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This is a comprehensive history of Jewish religion and philosophy, its traditions and practices, magnificently illustrated with over 500 photographs and paintings. It is an in-depth introduction to the religion and its rich cultural and spiritual heritage. It describes the different aspects of Orthodox and Reform, and of mysticism and kabbalah. This book highlights biblical teaching and traces its development across the centuries from earliest and rabbinic times to the present day. It presents all the festivals of the year, such as Yom Kippur, Hanukkah, Purim and Passover. It covers teachings about rites of passage including marriage, bar and bat mitzvahs. Blending authoritative information with superb pictures of Jewish life and culture, this book brings together a vast amount of knowledge for students and general readers. For nearly 4,000 years, Judaism has been a living monotheistic faith. This book offers an account of the faith, its core beliefs and practices, and the way of life of Jewish people today. The book is divided into three sections: Jewish Traditions covers the history of Jews from the biblical period to the present; Jewish Belief introduces the reader to the concept of God and his relationship with Israel as the chosen people; and Jewish Practice embraces all aspects of worship and personal piety. This comprehensive picture of Jewish life, thought and heritage, with its 500 stunning illustrations, is a fascinating reference guide to every aspect of this complex religion.

Review: 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

Professor Dan Cohn-Sherbok is a Reform rabbi, a Jewish theologian, and a world-famous authority on Judaism. He is Professor Emeritus of Judaism at the University of Wales; Visiting Professor at St Mary’s University College, London and York St John University; and Visiting Research Fellow at Heythrop College, University of London. He holds a PhD in philosophy from Cambridge University and an honorary doctorate in divinity from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York.