Full Description
The Bloomsbury Companion to Jewish Studies is a comprehensive reference guide, providing an overview of Jewish Studies as it has developed as an academic sub-discipline. This volume surveys the development and current state of research in the broad field of Jewish Studies - focusing on central themes, methodologies, and varieties of source materials available. It includes 11 core essays from internationally-renowned scholars and teachers that provide an important and useful overview of Jewish history and the development of Judaism, while exploring central issues in Jewish Studies that cut across historical periods and offer important opportunities to track significant themes throughout the diversity of Jewish experiences. In addition to a bibliography to help orient students and researchers, the volume includes a series of indispensable research tools, including a chronology, maps, and a glossary of key terms and concepts. This is the essential reference guide for anyone working in or exploring the rich and dynamic field of Jewish Studies.
Contents
Introduction, Dean Phillip Bell, Dean and Chief Academic Officer (Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, Chicago, USA)
Part I
The Formation of Judaism and Jewish Society
1 The Hebrew Bible, Leonard J. Greenspoon, Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor in Jewish Civilization and Professor of Classical & Near Eastern Studies and of Theology (Creighton University, USA)
2 The World of the Rabbis, Gary G. Porton, Sarah and Charles Drobny Professor of Talmudic Studies and Judaism (University of Illinois, USA)
New Contexts: Medieval Jews and Judaism
Comparative Medieval Perspectives, Elisheva Baumgarten, Senior Lecturer, Department of Jewish Studies and Gender Studies (Bar-Ilan University, Israel) and Marina Rustow, Charlotte Bloomberg Associate Professor in the Humanities (The John Hopkins University, USA)
3 Jews and the Islamic World: Transitions from Rabbinic to Medieval Contexts, Marina Rustow, Charlotte Bloomberg Associate Professor in the Humanities (The John Hopkins University, USA)
4 Medieval Jews and Judaism in Christian Contexts, Elisheva Baumgarten Senior Lecturer, Department of Jewish Studies and Gender Studies (Bar-Ilan University, Israel)
Changing Tempos and Foci: Looking to Modernity
5 Early Modern Jews and Judaism, Dean Phillip Bell, Dean and Chief Academic Officer (Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, Chicago, USA)
6 Modernity, Judaism, and Jews, Gil Graff, Executive Director (BJE: Builders of Jewish Education, Los Angeles, USA)
Part II
Reorienting Contemporary Jewry and Jewish Studies
7 Mainstreams and Margins: Rethinking Contemporary Jewry, Yehuda Kurtzer, President (Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, USA)
8 Women, Gender, and Judaism, Judith R. Baskin, Philip H. Knight Professor of Humanities and Associate Dean for Humanities (College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oregon, USA)
9 Jewish Arts and Material Culture, Judah M. Cohen, Lou and Sybil Mervis Professor of Jewish Culture, Indiana University (USA)
10 Jewish Demography, Sergio DellaPergola, Shlomo Argov Professor Emeritus of Israel-Diaspora Relations (Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University, Israel)
11 The State of Israel Studies, Michael Kotzin, Senior Counselor to the President of the Chicago Federation, and Elie Rekhess, Visiting Crown Chair in Middle East Studies and Professor of History (Northwestern University, USA)
Part III
Glossary
Maps
Timeline
Select Bibliography
Contributor Biographies
Index
