Ken Spiro'sCrash Course in Jewish History: The Miracle and Meaning of Jewish History, from Abraham to Modern Israel [Hardcover]

by K. Spiro

The Miracle and Meaning of Jewish History. Crash Course in Jewish History from Abraham to Modern Israel

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Judaism, Jewish, Israel

Hardcover

First published February 1, 2010

Reviews

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an impactful experience. It was amazing to read an historical account of world history from the traditional Jewish perspective that all of human history is a controlled process leading to a destination, design by G-d of Israel who acts in history. There were so many illuminating aspects, especially relative to a western, Christian history presented to me in school. The end of the book invoked a lot of anger toward how the actions of Israel are presented to the world in comparison to the actual events, and the continual barrage of injustices that have been continually dealt Israel throughout history.

It left me hungry for more of this!

[Mirele Kessous · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stellar, compact summary of Jewish history--albeit with a very right-wing and religious slant. Made me want to make aliya. I love Ken Spiro :-) Very readable: grades 7-12.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book that truly makes Jewish history come to life. Most history texts are stuffy and tend to talk over the reader. However, Spiro manages to make our history read like a novel. I loved how he also explained a bit of the worlds history through the lens of Judaism.

[Ziv · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting read from an Orthodox Jewish perspective. I was upset to finish the book and am I am looking forward to Ken's next book.

The History is written in simple English with interesting anecdotes from History a must read for anyone interested in this subject.

[Pavel Bylinovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fact filled easy to read book on Jewish History

Really loved reading this book. I am planning on reading it a second time as there was so much and I want to retain the major points. Great book and I highly recommend

[Caiti · Rating 5 out of 5]

In high school, I never paid attention in Jewish history class. I was confident enough in my Jewish ethnoreligion a identity that I didn’t feel it was so necessary.

This book was given to me by the author himself (autographed too!) as a gift during my gap year in Jerusalem, when he came to speak to my class and talk about the importance of Jewish history.

Now that I’m an adult with freedom to choose what I read without having to wring a book report for homework, I decided it was time I learned more about the history of my people.

Rabbi Ken Spiro excellently portrays the story of the Jewish People and our 4000 years long journey: from Avraham Avinu’s travels from Ur Kasdim (modern day Iraq) to Canaan, from our enslavement in Egypt to ancient Israel, our Judean Kingdoms, the Davidic and Hasmonean dynasties, the Babylonian and Roman exiles of the Jewish people from Judea, the 2000 year long Diaspora that followed and continues to this day, and our return to our indigenous homeland, now called the modern state of Israel.

It is a beautifully written book, one I plan on rereading to freshen up my knowledge. I highly encourage anyone who is curious about Jewish history and our incredible legacy to read this book. 💙🪬

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This truly was a crash course covering the entire history of the Jewish people. Well researched, this book covers every aspect of jewish history and it is written in a simple straight-forward way so it feels more like a conversation and less like a dry history book. This book includes not only historical facts but adds context to the events, and allows the reader to understand the cultural and historical significance of world events throughout jewish history. I highly recommend the book to anyone wanting to learn more about the story of the jews from their beginning to modern day.

[Mim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely recommended..
This book has a religious pov, and a few factual errors ( like with dates and alike ), but otherwise an amazingly well written and engaging book.
Ken Spiro is a great storyteller! I literally could not put the book down and go to sleep at 2 am, causing me trouble at work! :/

[Reuben · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It provides a comprehensive rundown of Jewish history in an easy to reformat. How do you recommend to anyone who has an interest in the subject or Is looking for a beginner guide to Jewish history

[Ronen Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Highly recommend.

[Joel Barnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredibly informative read with a more right wing view attached onto it. It is well written and left me feeling a lot more versed in events from a range of times in Jewish History.

This is not the easiest read and there were points where I had to look back at tables / diagrams that were usefully added to some of the pages. Ken Spiro does his best to section events meaning my backtracking could have been a lot more difficult.

I found the book both worrying and reassuring and am very glad I read it.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the name of the book, it gives the Jewish history , well summarised . Written by a Jew, the perspective is from the Jewish perspective. I appreciate the Jews , Jewish back ground , culture much more after reading this book.

[Ben Lipkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good and helpful.

The biggest critique is that there are times where the author goes well beyond history and instead preaches orthodox theology. Ive got no issue with that, except that it is not flagged as opinion and this is purportedly a text about history

[Sion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very concise and easy read. Its a great starting point for anyone new to Jewish history.

[Eugene Brusilovskiy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read that does a good job covering most of Jewish history

I very much enjoyed the book. It is relatively comprehensive, and covers most major events and personalities in Jewish history.