Creating Judaism: History, Tradition, Practice

History, Tradition, Practice, is intended to be a textbook for an Introduction to Judaism course, the tone and structure of the book both indicate that the classroom is its most natural context. Satlow freely acknowledges the origins of much of the book in his own experiences teaching introductory courses, and the overall plan of the book—a sociological presentation of Judaism embedded in a framework that emphasizes intellectual history—lends itself well to such use. The ten chapters provide a reasonable scaffolding for a quarter- or semester-length course, while the back matter including a good, basic bibliography for each chapter and a glossary of terms makes the book approachable for beginning students.

It does not suffice as a stand-alone textbook, however; like any such book, it has gaps in both its approach and content which individual instructors will have to fill, and for classroom use, it would need to be supplemented significantly with primary sources. In this chapter, Satlow provides useful and provocative definitions of key, recurrent concepts in a way that should easily engage students and promote discussion.

The first major chapter of the book begins with an inductive analysis of Judaism as it is practiced and as it presents itself in the United States and Israel. The emphasis is on the varieties of observable Jewish practices, and how those contrast with institutional Judaism in each context.

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It addresses some of the most basic questions that tend to lead students to take an Introduction to Judaism course but uses them effectively to set up the remainder of the book, which focuses almost exclusively on the pre-modern period. The bulk of the book chapters 2 through 10 follow a roughly chronological sequence, moving from the biblical period chapter 2 through the various manifestations of the Jewish encounters with modernity in Eastern and Western Europe chapter Satlow, whose specialty is Judaism in antiquity , devotes three chapters to Rabbinic Judaism: If you would like to authenticate using a different subscribed institution that supports Shibboleth authentication or have your own login and password to Project MUSE, click 'Authenticate'.

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History, Tradition, Practice by Michael L. How can we define "Judaism," and what are the common threads uniting ancient rabbis, Maimonides, the authors of the Zohar, and modern secular Jews in Israel? Satlow offers a fresh perspective on Judaism that recognizes both its similarities and its immense diversity.

Presenting snapshots of Judaism from around the globe and throughout history, Satlow explores th How can we define "Judaism," and what are the common threads uniting ancient rabbis, Maimonides, the authors of the Zohar, and modern secular Jews in Israel? Presenting snapshots of Judaism from around the globe and throughout history, Satlow explores the links between vastly different communities and their Jewish traditions.

He studies the geonim, rabbinical scholars who lived in Iraq from the ninth to twelfth centuries; the intellectual flourishing of Jews in medieval Spain; how the Hasidim of nineteenth-century Eastern Europe confronted modernity; and the post-World War II development of distinct American and Israeli Jewish identities.

Satlow pays close attention to how communities define themselves, their relationship to biblical and rabbinic texts, and their ritual practices. His fascinating portraits reveal the amazingly creative ways Jews have adapted over time to social and political challenges and continue to remain a "Jewish family. Paperback , pages. Published November 1st by Columbia University Press. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Creating Judaism , please sign up.

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Oct 18, Dennis Fischman rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Jews, Christians, Muslims, and interested nonbelievers. I have always told my friends that in important ways, Judaism is not a religion: Satlow helps me explain why.

Jewish communities have lived in nearly every country in the world, for thousands of years, and they lived in ways that bear only a family resemblance to each other. Even today as the first chapter shows , American Judaism and Israeli Judaism look starkly different. Historically, Satlow says, what has held these diverse communities together i I have always told my friends that in important ways, Judaism is not a religion: Historically, Satlow says, what has held these diverse communities together is a lively and heated conversation about three things: Jewish identity what it means to be a Jew, who is and who's not ; relationship to sacred texts the list of which has changed over time ; and practice.

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Jews don't have to believe the same things, which has shocked many members of other religions. Satlow tells the story of the Calvinist Dutch government in the 17th century tolerated Jews but tried to enforce their own idea of what all Jews believe! Within the Jewish fold,in the Middle Ages, Maimonides listed 13 principles of faith. Today we sing them but we don't study them. It was only in the 19th century that Jews began to define their differences along ideological lines, and that has led to the different "movements" and in fact to "Judaism" as we know it today.

Even then, Satlow makes the point that the founders of the Reform, Conservative, and Modern Orthodox movements all kept kosher and wouldn't have any trouble sitting down for dinner at one another's tables.



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That has changed--but still, you cannot tell much about the everyday life of a Jewish "lay" person by asking him or her what "kind of Jew" he or she is. You would have to watch them from day to day. I found this book fascinating because it showed me how Jews have always been influenced by the trends in the larger culture in which their communities were situated. Because we live in the early 21st century, the book is particularly interesting when it shows the ways that Jewish and Muslim currents of thought flowed in and out of each other.

In the Muslim world in the 8th century, people were arguing about whether only the Qur'an was holy or whether the hadith, a set of traditions about Muhammad and his circle, should also be studied like sacred texts. Muslims considered the Torah sacred, although some thought the Jews had a corrupted text, and many believed the rabbinic interpretations of the Torah in the midrash and Talmud had distorted the truth given to Moses at Sinai.

Look at the Jews in the same time and the same place, and you find many of the same arguments. The Karaites wanted to get rid of the rabbinic commentary and go straight back to the Torah. Meanwhile, the rabbis were working to recognize the Talmud the work of earlier teachers, from the 2nd through 6th centuries as equally worthy of study as the five books of Moses--and for a time, they succeeded as the Muslim scholars did with the hadith.

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This is a very different conversation than went on in Christian lands at the same time, or ever. Creating Judaism is not a perfect book. It starts out strong and straightforward, but in later chapters it tries to cover too much ground too quickly and falls into the academic habit of referring to history instead of explaining it. Still, it is a perfect book for right now. It shows how we can recognize that our most cherished beliefs are historically and culturally relative and still continue to cherish them, which is the only honest way to be part of a religious community in the 21st century.

Sep 08, Eli Mandel rated it liked it Shelves: This is a history of Jewish theology , so there's a fair bit of philosophy and theology in addition to the history of the development of Jewish practices. I personally gained a lot from this book, although it is very compact and packs a lot of information, it was a good, broad history from roughly the time of the second temple to the present. Because of its brevity on most of the topics covered the book doesn't introduce characters or movements at length, and sometimes not at all.

Most of this wasn This is a history of Jewish theology , so there's a fair bit of philosophy and theology in addition to the history of the development of Jewish practices.