The Illustrated Guide to Judaism: A Comprehensive History of Jewish Religion and Philosophy, Its Traditions and Practices, Magnificently Illustrated with Over 500 Photographs and Paintings

I love this book. Beautiful!

Beautifully illustrated and written. I could pore over this book for hours. Thoroughly recommend the product and the supplier for a prompt and efficient service.

Excellent quality book with concise and easily understood information.

Thorough, elegant, comprehensive (within the limits of a book this size and purpose), an excellent overview/introduction. Clearly written.

A sumptuous book, 'magnificently' illustrated, as the subtitle says (but true for once), implausibly packed with distilled information and commentary, and only moderately marred by a tilt towards contemporary Reform Judaism. By which I mean the occasional statement of alleged facts which are actually only the transient expression of current Reform belief (if that's the right word...) and which a generation back would have been heresy. And a generation on will be: well, who knows? Probably lost to the Faith in assimilation and agnosticism.But that is only a minor cavil in the greater achievement here and not deserving of a lost 'star'. The non-Reform drenched chapters are a true pleasure to read and note-making worthy succinct summaries of all sorts of things. Ditto the lovely illustrations.Highly recommended.

Dan Cohn-Sherbok's Illustrated Guide to Judaism is a breathtakingly beautiful book.As a clear, concise, distillation of current knowledge, it has everything you would expect from a guide to Judaism, and a good deal more. Far more captivating than a mere overview of Judaism past and present, The Illustrated Guide to Judaism presents a dazzling array of images that allows the reader to make sense of Judaism as a fully lived, diverse, culturally and politically engaged, religious tradition that has been both formative of, and informed by, world civilisation. While offering a careful account of Orthodoxy, Cohn-Sherbok knows contemporary Judaism to be more than the sum of conservative interpretations of the sacred texts. The chapter on `untraditional' Judaism, with its coverage of Jewish feminism, Buddhism, vegetarianism, leftist politics and other aspects of alternative Jewish thought and practice is indicative of the guide's comprehensive and inclusive approach. But what makes The Illustrated Guide to Judaism a book one wants to own are its images, which are virtually a history of Jewish art in their own right. Cohn-Sherbok invites the reader into the visual dimension of Judaism through a wealth of paintings and photographs that scholars increasingly recognise as not merely permissible under Jewish readings of the Second Commandment, but actively productive of Jewish identity and understanding.If I had to choose only one guide to Judaism for my own or anyone else's collection, it would be this one.Melissa Raphael, Professor of Jewish Theology, University of Gloucestershire

The Illustrated Guide to Judaism is a sumptuously illustrated volume that surveys a breathtakingly broad and inclusive range of topics relating to traditional and contemporary aspects of Judaism. It contains a multitude of stunningly original images that convey the very personable and vibrant culture of Judaism - a feature often lacking in other popular introductions to the Jewish faith. Particularly commendable is the way the author moves seamlessly from one aspect of Judaism to another, ensuring that such aspects as politics and culture are contextualised appropriately within the large historical sweep within which the Jewish world operates.The volume is structured and indexed very usefully so that the reader can profitably - and speedily - dip into very specific topics (such as the Pharisees) or concentrate on larger units that deal with much broader issues (such as Mysticism). To this end the timeline at the start of the book is extremely helpful.Given the very reasonable price of such a gem of a book, there is no doubt that the volume will prove a major success not only among those who seek a comprehensive introduction to Judaism but also among those who wish to deepen their understanding of the many-faceted and engaging dimensions of this ancient faith.Martin O'Kane, Professor of Biblical Studies, University of Wales Trinity Saint David