From Abraham to Saul Bellow, from Moses Maimonides to Woody Allen, from the Baal Shem Tov to Albert Einstein, this comprehensive dictionary of Jewish biographies provides a first point of entry into the fascinating richness of the Jewish heritage. Modelled on the highly acclaimed Dictionary of Christian Biography (Continuum 2001) and with the advice of leading Jewish scholars, the Dictionary of Jewish Biography provides a rapid reference to those Jewish men and women who have, over the last four thousand years, contributed to the life of the Jewish people and the history of the Jewish religion. This dictionary will prove essential for general readers interested in the evolution of Judaism from ancient times to the present day, a perfect study aid for students and teachers.

This encyclopedia provides the first standard reference work on the lives, history and activities of Jewish women in the United States. Covering a period which extends from the arrival of the first Jewish women in North America in 1654 to the present, this two-volume set presents the most comprehensive and detailed portrait of American Jewish women ever published, and brings together for the first time the wealth of recent scholarship on this subject. Includes: * Biographical entries on over 800 individual women. * 128 topical articles on organizations such as Hadassah, the National Council of Jewish Women, Mizrachi, and the Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. * Major essays on Jewish women's participation in the movement for women's suffrage, social reform, civil rights, and the recent women's movement. * The activities of Jewish women in politics, business, education, the arts, and religion. * A readable, inviting format with over 500 large photographs. * Bibliographies at the end of each entry which include overviews of major scholarship in the field, complete citations of more general works and citations of additional bibliographical and reference sources. * The comprehensive index includes citations to every substantive discussion in the entries as well as all proper names appearing in the text, such as organizations, book, song and film titles, schools, and individuals. The "Encyclopedia" provides information on American Jewish women in all fields of endeavor, and pays special attention to the work of women in the arts, academics, law, the labor movement, education, science, medicine, journalism and publishing, and on the lives of ordinary Jewish women during all time periods and in all regions of the United States.

The definitive resource on Judaism This is a remarkable feat of reference scholarship by renowned Cambridge professor and translator, Nicholas de Lange. With an approachable A to Z format, the book covers everything from Jewish traditions and biographical entries on key historical figures to theology, religious law and practice, and the history of Jewish thought. Each entry is presented with clarity, precision, and authority. With extensive cross-referencing and invaluable additional material such as a chronology of Judaism and the Jewish calendar, this is an essential companion for students of Jewish studies, Hebrew, religion, and theology, or anyone with a general interest in this rich religion.

Designed as a reference work for the student and general reader, this Kabbalistic dictionary is a concise and handy guide to the history and treasures of the Jewish mystical tradition. It is the first dictionary of Kabbalah to provide an overview of the major themes of Jewish Kabbalistic thought as it developed over the centuries and also contains brief introductions to its major practitioners. In addition to the dictionary itself, the book contains a chronology of Kabbalah, a history of Kabbalah from ancient times to the present, maps, illustrations and an insight into the emergence of the Kabbalah Centre in California, where many celebrities, including Madonna, worship.

The Jewish attachment to Zion is many centuries old. Although the modern Zionist movement was organized only a little more than a century ago, the roots of the Zionist idea reach back almost 4,000 years, to the day that the biblical patriarch Abraham left his home in Ur of the Chaldees to settle in the promised land The Historical Dictionary of Zionism is an excellent source of information on Zionism, its founders and leaders, its various strands and organizations, major events in its struggle, and its present status. By showing the movement's strengths and weaknesses, it also acts as a corrective to overly idealistic comments by its supporters and the wilder claims of its opponents. A much more realistic understanding is offered in the Introduction, which presents and explains the movement; the Chronology, which shows its historic progression; the Dictionary, which includes numerous entries on crucial persons, organizations and events; and the Bibliography, which points the way to further reading.

"Historical Dictionary of Judaism, Fourth Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and the dictionary section has over 800 cross-referenced entries on important personalities in Jewish religious history, including biblical personalities with an emphasis on how they are understood in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition"--

The Blackwell Dictionary of Judaica contains more than 7,000 concise entries and nearly half a million words on every aspect of Jewish history, civilization and religion. It will prove invaluable not only for students and teachers, but also for everyone who is interested in the fascinating richness of the Jewish tradition. In a single volume, the wealth of the Jewish heritage is uncovered in direct and simple words. This is a vital reference work for everyone who wishes to know about the development of Judaism from ancient times to the present day, and it deserves a place in every library and every Jewish home.

This dictionary is based on old and recent manuscripts, printed texts, literary Midrashic texts, recorded oral Bible translations, folk literature, and diverse spoken registers. It has an extensive introduction, including a brief history of the Jewish dialects and their relations to older Aramaic, detailed observations on orthography, phonology, morphology, semantics, and other related grammatical features, that will serve the users well. The source for each word is indicated, including context quotations when necessary. A special effort was made to trace the origin of each and every word, be it native (classical and Talmudic Aramaic, Syriac etc.), or a loan word (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, general European). The Dictionary includes an index to all the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic words which have cognates or reflexes in Jewish Neo-Aramaic, a very important tool for the history of comparative linguistic studies of Aramaic. The Dictionary will be useful for scholars of Neo-Aramaic as well as classical and Talmudic Aramaic and Syriac, Semitic Languages, Jewish Languages, Languages in Contact, and other Near Eastern Languages in general. It is the first scholarly dictionary of Jewish Neo-Aramaic, and is intended to be a linguistic monument to the community that spoke it for many centuries until its emigration to Israel.