Jews and Judaism in World History by Lupovitch, Howard N.;

Short description:

Engaging with the most up-to-date scholarship and exploring overarching themes in a broad, comparative context, Jews and Judiasm in World History provides a survey of the history of the Jewish people from biblical antiquity to the present.

Long description:

This book is a survey of the history of the Jewish people from biblical antiquity to the present, spanning nearly 2,500 years and traversing five continents.

Opening with a broad introduction which addresses key questions of terminology and definition, the book’s ten chapters then go on to explore Jewish history in both its religious and non-religious dimensions. The book explores the social, political and cultural aspects of Jewish history, and examines the changes and continuities across the whole of the Jewish world throughout its long and varied history. Topics covered include:

• the emergence of Judaism as a religion and way of life


• the development during the Middle Ages of Judaism as an all-encompassing identity


• the effect on Jewish life and identity of major changes in Europe and the Islamic world from the mid sixteenth through the end of the nineteenth century


• the complexity of Jewish life in the twentieth century, the challenge of anti-semitism and the impact of the Holocaust, and the emergence of the current centres of World Jewry in the State of Israel and the New World.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Dimensions of Jewish History  1. The World of the Hebrew Bible  2. The Challenge of Hellenism  3. The Rise of Rabbinic Judaism  4. The Jews of Islam  5. The Jews of Medieval Christendom  6. World Jewry in Flux, 1450–1750  7. The Age of Enlightenment and Emancipation  8. Anti-Semitism and Jewish Responses, 1870–1914  9. Renewal and Devastation, 1918–1945  10. The Post-War World.  Conclusion.  Bibliographic Essay: Suggestions for Further Reading