Judaism

Great Religions of Modern Man #6

by Arthur Hertzberg (Editor)

The first edition of this book, published in 1961, was a classic overview of the Jewish religion. Arthur Hertzberg combined a superbly chosen anthology of the great writings of the Jewish tradition with incisive commentary and explanation. In 1991, Rabbi Hertzberg produced the first revised edition of this famous book, in which he addressed such contemporary issues as the rights of women, medical ethics, the Holocaust, Arabs and Jews, and homosexuality. These new discussions were incorporated into the earlier writings on the key ideas of the chosen people, the Law, God, the Holy Land, the cycle of the year, prayer, immortality, sin and atonement, the nature of man, and the purpose of creation. In his interpretations of the contemporary controversies, Arthur Hertzberg provided moving testimony to the integrity of the Jewish spirit through the ages. Many of the discussions of the first edition were rewritten to take into account the various forms of Judaism in the last two centuries, whether Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform. This revised edition, an integrated whole, provides a readable, contemporary, and authoritative overview of the nature of the Jewish religion. "The demands of justice and the fear of sin," wrote Rabbi Hertzberg, "have been debated in the last three decades by men and women who care passionately about the issues of our time." This book is the result of a lifetime of study and reflection by one of the most distinguished authorities on Judaism.

Genres: Religion, Judaism, Nonfiction, Faith, Jewish, Theology, History

256 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[فؤاد · Rating 3 out of 5]

کمابیش شبیه کتاب گنجینه‌ای از تلموده. یعنی اومده باورها و آیین‌های یهودی رو فهرست کرده، و ذیل هر باور یا آیین، بریده‌هایی مرتبط از متون یهودی آورده، از تورات و تلمود و زوهر گرفته، تا کتب فلسفی سعدیا گائون و موسی بن میمون، تا کتب جدید. برای کسی که با یهودیت و آیین‌ها و باورهاش آشنایی اولیه نداشته باشه، کتاب خیلی گیج کننده است و تصویر کلی روشنی ارائه نمی‌ده. اما کسی که آشنایی اولیه کسب کرده (مثلاً با کتاب باورها و آیین های یهودی) با این کتاب می‌تونه بی‌واسطه کلی متن یهودی بخونه.

[Maxim · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s mostly quotes by rabbis. I have the 5 other books in the compilation and this one is disappointing. There is not much history or anything other than quotes, psalms and verse to support why Judaism is great and the religion of the chosen people. Quite underwhelming, really.

[Berry Muhl · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I pulled this book from the boxed set, I inadvertently broke the sequencing scheme I had for reading this series. I'd intended to read them in order from "most exotic" to "least exotic," landing last on Roman Catholicism, the religion I was raised in. That would have placed this one *after* Islam, which is instead the one I'll be reading next.

As expected, I found this one to be the most accessible so far, because of the clear line of descent between Judaism and Christianity. I found it interesting that some features of my birth religion, such as "Catholic guilt," actually arise in Judaism and are simply transmitted through that descent. It probably also helped that the author is a genuine evangelist for his religion, and speaks of it as if it were Truth, and the reader a (potential) believer. This makes many concepts much less abstract.

The book is organized in a way that I found somewhat more rational than the previous volumes, but this may simply be a consequence of the cultural affinities between religions. Each section is amply supported by writings from rabbis of cultural and historical significance. These writings can help put some things in perspective that might be challenging even given that cultural affinity, such as modern Zionism and the warlike nature of early Jewish society. (I generally prefer an anthropological / archaeological view over a religious one when seeking rationale for such things, but it doesn't hurt to have multiple perspectives casting light on the subject.)

Perhaps inadvertently, the author seems to undermine one aspect of his case with a couple of the readings, which apparently contradict each other. (On the other hand, this may be his attempt to illustrate the inherent mysteries of faith, and human inability to grasp cosmic subtleties.) We're told in the chapter on Doctrine that human nature is very akin to godlike nature, and that sin alienates humanity from his true nature, thereby imposing its own punishment in process. A few pages later, however, a reading makes the point that it's all too easy to fall into sin, and that as we age, this tendency becomes greater. This suggests to me that human nature is less godlike than sinful, and I'm not entirely sure the author was aware that the near-juxtaposition of these arguments would come across as contradictory. Maybe, though, it was intentional, with the objective of pointing out that of such (apparent) contradictions faith is made.

I could, and should, have finished this book a couple weeks before I did. Having had a couple loaner books dropped in my lap about two-thirds of the way through, I took a break from this to work on those in order to return them as quickly as possible. Don't let my excessively-long read time dissuade you from this book, if you've an interest in religion. Not counting the References section, it's only 246 pages, and comparatively breezy.

[Liz Clappin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had the entire Great Religions series for years, this is the second book in the series I've read. They are interesting looks at the textual basis for a religion, particularly in seeing how philosophical ideas evolved over time. I struggled with the lack of context in terms of changing history especially understanding the diaspora which is integral to the history of Judaism. Lots of sects developed in different places with very different philosophies, and this book tried to streamline these very big ideas a little too much. Overall interesting to read from a wide and very diverse collection of Jewish authors, in a well curated selection.

[Belle Meade School]

296.082

[allother · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't learn anything I didn't already know.

[Eric Viste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief, informative, etc. more sociological / broad perspective would have been cherry

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason I get really uncomfortable critiquing non-fiction, especially when it's about a religion I don't follow myself. I was raised Catholic, and although I haven't followed it or any religion since high school, I find myself intrigued by religion as a societal construct and dissecting the differences between them all. This book was a little hard to make sense of at times, since it's basically a collection of all sorts of different texts related to Judaism, a lot of them very short and not all of them placed into full context for the reader. There's also a lot of vocabulary that isn't always glossed, so I felt like I had to already know a lot about Judaism to make sense of it all. That's okay, though. I was certainly not expecting to become an expert on an entire religion from one book. Still, from a comparative perspective, it was nice to at least begin to get a better grasp on differences between the Judeo-Christian religions.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering Hertzberg one of the greatest jewish minds of the last century this introduction is both helpfull and disappointing. Broad in its scope, it only goes lightly in the respective topics and treats them by a short commentary and seldomly contextualized quotes from different sources. Deeply fragmented, "Der Judaismus" is good for a first introduction, but not for further understanding.

[Dan Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative on the subject, fairly dry.

[James Violand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing. I had expected more than snippets of various rabbinical experts. I do not mean a catechism per se, but something more definitive as to the nature of the faith.