Reviews for Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know about the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History

The average rating for Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know about the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-05-08 00:00:00 Ken Devoe Jr. I appreciate the usefulness of an encyclopedia of Judaism, but I can't get over the inflammatory statements (such as, 'Muslims like to build temples on the destroyed temples of other religions' or categorizing all antizionist jews as self-hating, and categorizing all antizionist gentiles as antisemitic). I felt the term antisemitic was thrown around fairly easily while at the same time making wild generalizations about non-Jewish groups. I am irreligious so I prefer an objective POV for these sorts of reference books, and this was not objective. I have read other objective texts written by religious figures, so I don't think it's asking too much.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-05-05 00:00:00 Alex Belknap Rabbi Telushkin's Jewish Literacy is intended to serve as a general introduction to Judaism and Jewish culture and history. It performs more than admirably as such an introduction. Telushkin's prose is simple and elegant and capable of delivering large amounts of information with little wasted verbiage. His style is engaging as well as informative. This is no dry Judaism 101 textbook. Telushkin clearly has a love for this work and it comes through in his writing. He has an academic's grasp of the facts, and a storyteller's gift for the personal and historical anecdote. This book is a must-have for anyone looking for a general introduction or reference to Judaism and Jewish cultural literacy.