Approaching Judaism | p. 1 |
Judaism as a religion | p. 1 |
The roots of belief and practice - the Bible | p. 15 |
A people's history and its significance | p. 15 |
The structure of the Jewish Bible | p. 16 |
The content of the Torah | p. 19 |
The content of the Neviim | p. 23 |
The content of the Ketuvim | p. 27 |
Interpreting the Bible | p. 28 |
Transmitting and translating the Bible | p. 30 |
The chain of tradition - the Talmud | p. 33 |
The written and the oral Torah | p. 33 |
The varieties of Second Temple Judaism | p. 35 |
Living as a holy people without the Temple | p. 37 |
Discussing the Mishnah - the Talmud | p. 41 |
Legal traditions (halakhah) and narrative traditions (aggadah) | p. 47 |
Orthodox Judaism | p. 52 |
Orthodoxy and belief | p. 52 |
Continuity and discontinuity | p. 54 |
Orthodox Judaism and the Bible | p. 57 |
Ultra-Orthodoxy | p. 59 |
Orthodox affiliation today | p. 61 |
Non-Orthodox Judaism | p. 64 |
Reform Judaism and points of departure | p. 64 |
Determining the role of women in Judaism | p. 70 |
Conservative Judaism | p. 78 |
Liberal Judaism | p. 80 |
Food Laws | p. 82 |
The source and purpose of the food laws | p. 82 |
Deciding what is kosher | p. 84 |
Levels of observance | p. 88 |
Life and death matters | p. 93 |
Expressions of belief | p. 93 |
The importance of having children | p. 94 |
The sanctity of human life | p. 97 |
Grief and hope | p. 100 |
Jewish education | p. 105 |
In the home | p. 105 |
In the synagogue | p. 108 |
In school | p. 111 |
In higher education (academy, seminary, and college) | p. 112 |
Marriage | p. 116 |
Sex and marriage in Judaism | p. 116 |
A Jewish wedding | p. 119 |
Marriages between Jews and non-Jews | p. 122 |
The religious court (Bet Din) and laws of status | p. 126 |
A Jewish divorce | p. 129 |
Prayer | p. 133 |
The place of prayer | p. 133 |
Communal prayers - ancient and modern | p. 138 |
Physical reminders | p. 144 |
The Synagogue | p. 148 |
Terms and functions | p. 148 |
Reading the Torah | p. 150 |
Language and music | p. 155 |
Religious leadership | p. 157 |
The Sabbath | p. 161 |
A sense of time out | p. 161 |
Resting from work | p. 165 |
Observing Shabbat in home and synagogue | p. 171 |
The rhythm of the year - festivals and fasts | p. 176 |
A sense of time | p. 176 |
The lunar calendar | p. 180 |
The new moon | p. 182 |
The festivals of Hanukah and Purim | p. 184 |
Other festivals | p. 188 |
Fasts | p. 190 |
The pilgrim festivals | p. 192 |
Passover - the festival of unleavened bread | p. 192 |
Freedom - then and now | p. 193 |
Counting the days | p. 198 |
Freedom to obey - Shavuot | p. 200 |
Where true security lies - Sukkot | p. 201 |
The four plants | p. 202 |
The obligation to rejoice | p. 203 |
The New Year and the Day of Atonement | p. 207 |
The importance of The High Holy Days | p. 207 |
Creating the atmosphere | p. 208 |
Returning | p. 211 |
Fasting | p. 213 |
Atonement | p. 215 |
The Holocaust | p. 219 |
Questioning and remembering | p. 219 |
A radical answer | p. 226 |
A traditional response | p. 227 |
Survival and beyond | p. 231 |
Israel | p. 235 |
A focal point for Jews | p. 235 |
Zionism and beyond | p. 236 |
Identity in a Jewish State | p. 247 |
Peace with justice and security | p. 253 |
Afterword | p. 262 |
Further Reading | p. 267 |
Glossary | p. 268 |
Index | p. 275 |
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