Authors: C. M. Pilkington
ISBN-13: 9780071421324, ISBN-10: 0071421327
Format: Paperback
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies, The
Date Published: August 2003
Edition: Reprint
C.M. Pilkington is a professor of religious studies and the author of several books on Judaism.
Teach Yourself Judaism explores the beliefs and practices of the Jewish faith and helps readers to understand them in the context of a living religion. Key topics discussed include the roots of Judaism, its development and its variety of forms, the principles of life-cycle rituals, the importance of time and season in both home and synagogue, and the impact of the Holocaust and the creation of an Israeli state on modern Jewish self understanding.
C.M. Pilkington is a professor of religious studies and the author of several books on Judaism.
1 | Approaching Judaism | 1 |
Judaism as a religion | 1 | |
2 | The roots of belief and practice - the Bible | 15 |
A people's history and its significance | 15 | |
The structure of the Jewish Bible | 16 | |
The content of the Torah | 19 | |
The content of the Neviim | 23 | |
The content of the Ketuvim | 27 | |
Interpreting the Bible | 28 | |
Transmitting and translating the Bible | 30 | |
3 | The chain of tradition - the Talmud | 33 |
The written and the oral Torah | 33 | |
The varieties of Second Temple Judaism | 35 | |
Living as a holy people without the Temple | 37 | |
Discussing the Mishnah - the Talmud | 41 | |
Legal traditions (halakhah) and narrative traditions (aggadah) | 47 | |
4 | Orthodox Judaism | 52 |
Orthodoxy and belief | 52 | |
Continuity and discontinuity | 54 | |
Orthodox Judaism and the Bible | 57 | |
Ultra-Orthodoxy | 59 | |
Orthodox affiliation today | 61 | |
5 | Non-Orthodox Judaism | 64 |
Reform Judaism and points of departure | 64 | |
Determining the role of women in Judaism | 70 | |
Conservative Judaism | 78 | |
Liberal Judaism | 80 | |
6 | Food Laws | 82 |
The source and purpose of the food laws | 82 | |
Deciding what is kosher | 84 | |
Levels of observance | 88 | |
7 | Life and death matters | 93 |
Expressions of belief | 93 | |
The importance of having children | 94 | |
The sanctity of human life | 97 | |
Grief and hope | 100 | |
8 | Jewish education | 105 |
In the home | 105 | |
In the synagogue | 108 | |
In school | 111 | |
In higher education (academy, seminary, and college) | 112 | |
9 | Marriage | 116 |
Sex and marriage in Judaism | 116 | |
A Jewish wedding | 119 | |
Marriages between Jews and non-Jews | 122 | |
The religious court (Bet Din) and laws of status | 126 | |
A Jewish divorce | 129 | |
10 | Prayer | 133 |
The place of prayer | 133 | |
Communal prayers - ancient and modern | 138 | |
Physical reminders | 144 | |
11 | The Synagogue | 148 |
Terms and functions | 148 | |
Reading the Torah | 150 | |
Language and music | 155 | |
Religious leadership | 157 | |
12 | The Sabbath | 161 |
A sense of time out | 161 | |
Resting from work | 165 | |
Observing Shabbat in home and synagogue | 171 | |
13 | The rhythm of the year - festivals and fasts | 176 |
A sense of time | 176 | |
The lunar calendar | 180 | |
The new moon | 182 | |
The festivals of Hanukah and Purim | 184 | |
Other festivals | 188 | |
Fasts | 190 | |
14 | The pilgrim festivals | 192 |
Passover - the festival of unleavened bread | 192 | |
Freedom - then and now | 193 | |
Counting the days | 198 | |
Freedom to obey - Shavuot | 200 | |
Where true security lies - Sukkot | 201 | |
The four plants | 202 | |
The obligation to rejoice | 203 | |
15 | The New Year and the Day of Atonement | 207 |
The importance of The High Holy Days | 207 | |
Creating the atmosphere | 208 | |
Returning | 211 | |
Fasting | 213 | |
Atonement | 215 | |
16 | The Holocaust | 219 |
Questioning and remembering | 219 | |
A radical answer | 226 | |
A traditional response | 227 | |
Survival and beyond | 231 | |
17 | Israel | 235 |
A focal point for Jews | 235 | |
Zionism and beyond | 236 | |
Identity in a Jewish State | 247 | |
Peace with justice and security | 253 | |
Afterword | 262 | |
Further Reading | 267 | |
Glossary | 268 | |
Index | 275 |