Jacob Neusner has published more than 1000 books and articles, scholarly and academic, popular and journalistic, and is one of the most published humanities scholars in the world. Over a period of fifty years he has made significant, insightful and challenging contributions to the study of Rabbinic Judaism, particularly in the disciplines covered in the three volumes which make up Neusner on Judaism: the study of history (volume 1), literature (volume 2), and religion and theology (volume 3). These unique volumes of selective writings by Jacob Neusner, with new introductions by the author, offer scholars an invaluable resource in the field of Judaic Studies.

Book by Neusner, Jacob

Jacob Neusner is Research Professor of Religion and Theology at Bard College and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard. He has published more than 900 books and unnumbered articles, both scholarly and academic and popular and journalistic, and is the most published humanities scholar in the world. He has been awarded nine honorary degrees, including seven US and European honorary doctorates. He received his AB from Harvard College in 1953, his PhD from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary in 1961, and rabbinical ordination and the degree of Master of Hebrew Letters from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1960. Neusner is editor of the 'Encyclopedia of Judaism' (Brill, 1999. I-III) and its Supplements; Chair of the Editorial Board of 'The Review of Rabbinic Judaism, ' and Editor in Chief of 'The Brill Reference Library of Judaism', both published by E. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands. He is editor of 'Studies in Judaism', University Press of America. Neusner resides with his wife in Rhinebeck, New York. They have a daughter, three sons and three daughters-in-law, six granddaughters and two grandsons.

In this clearly written book, Jacob Neusner answers the central questions about the world of Judaism in which Christianity was born. He gives an overview of the history and religion of Israel and an analysis of the Judaic legacy as it endured among those who did not become Christians. He also discusses the troubling issue of the Pharisees and investigates the identity of the "historical Hillel." This accessible book aims to speak directly to every student who is concerned with both the early and contemporary meanings of the Jewish and Christian faiths.

The renewed perception of Judaism's influenceJudaism today is too often thought to represent a religious backwater, a highly particularistic, religion with its own esoteric tales and traditions, practices and norms. First Christians, then Jews themselves, have succumbed to this characterization, resulting in dismissal of Judaism's universal religious significance. Bereft of its religious import, Judaism is increasingly thought merely an ethnic designationand a quickly dissipating one at that. Neusner pleas for vindication of "the universal character and appeal of Judaic monotheism in the mainstream of humanity." Of the three great monotheistic religions, only Judaism has survived without political power, military might, or great numbers of adherents and has done so because its method and message aim to persuade the world of God's dominion and the marks of God's rule.

Describes and contrasts how two major religions approached the problem of writing down the traditions of the ages. Just before 700 A. D., Judaic sages compiled the Talmud of Babylonia; just after 800 A. D., Zoroastrian priests compiled the Pahlavi books. In both cases, the projects codified thought and became authorities for the later development of the religions. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

The changed situation of Western Jewry in the 19th-20th centuries caused Jews to revise their conceptions of Jewry as a community and of its place in the world. Six Judaic systems emerged. Discusses each one in detail. While the 19th-century trends (Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative) developed in response to the needs of integration with the non-Jewish world, the 20th-century Judaisms (Zionism, Jewish Socialism and Yiddishism, and the American Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption) were a response to aggressive antisemitism and to the crisis caused by the rapid social and economic restructuring of Central and Eastern Europe. The events of May-June 1967 in the Middle East brought about a new trend - Holocaust and Redemption Judaism, in the center of which are the Holocaust (mythicized and perceived as a metaphor for absolute evil) and the State of Israel (perceived as the redemption for the Holocaust). This Judaism contains a salvific myth and possesses all the traits of a religious system. The exposition is accompanied by excerpts from books and articles.

Aphrahat (fl. ca. 300-350) was a member of a small community of Christians within a large and flourishing Jewish region. His work Demonstrations provide the earliest and one of the best accounts of the Judaism being practiced there with little rabbinical influence. Neusner translates those parts of the work that provide such information.

Law Behind the Laws: The Bavli's Essencial Discourse

Book by Neusner, Jacob

Neusner compares the literary and programmatic traits in the two texts, both structurally and in terms of rhetoric. The texts are sixth-century commentaries on the Mishnah tractate Avot .

Text: English (translation) Original Language: Hebrew

Analyzes how, in the formation of Judaism, the written Torah, also called the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, relate to and served the dual Torah, which consisted of both oral and written elements. Argues against holding up the written texts alone as "proofs," and that the written and oral forms comprised a single, seamless whole. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.