Tag Archives: Judaism

Book Review: The Religious Study Of Judaism

The Religious Study Of Judaism, by Jacob Neusner One of the issues with this book, and many like it, is that the author thinks of himself as a sound historian of religion. It is immensely difficult to be a good … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, History | Tagged | 2 Comments

On Talmudic And Midrashic Reasoning

I had the chance to read (review forthcoming) a lovely resource on classical Jewish sources, and it led me to ponder what it is about such writing that I do and do not appreciate so much. In previous reviews about … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Christianity, History, Musings | Tagged | 2 Comments

On The Mysterious Appeal Of Haggadahs

One of the things that one notices if one does a large amount of religious reading, as I am prone to do, is that there are a lot of very similar books that one finds on certain subjects. There are … Continue reading

Posted in Musings | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Birnbaum Haggadah

The Birnbaum Haggadah, by Philip Birnbaum As someone who reads the Haggadah from a place outside of a Jewish background, I find the proliferation of Haggadahs and commentaries upon them to be somewhat fascinating and curious. It appears to me, … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Book Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Passover Haggadah

The Passover Haggadah, by E.D. Goldschmidt, edited by Nahum Norbert Glatzer This book is a good work to read if one wants to find out what exactly a Haggadah is and what it covers. As far as its organization goes, … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Book Reviews | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Gourmet Jewish Cook

The Gourmet Jewish Cook, by Judy Zeidler I get the feeling that I would have liked this book a great deal more but for two aspects, one of which is peculiar to the author, and the other which is bound … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Young Heroes Of The Soviet Union

Young Heroes Of The Soviet Union: A Memoir And A Reckoning, by Alex Halberstadt This is not a very good memoir, nor is the author nearly insightful enough to provide reckoning about anything. There is a great gulf between what … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Court Jew And His Age

One of the more interesting phenomena in Western history, and a tradition that holds in the Islamic world as well as the United States, is the matter of the court Jew.  One of the characteristic survival strategies of the Jews … Continue reading

Posted in History, Musings | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Judah Benjamin: Mystery Man Of The Confederacy

Judah Benjamin:  Mystery Man Of The Confederacy, by S.I. Neiman Judah Benjamin is an admittedly obscure person if one looks at the history of the Civil War.  Little is known or thought about him, and few books are written about … Continue reading

Posted in American Civil War, American History, Book Reviews, History, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Book Review: A History Of The Jews In America

A History Of The Jews In America, by Howard M. Sachar It appears that the author of this weighty tome believed that anyone who read this book would be likely to view its contents as speaking positively about the state … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Book Reviews, History | Tagged | Leave a comment