Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader
Facebook Twitter Pinterest <Embed>
Buy New
$19.91
  • List Price: $24.95
  • Save: $5.04 (20%)
FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books.
Only 1 left in stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Jewish Identity: The Chal... has been added to your Cart
Want it Saturday, April 23? Order within and choose Saturday Delivery at checkout. Details
Ship to:
Select a shipping address:
To see addresses, please
or
Please enter a valid US zip code.
or

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See all 2 images

Jewish Identity: The Challenge of Peoplehood Today Hardcover – May 29, 2015

by Ruth Shamir (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars 20 customer reviews
See all 2 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Price
New from Used from
Kindle
"Please retry"
$7.00
— —
Hardcover
"Please retry"
$19.91
$14.52 $22.95
Featured titles in Politics & Social Sciences
Relic: How Our Constitution Undermines Effective Government--and Why We Need a More Powerful Presidency
Relic: How Our Constitution Undermines Effective Government--and Why We Need a More Powerful Presidency
Relic: How Our Constitution Undermines Effective Government--and Why We Need a More Powerful Presidency
$19.91 FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. Only 1 left in stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. Not in God's Name: Confronting Religious Violence
    Jonathan Sacks
    4.8 out of 5 stars 129
    Hardcover
    $21.60 Prime
  2. Catch The Jew!
    Tuvia Tenenbom
    4.6 out of 5 stars 326
    Paperback
    $15.99 Prime
  3. The Seven Good Years: A Memoir
    Etgar Keret
    4.5 out of 5 stars 85
    Hardcover
    $17.06 Prime
  4. Herzl's Vision: Theodor Herzl and the Foundation of the Jewish State
    Shlomo Avineri
    4.3 out of 5 stars 6
    Hardcover
    $16.03 Prime
  5. The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge
    Ilan Pappe
    4.2 out of 5 stars 30
    Hardcover
  6. Israel: Is It Good for the Jews?
    Richard Cohen
    3.2 out of 5 stars 23
    Hardcover
    $26.00 Prime
Next
If you buy a new print edition of this book (or purchased one in the past), you can buy the Kindle Edition for FREE. Print edition purchase must be sold by Amazon. Learn more.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Gefen Publishing House (May 29, 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9652296716
  • ISBN-13: 978-9652296719
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.8 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,363,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsJewish Identity: The Challenge of Peoplehood - by Dr.Ruth Shamir
By adina gottesman on June 20, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition
I have read Dr. Shamir's book with keen interest as I find the subject fascinating.Dr. Shamir has studied her subject intensively - has done wide research on all its multiple facets - and was able to bring a very clear and easily understandable readingfor any interested layman.
The subject of Peoplehood is a challenge for all the Jewish Israelis who are all Jewsbut come from very many of the world - with only religion to bond them - and therealso are deviations from one to the other. After living for 2000 years in the "Galut"they are still striving to become a "people".
Dr. Shamir submits her views and conclusions in a very original and interesting way.
I highly recommend reading this excellent book.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsA must read
By Oded Ben Chaim on July 11, 2015
Format: Hardcover
Dr. Ruth Shamir Popkin’s "Jewish Identity: The Challenge of Peoplehood Today"-a must read. As an Israeli and Zionist, I was impressed to read Dr. Shamir Popkin’s recent book Dr. Shamir Popkin raises some interesting questions about our collective identity, and illuminates the difficulties that are facing Isreal and Jews in general.

It is amazing to see how, in a very short period, most of the Middle East has decayed into political instability, religious fundamentalism, and a bloody war between tribes, sects and Hamulas (family clans).

In this enormous region, occupied mainly by Islamic states (and now in total chaos), Jewish Israel is a true oasis of democracy, religious tolerance and respect for law and human rights.

Dr. Ruth Shamir Popkin is looking into the ingredient that made Israel what it is, namely the Jews.

Following the evolution of modern Jews, beginning in the 18th century Europe, through the revolutionary idea of the Zionism, the Holocaust and the creation of modern Israel, Dr. Shamir has dissected the so call "Jewish identity", in order to answer the question of who are the modern Jews?
What is the secret DNA that make them one nation, one people.
What are the relations between the second and third generations of the Jewish immigrants from various origin?
What are the relation between Israel and the Jews in the rest of the world?

Not easy questions. Israel is still a young nation in formation, and Dr. Shamir Popkin underlines the fact that both Israel and the Jews, are still facing a dilemma of identity. Liberalism in the western world, and the newly rise of anti-Semitism make it more complicated.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 starsRuth Shamir Popkin’s Jewish Identity makes a valuable contribution to ...
By GIDEON SHIMONI on June 4, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition
Ruth Shamir Popkin’s Jewish Identity makes a valuable contribution to the comprehension of Jewish peoplehood today. It provides both somewhat less and very much more than its title proclaims. Less, in as much as the author’s discussion of Jewish identity is limited to the historical dimension of inquiry alone; it omits the requisite sociological and psychological dimensions of a methodical study of identity. More, and very much so, in so far as it encompasses most of the intellectual, political and social issues of Jewish life today. An abundance of intriguing debates are insightfully surveyed, ranging from “who is a Jew?” to postmodernist critiques of Zionism, and from polemics over issues as diverse as the views on Jewishness voiced by political theorist Hannah Arendt and those of Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua. The admirable fluency and lucidity of the narrative as well as its sheer comprehensiveness provide the reader with a veritable handbook of contemporary Jewish self-reflection and of the bewildering internal controversies that passionately engage Jews in Israel as well as in Jewish communities throughout the world.
Prof. Gideon Shimoni, Institute of Contemporary Jewry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsTo them ‘ the Jewish People’ were to be a nation like every other western nation state
By Dan Gillon on June 4, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition
Despite its complex historical detail, I found Ruth Shamir’s book very readable and more importantly hugely relevant to today’s debate in Israel about ‘Jewishishness’ of the State of Israel. To what extent is it ‘Jewish’ in the religious sense of the word? The founding fathers were essentially secular. To them ‘ the Jewish People’ were to be a nation like every other western nation state. Sixty seven years on things are very different. Today at least twenty per cent of the population are more preoccupied by their Jewish religiosity than by the idea of a nation like every other. Yet another 20 per cent ( the country’s Arab population] find themselves caught up in a seemingly endless war between Israel and the Palestinians whose claim to nationhood and peoplehood is seen by many Israelis as a threat to the their country’s Jewish identity. This book gave me an a very good insight into the way in which these conflicts of identity have evolved in modern times.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsinsightful and informative on Jewish identity - a very worthwhile read
By Rosalie Lurie on July 5, 2015
Format: Hardcover
Dr. Ruth Shamir Popkin’s book, Jewish Identity: The Challenge of People hood Today is a must read for anyone serious about the issues surrounding Jewish Identity. It is readable, well written, very informative and rooted in serious research. The “book examines the evolution of Jewish identity in the modern era” up through and beyond the establishment of the State of Israel, and explores the distinct Jewish identities of Diaspora Jews and Israeli-Jews. While the author modestly states that this book “cannot be considered a comprehensive exposition on the subject”, it is a yeoman’s attempt “to represent the most important aspects of this subject at this juncture in time”. In my view, the author has achieved her goals and the literature on Jewish Identity is enriched by her work. Rosalie Lurie, Western Region Senior Director of American Friends of Tel Aviv University, Los Angeles, CA.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsJust like in the U

Just like in the U.S., Israel also struggles with many identities. U.S. is a country of immigrants and so many are struggling to live together - Latinos, Blacks, Asians,... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Monica Gomez
5.0 out of 5 starsTimely book

Over the years, I hear so many news about Israel and about the Jewish people. Many of my friends are Jewish and I always hear them arguing about different things so I was happy... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Roman P.
5.0 out of 5 starsInteresting book

I’m Armenian but I found the book to be interesting because just like the Jewish people there are many Armenian communities around the world that live like Jewish people outside... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Anahit miasarian
4.0 out of 5 starsThis work is an excellent introduction to a complex question: "who and...

In her book Jewish Identity: The Challenge of Peoplehood Today, Dr. Ruth Shamir is offering a broad overview of the major changes in the ways Jews describe their identities. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Mina Orbach
5.0 out of 5 starsAs an Armenian whose family was devastated in the Armenian ...

As an Armenian whose family was devastated in the Armenian Genocide, I was intrigued to read about what the Holocaust did to the identity of the Jewish people. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Anna Papazyan
4.0 out of 5 starssuper liberal, Tikun Olam pursuing non-Israelis still Jews

Dr. Shamir Popkin’s book takes 335 pages (Footnotes and Indices included) to put the question of Jewish Identity into sharp focus: after the establishment of the State of Israel... Read more

Published 9 months ago by ari rosenberg
5.0 out of 5 starsAlways thought that the arguments about Jewish identity were about ...

Always thought that the arguments about Jewish identity were about Jews being religious or non-religious. Shamir Popkin’s book expands the scope of the identity argument. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Diana Lyte
5.0 out of 5 starsComplete Guide For Understanding Jewishness in the Twenty First...

A must read for anyone wanting a comprehensive review of modern world events and relevant political, social, and religious movements that have produced today's complex and changing... Read more

Published 10 months ago by customer
5.0 out of 5 starsJewish Identity by Ruth Shamir Popkin (an Israeli American Jew) ...

Jewish Identity by Ruth Shamir Popkin (an Israeli American Jew) is about ideas and real life application and consequences of those ideas. All this is hard reading. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Jack Golan
5.0 out of 5 starsWell authored book and enlightening

My friends, who have declared me for a long time an "honorary Jew", gave me the book "Jewish Identity: The Challenge of Peoplehood Today" by Ruth Shamir Popkin. Read more

Published 10 months ago by kevin brewerton

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Jewish Identity: The Challenge of Peoplehood Today
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more
This item: Jewish Identity: The Challenge of Peoplehood Today
Set up a giveaway

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.