A landmark reference, here is an indispensable one-volume guide to the religious traditions, everyday practices, philosophical beliefs, and historical foundations of Judaism — everything you need to know about being Jewish. In Essential Judaism, George Robinson has created the accessible compendium that he sought when he rediscovered his Jewish roots as an adult. Robinson illuminates the Jewish life cycle at every stage, and lays out many fascinating aspects of Judaism — the Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, the evolution of Hasidism, and much more — while keeping a firm focus on the different paths to living a good Jewish life in today's world.

The Jerusalem Post

Extraordinary....Robinson deserves our gratitude for his major contribution.

Acknowledgments

A note to the reader

Introduction

Chapter 1

Service of the Heart:

Prayer and Ritual

The Jewish Idea of Prayer

The Names of God

The Role of the Rabbi

The Blessings of Daily Life"

An Assortment of Blessings

The Daily Services

Before the Morning Service

Tallit and Tzitzit

Tefillin

Shakharit/The Morning Service

The Basic Structure of the Service

Covering the Head

Kaddish

The Sh'ma

The Amidah

Minkhah/The Afternoon Service

Ma'ariv/The Evening Service

The Shabbat Services

Kabbalat Shabbat/Welcoming the Sabbath and Ma'ariv

Shakharit/Musaf

Minkhah and Havdalah""

Festival Services""

The Synagogue""

Liturgical Music""

Home Rituals""

Mezuzah""

The Evolution of the Prayer Book""

The Rise of Denominations""

Reform Judaism""

Conservative Judaism""

Reconstructionism""

Modern Orthodox""

Ba'al Teshuvah""

Havurah

Jewish Renewal Movement""

Gay and Lesbian Synagogues""

Women's Prayer Groups""

Shul Etiquette""

The Chosen People?""

Chapter 2

Rejoice in Your Festivals:

The Jewish Year

Sacred Time — The Jewish Calendar""

Rosh Khodesh""

The Jewish Calendar""

The Festivals""

Shabbat""

The Thirty-nine Categories of Forbidden Work""

Special Sabbaths""

The High Holy Days""

Elul, a Month of Teshuvah""

Rosh Hashanah""

Days of Repentance""

Yom Kippur""

Sukkot""

The Sukkah""

Building the Sukkah""

The Four Species""

Hoshanah Rabbah/The Great Hosannah""

Shemini Atzeret""

Simkhat Torah""

Hanukah""

Historical Roots""

Home Observance""

Tu b'Shevat""

Purim""

Pesakh""

Exile and Home""

The Bread of Affliction""

The Seder""

The Meaning of the Seder""

The Four Questions""

Counting the Omer""

Shavuot""

Yom ha-Shoah, Yom ha-Atzma'ut, Yom ha-Zikaron, and Yom Yerushalayim""

Minor Fast Days""

Tisha b'Av""

Special Readings for the Festivals""

Chapter 3

Birth to Death:

A Jewish Life Cycle

Birth""

Abortion""

Adoption""

Mamzerut""

Brit Milah""

Brit Habat — the Baby-Naming Ceremony""

Pidyon Ha-Ben""

Parent and Child""

Jewish Education""

Bar/Bat Mitzvah""

Confirmation""

Engagement and Marriage""

The Jewish View of Marriage""

The Ketubah""

Engagement""

Before the Ceremony""

The Wedding Ceremony""

Levirate Marriage""

Intermarriage""

Prohibited Marriages""

Divorce""

Conversion to Judaism""

The Noahide Laws""

Who Is a Jew?""

Should Judaism Proselytize?""

Leaving the Fold""

Illness""

Aging""

Ethical Wills""

Death and Mourning""

Defiance and Acceptance""

Dying""

Right to Die? Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide""

Preparations for Burial""

Burial""

Mourning""

Unveiling and Yahrzeit""

The Afterlife""

Chapter 4

613 Ways:

Living a Jewish Life

The Mitzvot""

Gematria: Making the Letters Add Up""

Pikuakh Nefesh: To Save a Life""

Who's Counting?""

The 613 Mitzvot (According to Maimonides)""

Why Observe?""

Mind, Body, and Soul""

Halakhah: Mitzvot into Law""

Joseph Caro and the Shulkhan Arukh""

Opponents of Halakhah""

The Sadducees and the Karaites""

Reform Judaism""

Conservative Judaism""

Reconstructionism""

Reactions Within Orthodoxy""

The Mitzvot in Daily Life""

Gemilut Khasadim/Acts of Lovingkindness""

The Evil Tongue: Lashon Hara""

Tzedakah/Doing Justice""

The Ladder of Charity""

Ethics and Justice""

Laws Governing Loans""

Capital Punishment""

"An Eye for an Eye""

Tikkun Olam/Repairing the World""

Sexuality""

The Mikveh""

Kashrut/Dietary Laws""

Kosher and Treif""

Meat and Dairy""

Buying Kosher""

Kosher Wine""

Taking Khallah""

Match But Don't Mix: Sha'atnez""

Chapter 5

In the Beginning:

The Hebrew Bible

The Tanakh""

The Books of the Hebrew Bible""

The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha""

What Is in the Hebrew Bible?""

The Torah""

The Parashiyot and the Haftarot""

Genesis/Bereishit""

Exodus/Shemot""

Leviticus/Vayikra""

Numbers/Bamidbar""

Deuteronomy/Devarim""

Biblical Measurements""

Making the Text Sing: Cantillation""

Torah Comes First""

The Nevi'im/The Prophets""

Joshua""

Judges""

I and II Samuel""

I and II Kings""

Isaiah""

Jeremiah""

Ezekiel""

The Twelve Minor Prophets""

The Role of the Prophets""

The Ketuvim/The Writings""

Tehillim/The Psalms""

Reading the Psalms""

Proverbs""

Job""

Shir ha-Shirim/Song of Songs""

Ruth""

Lamentations""

Kohelet/Ecclesiastes""

Esther""

Daniel""

Ezra and Nehemiah""

I and II Chronicles""

Reading the Book""

Some Key Bible Commentators""

Peshat""

Derash""

Remez""

Sod""

Who Wrote the Hebrew Bible?""

Chapter 6

The Rabbis Said:

The Talmud and Other

Rabbinical Writings<\B>

Roots of Rabbinic Judaism""

From the Pairs to the Tannaim""

Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Torah""

"O You Scribes and Pharisees!""

Tragedy, Dispersion, and the Writing of the Mishnah""

What Is in the Mishnah?""

What's in the Mishnah and the Talmud: Primary Subject""

Matter of the Tractates and Where They Appear""

How the Mishnah Works""

An Example from the Mishnah""

Tosefta and Baraita""

Gemara: The Task Continues""

A Time Line of Talmudic Scholars""

Yavneh: The First Great Academy""

Some Key Figures in Rabbinic Judaism""

Halakhah and Aggadah

How the Gemara Works""

Palestinian Talmud versus Babylonian Talmud""

The Later Commentators""

Proliferation and Persecution""

A Page of Talmud""

Modern Talmudic Scholarship""

How to Study Talmud""

Daf Yomi""

Midrash""

Some Important Midrashic Texts""

Chapter 7

Jewish Mysticism:

Emanations of the Eternal

What Is Mysticism?""

The Chariot and the Chambers: Ancient Jewish Mysticism""

The Mysteries of Creation: Sefer Yetzirah""

Ten Sefirot Twice Over: Early Kabbalah and the Ashkenazi Hasidim"

Kabbalah in Spain""

Splendor: The Zohar""

The Tree of Life""

The Star of David""

The Lion Speaks: Lurianic Kabbalah""

The False Messiah: Shabbateanism""

Hasidic Mysticism""

Some Other Key Figures in Jewish Mysticism""

Kabbalah in the Twentieth Century""

Rabbi Kook""

Gershom Scholem and the Study of Mysticism""

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and the Jewish Renewal Movement""

Meditation"""

The Lasting Influence of Jewish Mysticism""

How to Study Kabbalah""

Chapter 8

The Philosophers:

The Continuing Evolution

of Jewish Thought

Rabbis versus Philosophers""

Philo Judaeus (20 B.C.E.50 C.E.)""

From the Writings of Philo""

Saadiah Gaon (882 C.E.942 C.E.)""

From the Writings of Saadiah Gaon""

Maimonides (c. 1135 C.E.1204 C.E.)""

13 Principles of the Jewish Faith""

From the Writings of Maimonides""

Judah HaLevi (1075 C.E.1141 C.E.)""

From the Writings of Judah HaLevi""

Baruch Spinoza (1632 C.E.1677 C.E.)""

From the Writings of Baruch Spinoza""

Moses Mendelssohn (1729 C.E.1786 C.E.)""

From the Writings of Moses Mendelssohn""

Franz Rosenzweig (1886 C.E.1929 C.E.)""

Rosenzweig and Buber Translate Torah""

From the Writings of Franz Rosenzweig""

Martin Buber (1878 C.E.1965 C.E.)""

From the Writings of Martin Buber""

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907 C.E.1972 C.E.)""

From the Writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel""

Joseph Soloveitchik (1903 C.E.1993 C.E.)""

From the Writings of Joseph Soloveitchik""

Emmanuel Levinas (1906 C.E.1995 C.E.)""

From the Writings of Emmanuel Levinas"

Chapter 9

Beyond the Rabbis:

How Judaism Got

Where It Is Today

The Jews in the East""

Sworn Enemies: Hasidim and Mitnagdim""

"Why Do They Dress Like That?""

Enlightenment and Emancipation""

The Jewish Question""

Sworn Enemies: Reform and Orthodox""

Sworn Enemies: The Rabbis and the Haskalah""

Yiddish: The "Mother Tongue""

Ladino""

The Zionists""

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda""

Herzl and His Successors""

The Evolution of Anti-Semitism""

Sifting Through the Ashes""

Exiles' Return""

Feminism Remakes Jewish Theology""

The Temptations of Assimilation""

Appendix 1

Some Key Documents of

Contemporary Jewish Belief

Reform Judaism""

The Pittsburgh Platform, 1885""

The Columbus Platform, 1937""

A Centenary Perspective, 1976""

The Doral Country Club Resolution, 1997 100th

Anniversary of the Zionist Movement""

Conservative Judaism""

On Changes in Judaism — Zecharias Frankel""

The Ideal Conservative Jew: Eight Behavioral Expectations — Rabbi Jerome M. Epstein""

Reconstructionism""

Who Is a Reconstructionist Jew?""

Orthodoxy""

The Orthodox Jewish Congregational Union of America""

Founding Program of Agudat Israel (May 1912)""

Zionism""

The Basel Program — Passed by the First Zionist Congress

""(1897)""

The Balfour Declaration""

Declaration of Israel's Independence, 1948""

Appendix 2

A Time Line of Major Events

Appendix 3

Where the Jews Are Today

Appendix 4

Jewish Holidays, 19992006

Appendix 5

How Do I Know It's Kosher?

An Orthodox Union Kosher Primer<\B>

Glossary

Sources and Resources:

A Bibliography

Index