Jewish Literacy Revised Ed

The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History

By: Joseph Telushkin

Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg

Length: 29 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Widely recognized as one of the most respected and indispensable reference books on Jewish life, culture, tradition, and religion, Jewish Literacy covers every essential aspect of the Jewish people and Judaism. Rabbi Telushkin discusses everything from the Jewish Bible and Talmud to Jewish notions of ethics to antisemitism and the Holocaust; from the history of Jews around the world to Zionism and the politics of a Jewish state; from the significance of religious traditions and holidays to how they are practiced in daily life. Whether you want to know more about Judaism in general or have specific questions you'd like answered, Jewish Literacy is sure to contain the information you need.

Rabbi Telushkin's expert knowledge of Judaism makes the updated and revised edition of Jewish Literacy an invaluable reference. A comprehensive yet thoroughly accessible resource for anyone interested in learning the fundamentals of Judaism, Jewish Literacy is a must for every Jewish home.

©2008 Rabbi Joseph Telushkin (P)2017 Tantor

Very informative!

As a converting jew, this book is invaluable. I also bought this book hardcover as the index and glossary is a wealth of information. If you're interested in jewish history, law, rituals, this book will tell you SO much.

Excellent resource

Great deal of information on the topic. Very educational and enlightening. Enjoyed the journey through and learned a great deal.

Excellent Guide

Well narrated and easy to understand guide. Great resource that I plan to continue using. Highly recommended.

A Stunning Achievement

This is, hands-down, one of the best Audible books I've ever purchased. Given that I've downloaded 173 books, that's saying something.

Absolutely fascinating topics, brilliantly written and wonderfully narrated. This is a winner in every way! And I'm not even Jewish!

History, religion, society, war…. It has it all.

I liked the tone and timely narration. Easy to listen to and clear.
This gave me a great education on Jewish history and religion which is so interwoven in world history that I never felt any of the information was remote. Certainly it is a long book and it took me awhile to find the time, but worth it.

Accessible, Detailed, Grand Tour of Jewish History

Narrator Josh Bloomberg has a crisp, pleasant tone. His pronunciation flows smoothly across Hebrew [old and new] Aramaic, Greek-koine, Russian, French, German, and other names which feature in this 3000-year, global story. It is a compliment to this superb narrator that I have finished two complete listenings of 29-hours, and am ready to begin the third!

As a non-Jew invited to celebrate a Bar Mitzvah, I was looking to acquire a bit of cultural competence before going to the synagog. Well. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin has answered questions that I didn't know I had!

Orthodox-Conservative-Reformed? 613 commandments? First temple, second temple, animal sacrifice? Torah, Talmud? Ritual vs ethical? Sephardic-Ashkenazic? Eastern European Jewry, pogrom, Tevye-Golde? Rabbis, halakha, Maimonides? Antisemitism, Israel, Palestine? Jewish Holidays?

There is a vast amount of cultural detail in this book! Yet it is beautifully organized for one-touch access to many dozens of topics. For example, I can scroll through my screen and press index entry "325, Bar/Bat Mitzah".

I am in awe that Rabbi Joseph Telushkin has created this learning material. The narrative style is down-to-earth, compassionate, and factually neutral. Interpretive viewpoints range across history, psychology, sociology, political science, economics, literature. The primary citations are spoken in the audio! Very highly recommended.

Very Detailed and interesting

if you want to know about Judaism then listen to this audio book. very detailed and interesting.

Pronunciation poor

Poor pronunciation by non Jewish speaker

Super collection of history stories. Listen learn about Jewish history.

Amazing

Possibly the most comprehensive work on Jewish history, belief, and culture. Written in short, focused chapters so you can either read straight through it or just read the parts you’re most interested in learning about.

A true blessing

A blessing for those of us who have grown outside the Jewish community and don’t know where to start learning.