An Introduction to Judaism

274 Pages·2000·2.41 MB·English

by  Nicholas de Lange

Beginning with the question ‘Who is a Jew?’,this book proceeds to
oVer a lucid account of Judaism and the Jewish people.Written for
Jews and non-Jews alike, be they students or teachers or general
interested readers,the book brings out the extraordinary richness
and variety of Judaism:its historical depth,and the vigour and at
times amazing endurance of its traditions – in the home,in the syn-
agogue,in its literature,in individual and community life.
Nicholas de Lange writes as a Jewish scholar, a knowledgeable
insider, explaining the history and details of inherited rituals and
customs; of organised religion (be it Orthodox, Conservative,
Reform or Liberal); of concepts such as Zionism, Diaspora,
Messianism.Half of the world’s Jews live in North America and the
rest are widely scattered, and the book is sensitive to the global
context of Judaism, both historically and in our postmodern age.
The philosophy and theology of Judaism are examined, particu-
larly in the wake of the Holocaust, and there are speculations on
the future.Dr de Lange does not shirk the diYculties posed by ques-
tions of Jewish identity and by some of the irreconcilable
diVerences which exist within Judaism as well as between Judaism
and other cultures.
An Introduction to Judaism contains illustrative tables and maps, a
full glossary,chronology,bibliography and index,and can be used
for reference, to check details and dates, as well as read consecu-
tively or dipped into at leisure. This is a stimulating and compre-
hensive introduction to a major world culture.
Nicholas de Langeis Reader in Hebrew and Jewish Studies in
the University of Cambridge.A distinguished scholar and transla-
tor and a rabbi,he is author of the popular Atlas of the Jewish World
and Judaism.His many translations include novels by Israeli writers
such as Amos Oz and A. B. Yehoshua. With Cambridge, Dr de
Lange has published Origen and the Jewsand the English translation
of Oz’s Under this Blazing Light.
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
AN INTRODUCTION TO
JUDAISM
NICHOLAS DE LANGE
University ofCambridge
PUBLISHED BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS (VIRTUAL PUBLISHING)
FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
CAMBRIDGE
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA
477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia

http://www.cambridge.org

© Nicholas de Lange 2000
This edition © Nicholas de Lange 2002

First published in printed format 2000

A catalogue record for the original printed book is available
from the British Library and from the Library of Congress
Original ISBN 0 521 46073 5 hardback
Original ISBN 0 521 46624 5 paperback

ISBN 0 511 00931 3 virtual (netLibrary Edition)
For Alexander
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
Contents
List of tables page x
List of illustrations xi
Preface xii
Chronology xiv
Map of the Jewish world in 1930 xvi
Map of the Jewish world in the 1990s xix
1 The Jews in the world 1
Who are the Jews? 1
Facts and figures 4
Natives or immigrants? 6
The Jews throughout the world 11
North America 11
Israel 15
Former Soviet Bloc countries 19
The European Union 21
Latin America 24
2 The Jewish people and its past 26
The Jewish nation 26
Enemies of the nation 33
Universalism 34
Assimilation 38
Individualism 40
Dispersion 41
Fragmentation 43
Genocide 43
3 Jewish books 45
The Bible 46
The prayer book 54
vii
viii Contents
The Talmud 56
The Shulhan Arukh 59
The Zohar 62
TheGuide of the Perplexed 63
4 The Jewish religion 66
Traditional Judaism 66
The modernist reform 72
Radical alternatives 79
5 The family 84
The family as a unit 84
The Jewish home:space 89
The Jewish home:time 94
Rites of passage 107
6 The community 119
The Jewish community and how it works 119
The synagogue 125
The worship of the synagogue 127
Religious services 132
The cycle of the year 141
Moments of life 147
Other communal institutions 150
7 God and the Jewish people 155
The Jews and God 155
Sources of Jewish theology 160
The Bible 161
Midrash and Haggadah 164
The philosophers 166
Mystical approaches 169
The liturgy as a source of theology 172
God in the twentieth century 175
Hermann Cohen and his legacy 175
American Jewish theology 179
God and the Shoah 182
New issues 185
8 Objectives 187
Holiness 187
Obedience 190