Machine generated contents note: About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Pronouncing Jewish Words

About the translations

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

pt. I What Jews Generally Believe

pt. II From Womb to Tomb: The Life Cycle

pt. III An Overview of Jewish History

pt. IV Celebrations and Holy Days

pt. V The Part of Tens

pt. VI Appendixes

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

pt. I What Jews Generally Believe

ch. 1 That's Funny, You Don't Look Jewish: Who's a Jew and Why

The Jewish Tribe

What's in a name?

Jews far and wide

Who decides if you're Jewish?

After all, it's a small world

Major Branches of the Tree

Orthodox Jews

Breakaway denominations

Guess Who Else Is Jewish

ch. 2 It's All One: Judaism and God

Pondering Jewish Beliefs about God

A religion of deed, not creed

Arguing with God

Where God is

Calling One God Many Names

What's in a name?

The four-letter Name of God

The Singular Being hidden in the plural

God's Own name

No end to the names of God

Looking behind the Name

God creates

God reveals

God redeems

Embarking on a Quest for Ultimate Reality

ch. 3 A Never-Ending Torah: The Unfolding of a Tradition

Torah: The Light That Never Dims

The five books of Moses

The weekly readings

The TaNaKH: The Hebrew Bible

Nevi'im ("Prophets")

Ketuvim ("Writings")

The Haftarah

Interpreting the Bible

A Hidden Revolution: The Oral Torah

The law of the land: The Mishnah

The teachings explained: The Talmud

Telling stories: The midrash

The Expanding Torah

ch. 4 A Path of Blessing: Judaism as a Daily Practice

Connecting With God and Community through Practice: The Mitzvot

613 habits of highly effective people

Women and mitzvot

The reasons for mitzvot

Connecting With God and Community through Blessings and Prayers

Private worship

The community worship service

Going to Synagogue

Four things you'll find in every synagogue

Who's who at shul

Following Jewish Dietary Laws: A Brief Guide to Kosher Food

The reasons behind kosher

OU means OK for most

Purifying the Spirit: Rites and Rituals

Dressing for God: Jewish Garments and Clothing Customs

The yarmulka

Fringes and shawls

You shall bind them as a sign: Laying tefillin

The Jewish Home

On every doorpost: The mezuzah

The candelabra extraordinaire: The menorah

So Go Now and Live

ch. 5 Jewish Mysticism

Delving Into Jewish Mysticism

What mystics tend to believe

The Kabbalah

Taking a Magical Mystical Tour

Early mystical texts

Isaac Luria, Safed's sage

Israel ben Eliezer, the good master

Going Above and Beyond: Jewish Meditation

Following Maps to Understanding: The Images and Symbols

The Tree of Life

The ten sefirot

The Four Worlds

The five levels of soul

ch. 6 Ethical Challenges

Getting to the Heart of the Matter

The Golden Rule

Expressions of God

Tikkun olam

Charged to act

Meeting at the Intersection of Righteousness and Charity

Unraveling the Problem of the Other

Intra- and Interfaith Challenges

Embracing Our Sexuality

Mystical visions of sexual union

Birth control and abortion

Homosexuality

Prohibited relationships

Finding a Way to Peace

Breaking the cycle

Respecting Animals and the Environment

Bal Tashkhit: Do not destroy

Tza'ar ba'alei khayim: Treat living creatures with dignity

Striving for tikkun olam

pt. II From Womb to Tomb: The Life Cycle

ch. 7 In the Beginning: Birth and Bris

Making the Cut: Ritual Circumcision

Knowing who's involved

Adhering to the rituals and ceremonies

Making the choice

Thanking God for Little Girls

Playing the Name Game

Buying Back the First Born

ch. 8 Coming of Age: The Bar/Bat Mitzvah

Preparing for the Big Day

Celebrating the Bar/Bat Mitzvah

Reading from the Good Book

Speech! Speech!

A night to celebrate

Celebrating as a grown up

Confirming Your Beliefs

ch. 9 Get Me to the Chuppah On Time: Weddings

Looking at the Origins of Jewish Marriage

Preparing for the Ceremony

Enjoying the Wedding

Raising the chuppah

Drinking the fruit of the vine

Exchanging the rings

Sharing the seven blessings

Breaking the glass

Putting it in writing

Enjoying sacred moments, before and after

Getting a Get: Divorce

Walking through a divorce

Encountering rare troubles

ch. 10 Stepping Through the Valley: The Shadow of Death

Planning for Death

Writing an ethical will

Making final confessions

Reciting parting words

Arranging the Funeral

Returning to the earth

Preparing the body

Attending a funeral and burial

Observing the Mourning Period

The first week following a funeral

The first month and year

Saying Kaddish

Remembering the Dead

pt. III An Overview of Jewish History

ch. 11 Let My People Go: From Abraham to Exodus

The Genesis of a People

Beginnings of a Way

The next generation

Who gets blessed?

Wrestling with God

The Son Also Rises

Interpreting dreams

A dream comes true

The Enslavement and Exodus

A star is born

Are we there yet?

Entering the Promised Land

ch. 12 The Kings of Israel: The First Temple

Finding the Right Guy to Be King

Continuing War and Peace

Enter David, stage left

Magic and mayhem

Living under the Lion of Judah

The Wisdom of Solomon

Building the Temple

Telling a Tale of Two Kingdoms

The Fall of the First Temple

ch. 13 Bracketed by Exile: The Second Temple

Finding a Home away from Home

There's'no place like home

Building and rebuilding

It's All Greek to Me

The ptol and short of it

The last emperor

A Parting of Ways

All Roads Lead to Rome

An Edifice Complex

Not one but many messiahs

Death and dismemberment

Sects and Violence

ch. 14 The Exiles Continue: The First Millennium

Beware, the End Is Nigh!

Revolutions and messiahs

The raising of the Talmud

Running Out of Rome

Jews under Islam

Second class is better than no class

The rise of the Gaon

All that glitters is gold

Let My People Stay: Prosperity and Persecution

Turn the other cheek

Take the money and run

The Reign in Spain

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition

Christianity or bust

ch. 15 The Greatest Horror, the Greatest Triumph

When Poland Was a Heartland

Four lands, one people

The Chmielnicki massacres

The Dawning of a New Age

The Enlightenment

The question of citizenship

Going Beyond the Pale

Responses to Enlightenment

Reform

To change or not to change

The Rise of Nationalism and Racism

The return of anti-Jewish policies

The pogroms

Getting Worse and Getting Out

Passage to Palestine

Close, but not quite there

Hitler's rise to power

The Holocaust

Too little, too late

The war against the Jews

The death camps

The fall of the Third Reich

Founding a New Jewish State

ch. 16 Jewish Buddhists and Other Challenges of the New Age

In the Shadow of the Holocaust

The Mixed Blessing of America

You will be assimilated

The choosing people

Jews as Spiritual Teachers of Other Traditions

I didn't know Jews did that!

Finding parallels

The New Jewish Spirituality

Jew versus Jew versus Jew

Who is a Jew

Can't we just work it out?

Considering the Future of Judaism

ch.

17 The Problem of Anti-Semitism Recounting the Incomprehensible Fearing an Unknown Quantity: The Origins of Hate Exploding Dangerous and False Beliefs Belief #1: The Jews killed Jesus Belief #2: There's an international Jewish conspiracy Belief #3: Jews practice ritual murder Anti-Semitism in literature and art From Religion to Race: Anti-Semitism in Modern Times Israel and anti-Semitism The color of anti-Semitism Twenty-first century anti-Semitism Toward Healing pt. IV Celebrations and Holy Days ch. 18 A Taste of Paradise: Shabbat Understanding Shabbat Shabbat: Restriction or Relief? Knowing what work to avoid Discovering what's enough Redefining the rules Doing what you can on Shabbat Welcoming the Sabbath Lighting the candles Saying the blessings over family, wine, and bread Eating the meal Attending Shabbat evening services Morning has broken Bidding Farewell to Shabbat Wine and candles Sugar, spice, and everything nice The Universal Aspects of Shabbat ch. 19 In with the New: Rosh Hashanah A Day for Making Judgments The Book of Life: Take two Teshuvah: Getting back on track The 40-Day Plan The days of Elul Preparations: S'lichot Celebrating Rosh Hashanah The Makhzor: The High Holy Day prayer book Blowing your horn Tashlikh The Ten Days of Awe Cleaning your spiritual house Kapparot Real Beginnings Mean Real Changes ch. 20 Getting Serious: Yom Kippur Yom Kippur Means Always Having to Say You're Sorry Seeking forgiveness from God Repenting Celebrating Yom Kippur Fasting, but not quickly Taking a long day's journey Preparing for Yom Kippur Considering the Kol Nidre: The evening service Reading and kneeling Honoring the Light of Yom Kippur ch. 21 The Great Outdoors: Sukkot A Jewish Thanksgiving Giving thanks Getting outdoorsy: Building a sukkah How to Sukkot A sukkah born every minute Waving the lulav and etrog Sh'mini Atzeret Simkhat Torah ch. 22 Seeking Light in Dark Times: Chanukkah Shining a Light on the Darkest Night The Good Fight: What Chanukkah Celebrates The two books of the Maccabees Judah puts the hammer down The story of the oil miracle The Maccabees get their due Embracing Chanukkah Customs Lighting the candles Blessings for the moment Remembering the oil: Yummy fried foods

Note continued: Spinning the dreidel

To gift, or not to gift

Receiving the Real Gift of Chanukkah: Personal Renewal

ch. 23 Celebrating Renewal: Tu B'Shvat

Tithing Fruits of Land and Spirit

A Seder of Fruit and Wine

Try This at Home

Enlightened Gardeners

An Ever-Living Tree

ch. 24 A Jewish Carnival: Purim

Purim: Based on a True Story (Sort Of)

It all starts with a banished queen

Enter Esther, stage left

Enter Haman, stage right

Haman's big mistake

The final battle

Why Purim Survived

The persistence of persecution

Within you and without you

Bang a Gong: Celebrating Purim

Reading the Book of Esther

the whole megillah

Partying and playing dress up

Giving the gift of sweets

Remembering the poor

Other traditions: The Fast of Esther

Bringing Darkness to Light

ch. 25 From Groan to Glee: Passover

Looking at the Reasons behind Passover

Edible Do's and Don'ts

Kosher for Passover

The symbolism of Passover restrictions

First Things First: Preparing for Passover

Cleaning out the khametz

Giving to charity at Passover time

The Seder: As Easy as 1, 2, 3 ...

The haggadah: Seder's little instruction booklet

Look who's coming to dinner

The prepared table

Steps of the seder

New traditions: Miriam's Cup

A Time to Think about Freedom

It's all about choice

Dayenu: So much gratitude

It's Not Over till It's Omer

Agricultural roots

The magical, mystical seven

Yom Ha-Shoah

Israeli Independence Day

Lag B'Omer

The Universal Themes in Passover

ch. 26 Spring Is Busting Out All Over: Shavuot

The Ideas Behind Shavuot

Receiving the Torah

Meeting at Sinai

Tune in today!

Go tell it on the mountain

Telling stories

Searching for New Rituals

Pulling the mystical all-nighter

Deck the halls

Got milk?

Reading Ruth

Nontraditional traditions

Rewakening

ch. 27 A Day of Mourning: Tisha B'Av

Fasting, Reading, and Reflecting

Today's Tisha B'Av

Tu B'Av: Releasing into Joy

pt. V The Part of Tens

ch. 28 Ten People Who Helped Shape Judaism

Hillel

Rashi

Maimonides

Joseph Caro

Isaac Luria

Ba'al Shem Tov

Henrietta Szold

Abraham Isaac Kook

Martin Buber

Abraham Joshua Heschel

ch. 29 Answers to Ten Common Questions about Judaism

Why Don't Jews Believe in Jesus?

What Does It Mean to Be the "Chosen" People?

Why Is Israel So Important to the Jews?

Why Are So Many Doctors, Lawyers, and Entertainers Jewish?

What Is the Role of Women in Judaism?

What Is "Jewish Humor"?

Self-examination: Try it at home!

Dress British, think Yiddish

What Role Does Music Play in Jewish Culture?

Who's In Charge of Judaism?

Can You Convert to Judaism?

What's the Relationship Between Judaism and Islam?

pt. VI Appendixes

Appendix A Oy Vey! and Other Words You Should Know

A Primer of Basic Words

Yiddish, Yinglish, Oy!

Appendix B A Sampler of Jewish Prayers and Blessings

The Central Focus: Sh'ma and V'ahavta

First Thing in the Morning

Last Thing at Night

Various, Sundry, and Otherwise Useful Blessings

Blessings for food

Blessings making moments special

Blessings for ritual acts

Blessings as reminders and as teachers

Appendix C Go Now and Learn

Books for The People of the Book

On the Newsstand

Some Jewish Organizations

Education and social action

Charities

Judaism on the Web.