Cultures of the Jews : A New History

Rating:
Summary: Great resource, wonderful to read
Review: I have not read this entire work as yet but I am working on it. The essays offer more than enough detail for the nonscholarly reader to enjoy and learn without being overwhelmed. The writing is clear and well organized. For me, it is a treasure chest of information and insights about the history and social life of the Jewish people.

Rating:
Summary: Oustanding treatment of Jewish cultures
Review: There are few more complex and also baffling subjects than the nature of the Jewish People and Judaism as a fusion between a civilization and a community/people/nation. Even more enigmatic is the survival and frequent thriving of Judaism during more than three thousand years of continuous pluralistic existance under a great variety of radically different conditions and in very different political and cultural environments.
This collection by David Biale is an outstanding introduction and profile of this historic riddle, presenting in clear but scholarly sound narratives an overview of the dynamics of Jewish cultures (note the plural) with their shared cores and diverse envelopes. Further such books by Biale are to be eagerly expected, hopefully together with a comprehensive theoretic treatment providing deep understanding of the past and supplying a basis for predicting and trying to weave the future.
This book is strongly recommended to scholars and intellectuals concerned with the history and nature of the Jewish People and to decision makers and policy planners trying to assure its thriving together with contributions to changing global cultures in the future. This book is also essential reading for students of the dynamics of cultures.
Professor Yehezkel Dror. Founding President, the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (established by the Jewish Agency of Israel) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.