Living Judaism: The Complete Guide to Jewish Belief, Tradition, and Practice

by Wayne D. Dosick

In Living Judaism, Rabbi Wayne Dosick, Ph.D., author of the acclaimed Golden Rules, Dancing with God, and When Life Hurts, offers an engaging and definitive overview of Jewish philosophy and theology, rituals and customs. Combining quality scholarship and sacred spiritual instruction, Living Judaism is a thought-provoking reference and guide for those already steeped in Jewish life, and a comprehensive introduction for those exploring the richness and grandeur of Judaism.

Genres: Judaism, Religion, Nonfiction, Jewish, Judaica, History, Spirituality

400 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

Reviews

[Miri Villerius]

This book provides a very good survey of Jewish religious practice and life from Rabbi Dosick who is termed "trans-denominational". Dosick tries to give an inclusive view of the diversity of religious beliefs, meaning, and practice of contemporary Jews. With that said, I would recommend a grain of salt be taken in terms of Dosick's discussions of history, politics, and comparative religion when they come up. The views therein seem quite heavily biased to Dosick's Zionism, painting an often fairly rosy view of the State of Israel, while airing on dismissiveness towards other religious groups and being fairly un-nuanced in both cases.

[Krystelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive write-up of many of the facets of Judaism, this book is a thoroughly enjoyable examination of the religion. It does have some very basic concepts (which you won’t need the crash course for if you are Jewish, of course) married with some essays that are far more detailed. It makes for the perfect book for new converts, people disconnected from their faith, and those who are quite simply curious. It’s a good guide to the underpinnings of Judaism, and well worth a read for those wanting to learn more!

[Kyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super informative and not terribly as academic as one might think. I appreciated the stories sprinkled within the chapters that delved deeper into the content, showing practice and situation. They were really powerful and did a good job strengthening one's understanding of what we just read from the chapter itself.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a balanced, fairly objective, highly accessible introduction to Judaism. Dosick has a gift for explanation to the uninitiated. It covers a lot of ground in 376 pages. The book is used by some classes for people considering converting. Judaism is a law-oriented and intellectual religion rooted in deep history. Its sense of humanity and its stewardship of the environment are reflected in many of its laws. I was surprised to find the book rather somber, and couldn’t sort out why I reacted that way.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broadening my spiritual spectrum.

[sheepchase · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the books used in the Introduction to Judaism course I am taking as part of my conversion journey. I already had done quite a bit of study before so at first there wasn’t much new information, but about midway through the book many useful terms are explained and it continues in that vein until the end. As such it’s a great reference book and will give you a good foundation to build on with other books.

The book does its best to give an overview of practices in all major branches of Judaism but perhaps it most comfortably fits into Conservative or perhaps Modern Orthodox. While Reform and Reconstructionist is explained, because of its publication date some things, such as the approach to gender (even the ‘gendered’ nature of G_D) are a little dated.

Anyway, if you want to know the basics of Judaism I think this is a very good book to start with.

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rabbi Dosick does a great job of explaining Judaism and Jewish practices as well as how they vary among different Jewish movements. It took me a little while to get used to his voice, but once I did I found this to be a very useful and engaging guide to Judaism. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is new to Judaism, is considering converting to Judaism, or is just curious about what it means to be Jewish.

[Jordon Gyarmathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living Judaism is a wonderful reference to the basics of Jewish tradition, theology, and culture. There is a helpful mix of hebrew and yiddish terms, visual aids and explanations of traditions and why they exist. I enjoyed the read thoroughly, and how concise the book was. There was a strange focus on Christianity in some parts though.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been teaching from this book for close to 20 years and I find it to be the best one volume introduction to Judaism. Rabbi Dosick writes in contemporary language and approaches the subject matter with a healthy sense of pluralism.

[Scott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 Stars) A good overview of the Jewish faith/practices/history. It is somewhat like an Idiot’s Guide, offering the basics for those who would want to know about Judaism. I got the most out of learning of the practices and the parts of the faith that impact daily lives. The parts that just focused on the history of Israel (the modern state) I didn’t get much out of, but I can see where it is relevant to any discussions about Judaism.

The main reason I wanted to read something like this was after a visit to New York when we were at a children’s museum and we were vastly outnumbered by a lot of Ultra Orthodox Jews (appeared Hasidic) [that particular day coincided with a major Jewish holiday]. I though I knew some things about Judaism, but I found myself wondering what more I didn’t know. Definitely learned more after this work. A good starter volume for those wanting to have a baseline knowledge about the faith and culture.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and detail book on Judaism. I learned a lot.

The author explains Jewish life and history. Each chapter captures another aspect of Jewish life whether it's one of the several holidays or how life is lived or how they worship. One of the most appealing parts of Judaism is Shabbat, the Sabbath. Even in a zoom call this morning about Judaism where one of the speakers was Jewish, she explained that from Friday evening to Saturday evening she follows Shabbat which means family time and time away from work and technology including cell phones. This is admirable.

The author sometimes gets carried away with the Hebrew words explaining the Jewish letters that make up the word. A little too detail for me. I do wish the author wrote about the Hebrew language a bit more, especially on pronunciation of words.

Eye opening book.

[Jeanne Lambrianou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best and fullest explanation of Judaism

Rabbi Dosick has done a wonderful, detailed job of explaining the holy books, rituals, holidays, history of the Jews. I have a much better idea now of what Jews believe and why. I know where the major personalities fit into the cultural timeline. I have much more fellow-feeling for the Jews, thank you, Rabbi. I had wanted to better understand Christ, as a Jew - and I feel I do now.

[Ambria Irlbeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone exploring conversion to Judaism, this was an excellent primer, covering holidays, daily life, beliefs, and more. "Living Judaism" was unbiased and covered in depth the differences between the different branches of Judaism, as well as how the differing beliefs affect their practice.

I would highly recommend this to anyone considering conversion or anyone who wants to know more about Judaism.

[Kimalee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for understanding and deepening Jewish practices. The texts covers a voluminous amount of information therefore it can only convey cursory information. However, It would be a good book for a perspective convert. I would suggest if you are of a different faith this book might not be the best introduction to Judaism. I would save reading this text for after reading a more elementary introduction to the subject.

[Claire Englewood · Rating 4 out of 5]

No. Not finished. This is not a book to read cover to cover but to use in bits and sections to explore one's own spirituality. Although I was not raised in the Jewish faith, I have lived in Jewish communities and have a great reference for the faith, culture, and traditions. It has probably given me more closeness to G*d than a lifetime of Christianity, Bible study or Sunday School.

[Kyra Boisseree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished! I definitely prefer Essential Judaism to this book, since this book is significantly shorter and tends to generalize more. However, it was still good and gave me a lot of practice sounding out Hebrew without vowels. I'm comfortably familiar with every letter of the Hebrew alphabet just because of this book lol.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book that really delves into, as the title says, Jewish Tradition, Belief and Practice.

Dosick works well in explaining the meaning of the various holidays, various traditions that exist within Judaism, and offers an objective view of the ways in which Judaism has come down to us.

[Anouk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some…interesting transliterations and the author is a little more theologically conservative than I am but overall this was a good read. Covers a large breadth of information without being dry or overwhelming.

[Kaiti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay. I disagreed with some parts, found some parts dubious, really enjoyed other parts, and found some of it quite helpful.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUPERB Read!

[isaac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Far to prescriptive and biased in the rabbi's own views to be educational, lacks a sense of understanding of greater historical influence on spiritually, however makes valuable points

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough, with all Hebrew phrases explained and a handy timeline in the back. The author has full membership in several Jewish denominations. Beginner-friendly, if long and dense.

[Nol Lissey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such magnificent spirituality behind the story of gods chosen people. This definitely broadens my horizon so much.

[Robert New England · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by an originally Reform rabbi who then joined the Conservative movement, and who appreciates Orthodox traditions, this is a unique introduction to Jewish belief and practice.

[Yiyang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book (borrowed from a friend) and it covered a lot of fundamentals.

[Hogan McCale · Rating 3 out of 5]

It can be a little dry at points, and the essays were the highlights imo. Overall very informative, and a good first serious look at Judaism.

[Nicole Arrazolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book with so much good information!

I can’t say I loved ALL of it, but there were definitely highlights for me. Grateful for this education. ♥️

[lugosi 🎱 · Rating 4 out of 5]

GREAT book for those how are interested in getting to learn more about Judaism. Took me a while to get through but only because of the amount of info. Not dense or hard to understand and really helpful for learning. Definitely recommend!

[Shannon Duran · Rating 5 out of 5]

very informative book, i am in the process of converting to judasim and this was the first book i was given to read by my rabbi. some parts were very interesting and others were very dry. However if you don't know any thing about judasim this is a great book to read. It left me with lots of questions for my rabbi which was the point. I would definetly recommend this book, but its a scholarly work not really for casual reading. there were so funny antidoes and interesting jewish legends along the way.

[Samira · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read chunks of this book slowly, in a group. Some of Dosick's insights are really interesting and I liked his approach to aspects of the law, even if I disagree with some of his underlying logic. That said, he can be very morally superior about other religions (usually, when he says "other religions" he means Christianity) in ways that highly over simplify Christian belief, practice, and diversity.