- Jubilee offer: spend £10 or more on any product sold by Amazon.co.uk on or before June 6 and you can buy The Diamond Jubilee A Classical Celebration Album for just £2.50 Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
-
Seasonal Offer:
This title is part of our Seasonal Offers promotion.
| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Judaism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"[Solomon] manages to cover a remarkable range of material regarding the nature of the Jews as a historical group, the history of Judaism's religious tradition, the origins of Christianity, and aspects of historical and contemporary piety and practice."--Religious Studies Review
"An excellent brief introduction; contains all your students need to know at the basic level."--I.A. Van Liere, College of Charleston
"Compact and detailed, this is a well-balanced presentation of the biblical foundations, historical development, and contemporary shape of the Jewish tradition. Ideal for those coming to Judaism for the first time."--Ralph Keen, University of Iowa
Product Description
Norman Solomon's succinct book is an ideal introduction to Judaism as a religion and way of life. In addition to answering questions such as Who are Jews? and How did Judaism Develop?, this Very Short Introduction outlines the basics of practical Judaism-its festivals, prayers, customs, and various sects. Modern concerns and debates of the Jewish people are also addressed, such as the impact of the Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel, the status of women, and medical and commercial ethics.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The "very short introduction" series is useful in that the most important facts and aspects of a topic are presented to you clearly and concisely - no need to flick through pages and pages, no need to look in the index or anything. The book itself is divided in chapters such as Festivals, Why Judaism and Christianity split etc. Norman Solomon has successfuly selected the most intriguing bits of Judaism to present to us in this 150 page book.
Not only does the book provide the facts about the religion like festivals, worship etc, but also contemporary issues like Zionism and the conflicts of modern Israel and Palestine, a topic that should interest many. It is hard to find a book that deals with this subject that is not greatly biased; Solomon on the other hand makes it very clear in the introduction that he aims to present the facts of Judaism as Jews would, i.e. not from a Christian perspective, not using Christian language.
I definitely recommend this book if you are interested in the religion. However, if you want to delve really deep into the sects in the religion (which is briefly but well dealt with in this book) and other topics, buy a big thick book on Judaism rather than this "very short introduction".
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Good intro for non-Jews, but the author generally writes as though he suspects the reader is bored arseless, e.g. at the start of the final chapter: 'We've almost made it...'
The book contains some nice photos and tables simplifying facts, dates, etc. However, after reading the book, I still didn't 100% feel like I knew and understood some of the more salient points associated with the Jewish calendar / festivals. Also, more tips on pronunciation would've been helpful for the Hebrew names.
The book contains some nice photos and tables simplifying facts, dates, etc. However, after reading the book, I still didn't 100% feel like I knew and understood some of the more salient points associated with the Jewish calendar / festivals. Also, more tips on pronunciation would've been helpful for the Hebrew names.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It must be a daunting prospect for a scholar, having to condense a vast store of knowledge into one of these little books, deciding what to include and what must go, but Solomon judges this well. He emphasizes the diversity and continuing evolution of Judaism, correcting common misconceptions about how ancient or orthodox certain aspects of Judaism are. He also lays special stress on the importance of the Holocaust and of the existence of a modern state of Israel in shaping contemporary Jewish thought.
There are plenty of basic facts - descriptions of festivals, etc - included here, as you would expect. It also raises a great many issues and cites a number of authors, making this an excellent place to begin a more detailed study, if you wished.
Solomon writes well, with a light, sometimes even humorous touch, where appropriate. He was a lecturer at Oxford when this book was first published in 1996, but is now retired, I believe. A revised edition wouldn't go amiss. Perhaps he is too busy working on his Penguin Classics Talmud, which is due out soon and should be worth reading. He is not to be confused with the American activist of the same name, although Amazon does exactly that, so that if you click on either author, you get a list of books by both of them. Take it from me, they are very different!
There are plenty of basic facts - descriptions of festivals, etc - included here, as you would expect. It also raises a great many issues and cites a number of authors, making this an excellent place to begin a more detailed study, if you wished.
Solomon writes well, with a light, sometimes even humorous touch, where appropriate. He was a lecturer at Oxford when this book was first published in 1996, but is now retired, I believe. A revised edition wouldn't go amiss. Perhaps he is too busy working on his Penguin Classics Talmud, which is due out soon and should be worth reading. He is not to be confused with the American activist of the same name, although Amazon does exactly that, so that if you click on either author, you get a list of books by both of them. Take it from me, they are very different!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Judaism - A Very Short Introduction
This book was easy to read and gave me the information I was looking for. It was concise and to the point and was written in a way I could understand without being patronising. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Adele
Dreadful. Completely fails to communicate Jewish thought.
I was incredibly disappointed with this book.
As a 1st year trainee RE teacher with a limited knowledge of Judaism I thought foolishly that this book would introduce me... Read more
As a 1st year trainee RE teacher with a limited knowledge of Judaism I thought foolishly that this book would introduce me... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mr. C. Mclaughlin
Good
Good, short book. Provides good details on Jewish practice at times difficult to engage with.
Published on 3 Mar 2009 by Penny Sanford
Intelligent and interesting
I have read many of the very short introduction series and have found them thorough, interesting but not too heavy. This has proven the same with Solomon's book. Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2008 by A. Lester
Patchy in Places
I love these Very Short Introductions to, they are invariably spot on in finding a way into what can be some tricky issues or ideas. Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2007 by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
