A Short History of the Jewish People: From Legendary Times to Modern Statehood

by Raymond P. Scheindlin

Where did the Jews come from? How did they retain their strong sense of community through centuries of dispersion? How have the Jews of the present, with their proud ethnic identity and thriving national home, emerged out of the downtrodden Jews of the past? Such questions arise naturally in the minds of anyone contemplating the long history of Jewish people. In one concise, authoritative volume, A Short History of the Jewish People provides insights and answers.

This sweeping and highly informative work presents the major geographical, cultural, and political forces that have determined the course of Jewish history, introducing the many individuals, both religious and secular, who have shaped the character, mindset, and prospects of the Jewish people. Organized chronologically, the narrative follows the Jewish experience from legendary times to the peace agreements currently being negotiated in the Middle East. And, to give this overview an international and timely perspective, Raymond P. Scheindlin focuses his study on the pivotal events and dominant communities within each historical period.

Written by a respected Hebrew scholar, cultural historian, noted author, and rabbi, A Short History of the Jewish People carefully describes the story of a people as varied as the many cultures in which they have lived. Including detailed maps and stirring photos, as well as timelines and sidebars, this pioneering work is a valuable resource for anyone broadly curious about the Jewish people.

Genres: History, Judaism, Jewish, Religion, Nonfiction, Reference, Middle East

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Raymond P. Scheindlin is a scholar of early Hebrew literature, specializing in the Hebrew writing that emerged from contact between Jews and Arabs in the Middle Ages–the medieval Golden Age of Hebrew Literature.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book for an overview of Jewish history, and that's exactly what I got from it! The author does make a point not to delve into Judaism itself, other than to mention the various types of Judaism and when they came into existence, so this is not a book for exploring Judaic theology. In a small amount of space, the author covers over 2000 years of world history as it relates to the Jews, so there were times when I wanted more details and had to go look them up elsewhere. There were also many Jewish people mentioned with whom I was not familiar, so I had to look a lot of them up, too. But this book does a fine job of explaining where the Jews came from, their relationships with multiple political empires (e.g. the Romans, the Greeks, etc.), their history of being oppressed, and their struggles to form their own sovereign state. I found this book to be very helpful, too, with understanding the current state of Israeli-Palestinian relations. Overall, this book does exactly what it claims to, I just wish it wasn't quite so short!

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is highly recommended for anyone who wants an introductory-level history book on the history of the Jewish people. As similar summaries have done for me, it’s given me a number of other books to read to learn further in depth about Jewish history.

[Nate]

My dad recommended this one. I’m Jewish, and grew up learning this history, but I don’t think I’d ever read a book like this that lays it all out chronologically, giving the entire history shape and context. I learned a great deal, especially about the first centuries of diaspora and Jewish life in medieval times. Of course, Jewish history is filled with tragedy, but it’s fascinating and amazing to read how Jews have survived and changed with the times.

Jewish history spans several thousand years, and since this book is just over 250 pages, a lot of compression and broad summarizing is present. This makes for a dense read, especially in the early chapters taking place in ancient times. But Scheindlin does a pretty good job taking you through the history step by step. I like how he lays out the book in the middle chapters, taking turns to address Jews in the Middle East, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and so on.

[Kyra Boisseree · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this! It gave me a lot of basic background information to fiction I've read, as well as filling in the large gaps in my general knowledge of Jewish history (which has previously been mostly Biblical and 20th century). I'm excited to check out some of the books listed in the bibliography in the future.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally pretty good! It was a bit dry at times, but it's no mean feat trying to fit that much history into a concise book and so I feel like it did well within its restrictions. I would recommend this as a decent starting place for people, which is what I was looking for.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh so THATS what a jew is

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the book was great. For an "insider" (both culturally and religiously) writing about his own people, he was objective through most of it. He throws that out the window though with the founding of the modern state of Israel and ignores or downplays most parts of the history that make it look unfavourable (forcing Palestinians off their land, killing massive numbers of civilians, constantly violating international law, and much, much more). Worth a read as long as you know enough about those parts to realize what he's leaving out or downplaying.

[Masha Vorochkova · Rating 3 out of 5]

"...Let me speak of my big daughter Bellet.
Thirteen she was, and shy as a bride;
Knew all the prayers and hymns from her mother-
Modest, pious, lovely, and clever.
Modeled herself, pretty girl, on her mother,
Making my bed, taking my shoes off at night.
Handy at housework was Bellet, and honest;
Served God, spun, sewed, and embroidered.
Pious, faultless, always well-meaning-
She would sit quietly, listening, as I discoursed on Torah…
She was killed with her mother and her sister on the night of the
Twentieth of Kislev.
I was sitting at peace at my table-
Two pieces of filth came, killed them as I looked on-
Wounded me, my disciples, my son.

Now let me speak of my little daughter.
She already was saying the Shema- just the first lines- every night.
At six she was spinning and sewing,
Embroidering, entertaining me with her singing.
Alas for my wife, alas for my daughters!
I mourn, I lament- how have my sins caught up with me!...
My sons and my daughters- all dead!
Woe to me for my pious wife!
Woe to me for my sons and my daughters, I mourn them…

But You, God, are just, and I am ashamed.
God is the righteous one, I am the sinner.
Whatever You grant me, I thank You,
Sing you my hymns,
Bow to You, and bend my knee."

Rabbi Eleazar of Mainz, whose wife and children were killed in the aftermath of the Third Crusade (page 110).

This book is a condensed version of a condensed history. Best suited for the individual who has little to no knowledge of Jewish history. Minimal is said of religion or spirituality apart from summarizations of Hasidic movements and the city of Tzfat. I read this book for a Judaism 101 class my first year of college, and recently reread it, six years later.
Scheindlin refrains from mainstream Ashkenazi history discourse by including the Sephardi and Mizrahi communities, although minimal is said on Bukharan and Ethiopian populations. The author highlights the accomplishments of different figures, including prominent women such as Dona Gracia Nasi. I most appreciated the study of post-1948 modern Jewish history, particularly the evolution of modern Judaism and emergence of modern Orthodox in the West, and the elementary background on the State of Israel. Exile has most definitely defined Jewish history and identity, and this has been evolving over the last seventy years.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this volume identifies this as an ambitious undertaking indeed ... more than 4,000 years of history in 263 pages. It is, by its very nature, broad stroke history told densely. Viewed from 10,000 feet, the centuries, even the millenniums, fly by. Despite attempts to humanize it, this is mainly a political history and subject to the dryness that implies.

It is only when we get to the post World War II years that this history shines. In part this is because these are the years and personalities most familiar to us, and in part because the pace of the narrative slows down.

Although I found the book to be the victim of its own ambition, I was glad to have read it. While parts were a slog, I learned a good deal about changes in Jewish life and tradition over the centuries, and about Judaism today. I especially appreciated that it helped untangle for me the birth of the new state of Israel and its complex relationships with it neighbors, a complexity that is changing still.

[Joana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Não consigo terminar o livro. Apesar do tema ser muito interessante e o autor fazer uma abordagem exaustiva à história do povo judeu, falhou na concretização da escrita. Entendo que seja um exercício complexo escrever em 400 páginas tanta história, mas a narrativa anda para a frente e para trás na linha temporal e é difícil acompanhar o raciocínio.
Por agora volta para a estante, sairá quando sentir coragem para pegar nele novamente.

[Ryan Uyehara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear, concise, accessible and in its brevity, it gives you an even deeper appreciation of the grand scope of Jewish history.

[Mickey Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to Jewish history. Birds eye view of ancient Judaism to Jewish culture post-holocaust. Good read that includes recommendations for further reading.

[Murtaza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can one distill thousands of years of a people's history down to a few hundred pages? Somehow this book by Raymond Scheindlin manages to do just that, giving a compelling and sympathetic account of the origins of the Jewish people from the classical nation of Judea to the modern global religious community that exists today. As is perhaps inevitable over such a vast span of time, Jewish history has been experienced as a cycle of rises and falls. Judeans first emerge into the historical record some time around 1200BC, when they coalesced from a number of tribes into a nation centred somewhere around what became the Roman province of Syria-Palestina. Following the destruction of their temple in Jerusalem after a failed revolt against the religiously oppressive pagan Roman Empire, the Jews were expelled from Palestine and cast into diaspora. Jews went on to form communities across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, developing into a truly cosmopolitan people speaking many languages and influenced by the ideologies and cultures of those they lived amongst.

These Jewish communities generally rose and fall along with the fortunes of the empires where they lived. Jews experienced a golden age in the Islamic world during the medieval period, which united them in one cultural sphere and at the time was a welcome respite from the Byzantines, and in Europe following the Enlightenment which liberated them at least temporarily from traditional Christian suspicion. Despite these periodic good times Jews have always been treated on some level as aliens and foreigners, whom the masses have turned on and blamed when things have gone bad. Their original religious rivalry with Christianity has always haunted Jews in the Christian West and perhaps on some level always will. The once flourishing Judeo-Islamic culture that existed has also been snuffed out in the 20th century. As Scheindlin notes, during times when Islam has been strong and confident Muslims have granted Jews a decent place in their societies, but during periods of decline such as we see today they have persecuted them with abject cruelty.

There has been much tragic irony in Jewish history. The greatest peak of Jewish prosperity in Europe came right before European Jewry was wiped off the earth by the Nazis. Today Jews survive mainly in the United States and the newly-created State of Israel. That state is seen by many Jews as the happy culmination of their history of wandering and persecution. Viewed in the full scope of their history, it is clear to see why. The common perspective among Palestinians that Israel is continuation of Western colonialism in the Middle East equally makes sense based on their own history, which is what makes the clash between the two nations particularly tragic. It seems that the Israelis have now gained a decisive upper hand and now the question is how they choose to wield state power over another people that they have not had since the classical period.

This is a very praiseworthy and accessible history. Scheindlin goes much deeper than politics, with memorable passages on the Hebrew language and poetry, the spiritual origins of Hasidism, the heroic resistance of ancient Jews to pagan oppression, and even the story of the modern Lubavitchers. It is a gifted writer who can distill so many millenia of events down to what is truly essential. Its truly an epic story of a people and religion.

[Jamie DeJoan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am impressed at this guy’s level of commitment and organization. This literally was so much history in just a few hundred pages. That being said, it was not an easy-breezy read. I kept having to stop and look up a word/event/context. I had to refer back to the maps and timelines multiple times. But I got what I was looking for, which was a better understanding of Judaism, Jewish history, and the origins of today’s cultural attitudes and conflicts.

He made this one statement abt public consensus on behavior and morality collapsing in the 1970’s and 1980’s, which made me realize that I am perceiving the world thru a lens that is markedly different than my ancestors. Like everybody didn’t disagree abt everything, all the time? Same thing when he brought up the emergence of people as citizens under a common law, rather than made up of multiple superseding group identities, including ethnicity and religion, and less so based on geographical location. Things we take for granted, ya know? Jewish people were constantly living places, but were never considered citizens, which only really makes sense thru that historical lens.

I recommend if you really like history.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of the long and vast history of the Jewish people.

Sadly however there are some omissions that are puzzling such as the Jewish Kingdoms of Ethiopia and Yemen as well as consistent used of the derogatory term Marrano (Pig) instead of Converso or Anusim when discussing Sephardic peoples in the book.

These did not detract from the books great ability to condense a vast history into such a small amount of pages but does contribute to the continued omission of critically import peoples to Jewish history like the Beta-Israeli people of Ethiopia and Himyarites of Yemen who both were able to establish independent Jewish Kingdoms for some centuries. Both of these peoples still exist today in Israel now and they’re history and contribution to the overall tapestry of the jewish story is often ignore, overlooked and forgotten.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure I agree with some of the author's inferences, especially as stated in the Afterward chapter with its suppositions about the future of world Jewry.
Still, for a short volume that was quick to get through, this book had an amazing scope and clear writing, and gave me a great introduction to some historical Jewish communities and events to learn more about. The writing is very clear, although the organization of the chapters by topic rather than historical period makes the narrative somewhat non-linear.
It fails to answer (or really try to answer) the eternal question of if we should consider Judaism a nationality or a religion, but no one source is going to do that. The world itself may never do that.

[Ming Kahnawake · Rating 5 out of 5]

论人类宽容的重要性！自从犹太人把耶稣钉上了十字架，他们悲惨的流浪命运一直持续了两千多年。不能仅从宗教意义上来讲他们被抛弃了，更主要的是其他民族对他们的排斥。（想当年伊斯兰教还没有那么糟糕!）由于没有土地、没有普通人的生存权，他们被迫做那些被上帝禁止的生意，比如高利贷。从历史中可以看到，每当给他们宽松一点的机会，他们也愿意从事其他民族从事的工作，也可以自愿改变信仰，努力融入其他民族中。很多做法并非他们的意愿，而是他们没得选。
犹太人最幸福的时期有两次。一次是十一世纪初到中国，被给予了和中国人几乎一样的待遇——平等，信仰自由。没有多久，犹太人就彻底融入了中华民族。第二次是到美国，同样是个宽容的地方，他们可基本上可以同其他人一样生活，做自己喜欢的行业，纽约城市学院甚至给了数千名犹太人免费得到高等教育的机会！特别是二战时期，美国也趁机吸纳了无数犹太族裔的人才。几代人的时间就足够看到他们的改变：他们越来越多成为了地道的美国人。历史证明了人类文明最重要的一点，宽容度。事实证明：物理定律在人类社会一样起作用，外压越大，内部的凝聚力就越大。你越排挤压迫他们，他们越要团建反抗；你放开他们，让他们感觉不到任何敌意的话，他们又怎会与你为敌！在这一点上，中国宋代开放包容的气度无可匹敌。如果说上面两次还不够的话，再看看二战中的中国上海和哈尔滨，犹太人生活得有多滋润，也能看到中国民众的善意无可匹敌。这段历史也成为中以良好关系的开端。当然，这和如今的政治正确那种所谓的保障文化宗教多元化可不是一回事。
所以，从历史中吸取教训很必要。让他们好好发展做自己吧。没必要天天拿他们当贼防着。比他们更可怕的，是那些以神的名义杀别人、严重侵犯他人信仰自由的人。

[Orest Mercator · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dense but highly informative book, covering a surprising array of cultural and historical facts. Scheindlin’s literary background provides interesting angles from time to time. His discussion of Zionism is provocative, but one might do well to titrate their reading with a sense for where his sympathies seem to lie. (Nonetheless, he provides invaluable historical context for the difficulty of the Israel/Palestine debate.) The book can be dry and matter-of-fact at moments but becomes increasingly captivating—moving, even—in its final third. I learned a lot. Would recommend as a primer on Jewish history and culture!

[wulf · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine introduction to Jewish history, with an de-emphasis on the religious aspect for the most part, which I thought was interesting. Judaism and the sects are explained concisely—the author does not dally on them—in favor of centralizing the Jewish people. I think this book would be perfect as a basic reference of surface level Jewish history, especially with its inclusion of timelines comparing Jewish history and general history and maps of relevant regions or territories.

I found the prose to be awkward though.

(Actual rating: 3.8; rounded to 4 for star system.)

[Deepanshu Aggarwal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise read on tracing the origins of Jewish religious and territorial sense of community, the religious tenets and its interaction (not always amicable) with other religious-political forces. Touches upon the almost ever-present happening of exile and persecution against the Jews. Also, touches upon the constant violence unleashed by one monotheistic religion against the other and the idea of centrality of believer, non-believer.

[Keegan Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a lot of tolerance for dry books, but the early chapters were dry to the point of unreadability. A little unifying narrative or a little bit more toe-dipping in the waters of historical drama would have helped. Not sure if the book improved in this regard as it went, or if I'm just weak when it comes to dry ancient history.

[Georgie Melrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for class! Super interesting, gave a lot of context for things I had only heard second hand or heard parts of. It raised a lot of questions I wanted to look more into, in the best way.

I would have loved a few more maps and some footnotes for some words, but generally I loved learning about this.

[Kyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who finds great difficulty in reading straight up history books, this one was quite approachable. The chapters weren't terribly long and they felt as concise as a surface level history book about Jews could be. Obviously there's a ton more history to unpack, but the book served as a good jumping off point.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book concisely chronicles the history of the Jewish people, highlighting their unique history and outstanding stories and perseverance. It is beautifully written, highly informative, and eye opening to the reality of the global minority. A perfectly satisfying read.

[Sarah Diner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great way to be introduced to Jewish history. Although it was a little hard to follow in the beginning, overall the author did a wonderful job laying everything out in a clear way and explaining everything clearly and concisely.

[Matthew Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, it was a good book, with good information, giving a detailed yet succinct view of Jewish history. However, something about the way it was written made it exhausting to sludge through. It was an interesting, but rather boring read on a topic that I do not often find boring.

[Zach Harper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title is inherently ironic. A good primer, except the communities in Ethiopia and India are not covered at all. The Ethiopian Aliyah to Israel in the ‘80s and ‘90s was a major event, and the Indian community, while small, is as old as the one (formerly) in Iraq.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great and Concise

[Andy Gagnon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very illuminating.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well rounded introduction to long history. For Judaisms class