Re: Book Review:George Robinson's "Essential Judaism"

[George Robinson <GRComm...>]

Khaverim --

First, I have to tell you all that this was an unsolicited testimonial
(Seth, how do I make out that check?).

Second, oy, I'm blushing.

Thank you Seth for your kind words.

George Robinson
(he's the one with the flushed look)


Seth wrote:
> 
> Hevre: Over the last few years, when I haven't been listening to Jewish
> music [note obligatory reference to Jewish music], I?ve read my way through
> many of the popular ?how-to?s and primers of Jewish literacy, books by
> Telushkin, Donin and Dosick, for example.
> 
> There is a new entry in this field, Essential Judaism, by list-member George
> Robinson (Pocket Books), which I think is by far the best of the lot.
> Subtitled ?A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs, and Rituals,? the book is
> indeed that and a lot more.
> 
> In the course of its 650 pages, the book lucidly explores Jewish worship and
> practice, sacred literature (Torah, Talmud, other rabbinical works),
> Kabbalah and mysticism, holidays, life cycle events, dietary laws, and
> Jewish history and denominationalism.
> 
> The treatment Robinson gives such topics as the prayer service, the
> blessings of daily life, and the evolution of contemporary Judaism is
> surprisingly deep for a work of this kind.
> 
> In particular, his chapters on the mitzvot (?Living a Jewish Life?) and
> non-Rabbinic Jewish thought (?The Philosophers: The Continuing Evolution of
> Jewish Thought?), stand out not only for their all-around comprehensiveness,
> but also for their originality of ideas and presentation.
> 
> Essential Judaism is a well-organized and well-indexed book that can be
> enjoyed read from beginning to end, dipped into arbitrarily, and kept nearby
> as a handy reference. In just the month or so I?ve had it, I?ve already had
> several occasions to use it in this last manner, to answer questions or
> explain references I?ve stumbled over in other books, and it hasn?t failed
> me yet.
> 
> Most books like this are written by rabbis, and some have particular
> agendas, ideological or religious. I think the very fact that Robinson is
> not a rabbi but a journalist who immersed himself over several years in the
> literature and lore of Judaism, processed all this information from all
> points of view, consulted various authorities and experts, and then found a
> way to explain it that was both accessible to the general reader yet utterly
> worthy of the importance and depth of the subject matter, goes far toward
> explaining why this book instantly arrives as the best one-volume reference
> to Judaism.
> 
> Essential Judaism is a lot more than ?Essential.? It?s great. It?ll make
> gift-giving time ? whether birthdays or Bar-Mitzvahs, Khanike or
> conversions ? a lot easier. And when friends ask for a recommendation for
> that one book -- the one that is, besides THE book  -- George Robinson?s
> Essential Judaism will make that a lot easier, too.
> 
> --Seth Rogovoy
> 

-- 
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