Judaism: Theology, History and Practice by Naftali Brawer. Library section 7 A: The Church in the World, World Religions. This recently published brief guide explains Judaism. Part 1, Theology, tells about the Jewish concept of God (1 God, not 3-in-1); the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible); Mitzvot (obedience to biblical law and doing good deeds); Man; The Jewish people; and the land of Israel.
Part 2, History, discusses the biblical foundation of Judaism (familiar to us from the Old Testament), Judaism through the middle ages to the modern era (not so familiar), and diaspora Jewry today, which refers to Jews not living in Israel.
Part 3, Practice, explains a day in the life of a practicing Jew, the Jewish year (Jews use a different calendar and have different religious holidays (though some are familiar to us, the Last Supper being a Jewish seder, for example). This section includes the Jewish life cycle – from brit (circumcision ceremonies), bar and bat mitzvahs, to weddings and funerals. An epilogue discusses Judaism in this new century.
Because my husband is Jewish, much of this was familiar to me. If the first part on theology seems too dry for you, flip to parts 2 and 3. Part 3 is especially interesting because it gives us a glimpse of what Jews do in their daily lives – prayers, worship, kosher eating, observations of the Sabbath and holidays, and so on.
Only by opening ourselves to other faiths and their adherents can we surmount the most pressing problem of our time – religious isolationism and intolerance. After all, we share with Jews basic law, scriptures, a similar liturgical year and life ceremonies. Why do Jews worship, act, pray, eat, dress, and speak the way they do? This book will answer all your questions. We share this book with a personal library of a couple in Croatia! I found this out on librarything.com. ( )