Jewish Humor offers no less than a portrait of the Jewish collective unconscious. It is destined to become the classic work on the subject."--Jacket.

Jacob Neusner examines how Holocaust memories and the establishment of Israel shape the identity and cultural myths of American Jews.

Using the Bible and Talmud, this book is a manual on how to lead a decent, kind, and honest life in a morally complicated world.

"An introductory textbook that examines how Jews are a culture, ethnicity, nation, nationality, race, and religion. With each chapter revolving around a single theme--Narratives, Sinais, Zions, Messiahs, Laws, Mysticisms, Cultures, Movements, Genocides, Powers, Borders, and Futures--this introductory textbook interrogates readers' understanding of the Jewish community. Written for a new mode of teaching--one that recognizes the core role that identity formation plays in our lives--this book weaves together alternative, marginalized voices to illustrate how Jews have always been in the process of reshaping their customs, practices, and beliefs. Judaisms is the first book to assess and summarize Jewish history from the time of the Hebrew Bible through today using multiple perspectives"--Provided by publisher.

"Robinson illuminates the Jewish life cycle at every stage: from birth and circumcision to bar/bat mitzvahs, to weddings, to death and mourning. He also lays out many fascinating aspects of Judaism that may have seemed too dense to tackle - the role of the Kabbalah and mysticism in Jewish history, the evolution of Hasidism, the impact of the Holocaust on Jewish philosophical thought, and more - while keeping a firm focus on the many different paths to living a good Jewish life in today's world."--BOOK JACKET.

Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings