Book Description
This original humash contains all the sidrot and haftarot illustrated in a bold, new way. Michal Meron has worked four years on this project, and the long-awaited results are presented in this artistic book. What identifies Michal's work in particular are the bold colors she uses and the important part that Hebrew texts and lettering play in her pictures. Each sidrot and haftarot has been illustrated in beautiful full color by Memo in the "nave style".
Through an arrangement with The Studio in Old Jaffa-a gallery renowned for its collection of mystical art and illustrated literature-The Jewish Publication Society is proud to offer The Illustrated Torah, the perfect gift to honor the Jewish spiritual tradition and to celebrate every joyous occasion.
Customer Reviews:
Mixed feelings.......2007-02-17
I have mixed feelings about this book. I like it but I don't. It is large which makes it a good coffee table book. Then again, it is so large that it doesn't fit on any of my shelves (even sideways). I like that it is illustrated but the illustrations aren't that good - and some are downright confusing. I bought it because it had like 4 or 5 stars but now wish I would have chosen something else. Everyone comes to Judaism with a different perception so this may be great for someone else. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it BUUUT I also wouldn't want to steer someone away from it.
What about the commandment against graven images?!.......2002-11-04
Thou shalt not make any graven image
Included are sidrot and haftarot "weekly readings".......2001-02-25
The essential foundation of Judaism is the Torah, known also as the Five Books Of Moses. Included are sidrot and haftarot "weekly readings" and the whole is augmented with Michael Meron's spectacular paintings to showcase quotations drawn from the Hebrew text of the Torah and haftarot portions. The excerpts of the sidrot and its haftarot are taken from the Jewish Publication Society translation. Dr. Ellen Frankel (noted author, scholar, and editor-in-chief of the JPS) provides a brief but informative explanatory essay introduction. The Illustrated Torah is a highly recommended, superbly presented, very welcome addition to personal and synagogue library collections.
Average customer rating:
- Educational fun
- Debatable about it always being accurate
- Unique, often humorous, always accurate
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Jews in America: A Cartoon History
David Gantz
Manufacturer: Jewish Publication Society of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Comics & Graphic Novels
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ASIN: 0827608284 |
Book Description
A unique presentation of the history of Jewish life and culture in the United States over the past 500 years
Jews in America is a graphic history that uses the comic book format—an artistic expression as American as jazz—to depict five centuries of Jewish life in this country. With its blend of humor, history, and old-fashioned sentimentality, Gantz, an artist who has spent a lifetime using paper and ink to present social commentary and issues with wry wit, illustrates the prominence of Jews in American history from the time Columbus first set foot in the New World.
Jews in America will appeal to readers from ages 12 to 120.
Customer Reviews:
Educational fun .......2006-08-31
I read or viewed or both , a chapter called ' The History of the Jews in the Graphic Novel'. It told the story of a number of significant Jewish graphic artists, Seigel and Schuster who invented 'Superman' and the inventor of the graphic - novel as genre , Will Eisner.
For me it was quite startling to read something that looked to me like 'comic- books' I do not know if the pretension of making this form a high- art genre is justified or not, but I do know it is a clear, enjoyable way of telling a story, getting a message across.
In this present work it is the history of the American Jewish community over the past three- hundred and fifty years.
Debatable about it always being accurate.......2004-08-16
A few bits of the book seem to be an opinion by the author rather than a fact. The bit about women being rightful to work among men seems to be an opinion. I guess boxer Max Baer Sr. (Jethro's father) was Jewish as this book reports though I heard Max Baer Jr. say on a talk show that he (Baer Jr.) is Catholic. Also, I debate that the Jews lost Nixon the 1960 presidential election. I thought the Italian-American Mafia did. Well, book is at least around 85% accurate.
Unique, often humorous, always accurate.......2002-06-07
Written and illustrated by David Gantz, Jews In America: A Cartoon History is a grandiose history, superbly produced in a black-and-white cartoon format, very carefully researched and engagingly presented so as to inform and appeal to readers of all ages. Surveying the Jewish involvement in American history ranging from the discoveries of Columbus in the 15th century, down to the United States of present day at the dawning of the 21st century, Jews In America: A Cartoon History is almost impossible to put down. This is a unique, often humorous, always accurate, and very highly recommended study for personal, family, school, and community library Judaic Studies and American History reading lists and reference collections.
Average customer rating:
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An Encyclopedia of American Synagogue Ritual
Kerry M. Olitzky
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Ethnic Studies
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ASIN: 0313308144 |
Book Description
This encyclopedia presents historical accounts of Jewish rituals, the meaning behind their development, and descriptions of how the rituals are practiced among different Jewish communities. Entries discuss how the rituals evolved over time and what they are designed to symbolize. Whether practiced in the personal or public realm, the rituals included in this volume are generally acknowledged as such by the Jewish community, even if they are not practiced by large segments of the community. Comparisons are drawn among rituals as they are practiced by Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Orthodox Jews. This volume brings together a wealth of information about the often complicated rituals practiced in Jewish communities throughout North America. Readers desiring to learn more about Jewish rituals will appreciate the mix of historical and practical concerns each entry details. Specific information is readily accessible in the encyclopedic format. Entries are cross-referenced throughout, and each concludes with references for further research. An index is included.
Average customer rating:
- A beautiful, fascinating, thrilling book
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Her Works Praise Her: A History of Jewish Women in America from Colonial Times to the Present
Hasia R., Diner , and
Beryl Lieff, Benderly
Manufacturer: Basic Books
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Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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Women and American Judaism: Historical Perspectives (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture, and Life)
-
American Jewish Women's History: A Reader
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Gender and Assimilation in Modern Jewish History: Roles and Representations of Women (The Samuel & Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies)
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The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity
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The Jews of the United States, 1654-2000 (Jewish Communities in the Modern World)
ASIN: 0465017126
Release Date: 2003-07-08 |
Book Description
The first social history of American Jewish women over the last four centuries--the story of how this vital community forged new ways of being Jewish and profound ideas of what it means to be a woman.
From salons in Federal Philadelphia to Frontier homesteads to settlement houses in city slums to 1970s consciousness-raising sessions, American Jewish women have brought a distinctive sense of self and community to bear on the economic, social, and family life around them. Hasia R. Diner and Beryl Lieff Benderly draw upon long-neglected public records, private diaries, memoirs and letters to overturn the widespread notion that Jewish life began at Ellis Island and happened only in New York. They offer a complex portrait of flesh-and-blood characters such as Emma Lazarus, Mrs. Wyatt Earp, Ethel Rosenberg, Betty Friedan, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The result is a comprehensive account of how America transformed generations of Jewish women--and how these women transformed America.
Customer Reviews:
A beautiful, fascinating, thrilling book.......2002-12-14
I loved this book! Every Jewish woman (and man) and everyone interested in Jewish life in America should read it. It gives a view of American and Jewish history I had never seen before, and it is beautifully written. It is full of moving stories of real women working to build America at every period of history. I had never understood how important women have been in creating the American Jewish community. Just wonderful!
Book Description
The unholy alliance of the Political Right and Religious Right threatens to destroy the America we love. It also threatens to generate a popular aversion to God and religion by identifying religious values with a pro–war, pro–business, pro–rich, anti–science, and anti–environmental stance.
In the past few decades, the Republicans have achieved political dominance by forging a union with a Religious Right that provided a sanctimonious veneer to policies that help the rich get richer while ignoring the needs of the middle class and the poor, dismantling environmental and civil liberties protections, and seeking global domination. The Right champions the materialism, and ruthless selfishness promoted by the global competitive marketplace, and then laments the moral crisis when the values that people have learned all day in the world of work gets carried home into personal life and contributes to family instability and a culture of loneliness. Enter the Religious Right with nurturing communities for the faithful and a culture that blames liberals, activist judges, and all secular people for the moral and spiritual emptiness so many Americans experience. Yet however distorted the Right's analysis and solutions to America's spiritual crisis is, it wins allegiance by addressing this hunger for a life with some higher purpose. The Left, on the other hand, remains largely tone–deaf to the spiritual needs of the American people.
Customer Reviews:
empty secular society and overly absolute religious attitudes are shared problems.......2007-10-08
What do the Left and the Right have in common? A sense of meaninglessness in what is called the "real world"--work--unites us all. So Lerner begins his examination of the spiritual ills that unavoidably shape our politics. Lerner does not give a solution, only hints, for this longing for meaning, raising the question of why more of us don't do more to change the work world--namely, fear.
One of Lerner's main themes is the nature of two voices we all must deal with, that of fear and that of hope. Ironically the voice of fear usually results in efforts toward what he calls the more aggressive and adamant right hand of God, the voice of hope allows us to stay with the more ambiguous, seemingly weaker side, the left hand of God.
So throughout this book Lerner shows all too often not only the political right by also the political left giving in to fear and choosing the right hand. Lerner presents some helpful history. At the very least read the chapter "The Religion of Secularism and the Fear of Spirit." He has had a lot of exposure over the years in his activism to those who are determined to exclude all religion from the political sphere. Also be sure to read "Elitism on the Left." His analysis rings true and is gentle yet sophisticated.
I couldn't help but feel Lerner is less a writer per se than a leader, organizer, spiritual director, and activist. His discussion will make you want to join his larger support group or spiritual network. At first I thought this was a kind of informal church of Jew, Christian, and any other religion or spiritual searcher, that I would love to have joined, but it appears to be wholly spiritual--you won't meet in person, unless you become involved in some of Lerner's activism.
Thank God for Rabbi Lerner. I think we need to support his voice and presence as spiritual leader in the political sphere. His web site is impressive and inclusive.
When do the religious cross the line in politics? On a somewhat humorous note, in a long footnote Rabbi Lerner reveals a time when I think he crossed it: Bill Clinton had given a speech that was clearly using Learner's unique language of "meaning." (Oddly when the president uses your writing without acknowledgment, this is a compliment; anyone else and it's called plagiarism.) The White House then asked Lerner to consult with them before saying anything more. Lerner agreed! I couldn't help but think of the Hebrew prophets. I don't think they would have agreed -- they wouldn't have been allowed to say anything significant!
Intriguing.......2007-07-09
Repetitive. The whole thing could have been condensed to one chapter. After a certain point, I couldn't read anymore. Nevertheless, the concept is inspiring.
Mercy to balance Severity.......2007-05-04
in flipping thru television channels last night
i arrived at one of those strange stations with the
very high numbers that is not standard viewing.
This rabbi was speaking, and I wouldn't normally
have paused my remote control scan for a religious
speach, but he was speaking a message that was so
compelling that I listened to the rest of his talk.
in terms of Kabbalah,
if we imagine God having a right hand of Severity,
of the manifest destiny of America's military might
and the right winged Fundamentalist Christian support
backing up the Republican agenda,
we can also imagine God having a left hand of Mercy,
of social reform, of diversity being not only allowed
but encouraged, of charity, of the socialist agendas
of the left winged progressive liberal Democrats.
the good rabbi went on to express the great
thirst for spiritual meaning in a world controlled
by money, defined by money, with success at work
being contribution to the bottom line, with success
at home being how much material worth has been collected,
leaving us empty, leaving us wanting a real Meaning
in our lives, a Spiritual Meaning.
the Right Wing has identified and addressed this
thirst, pointing out that people need to return to
traditional religion and values. there has been a
migration during the past few decades by the
"New Deal" generation towards the Right because of
this thirst for Spiritual Meaning.
he went on to note how the Left is trapped in
secular humanism, in scientific method, in athiesm
as being the "religion" of the Left. progressive
thinkers with a Spiritual agenda are welcome to
participate in the politics of the Left, but only
if they check their religious baggage at the door.
Rabbi Lerner proposes a movement in the Left that
is centered around Spirituality, putting God back into
the "bleeding heart liberals" and "taking back our
country from the religious right".
If you get a chance to hear him speak in person,
you should attend. He frequents speaking in left slanted
Methodist and Episcopalian Christian churches. I can't
imagine him speaking in a Southern Baptist church, but
if he ever did, I would buy a ticket just to see the
reaction.
A Must Read Book.......2007-04-03
Every couple of pages I found myself enlightened. "Oh, that makes sense" or "Yeah, I can see that." This book answers questions about our lives in America, what went wrong, and what we can do about it, on both a macro and a personal level. Why we (all of us) feel so overwhelmed and beaten down, what ever happened to all the progress that appeared to be unstoppable in the "sixties", how did the country move so far to the right, and what can we realistically do about it. This book is about justice and compassion and human dignity, giving value to those we would identify as our "enemy"
If you wonder how it all went wrong, and how we can restore it; read this book!
Extremely insightful book.......2006-11-23
This is a really well-written book that very accurately portrays the "values" crisis (I prefer Lerner's term meaning needs) that is growing increasingly chronic in the United States. I actually found myself looking at how I categorize and appraise others differently after reading this book, in terms of where and when I view people with utilitarian lenses...where I parcel people into lists of attributes and even beliefs without seeing the total person. It's appalling how often I do this out of reflex and training. This book is also a reminder that to understand political currents you really need to understand individuals and the goggles through which they view the world.
Further, I feel that Lerner clearly addresses some of the biggest frustrations I've had with the Left in this country, in terms of their own materialist dogmatism. I absolutely agree with Lerner's assessment that the Left has been deaf and dumb to the meaning needs of Americans, thus opening the way to the Republicans filling this gap in extremely hurtful ways. Through these currents, the extreme Right have consistently bred and fed the flames of intolerance, fear and bigotry in an already reactionary populace following 9/11.
I hope that those in the Democratic party read this book with an open mind, and choose their leaders with an eye to finding those who actually stand for something besides winning elections. Because frankly, people aren't stupid and the Democratic Party's consistent waffling on their ideals and/or reactionary stance changes in response to attacks by the Right Wing are an embarrassment. If you don't believe the values you espouse or don't have the strength to stand behind them (or only "develop" them in response to polling data) then you're not going to fool anyone into thinking you're sincere. I don't think the problem is a lack of values in the Democrats so much as a lack of faith in the American people. They need to find someone who's willing to stand up there and take hits...not crumple every time someone on the Right reacts to what they're saying and bludgeons them with the same old language of fear.
Great book...and a good start on this dialogue. The biggest message of this book is hope, and a call for people to pull together and not be misled by the most vocal extremists of both sides.
Book Description
In 1981, while working as New Mexico State Historian, Stanley M. Hordes began to hear stories of Hispanos who lit candles on Friday night and abstained from eating pork. Puzzling over the matter, Hordes realized that these practices might very well have been passed down through the centuries from early crypto-Jewish settlers in New Spain. After extensive research and hundreds of interviews, Hordes concluded that there was, in New Mexico and the Southwest, a Sephardic legacy derived from the converso community of Spanish Jews.
In To the End of the Earth, Hordes explores the remarkable story of crypto-Jews and the tenuous preservation of Jewish rituals and traditions in Mexico and New Mexico over the past five hundred years. He follows the crypto-Jews from their Jewish origins in medieval Spain and Portugal to their efforts to escape persecution by migrating to the New World and settling in the far reaches of the northern Mexican frontier.
Drawing on individual biographies (including those of colonial officials accused of secretly practicing Judaism), family histories, Inquisition records, letters, and other primary sources, Hordes provides a richly detailed account of the economic, social and religious lives of crypto-Jews during the colonial period and after the annexation of New Mexico by the United States in 1846. While the American government offered more religious freedom than had the Spanish colonial rulers, cultural assimilation into Anglo-American society weakened many elements of the crypto-Jewish tradition.
Hordes concludes with a discussion of the reemergence of crypto-Jewish culture and the reclamation of Jewish ancestry within the Hispano community in the late twentieth century. He examines the publicity surrounding the rediscovery of the crypto-Jewish community and explores the challenges inherent in a study that attempts to reconstruct the history of a people who tried to leave no documentary record.
Customer Reviews:
Did Jews Settle New Mexico and Do They Remain.......2006-06-21
Thesis: Many of the Spanish settlers of New Mexico were either secretely practising Jews or recent converts. Through the ensuing centuries, some kept up tradition and practice of their Hebrew faith, in all or part.
I heard this hypothesis when I first moved to the Land of Enchantment in 1979. Most locals took it as likely. However, "studies" on the subject were mainly collections of anecdotes of familes that did not eat pork or that played with draedels in December but didn't know why.
Stanley Hordes has done scholarship a real service with his meticulous, well-documented, and systematic research, as presented in To The End of the Earth. Rather than rushing into anecdotes, he first gives a broad backdrop of the history of Judaism in Iberia and the political and religious upheavals there in the 13th through 16th centuries.
Having set the stage, Hordes then follows families of "new Christians" to Mexico. Through an examination of correspondence, records of the Holy Office (Inquisition) and other documents, he traces the likely practice of crypto-Judaism in Old Mexico.
Only then does he set forth north of the Rio Bravo to see the fate of some likely Jewish or formerly Jewish families, trace their practices, and scour for physical evidence among a group that was reticent to leave records of what was long an illegal practice.
Hordes wraps up nicely with not only the family stories but with DNA and blood protein studies. He falls short in actually finding evidence such as hidden synagogues or secret Torahs, but he certainly paints a compelling picture that many of the Hispano settlers of New Mexico were, at the very least, reluctant conversos.
This is an engrossing and well-referenced work for any serious scholar. While not light reading, it is also not too challenging for a non-anthropologist.
By all means, if the thesis is of interest to you, you should order this book.
A good history of crypto Jews in New Mexico.......2006-05-25
A couple of years ago I went to a lecture that Dr. Stanley Hordes presented to the New Mexico Genealogy Society. He discussed his then upcoming book about crypto-Jews in New Mexico titled "To the End of the Earth." What intrigued me about Dr. Hordes lecture was that he found proof that the colony of Nuevo Leon, Nuevo Espana ( present day Mexico) probably was populated with crypto-Jews. This same colony en masse tried to illegally colonize New Mexico in 1591, and a few of these people were also part of the official New Mexico colony in 1598. Dr. Hordes' makes a very good argument that there were crypto-Jews in New Mexico during the first years of colonization and that their descendants continued practicing Judaism up until the present day.
A crypto-Jew is a person who converted or whose ancestors converted to Christianity yet still secretly practices Judaism. As with many other Christian countries, Jews were persecuted in Spain during the Middle Ages. In 1390 many Jews converted to Christianity after an especially devastating pogrom. In 1492, after King Fernando and Queen Isabel conquered the last vestige of Muslim Spain in Granada, the Christian monarchs officially expelled the Jews from Spain. All who stayed in Spain were required to convert to Catholicism. Many went to Portugal where they too were forced to convert.
The Spanish Inquisition persecuted many of these New Christians as apostates and heretics. Many were accused of going back to their old religion. In order to avoid prosecution many New Christians went to the New World. Dr. Hordes shows how one such colony from Portugal under the leadership of Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva were almost definitely New Christians, and most likely crypto-Jews.
Carvajal was given permission by the King Philip II of Spain to found a colony in Nuevo Leon. The king gave specific instructions to officials not to question the ethnicity of the people in this colony. Dr. Hordes contends that these people were probably New Christians since at the time New Christians prohibited from going to the New World. The king's instructions would have made it easier for them to cross over to Mexico. As further proof Hordes notes that Carvajal's son was later prosecuted by the Inquisition. During the younger Carvajal's arrest Gaspar Castano de Sosa lead the entire colony to New Mexico. Hordes contends that he probably did this in order to escape being prosecuted himself as a judaizer. However Castano de Sosa was arrested anyway for trying to illegally colonize New Mexico.
Hordes uses church and government records to demonstrate the possibility that New Christians practiced Judaism throughout New Mexico history. His argument is strongest with the early years of the colony when Inquisition records documented investigations into possible judaizers. He also uses genealogy to show how certain assumed crypto-Jewish families intermarried within culture. However, his arguments are weaker when it comes to the present day. Although there is some proof that certain present day Hispano New Mexican families continue the practice of crypto-Judaism, there are questions as to whether certain evidence truly demonstrates this practice. Hordes does not completely dispel these questions, although he comes closer than others who have tried to prove this theory.
Dr. Hordes' book is well researched and was a fascinating read. Any person interested in Hispanic New Mexican history and genealogy should read this book. One then can make up his or her mind whether Dr. Hordes proves that crypto-Judaism indeed was practiced throughout New Mexico's history.
Scholarly but also deeply inspiring.......2006-03-06
More than 700 footnotes add up to an extraordinary story well worth the telling: quite a few "manitos" of Northern New Mexico were probably crypto-Jews who preserved parts of their own culture through centuries of isolation. So we discover that Hispanos and Hebrews are both part of Chicano history in the American Southwest.
Since these individuals covered their tracks well and most are long dead, the trail was cold and neglected. However, Dr. Hordes did not take the easy, glamorous and lucrative route to selling their extraordinary history. Instead, he and his colleagues spent years and years pouring over thousands of documents. As one who has looked at a little of this "paleography," let me testify that a person can go blind staring at that terrible, ancient, blotched and blotted handwriting. I appreciate such careful scholarship; it lays out all possible evidence without overreaching.
Thanks to this book, a vast number of dots have been laid out on the map of New Mexican history. While each by itself is not conclusive, when I connect the dots I see the fascinating faces of religious dissidents who courageously preserved their own beliefs in the face of enormous social pressure. They went "To the Ends of the Earth" to preserve their integrity. I find their story inspiring.
thought provoking study.......2005-12-24
This new book by Dr. Hordes is an excellent introduction to an area of study that has been given only opinionated overviews up to this point. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Horde's thesis, that fact is Sephardic Jewish culture is a crucial element of the overall Hispanic experience, as much as the Moorish, Roman, and Visigothic contributions. To deny this is to live in darkness. As Spain's historiography is finally opening and accepting of its Jewish past, so too should Hispanic Americans open up and accept that past. It is reality.
While a well written book, I also enjoyed immensely the copious footnotes Horde's provides, to give an indication of the enormous amount of work and research that went into this book. Archives throughout Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Mexico, and New Mexico were searched for scattered references and indications of ANY possible behavior that could point the way to any latent Crypto-Jewish practices or cultural rememberances. Inquisition documents, incredible sources of social and cultural history, were used in an amazing way to gain insight into the world of these Hispanic peoples living in times more complex than we may care to admit.
Ultimately, one must make up their own mind regarding the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico. But if one is responsible in their intellect, they will make an informed decision, one that will require the reading of this book. Whether one's name is Encinias, Truxillo, Martinez, or Chavez, it cannot be denied: you have a Sephardic Jewish past. It comes through not only our bloodlines in Iberia, co-mingling with the native blood of the Americas, but also through our rich Catholic cultural heritage, which itself sprang out of the Jewish Semitic Middle East.
Anyone interested in the diverse and fascinating experience that is the Hispanic experience in the Americas, and in New Mexico in particular, needs to read this book now!
A remarkable scholar produces a remarkable book!.......2005-12-21
Dr. Hordes, long recognized as the "guru" of Crypto-Judaism in the Southwest, has written a book all academics and SERIOUS students of this fascinating subject will find an invaluable addition to their libraries. For those with closed minds on the topic, it's unlikely even this exceptionally well documented and highly readable book will prove compelling. For those three or four individuals who seem to think they can enhance their professional standing by attempting to refute the absolutely solid scholarship and careful, well-documented research this book represents, oh well---. Two fools do not make one wise man. For the rest of us, I can only say, "Bravo, Bravo, Sr. Hordes! Well done!" And for those of you reading this book, (hopefully, with an open mind!) don't skip the footnotes. They're a treasure-trove of information (albeit, the reader will be well-served by the ability to read Spanish). The fascinating emergence of Crypto-Jews in New Mexico--and elsewhere in the Southwestern United States--is a FACT. Deniers SHOULD be silenced by this exceptional work. Sadly, some never will be. I, for one, will light my Shabbat candles openly (at last!) in honor of my Hispanic ancestors who were denied that sacred privilege for five hundred + years. They traveled "To The End of the Earth" seeking safety, all the while preserving what they could of their Sephardic Judaism against incredible odds. Dr. Hordes honors the sacrifice of these brave, determined settlers with a truly significant book.
Randy Baca
Author
Book Description
An analysis of contemporary American Judaism within the broader scope of American religious life.
Customer Reviews:
An outstanding study .......2005-02-16
Jack Wertheimer has been for years one of the most thoughtful and concerned writers about the condition of American Jewry. His understanding of the polarization in the community, and the damage done to by assimilation is based on his strong adherence to Jewish religious tradition. The fact however that one diagnoses correctly a certain problem does not mean that one can provide a solution. Wertheimer has at times suggested that instead of worrying about those Jews who show little concern about the tradition, the community direct its resources to strengthening those that do.
In any case reading this work will provide a true understanding of the basic sociological identity of the American Jewish community.
Excellent Discussion of Current State of American Judaism.......2001-12-28
Though currently JEW V. JEW is receiving all the attention in the press, Jack Wertheimer's A PEOPLE DIVIDED is probably a better account of the state of American Jewry today.
While JEW V. JEW imitates midrash in its telling of divisions among American Jews, A PEOPLE DIVIDED gives a more straightforward account and the historical perspective needed to make sense of the battles American Jews are now fighting among themselves. I read this over the summer of 2000, when I was relatively new to Judaism, and it proved an immeasurable help in understanding why the Jewish community is the way it is.
The only reason I don't give this book four stars is that Wertheimer occasionally lapses into his own (rather obvious) Conservative bias. Somehow, he seems to believe that the current wars have started because both Orthodoxy and Reform have branched off from the "true Judaism" represented by the Conservative Movement. Wertheimer also could have paid more attention to Reconstructionism, a branch of Judaism that, though it has some similarities to Reform, has its own internal philosophical battles.
All in all, though, A PEOPLE DIVIDED is an excellent introduction to its subject matter and a book I highly recommend.
A great history book; ignore the hatchet Kirkus review.......1997-12-17
In all respects, this is a wonderful study of American Jews. I urge people to study this volume carefully - and to ignore the hatchet book review from Kirkus. That review falsely claims that his study is "anchored in the 40's and 50's--boom years for the Conservative movement--there's a strong tilt toward his own denomination." This is wrong, and one wonders if they actually read the book. They also claim that "he fails to credit the Reform for initiating a Judaism for nonpracticing American Jews", which is the opposite of what Prof. Wertheimer writes. The biased Krikus review falsely claims that "he should have made the point that traditional Judaism is unchanged since the days of the Pharisees." This is nothing less than religious fundamentalism and propaganda, more suited to right wing Jewish or Christian fundamentalist tracts. Orthodox Judaism has changed a great deal since Pharasaic times, and indeed has changed very much since the 1600s, when halakhic change nearly came to an end after the publication of the Shulkhan Aruhkh. I urge any interested reader to obtain unbiased historical studies of the development of Judaism and Jewish law, such as works by Mendell Lewittes and Menachem Elon, who are respected in all quarters. Although they are Orthodox Jews, they are also objective historians. The rest of the Kirkus review on Prof. Wertheimer's fine book follows in the same angry (and factually wrong) tone, which betrays either a fanatic mindset or total ignorance of history. "A People Divided" is not a book for those who wish to deny history or objective facts, but rather is an objective study of the great challenges facing the American Jewish community today; As such it is directed towards those of any religious (or secular) background who have an open mind as well as a basic education.
Book Description
The United States has long been described as a nation of immigrants, but it is also a nation of religions in which Muslims and Methodists, Buddhists and Baptists live and work side by side. This book explores that nation of religions, focusing on how four religious communities—Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs—are shaping and, in turn, shaped by American values.
For a generation, scholars have been documenting how the landmark legislation that loosened immigration restrictions in 1965 catalyzed the development of the United States as "a nation of Buddhists, Confucianists, and Taoists, as well as Christians," as Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark put it. The contributors to this volume take U.S. religious diversity not as a proposition to be proved but as the truism it has become. Essays address not whether the United States is a Christian or a multireligious nation—clearly, it is both—but how religious diversity is changing the public values, rites, and institutions of the nation and how those values, rites, and institutions are affecting religions centuries old yet relatively new in America. This conversation makes an important contribution to the intensifying public debate about the appropriate role of religion in American politics and society.
Contributors:
Ihsan Bagby, University of Kentucky
Courtney Bender, Columbia University
Stephen Dawson, Forest, Virginia
David Franz, University of Virginia
Hien Duc Do, San Jose State University
James Davison Hunter, University of Virginia
Prema A. Kurien, Syracuse University
Gurinder Singh Mann, University of California, Santa Barbara
Vasudha Narayanan, University of Florida
Stephen Prothero, Boston University
Omid Safi, Colgate University
Jennifer Snow, Pasadena, California
Robert A. F. Thurman, Columbia University
R. Stephen Warner, University of Illinois at Chicago
Duncan Ryžken Williams, University of California, Berkeley
Book Description
In 2005, two then-officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee were indicted for handing over classified information to a foreign power. That the power in question was assumed to be Israel brought fresh credibility to a conspiracy theory that had been floating around Washington for years: that a powerful “Jewish lobby” controls U.S. policy in the Middle East.
The run-up to the Iraq war had provided new grist for this theory. A group of largely Jewish neoconservatives were among the architects of the war, and their motivations for removing Saddam Hussein were alternately ascribed to oil interests and the need to protect Israel. The allegations against these neoconservatives—especially former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz—echoed the case of the notorious Jonathan Pollard who pled guilty of spying for Israel in 1986.
In this biting and incisive polemic, journalist and author Stephen Schwartz confronts the myth of a Jewish lobby head on, asking questions that no one else has dared to pose. What is the “Jewish lobby”? How powerful is it? What was its involvement in the preparations for war in Iraq? Was there really a “cabal” of neoconservative Jews in the administration of George W. Bush? How did AIPAC officials come to be accused, in 2004, of espionage? Above all, what is good for the Jews, and who decides it?
Many of us forget that in the 1930s, a genuine home-grown fascist movement arose in America. At that time, Schwartz reminds us, it was not the official representatives of the Jewish community that stood up to the fascist goons of New York City, but Jewish socialists—the antecedents of today’s neoconservatives. Likewise, today, it has not been the meek and timid leaders of the supposedly all-powerful Jewish Lobby that have defended the Jews but the reviled “neocons” in the Bush Administration. Their strategic vision projects a foreign policy that is both good for America and good for the Jews. As a result, Schwartz predicts an increasing turn for Jewish voters away from their dysfunctional marriage with the Democratic Party and toward the Republicans.
Ultimately Schwartz concludes that in today's America, a “Jewish lobby” may no longer be necessary. In the face of the threatened collapse of the Lobby, he argues, American Jews should openly and proudly assume their proper role as moral and religious exemplars for their fellow Americans and cease acting like a frightened minority.
Customer Reviews:
Twisted, Convoluted Logic.......2007-08-16
"Is It Good for the Jews" would probably give Einstein a headache trying to follow its logic. Schwartz concludes that the "Jewish lobby" has little power, ignoring the statement of AIPAC's former policy director - Steven Rosen. ("A lobby is like a night flower. It flourishes in the dark and dies in the sun." Ergo - a successful lobby is one hidden in the background.)
Rather than attempt to rebut Schwartz's logic item by item, one can accomplish the same result simply by reading today's (8/16/2007) New York Times. "Backlash Over Book on Policy For Israel" describes how a book by Harvard and Univ. of Chicago authors asserting "that a powerful pro-Israel lobby has a pernicious influence on American policy" has created a powerful backlash and difficulty offering forums for the authors to speak. Then, there are the frequent justifications for our Iraq War and a proposed attack on Iran that are based on defending Israel.
One wonders what Schwartz would consider to be the results of a strong Jewish lobby. (Incidentally, Einstein opposed the creation of the Jewish state - seeing it as a form of Fascism and deploring its treatment of the Arabs. Yet, our support has been unwavering during Bush 43's tenure.)
as strident as those he criticises.......2007-05-25
there may have been a acse to be argued, but the book is so strident, overblown and offensive in its treatement of all he disagrees with that it becomes counter-productive
Book Description
Now in one volume: the ten volumes of the outstanding Religious Traditions of the World series. Written by leading experts, these individual studies explore the richness and variety of important religions from around the world.
Customer Reviews:
Fabulous overview of world religion.......1998-11-05
This book is broken into 10 chapters, each representing a major religious tradition. The chapters are well written, and by major researchers in that particular field. They give plenty of information, but in a way easy to comprehend. Each section has a glossary of terms, as well as many illustrations. This is a wonderful book for people who want one book as a reference for all major world religious traditions.
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