Living a Jewish Life, Updated and Revised Edition: Jewish Traditions, Customs, and Values for Today's Families [Paperback]

Anita Diamant (Author), Howard Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 2007

Living a Jewish Life describes Judaism as not just a contemplative or abstract system of thought but as a blueprint for living fully and honorably. This new edition builds on the classic guide, which has been a favorite among Jewish educators and students for years. Enriched with additional resources, including online resources, this updated guide also references recent changes in the modern Jewish community, and has served as a resource and guide for non–Jews as well as Jews.

Addressing the choices posed by the modern world, Living a Jewish Life explains the traditions and beliefs of Judaism in the context of real life. It explores the spectrum of liberal Jewish thought, from Conservative to Reconstructionist to Reform, as well as unaffiliated, new age, and secular. Celebrating the diversity of Jewish beliefs, this guide provides information in ways that readers can choose how to incorporate Judaism into their lives.

Readers will learn how to choose the right synagogue, and discover the meaning and significance of lighting Sabbath candles. "Shabbat," "Torah," "kosher," "mitzvah" and other key words are all defined in all of their complex and potent meanings.

On the most basic level, this book explains the essential Jewish vocabulary, but more importantly, LIVING A JEWISH LIFE is a sensitive and comprehensive introduction that reveals the timeless nature of Jewish tradition, rich with history and relevant in the modern world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Anita Diamant is a prize-winning journalist whose previous books include The New Jewish Wedding and The New Jewish Baby Book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Rev Upd edition (February 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061173649
• ISBN-13: 978-0061173646
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Judaism > Jewish Life

More About the Author

In my first novel, The Red Tent, I re-imagined the culture of biblical women as close, sustaining, and strong, but I am not the least bit nostalgic for that world without antibiotics, or birth control, or the printed page. Women were restricted and vulnerable in body, mind, and spirit, a condition that persists wherever women are not permitted to read.

When I was a child, the public library on Osborne Terrace in Newark, New Jersey, was one of the first places I was allowed to walk to all by myself. I went every week, and I can still draw a map of the children's room, up a flight of stairs,where the Louisa May Alcott books were arranged to the left as you entered.
Nonfiction, near the middle of the room, was loaded with biographies. I read several about Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart, and Helen Keller, with whom I share a birthday.

But by the time I was 11, the children's library was starting to feel confining,so I snuck downstairs to the adult stacks for a copy of The Good Earth. (I had overheard a grown-up conversation about the book and it sounded interesting.)The librarian at the desk glanced at the title and said I wasn't old enough for the novel and furthermore my card only entitled me to take out children's books.

I defended my choice. I said my parents had given me permission, which was only half a fib since my mother and father had never denied me any book. Eventually,the librarian relented and I walked home, triumphant. I had access to the BIG LIBRARY. My world would never be the same.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A user-friendly facelift to a beloved text, March 13, 2007

By 

Sarah - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Living a Jewish Life, Updated and Revised Edition: Jewish Traditions, Customs, and Values for Today's Families (Paperback)

Anita Diamant has written several excellent how-to guides on liberal (Reform) Judaism, including Choosing a Jewish Life: A Handbook for People Converting to Judaism and for Their Family and Friends, Living a Jewish Life, Updated and Revised Edition: Jewish Traditions, Customs, and Values for Today's Families, The New Jewish Wedding, Revised, and the The New Jewish Baby Book: Names, Ceremonies, & Customs-a Guide for Today's Families. Her 1991 work Living A Jewish Life has been given a much-needed cosmetic facelift, both in appearance (the typeface and Hebrew are much easier to read) and the addition of an updated bibliography and online resources. I had the opportunity to review the original 1991 release and the 2007 update side-by-side, and these are my observations:

+ First, a new preface that addresses the vast diversity of modern Judaism, as well as the author's own upbringing by Holocaust survivors (she considers herself a Jew-by-choice and only truly began to explore her heritage in her late 20s).

+ The Table of Contents has been greatly streamlined, with fewer subheadings. Also, some of the subchapters have been renamed : Shabbat and Soccer (1991) has become Shabbat in the Real World (2007), for example.

+ The typeface is slightly larger and easier to read. Quotations from the Torah and Talmud are less intrusive on the text than in the original. And the Hebrew text is much easier to read.

+ Graphics have been added to the top of chapters.

+ Many of the mail addresses (which took up a whole chapter in the original) have been replaced with websites.

"Living a Jewish Life" provides thorough descriptions of the Jewish calendar, holidays, the Jewish lifecycle, keeping kosher, Jewish community organizations, Jewish education, recommended home libraries, and conversion and adoption. Also, the book is clearly aimed at Jewish families, with numerous recommended activities to help explore and promote Jewish heritage inside and outside of the home, encouraging children to make Jewish choices (Shabbat instead of soccer or sleepovers, etc.)

Overall, this "facelift" has only made Living A Jewish Life an even more attractive, essential guide for those eager to further explore the rituals, holidays, and strong community that Judaism offers (make sure that you order the Updated and Revised edition (2007) instead of the original release)

This is clearly and unashamedly a Reform text. If you are interested in an Orthodox perspective, I recommend To Be a Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life by Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin. If you are new to Judaism, this is the perfect introductory primer (along with the much larger Essential Judaism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs & Rituals by George Robinson). If you are a young Jewish family looking to incorporate more meaningful Jewish rituals into your home and family life, this is the book for you.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Helper Book For Family and Friends, September 16, 2008

By 

Jeremy D. Lingard (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Living a Jewish Life, Updated and Revised Edition: Jewish Traditions, Customs, and Values for Today's Families (Paperback)

I gave this book to my Fiance so she could better understand my conversion,rituals,traditions and how life will be after it is complete.It has helped her tremendously in understanding Judaism. The way Anita explains things is so practical and makes since to the modern world.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I was looking for, February 15, 2011

By 

Ebony Farrington "bookworm" (Wilmington, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Living a Jewish Life, Updated and Revised Edition: Jewish Traditions, Customs, and Values for Today's Families (Paperback)

This is a good book for someone interested in joining Judiasm, but that's not what I was looking for when I purchased this item. I wanted a book that discussed ancient jewish living. My goal was to better understand the thinking and customs of the ancient isreal and the first century Jews. I made my purchase based on someone else's review because he said it helped him understand the bible better.