Excellent. Jewishnews and Judaism disentangled .
352946
Excellent. Thought provoking. Rational.
Helpful to rational and humanistic people, particularly those from Jewish backgrounds , or connected to them.
Contemporary world events do challenge some if his assumptions about the 21st century .
I will reread this, and recomend to others.
1661994
It makes intuitive sense that there might be a single dominant thread in the Hebrew bible, with a timeline running from the creation story through the rule of David. Friedman, expanding on his earlier work "Who wrote the Bible", develops his thesis of this core work (with a sole author) through painstaking linguistic analysis and textual criticism. Within his interpretation of what is referred to by documentary hypothesis scholars as the "J" (Yahwist) account, you'll be surprised by such things as a very different rendering of the ten commandments, to say nothing of some surprising redefinitions of words and phrases that will both amuse and enlighten you.
All in all, the reader will feel as if they are seeing an extremely unvarnished and unedited version of ancient Israel's history for the first time, and if you really enjoy an in-depth look at the construction of the Torah, as well as the court era of the old testament, this work will not disappoint you. One warning though: be prepared, if your academic skills lie elsewhere, to read it twice because Friedman will put you through your paces in terms of the biblical expertise required of you to understand his thesis. Additionally, I would recommend that you read "Who Wrote The Bible" as a prelude to this book.
1104947
It is excellent in that it shows what is off from the Masorite Hebrew.  You have to remember that it uses pagan Words for the Creator and not His True Name.
3043577
A fascinating book! The author shows that much of the academic research in social sciences dominated by Jews is an exercise in deception or self-deception. He explains this behavior in terms of group psychology determined by evolutionary mechanisms. But a few issues require further elaboration or are entirely missing:
1) The author's explanation of Marxism as a strategy to emphasize the division of society along lines other than Jew/gentile is open to a question. The most salient feature of Marxism is its apocalyptic messianism. Paradoxically Israeli scholar Gerschom Scholem (whom the author considers over-rated) may have provided a better insight in the origins of Marxism in his book The Messianic Idea in Judaism, in the chapters on Sabbatai Zevi, even though he does not explicitly say so. But the similarity between the two aberrant messianic movements is hard to miss. The author is well aware of traits often found among the Jews such as messianism, self-conceptualization as "the light of the nations", "secret dreams of reversal and triumph", "desire for malignant vengeance", "dark emotions", and tendency towards sectarian, cult-like behavior. But he never uses any of these in his analysis of Marxism.

2) MacDonald notes that Judaism has the best chance of continuation in liberal, individualistic societies. Why would it be in the interest of the Jews to construct totalitarian doctrines such as Marxism? It is not. Marxism is not a product of an adaptive group evolutionary strategy but an extreme, irrational response born out of frustration.

3) The author argues that Jewish radical leftist organizations recruited a few gentiles for the purposes of window dressing. (It sounds a little like the conspiracy theory.) The author makes the case that the Communist Parties of Russia, Poland, Hungary, and USA were initially dominated by Jews. He argues persuasively that these Jews, in spite of their universalistic and internationalist rhetoric, never lost their Jewish identity. Be as it may, the recruitment of the gentiles was not camouflage but proselytization. All the above mentioned parties soon fell under the control of the gentiles and even became anti-Semitic. How could have a few window dressing gentiles got the upper hand in Jewish organizations? Furthermore the communist parties in the Far East probably never had any significant Jewish membership.

4) There is no discussion of the fact that Jews were the most ardent proponents of pan-Germanism in Austria and Germany in the beginning of this century. The author mentions former Trockyists masquerading under the politically correct label of "neoconservatives" around the magazine The Weekly Standard. They advocate establishing an American world empire under the codeword "benevolent global hegemony." The author does not discuss their resemblance to the Jewish pan-Germanists.

5) The author correctly notes the irrationality of doctrines such as psychoanalysis. (He does not mention the irrationality of Marxism.) But there is practically no analysis of why the superior Jewish intellect is unable to discern irrational ideas. The author would probably say that such delusions are a byproduct of group evolutionary strategy. But I presume that the author does not mean by "rationality" (i.e. being in accordance with logic, facts, verifiable) as something that is relative and exists only in the eyes of the beholder.

5) There is no discussion of Gestalt psychology.

6) The author correctly states that monogamy has been the norm in "Western Europe" and polygamy existed in the Orient from Middle East to China. He leaves us guessing if polygamy has been practiced in Greece and Russia.

In spite of these shortcomings the book throws plenty of light on a hitherto unanalyzed subject.
3511161
A great approach to understanding the diverse literary forms of scripture and the impossibility of having a authentic grasp of ancient documents without having an understanding of the cultural forms of that time. As Dr. Nutting points out in many ways, the text is for Jews and assumes the context of their culture and its history, using that background to convey a message otherwise not apparent.  Dismissing this context leads to ridiculous speculations--understandable in our ignorance--that are quite misleading. For instance, with the book of Revelation, John is writing to a suffering and persecuted community to convey to them the hope that is a gift of their faith. He is not talking of a future veiled beyond any real understanding, a vague promise, but the reality of the One they know in Christ, always present and always uplifting.  Incredible gift of a book!
Thanks, Dr. Nutting.
4189544
This book is a scholarly guide through over a thousand years of Jewish law and commentary.  It also has a strong sociological context because one the ongoing arguments by Orthodox Jews to exclude women from the Minyan and other Jewish community groupings is the concept that it would violate or harm the "honor of the community."  The authors ask if this standard "honor of the community" is fixed in meaning based on the structure and form of the Jewish community ages ago, or must this term now take into account the current form of most societies where men and women are equal under the law and the norms of modern societies. In fact, the authors even ask if it would now dishonor the community to exclude women from the Minyan, leading prayer, and other groupings called for under Jewish law.  Further, the authors ask the question whether such exclusion of women could, in this day and time, and going forward, even harm or discredit or dishonor Judaism itself.

This is an excellent book and every page is worth reading, every footnote is worth reading, and even the appendices are worth reading.  The timing of this book could not be more perfect as recently the Israeli government has gone back on its decision to allow for women and men to pray together at the Wailing Wall in Israel, igniting a firestorm among liberal and conservative Jews who have adopted egalitarianism as a mainstay principle of their current Jewish faith.

Most importantly, this book will educate all sides on this question.  As an egalitarian myself, I find the length the authors go to include and objectively analyze every argument to exclude women refreshing.  Those who want to permanently exclude women from leadership roles and prayer groups in Judaism will always be with us, but those who demand in every aspect of life egalitarianism, as I do, this book gives me excellent grounding for my moral position that any discrimination against women is totally objectionable.

I hope this book helps promote honest debate for this critical topic facing Judaism.  Clearly, those who just want to keep women out of leadership roles and even participation in key aspects of Jewish groups in life and prayer who say "this is not the way it is done" will not (or should not) have a respected place in the future intellectual debates on this topic.  And, that maybe a great contribution of this book.
1454764
This is a academic level work yet you needn't' be a Jewish professional to understand and benefit from it. It enhanced my historical understanding greatly.
2094887
Well, it's been another year, but the Chosen is still the best book I've ever read. I made some errors on my last review, so I'll change them. I did not WRITE the Chosen, I READ it (which is what I meant to say, except that  I was too busy applauding Chaim Potok). And I have since found out that the  term for one who is born jewish but becomes more religious later is  "b'aal teshuvah", not "born-again-jew". (But it kinda  works, doesn't it?)
For people who are still confused about all the  Jewish terms: LOOK THEM UP! I didn't know much about Judaism before I read  it either, so I read through dictionnairies, encyclopedias, etc... NOW I  know enough to UNDERSTAND WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT. (And aren't books much  more FUN that way?)
Reuven is clearly NOT a secular Jew. He is Orthodox.  (Modern Orthodox, as it is called now.) No secular Jew goes to synagogue,  is instructed in yiddish and hebrew in a yeshiva,(or even goes to a  yeshiva) studies talmud, wears a yarmulke and prays with teffilin,  ok?
Clearly, Reuven's character is portraying the few thousand orthodox  jews who think that the current-day-Israel has the right to exist, despite  passages in the Torah that say otherwise. (I think Potok, who is also  Orthodox, is one of them too, and the fact that there were enough Orthodox  Zionists in the High School show that he was really trying to set these  characters apart, even among the orthodox.)
The theme here is not that  Danny is more religious than Reuven. It's that BOTH are religious, and that  each thinks the other way is wrong.
This often occurs among M.O. (Modern  Orthodox) and U.O. (Ultra-orthodox, including Hasidism).
The interesting  thing is, according to the HALACHAH (I hope I spelled that right), or  "religious laws", they are both "religious".
ex:  torah forbids touching face and sides of head with a blade, so hasidism  grow beards and "sidelocks" (peyes). However, M.O. use an  electric razor (no blade), so technically, they are still fulfilling the  commandment.
Every time I read this, more insight is gained. I still say  this book, although fictionnal, is a valuable reading material for the  secular and reform jews of today who still can't comprehend why  "anyone would want to live like that".
This book has impacted  my life and I will always be grateful to Chaim Potok for writing it. He is  a genius, and I hope he continues to write many more masterpieces of  literature.
(I eagerly look forward to the finishing of Asher Lev's  story, which Potok is supposedly working on.)
3661445
Reading this book was a revelation. Growing up in the West, I pretty much assimilated the 'party line' when it comes to issues on the Middle East 'conflict', albeit the liberal party line. You know the schtick, "the situation is ... complicated." In other words, neither side is right or wrong, and at the same time perhaps they are both right and wrong. Again, it's ... complicated. Then there were the mantras of divine right, Palestinian mendacity, and the long, epic history of the people of Israel. The last several years have disabused me of all of those notions. Shlomo Sand helped, putting a lot of the research I've found elsewhere, and more, into one coherent, well-researched, elegantly written account that reaffirmed for me just how much I was a victim of Hasbara media trolls.

Take your pick: the "Unified Kingdom", the great "Exodus", the great historical "nation" of Israel, etc. ad nauseam. Sand takes each myth perpetuated by and about the "Jewish" people and exposes it for what it is: absolute, complete fiction. He uncovers the ethnocentrism that hides behind all of the slogans, their historical roots, and he does so with precision. He documents the rise of "nationalism", how played itself out in our history, and the different methods and means people go about creating these fictional divisions we now call "nations", with particular reference to the "Jewish nation". This is the essence of the book that makes it all makes sense. Sand shows HOW such myths could become so thoroughly entrenched and believed, and why they were created in the first place. In that regard, the book is so much more than a treatise on how much of a misnomer the term "Jewish People" really is. It gets to the heart of modern society and the lies we tell ourselves to keep the facade in place.

Sometimes shocking, always enlightening, Sand's book is a great look at propaganda and the way out from the prison in which it keeps the minds of those who believe in it. I read this one around the same time I read Ilan Pappe's _The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine_, and I heartily endorse both. You won't be disappointed.
2328457
I took over a year to digest this book. It is factual and informational. It skips around a bit, but is basically chronological. No stones are unturned and I learned a lot. No need to elaborate further, as it is the best history of the Jews written in English.

As for the other analyses, "Jews, G-d and History" is truly a book that is honest to a fault. Until the final chapter, Dimont is assiduous in making sure the reader sees no hint of bias. No doubt he IS a liberal, but also a Zionist. Toward the end, he explains how atheistic and socialistic (left-wing) the Nazis were. And, in a stirring final chapter I'd like to force Obama to read, Dimont basically relays the facts of Israel's army being a pure DEFENSE force and all the missed opportunities for so-called 'peace' by the Palestinians and other rogue Arab states. I guess in the revisionist's world, honesty is wrong. This should be a textbook in all history classes. I won't hold my breath.

If the "Palestinians" (a group so reviled by other Arab nations, their people can ONLY find freedom IN Israel!) laid down their arms tomorrow, there would be peace; If the Israelis laid down their arms tomorrow, there'd be genocide.
236890
Fantastic solid exposition of a number of Scriptures, mostly NT, that deal with who is a part of Israel.  This is a highly recommended volume in JK McKee's series 'Confronting Issues.'  Following are excerpts from a detailed review on my blog: http://natsab.com/2014/07/30/jk-mckees-are-non-jewish-believers-really-a-part-of-israel/

"A Part of Israel is 328 pages of deep exposition and discussion of multiple passages, primarily from the New Testament, that relate to exactly where the non-Jewish believer fits.  After some introductory and foundational information, McKee, in roughly sequential fashion, takes passage after passage and discusses them with an eye toward citing/quoting other Messianic teachers in particular and pointing out what is right and what is not.  He is gracious in doing so, but is clear to demonstrate where there is error in various understandings of what the Kingdom of Israel looks like and who is in it!  Example passages would be 30 pages dedicated to the predictably selected Ephesians 2:11-13 passage.  He specifically addresses politeia, a Greek word we have looked at before, however, he understandably takes a much more coy approach as to whether non-Jews will have an inheritance in the land.  (Elsewhere in this book he muses that Ezekiel 47:21-22 aside, hes not expecting anything, but may be surprised.)  Id love to probe him more on that topic, but understand his caution due to the divisiveness of the subject and the breadth of his audience."

"...Those two minor gripes aside, I certainly believe this book should be read by every believer in Messiah, both Jew and non-Jew.  Further, those who would promote a bilateral ecclesiology must refute this books thesis and exegesis, or they have no case...."

I highly recommend this volume!
642532
Buchanan's book "Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War" reminds me very much of "the new historians" who by fabrication of quotes, by taking quotes out of context, and by not being truthful about consulting new sources that had become available, revised the accepted history of Israel's founding. See, Karsh [[ASIN:071468063X Fabricating Israeli History: The 'New Historians' (Cass Series--Israeli History, Politics, and Society)] and also, "The Unbearable Lightness of my Critics", [...]

Anita Shapira summed it up in an article in The New Republic, entitled "The Past is not a Foreign Country".

"... the ideas advanced by Benny Morris, Avi Shlaim, and Ilan Pappe, the vanguard of the "new historians," were nothing new. An anti-narrative of Zionism, counterposed to the Zionist (and Israeli) narrative of Zionism, had existed since the very inception of the Zionist movement. Opponents of the movement, Jewish and non-Jewish, had created an entire literature explaining what was foul in Zionism and why Zionism was destined to fail, and later why the state of Israel was an illegitimate and unjust construct that had to be resisted. The Soviet propaganda machine excelled in developing this anti-narrative, and in proliferating it. Arab propaganda also did its work. And at the margins of the Israeli left, there had always been groups and currents that doubted the right of Israel to exist and stressed the wrongs that were perpetrated against the Arabs. Yet those heretical elements remained marginal in Israeli politics and culture, and failed to gain wide public support. The advent of the "new historians" changed all that. These views now gained a certain legitimacy, since they appeared in the context of a debate between ostensibly objective scholars."

In the same way, there have always been on the fringes of our society those who believe that men with evil motives have been the cause of war.  Many conspiracy theories still exist about on why Pearl Harbor was not warned of the impending raid when we had broken the Japanese Naval Codes.  The "Truthers" continue to maintain there is no proof that Islamists took down the World Trade Center and bombed the Pentagon.

Ockham's Razor is still the best way to deal with causation.  The simplest theory is best.

It is undisputed that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.  It is also undisputed that 2 or 3 days after the Japanese carried out their dastardly attack Adolph Hitler declared war on the United States.

That is how the US entered WWII.  It will take a better revisionist than Buchanan to get me to believe otherwise or that Chamberlain was wiser than Churchill.  It was also Chamberlain who was responsible for the British White Paper that prevented Jews from fleeing the Holocaust to Palestine.

Efraim Karsh, is a Professor of History at Kings College, London.  He has held various academic posts at Harvard and Columbia universities, the Sorbonne, the London School of Economics, Helsinki University, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies in Washington D.C., and the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University.  H. Eisenberg who posted his review earlier, is also a real historian, not an amateur like Buchanan -- who fails as a man for all seasons.
2553709
This book is a compendium of chapters by different religious people and theologians. The great thing about this book is that all of the people who contributed to it honor and realize that Jesus is the man in between Judaism and Christianity. And that Christianity is completely dependent upon Judaism for it's existence. I love that the contributors of this book celebrate Jesus being Jewish and that Judaism is essential to Christian. When you read this book you can't help but wonder about the mentality of Christian anti-Semite's who claim to be so religious and spiritual in their beliefs which by it's nature is so ignorant of the fact that Jesus was not just Jewish, but a fully practicing observant Bar Mitzvahed Jew.

Futher, the Last Supper was a Passover meal, which according to Judaism, God commanded the Jews (and therefore the Christians who were/are simply Jews who felt that Jesus was the Messiah, while non Christian Jews feel the Messiah hasn't come yet), that they MUST observe and keep Passover and the Passover meal.

It's always confounded me that the Last Support became distanced from the fact that it was a Passover meal to some degree and that to many, they don't even fully get that Jesus was a Jew. And a very devout one at that! How can any religious observant Christian be anti-Semitic? To be anti-Semitic is to hate Jesus' faith. He was even called Rabbi by many because to be a Rabbi you are a teacher which Jesus most certainly was.

At any rate, they book deals with this and much more. A very interesting read and in that way a wonderful bridge between Judaism and Christianity.
2909192
In plain, graceful language, the authors bring to awareness the way Jewish belief systems developed during the Diaspora. To me, the chief virtue is the introduction of general readers to the intensely spiritual deliberations of medieval Jewry. -- although the book also considers very well the whole question of the necessity of the Jews settling in Israel.

You will learn of the writings and character of the following Jewish luminaries and thinkers: Maimonides, the Saadyah Gaon, Rav Schmuel, Rabbi Yochannan, Rashi. .

The authors focus on the comfortable, wealthy secular Jewish community in Babylonia (modern Baghdad). What were the feelings of these Jews regarding the biblical declarations and prophesies about Jews returning the the Holy Land? There are similarities between the sophistication, and secularization, of Babylon and the modern Golden Land, America. What similarities were there between the Babylonian scholars and those who forged their own "Jerusalem" Talmud (not written in that city, for the Romans banned Jews from it).

The book is excellent in covering the whole question of active rebellion against militant authority, vs. passive, and prayerful, otherworldly acceptance of injustice by its victims (the condition Ashkenazim faced for centuries).

These fascinating questions are treated impartially and reverently, without ostentation, moralizing, or jargon.
2182832
This is a very good book, like most of Potok's other works, it is centered around a Jewish adolescent,(orthodox, of course) coming of age and learning how to interact with his parents.
This book was, in some ways, a  departure from Potok's earlier works about Hasidism. This takes place  before THE CHOSEN, and MY NAME IS ASHER LEV, and has barely any mention of  the "pious ones", save for the character's father voicing his  distaste for them.
This is the story of every typical jewish kid in NYC  in the between-war-years, (with the exception of the constant illness this  caracter is afflicted with) and for that, it is very successful.
Reading  this, for me, was invaluable in doing genealogy research on my family. This  helped me get in the "mindset of the time". My family, like the  family of the main character, had come over, had children, and then watched  their relatives get killed in Europe, and this gave me a very good sense of  what it was like, from the American viewpoint.
It showed how the  Americanized Jews dealt with the problems in Palestine, how Jews and  gentiles interacted, all the while with Henry Ford and Father Couglin  taking up arms against them [the Jews]. It also showed how they responded  to the early Nazism in 1930s Germany, and then what happened when they  learned the awful truth.
Like most of Potok's main characters, this one  is involved in Torah and Talmudic study, so non-jews and secular ones,  BEWARE: YOU MIGHT HAVE TO LOOK SOMETHING UP! (oh, the horror!)
But,  despite whatever minor issues one might have with this book, it succeeds in  the end, and it is a very compelling story.
1929189
This book even though marked fiction gives you an understanding of both Gentiles and Jewish outlook.  It broadened my understanding of especially the Messianic Jew.  We need more of this.
3856036
As an unobservant Jew, I found Tova Mirvis path from modern Orthodox Judaism to almost unobservant intriguing. Her questioning began at an early age but she mostly did what was expected of her until it was untenable. She forged a path for herself very different than the one she expected to go down.