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Converts to Judaism: Stories from Biblical Times to Today de Lawrence J. Epstein

Converts to Judaism: Stories from Biblical Times to Today

Autor Lawrence J. Epstein
en Limba Engleză Hardback – 14 ian 2015

Observăm o evoluție semnificativă în studiile iudaice contemporane, care se îndepărtează de viziunea unei comunități închise, bazate strict pe genealogie, pentru a explora dinamica fascinantă a integrării celor din exterior. Converts to Judaism reflectă această schimbare de paradigmă, oferind o perspectivă istorică și sociologică asupra modului în care persoanele care au ales iudaismul au modelat și au revitalizat această tradiție de-a lungul mileniilor. Suntem de părere că forța acestei lucrări rezidă în echilibrul dintre rigoarea academică și abordarea narativă, aducând în prim-plan biografii care variază de la figuri biblice la staruri de la Hollywood.

Structura volumului urmează o progresie cronologică riguroasă, debutând cu rădăcinile biblice ale convertirii și continuând cu expansiunea prozelitismului în perioada elenistică și restricțiile epocii talmudice. Capitolele dedicate iluminismului evreiesc și experienței americane evidențiază modul în care ieșirea din ghetou a redefinit identitatea religioasă. Această lucrare reprezintă o alternativă necesară la Conversion de Miriam Bodian pentru cursurile de istorie a religiilor, având avantajul unei abordări biografice mai accentuate, care umanizează procesul teologic prin povești concrete precum cele ale lui Sammy Davis, Jr. sau Elizabeth Taylor.

Lawrence J. Epstein poziționează această carte ca o sinteză a preocupărilor sale de o viață. Față de lucrările sale anterioare, precum The Basic Beliefs of Judaism, care se concentrează pe dogmă, sau studiile despre cultura populară precum The Haunted Smile, volumul de față integrează experiența umană în cadrul formal al legii evreiești. Autorul reușește să demonstreze că istoria iudaismului nu este doar una a continuității biologice, ci și una a alegerii spirituale conștiente.

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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9781442234673
ISBN-10: 1442234679
Pagini: 220
Dimensiuni: 161 x 234 x 20 mm
Greutate: 0.46 kg
Editura: Bloomsbury Publishing
Colecția Rowman & Littlefield
Locul publicării:New York, United States

De ce să citești această carte

Recomandăm această carte oricui este interesat de mecanismele identității religioase și de istoria socială a iudaismului. Cititorul câștigă o înțelegere profundă a modului în care „străinul” a fost primit și integrat în comunitate de-a lungul secolelor. Este o resursă valoroasă atât pentru cercetători, cât și pentru cei care iau în considerare convertirea, oferind un context istoric care validează și onorează această alegere dificilă.

Despre autor

Lawrence J. Epstein este profesor emerit la Suffolk County Community College din New York, unde a condus divizia de Științe Umaniste și a predat cursuri de gândire și cultură iudaică. Expert recunoscut la nivel internațional în problematica convertirii, el este fondatorul unei platforme de referință dedicate acestui subiect. Opera sa este vastă, cuprinzând de la biografii ale unor figuri emblematice precum George Burns, până la analize istorice despre nașterea statului Israel. Această expertiză multidisciplinară îi permite să abordeze iudaismul nu doar ca religie, ci ca un fenomen cultural complex, marcat de umor, reziliență și transformare personală.

Descriere

From the biblical story of Ruth to the star conversion of Elizabeth Taylor, Converts to Judaism tells the stories of people who have converted to Judaism throughout history. The book introduces readers to origins of Judaism and shares the first conversion stories of the people who helped the early Jewish faith grow. Subsequent chapters trace the trajectory of Judaism through the ages while highlighting the stories of converts-both well-known and lesser-known-and how they shaped the tradition. The book includes not only the story of Warder Cresson, who was put on trial for insanity after converting to Judaism, but also famous celebrities who became Jewish such as Marilyn Monroe and Sammy Davis, Jr.

Written by a noted expert on the conversion process, Converts to Judaism serves as a unique resource to people considering the challenging path of conversion and an illustration of the important, and sometimes surprising, role Jewish converts have always played in Jewish life.

Cuprins

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: Welcoming the Stranger: The Place of Converts in Jewish Life
One: Your People Shall Be My People: Converts in the Biblical Era
Two: Over Land and Sea: The Rise of Proselytism in the Hellenistic and Early Roman Period
Three: A Fence Around the Torah: Converts in the Talmudic Era
Four: The Time of Religious Struggle: Converts in the Medieval Era
Five: Leaving the Ghetto: Converts From the Jewish Enlightenment to the Present
Six: The Golden Land: Converts in the United States
Seven: The Call of Zion: Converts in Israel
Eight: Lessons From the History of Conversion to Judaism
Glossary
References
Index

Recenzii

Who knew that Sammy Davis Jr. was a convert to Judaism who refused to perform on Yom Kippur, or that Ivanka Trump converted when she married Jared Kushner in 2009? Epstein provides a fascinating read about the various people who have converted to Judaism over centuries, and the circumstances of their conversions. Many of those converts faced extreme reactions: the family of Warder Cresson, for example, had him committed to a mental institution in 1848. Epstein organizes material into eight chapters, covering different historical periods, from converts mentioned in the Bible up to modern conversion in the United States and Israel. Each chapter contains anecdotes, reflections from rabbinical authorities of the period, and discussion of the clashing viewpoints on conversion among Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jews. Concluding with a chapter on lessons from this history, Epstein admits he is strongly in favor of conversion. 'This is especially crucial in a Jewish age marked by increased intermarriage and increased assimilation,' he writes. Superbly researched and insightful, Epstein's work takes readers on an enlightening journey through Jewish history.
Epstein has long taught and written about conversion to Judaism. He points out that, from its beginning. After all, Adam and Eve weren't Jews, nor was anyone else before Abraham converted by God and thereafter obliged to convert Sarah and others. The eight pithy chapters of this very compact overview trace the fortunes of conversion to Judaism to the present, when it has again become a mission for many Jews, after a long time in modernity during which it was commonly accepted that one couldn't be a Jew unless one's mother was a Jew. Epstein points out, however, that Jews are often uncomfortable with the word mission because of its strong association with a Christianity that coerced conversion to it. . . .[A] good primer on a little-known reality.
A warmly narrated story not only about Judaism's history of giyur (proselytism or conversion), but also the evolutionary development of the Hebrew people as Jews. Epstein, a professor emeritus from Suffolk County Community College, has a publishing record reflecting Jewish thought and culture. While not sourced directly in the text, the book's collection of references found at the end will assist the reader in learning the history of converts to Judaism from Ruth in biblical times to the present and the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Sammy Davis, Jr. In each of the eight chapters, Epstein through the use of anecdotes and rabbinic thought and commentary, supplemented by discussions, covers the debates within the Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox communities regarding the advisability and opposition to conversion. This is a good contribution for a synagogue library that has an interested audience from young adults to adults, interested or somehow involved with the intricacies of the history of Judaism and the role of conversion in it. Similarly, the wealth of information provided would serve any Chavurah (Fellowship) a treasure trove of topics.
Lawrence Epstein has written a fascinating, essential book about conversion-its history, the whys and hows, current issues, and why we need to encourage it. This book is must-reading for anyone thinking about conversion, anyone who has converted, Jewish professionals, and all other Jews!
With this book, Lawrence Epstein has presented us with two amazing gifts: an accurate portrayal of Judaism's positive history of conversion and a hopeful and practical depiction of how conversion can save the future of the North American Jewish community.
Converts to Judaism: Stories from Biblical Times to Today is the right book at the right time for a critical issue facing American Judaism. It is enlightening as well as entertaining, highlighting the history of conversion to Judaism over the entire timespan from Abraham up until today. The work is important not only for its information and analysis but because the author makes a compelling argument for a pro-active approach to bringing in new Jews into our religion and people.
This is an important book that should be read by every Jew who is proud that Judaism has no missionaries, yet still encourages and welcomes all non-Jews who want to join us in building a peaceful pluralistic world of transnational religious communities.
Combining scholarship, compassion, and lucid prose, this book illuminates Jewish communal policies regarding would-be Jews throughout history. Epstein's work will serve as a critical framework for all present and future discussions regarding conversion.