Customer Reviews

Emergence of Jewish Scholarship in America: The Publication of the Jewish Encyclopedia (Monographs of the Hebrew Union College)

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This is a very-well written book about the creation of the great Jewish Encyclopedia first published in the first decade of the XX century and how it both reflects and helps to create the Judaica academic discipline in the United States. She breathes life into the scholars involved and the philosophical issues that affected the work of compiling the JE. The first four chapters (about 100 pages) describes the process of compiling the JE, and the rest of the book discusses the contents of the JE by topic (such as History, Literature, and Theology). Despite the breadth of the subject and the depth of the subject, it is almost light reading because the prose is so well structured. Anyone who is interested in the history of Jewish scholarship -- or scholarship in general -- should definitely read this book!