Customer Reviews

Dictionary of Jewish Biography

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This is an informative and useful volume. It contains the biographies of one - thousand well- known Jews. However as could be expected there is considerable room for doubting some selections and lamenting the exclusion of others. My own particular trouble- spot was the omission of Rabbi Shlomo Goren who contributed so much to the building of the modern State of Israel. Rabbi Goren not only shaped the Army Rabbinate, he helped create the religious law that is central in many different areas of Jewish life today . He is also the rare combination of a man of book and sword, a man deeply learned and at the same time courageous in action.
One other point. Jewish history is filled with the lives of thousands upon thousands of remarkable individuals whose creations and works are not known. A true biography of Jews who made real contributions to their own people and to the world would have to include hundreds of thousands of entries. Thus this value is really a condensation in the most meaningful sense of all.