The Dictionary of Jewish Biography [Hardcover]

Dan Cohn-Sherbok (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2005

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. Compiled with the assistance of a distinguished group of scholars, theDictionary of Jewish Biographyprovides a rapid reference to the biographies of almost 4000 Jewish men and women who, over the past four millennia, have contributed to the life, history, and study of Judaism in all its facets. Those profiled represent every walk of life and every area of accomplishment. Included are rabbinic scholars, key religious figures, spiritual leaders, founders of modern movements, major writers, Enlightenment figures, novelists, journalists, scientists, mystics, Israeli politicians, musicians, actors and actresses, film stars, famous rabbis, distinguished cantors, biblical figures, economists, architects, athletes, and radicals and heretics. Each entry is followed by a short bibliography. The book includes an extended Introduction, which explains the criteria for inclusion, and outlines the history of Israel and the Jewish diaspora. 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 panoramic bibliographic survey provides a unique guide to the leading figures of the past and present.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This valuable new Judaica reference offers almost 4,000 brief biographies of people who have significantly contributed to Jewish life. Cohn-Sherbock, a rabbi and professor of Jewish theology at the University of Wales in Lampeter, spotlights biblical figures like the patriarch Abraham, modern figures like composer George Dreyfus and everything in between. On a single page, readers can learn about novelist E. L. Doctorow, Israeli soldier Ya'akov Dori, Babylonian philosopher and Talmudic commentator Dosa ben Saadyah, and first-century pseudo-messiah Dositheus. Those who made decidedly negative contributions to Jewish life have a place, too: there's the 13th-century Franciscan monk Nichols Donin, for example, who was responsible for burning countless copies of the Talmud. Maps and a short essay that traces Jewish history from antiquity to the present contextualize the entries. The only disappointment is the relatively short length of the biographical sketches. Most entries are only one paragraph, and some-such as the one telling us that the American National Cartoonist Society's Reuben award is named after cartoonist Rube Goldberg-are only a sentence. This dictionary is a great starting place, but serious students of Jewish life and history will need to go elsewhere for textured, detailed portraits of Jewish greats.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Containing about 4,000 biographical entries, this alphabetically arranged work covers notable individuals from biblical times to twenty-first-century America. The length of the entries ranges from one sentence to a quarter-page, and many include cross-references. The criterion for inclusion is that a person must be a Jew by birth or conversion. The work includes seven maps, a dozen illustrations and photographs, an extremely short chronology, and a very brief overview of Jewish history.

This volume suffers the severe limitations of many other one-volume biographical dictionaries: it offers hardly any information. The spare entries often don't even provide the titles of books written by many prominent authors. Indeed, if one is permitted a gastronomic metaphor: a work such as the 60-volume Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004) is a multicourse meal replete with appetizers, soup, dessert, and a delectable wine, while this work is barely a bite-size latke sans toothpick or applesauce. It is probably most useful for ready-reference identification of lesser-known Jewish personalities, and as such is recommended for libraries needing a resource of that kind. Donald Altschiller
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 374 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (September 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195223918
• ISBN-13: 978-0195223910
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,251,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Capsule biographies do not tell us enough, October 9, 2005

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Dictionary of Jewish Biography (Hardcover)

The idea of this work is to give capsule biographies of a large number of Jews from all different areas of human endeavor. This is in itself admirable, but the length of the entries, usually a few brief lines, makes them into telegraphic bits of information, without any element of story.

Thus 'The Dictionary of Jewish Biography' ed. by Geoffrey Wigoder is if far from perfect, nonetheless still more useful than this present volume.