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The relationship between Jewish studies and religious studies is a long and complicated one, full of tensions and possibilities. Whereas the majority of scholars working within Jewish studies contend that the discipline is in a very healthy state, many who work in theory and method in religious studies disagree. For them, Jewish studies represents all that is wrong with the modern academic study of religion: too introspective, too ethnic, too navel-gazing, and too willing to reify or essentialize data that it constructs in its own image. In this book, Aaron W. Hughes explores the unique situation of Jewish studies and how it intersects with religious studies, noting particular areas of concern for those interested in the field's intellectual health and future flourishing. Hughes provides a detailed study of origins, principles, and assumptions, documenting the rise of Jewish studies in Germany and its migration to Israel and the United States. Current issues facing the academic study of Judaism are discussed, including the role of private foundations that seek inroads into the academy.
This collected volume is based on the proceedings of a symposium held in 2018 at York University, Canada, which was held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Israel. This symposium highlighted contemporary Jewish identity, Israel-Diaspora relations, and how Jewish life has been transformed in light of various types of antisemitism. The book considers the diasporic Jewish experiences through examining the intersections between various Jewish communities sociologically, historically, and geographically. The text covers world Jewry in general, and each of the diaspora and Israeli Jewries more specifically in the context of mutual responsibility, but also focuses on areas of tension concerning values and political matters. The challenges of antisemitism, racism, and nationalism are explored in terms of the relationship of the Jewish diasporas to their host countries. This text also covers antisemitism, which may take the form of traditional antisemitism or of the new antisemitism in the era of anti-Israel activity related to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. The latter movement is especially prevalent on university campuses and has an impact on students, faculty, and staff. This volume is unique in its international perspective in examining issues of Jewish identity, Israel-diaspora relations, and antisemitism and will appeal to students and researchers working in the field.
The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies reflects the current state of scholarship in the field as analyzed by an international team of experts in the different and varied areas represented within contemporary Jewish Studies. Unlike recent attempts to encapsulate the current state of Jewish Studies, the Oxford Handbook is more than a mere compendium of agreed facts; rather, it is an exhaustive survey of current interests and directions in the field.
This book is about the beliefs, doctrines, history, institutions, and leaders of the Jewish religious community. It is based on historical evidence as well as interviews and direct observation of about 100 synagogues in the country and presents a full portrait of a religious tradition that comprises only two percent of America's population but has a large influence on American culture.
Do you have questions about Judaism? Do you wonder why Jews don't accept Jesus as Messiah? Why Jews are so attached to the State of Israel? Why has there been so much hatred of Jews over the centuries? What you should bring (or more importantly, what not to bring) to the Passover Seder to which you've been invited? How to relate to Jews who are close friends or even new family members of yours? If you do, then this is the book for you. Written in a friendly, informal style, A Christian's Guide to Judaism is an introduction to Jewish religion, history, culture, and holidays written especially for the curious non-Jew. Its goal is to not only answer the questions that you may have about Judaism but also to make you feel more at home when you are invited to Jewish celebrations such as weddings and bar or bat mitzvahs. Have a quick question about what's kosher or why traditional Jewish men keep their head covered? See the subject in the chapter called "Jewish Practice in Lots of Nutshells." The fascination of Christians with Judaism has taken many forms over the years, from virulent anti-Semitism to intense interest regarding the religion of Jesus. This much-needed book provides Christians with a broad overview of the Jewish people and their religion, presents thorough explanations of Jewish laws and traditions, and explains in detail the many similarities--and key differences--between the Christian and Jewish faiths. +
Animals and Animality in the Babylonian Talmud selects key themes in animal studies - animal intelligence, morality, sexuality, suffering, danger, personhood - and explores their development in the Babylonian Talmud. Beth A. Berkowitz demonstrates that distinctive features of the Talmud - the new literary genre, the convergence of Jewish, Christian, and Zoroastrian cultures, the Talmud's remove from Temple-centered biblical Israel - led to unprecedented possibilities within Jewish culture for conceptualizing animals and animality. She explores their development in the Babylonian Talmud, showing how it is ripe for reading with a critical animal studies perspective. When we do, we find waiting for us a multi-layered, surprisingly self-aware discourse about animals as well as about the anthropocentrism that infuses human relationships with them. For readers of religion, Judaism, and animal studies, her book offers new perspectives on animals from the vantage point of the ancient rabbis.
For some, the connection between Jews and athletics might seem far-fetched. But in fact, as is highlighted by the fourteen chapters in this collection, Jews have been participating in-and thinking about-sports for more than two thousand years. The articles in this volume scan a wide chronological range: from the Hellenistic period (first century BCE) to the most recent basketball season. The range of athletes covered is equally broad: from participants in Roman-style games to wrestlers, boxers, fencers, baseball players, and basketball stars. The authors of these essays, many of whom actively participate in athletics themselves, raise a number of intriguing questions, such as: What differing attitudes toward sports have Jews exhibited across periods and cultures? Is it possible to be a "good Jew" and a "great athlete"? In what sports have Jews excelled, and why? How have Jews overcome prejudices on the part of the general populace against a Jewish presence on the field or in the ring? In what ways has Jewish participation in sports aided, or failed to aid, the perception of Jews as "good Germans," "good Hungarians," "good Americans," and so forth? This volume, which features a number of illustrations (many of them quite rare), is not only accessible to the general reader, but also contains much information of interest to the scholar in Jewish studies, American studies, and sports history.
Scholars in the humanities have become increasingly interested in questions of how space is produced and perceived—and they have found that this consideration of human geography greatly enriches our understanding of cultural history. This “spatial turn” equally has the potential to revolutionize Jewish Studies, complicating familiar notions of Jews as “people of the Book,” displaced persons with only a common religious tradition and history to unite them. Space and Place in Jewish Studies embraces these exciting critical developments by investigating what “space” has meant within Jewish culture and tradition—and how notions of “Jewish space,” diaspora, and home continue to resonate within contemporary discourse, bringing space to the foreground as a practical and analytical category. Barbara Mann takes us on a journey from medieval Levantine trade routes to the Eastern European shtetl to the streets of contemporary New York, introducing readers to the variety of ways in which Jews have historically formed communities and created a sense of place for themselves. Combining cutting-edge theory with rabbinics, anthropology, and literary analysis, Mann offers a fresh take on the Jewish experience.