Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

A helpful overview for those seeking to join the Jewish Community and live a fulfilling experience. One problem is that the glossary is not comprehensive--many key words used in the text are not defined.

Diamont's "Living a Jewish Life" is a readable, welcoming, inclusive introduction to liberal Jewish living. This book is aimed at adult readers seeking to move their lives in a Jewish direction - as Diamont puts it, to make more "Jewish choices." Covering topics such as the Jewish home, the Jewish community, holidays, and life-cycle events, Diamont de-mystifies basic concepts and practices. It is an excellent primer and should be an early addition to any beginner's Jewish library. It reads mostly as a "how-to," making Jewish practice do-able for the novice, though it also includes well-researched basic background information, complete with end-notes and suggestions for further reading. It will be most useful to secular Jews and Reform, Reconstructionist, Renewal, and liberal-leaning Conservative Jews who never went to Hebrew school, or for whom Hebrew school is a distant memory. While Diamont encourages a diversity of Jewish opinions and levels of worship, this book is not aimed at those seeking a very traditional Orthodox lifestyle. Beliefs, prayers and home liturgy are mentioned within the context of discussion of a particular event or occasion, but Diamont's focus is not on introducing or explaining Jewish belief or synagogue liturgy in depth.

This is a good basic reference to living Judaism in the home. It is written for people with a basic understanding of Judaism but with no or minimal "hands-on" time.
Written from a Reform perspective, it has more of an "anything goes" slant than I like. On the flip side it does a better job of covering the Simcha and Shalom of the Jewish home without bogging down on some of the mitzvot minutiae of other authors "how to live as a Jew" books. I reread this book frequently for its straightforwardness and easy reference.
After reading the authors book Choosing a Jewish Life, I graduated on to this book. After that, I read and recommend reading Essential Judaism by George Robinson. I'm now wading through Rabbai Joseph Telushkin's A Code of Jewish Ethics books.
I don't know as if I would have been ready for Robinson and I know I wouldn't have been ready for Telushkin without having read "Living a Jewish Life" first.

This is a must have for all people who are going to convert to Judaism as well as anyone who wants to know what Jews do and why. It's excellent. A quick and easy read and a book I go back to over and over.

I bought this book offline having previewed it in a bookstore. I find that it's detailed in the traditional ways of Jews, and it's a pretty decent book to read. I would highly recommend for people wanting to learn about Judaism in the 21st century.

Living A Jewish Life is informative without being preachy. It acknowledges that there are many different types of people that want to live as Jews and somehow the author manages to address most if not all of these people.
As someone who grew up in a home that had very minimal religious practice, but nonetheless embodied very Jewish values,I was at a loss about how to express in a ritual way my deep connection to Judiaism. This book as well as How to Mourn as a Jew, have provided me with the tools I have been looking for so I can feel more connected to my community.
This is another mitzvah to "secular" Jews from Anita Diament.

This is an excellent resource for Old Testament Studies. It also provides a deeper understanding of the New Tetament.