(Part 3) Top products from r/Judaism

As a person who converted through the Reform movement, I highly suggest that you take a holistic approach to your initial study of Judaism. Getting a better idea of where other movements are coming from will not only give you a better grounding in Judaism as a whole, but it will foster understanding between movements and also put you in a better position to decide which movement works best for you.

Personally, even though I converted Reform, I don't actually identify strongly as a Reform Jew, because it's a bit too free form for me (in particular, I became very frustrated when the response to any question I had about observance essentially boiled down to 'do whatever makes you feel good'). That said, like you, I don't identify completely with the theology or some of the practices of Orthodoxy (separation of men and women being one of them), so I wouldn't make a good Orthodox Jew even though I'm more observant than, oh, 90% of Reform Jews.

Take the advice of other people in this thread and try out several different synagogues and Jewish events in your area, if possible. And read a lot on Judaism from different perspectives. Even if you strongly identify with the Reform movement (which is totally fine--I am not knocking the movement, it just isn't 100% for me), it will still be helpful to understand other levels of observance.

Some books I suggest you check out:

• Basic Judaism by Milton Steinberg -- This book gives a brief and easy-to-read overview of the basics of both traditional (Orthodox) and liberal Judaism. VERY good place to start your studies.
  
• Choosing a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant is a good overview of the conversion process and some of the issues coverts face. Been a while since I read this, but it's definitely not from an Orthodox perspective--I think it strives to be more neutral as far as denomination goes.
  
• I also highly recommend To Pray as a Jew by Hayim Halevy Donin. This is an introduction to the synagogue service and its prayers. Very informative book. It is written from an Orthodox perspective, and will be easier to follow once you are further along in your studies, I think, but it's a wonderful resource.
  
  Particularly because you mentioned that you are a feminist, I thought you might also be interested in:
  
  
• How to run a Traditional Jewish Household by Blu Greenberg. This book is written from a Modern Orthodox perspective by a well-known Orthodox feminist. It gives a lot of background and information about Orthodox customs that aren't as well-known to more liberal Jews (like the concept of an eruv, for example). Though I don't identify as an Orthodox Jew myself, I found this book fascinating and it really helped me solidify my own practice and feelings about traditional Judaism.
  
• Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Toward Traditional Rabbinic Ordination by Haviva Ner-David is an account of Ner-David's journey to becoming one of the first women granted the equivalent of Orthodox semicha (ordination) in Israel. I found it very eye-opening. It is definitely possible to be a feminist and be traditional. I don't agree with everything she says/does, but this is another great book to give you a perspective on how and why Orthodox Jews do things the way they do.
  
  Welcome to the path of Jewish study. If you ever have any other specific questions about converting Reform or need support in your studies or your journey, please feel free to PM me any time.

>I wouldn't have thought the Sufism of Rabbeinu Avraham Ben HaRambam would be a neat fit, but I haven't really studied his works at all

I think if you read the More Nevukhim with Hamadpiq le-Ovdei Hashem (The Guide to Serving God, by R. Abraham ben Harambam), there is a clear picture about the purpose of the mitzvoth, which is perfecting the self and society, and to encounter the divine in this world (i.e. "nevoua"). That ties in with both Shaddal's view that compassion is the divine trait the Torah means to instill and Benamozegh's universality in what he calls "Hebraism." I'm sure people would disagree with my take away.

>Benamozegh I've heard before but don't really know anything about

Israel and Humanity is the work that encapsulates his worldview.

>Sabato Morais not at all

He was the minister of Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia, one of the founders of JTS (at the time, an Orthodox institution), the only Orthodox rabbi to support Abolition, and a major proponent of Sephardic religious Humanism. He was also Livornese, like Benamozegh.

>Shadal I feel I know something about, but perhaps not very much.

I suggest Compassionate Judaism, which is a study of Shaddal's thought.

>Lol, that's a fun mix of cultures, I like the idea of humans beating the boxes and labels. African ancestry, S&P minhagim but Teimani nusach (and it seems you draw from the rest of the spectrum of 'Sephardim' too) and now you're culturally yekke and a fan of Hirsch? If anyone still thinks they can put you in a simple box... (Aside from Jewish, which perhaps includes all these for each person.) Hope this isn't offensive in any way.

The Portiguese and Yemenite have to do with the history of Judaism in West Africa and the diaspora. I've spent a lot of time studying both African-American religious use of Judaism and historically documented communities.

The German thing is just due to my approach to services (mainly Shabbat and Yom Tov): begin on time, comport yourself with dignity, for the love of all that's holy, don't rush through prayers; I enjoy the ceremony of it all. And of course, TIDE. The Portuguese rite, like the German, is formal, even the hazzanut leans toward Baroque, Classical, and Romantic. Both Portuguese and German rites are very western, and when if you compare them to their respective eastern counterparts, I think you'd see why the Germans are the Portuguese Ashkenazim and the Portuguese the German Sephardim.

And no, I'm not offended at all.

Hurray! Folklore!

By default, I think one must mention Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews which is a compilation of Jewish biblical midrash.

If you're interested in Hasidic tales, Buber's Tales of the Hasidim is vast (though a little dry). Wiesel's Souls on Fire is not as vast, but is (in my opinion) a more enjoyable read.

And I'd like to reiterate /u/drak0bsidian's recommendation of Schwartz's Tree of Souls because I absolutely love that book. As a kid, I loved it as a book of fairy tales. As an adult, I love it as a sourced and briefly annotated compendium of Jewish stories from a vast array of sources. And I suppose I also still love it as a book of fairy tales... I'm definitely going to be telling my future children some of those stories one day.

I've also heard good things about Neugroschel's Great Tales of Jewish Fantasy and the Occult, but none of my friends have bought it for me yet, so I haven't read it personally.

So you're legally Jewish. Welcome to the tribe.


Shabbos is still on so you're going to get more answers in a short while. Don't feel weird, a few of us roam the chats on Shabbos.


>I am familiar with the Tanakh, since I read the Old Testament as a Christian.

So the Old Testament of the Christian bible is an entirely different beast from the Tanakh.

Some of the translations are corrupted in the Christian version and they are only using half of the actual document.

The Torah is comprised of two documents. The first half is the Written Torah which are the stories that most people are familiar with. The second half is the Oral Torah. This encompasses all of the Rabbinical commentaries and interpretations and guidelines which establish Jewish philosophy and practice.

The Christians are using half of a document so you actually have a lot of stuff you look into. You'll be fine though, it's reading and study and discussion with Jewish leaders. Nothing you can't handle.

Sefaria.org is a great online resource
-

It contains a vast amount of Jewish religious texts which you can access online. It's great if you can't get your hands on a physical book to study.

I'm going to suggest a shortlist of books and some online materials which I think will really help you out in establishing a foundation of Jewish knowledge. I used this myself when I got into Judaism in college. They are really helpful.

1. Essential Judaism: Updated Edition: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs & Rituals - This is a great book for establishing basic knowledge of Jews ideas and concepts and creating a foundation to build off of.
   
   
2. Living Judaism: The Complete Guide to Jewish Belief, Tradition, and Practice - This book is within the same theme as the first with a few different bits of information for study. Both are great options to read and build yourself up with. I own both, myself.
   
   
3. Hidabroot TV (YouTube Channel) is a Jewish online video resource for studying Jewish concepts and philosophies. These are great if you have 10 or 15 minutes to kill and want to use it to study a Jewish idea. They have great topics from respected and knowledgable Rabbis and leaders.
   
   This is a great way to just "wet your feet in the Mikvah" so to speak. It's all easily digestible and accessible information which you can access on your own at your own schedule.
   
   I would do the basic research yourself and allow this to buildup and digest for a month or so before you finally decide to visit the synagogue. The Rabbis can help you in correctly executing Jewish practice and taking on more advanced levels of knowledge.
   
   You shouldn't do that until you feel comfortable though. There's no need to rush it unless you feel totally ready and prepared. They're cool people and they'll be extremely pleased to see someone took an interest in their history.
   
   Also remember something
   -
   
   There are going to be a lot of people who try and drag you down their specific path of Judaism. Some of these will be Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or something in-between.
   
   You're part of this regardless of your observance level. Observance is important but it doesn't dictate your Jewish status. Once you're born of a Jewish mother, you're 100% Jewish regardless. No one can argue otherwise.
   
   I don't want you to allow someone else to dictate your Jewish experience. There are a lot of different Jews and they all have their own ideas and philosophies about proper observance. Do not allow anyone to drag you down a path you are uncomfortable with.
   
   I run Orthodox/Conservadox, myself, but you may not be Orthodox. You define your Jewish experience. No one else gets to do that beyond sharing their opinion with you.
   
   Blessings and enjoy the ride. It's a cool thing to be a part of.

Oh. Well in that case there's really a lot he could read.

• Natan Slifkin might interest him. He's a rabbi & a biologist. He also has a blog called Rationalist Judaism, which I really like. (He's written a few books too)
  
  
• Marc Shapiro is also very interesting. He is Orthodox, but approaches religious subjects academically and is widely admired. He might like his writing or his video lectures. This subreddit is actually going to discuss one of his books, "The Limits of Orthodox Theology" in a couple months.
  
  
• Mordechai Kaplan, founder of the Reconstructionist movement, was fairly prolific. It's not science related and it's super-old, but I think "Judaism as a Civilization" is still relevant.
  
  
• While I'm at it, I don't think it hurts to have something like How to Read the Jewish Bible or The Jewish Study Bible around.
  
  
• A final note, if he's into biblical criticism, I'd recommend Christine Hayes of Yale University. She has a YouTube playlist of her classes. Her presentation is exceedingly accessible. She works very hard to discuss the Hebrew Bible respectfully.
  
  
  Note: I decided to put biblical criticism here because it's something Jewish atheists (whatever we mean by atheist) eventually have to deal with. If an atheist is really is attached to their Jewish identity, they will somehow have to explain why they care about a library of texts that their friends on message boards etc. will routinely mock.
  
  
  Good luck!
  

Man there are like a billion good jokes in here, but for some reason one of my favorites is this one:

Berlin, 1933. Cohen is walking down the street, minding his own business, when a huge black limousine stops next to him. The door opens, and out comes Adolf Hitler with a bodyguard. Hitler grabs the bodyguard's pistol, points it at Cohen, and says, "Worthless Jew! Down on your knees!"

Cohen doesn't have much alternative, so he gets down on his knees. Hitler notices a dog turd on the sidewalk, and he says, "Worthless Jew! Eat up that dog turd!"

Well, the gun's still pointing at him, so what's he going to do? He tries his best to obey.

Hitler thinks this is the funniest thing he's ever seen. He starts laughing uncontrollably, so much so in fact that he drops the gun. Cohen scoops it up.

Now the tables are turned! Cohen tells Hitler and the bodyguard to get down on their knees and finish eating the turd. He backs slowly away, then makes a run for it and manages to get home without further incident.

"How was your day, dear? asks his wife."

"Oh, says Cohen, about the same as usual. But hey. You'll never guess who I had lunch with."

This book might be helpful, especially if you aren't ready to discuss this with your rabbi yet.

It also depends on your family's attitude towards your being observant. I have heard many unfortunate, negative stories, and am grateful that my siblings are also observant, and my parents accepted our respective decisions (though they don't always agree with them). That's not to say that there aren't differences in our (my siblings and my) approaches to observance; there's always a spectrum, and sometimes that makes it even more difficult when one says something is not ok and the other says it is fine and that the first sibling is holding by a chumra.

All families have challenges. It's great that you want to be able to hold your values while not tossing away your family. However, unless you know your rabbi to be harsh/incredibly strict, most (many?) have dealt with these types of situations and can give you personal guidance in, hopefully, a compassionate manner. Good luck.

Yes, I think Catholics have a lot of the same tradition sort of perspective vs Protestants so that's interesting. Honestly, there's a lot. If you ever go to a rabbi's office it's like a library. At least in my experience. My humble suggestion to dip a toe in would be read the weekly parasha. So, we divide the Torah into sections and every week at shabbat service one section is read. And that section is paired with a reading from the Prophets that somehow relates to the Torah portion. So, what you could do is, get a translation of the Torah you like (I use Etz Chaim: https://www.amazon.com/Etz-Hayim-Commentary-David-Lieber/dp/0827607121) and hopefully that will include footnotes with blurbs from commentaries and other literature like Talmud etc. Or, you could look here https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/guide-to-weekly-torah-commentaries-online/ and use those to read alongside the weekly portion as well. There's a bunch to choose from. I subscribe to Jonathan Sacks' mail list and also Mechon Hadar's and every week they send an e-mail with some explanation of the portion always citing from our other sources.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394532589/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=7009917304&hvqmt=b&hvbmt=bb&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_1tj7s5fs3_b

The book above is by Claudia Roden. It's Amazing. It takes a much more anthropological view of Jewish food. It's equal parts cook book and cultural history. even from jews in china or india. amazing

https://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Jewish-Recipes-Rabinowitz-Family/dp/0761135812/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494968407&sr=1-1&keywords=cooking+jewish

This one is collected from one family. it's great. much more practical as all these recipes are actually used by people in the family. Each one has a story about each dish.

They’re more expensive because they’re more trusted. They’re more trusted because they have more resources and offer more services. Those resources cost a lot of money.

And we do in fact have lots of research to support the idea that some agencies are more trusted than others, and that switching agencies usually increases sales.

I'm so excited that you asked this question, because it gives me a chance to share my FAVORITE childrens' book with you. I've loved this book ever since I was a kid in Hebrew school! https://www.amazon.com/Hershel-Hanukkah-Goblins-Eric-Kimmel/dp/0823411311 It takes place in a fictional village in Ukraine.

As someone else mentioned, Telushkin's books are very good.

For wedding specific books, when I was planning my wedding, I read both Anita Diamant's The New Jewish Wedding and The Creative Jewish Wedding Book. Both were very helpful.

The Reform movement's publishing arm has just published a new book about Jewish weddings called Beyond Breaking the Glass, and the one amazon review on it so far says it is very user friendly. I have also seen Meeting at the Well recommended for engaged couples.

I have not read it yet, since I just found out about it, but apparently Robert Alter's translation of the Torah is very poetic.

You should take a look at r/judaism's book list as well.

"Etz Chaim Chumash" has the official JPS '85 translation considered the gold standard in academia. It's a real, straightforward translation (no allegories) and this printing has outstanding commentaries and summaries of the best meforshim. It comes with Haftarah as well and some other goodies (I think it might come with handy maps of Ancient Israel and the like).

Comes in hardcover and the significantly cheaper/lighter paperback.

If you don't need a translation into English, I'd advise the Koren series.

My favorite is still the first Jewish cookbook I ever bought: The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden. Roden's family was from Egypt, and the book is nicely divided between Ashkenazi and Sephardic recipes, with solid, simple recipes for all. However, it does have the regular format divided up by food type, and a lot of simple traditional dishes, so it may not be what you are looking for.

A couple that I like with menus include Kosher by Design (which has a bunch of sequels, including a Passover one with various seder menus) and The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen. Both of these have modern recipes, with the Design books more fussy and Seasonal more rustic. Seasonal only has a few formal menus, but its organization by holiday/season makes it easy to pick a section and stick to a managable list of appropriate recipes without being forced to flip around too much.

>Into the kitchen rushes a Lubavitch SWAT team of three rabbis and an intern.

Great mental image!

For those of you who have not already read it, if you liked this article you might also like Kosher Nation by Sue Fishkoff

/u/casabolg, generally the outlook toward other religions in Kabbala is the same as it is in most of Judaism. However, there is also a strain of Kabbalistic thought on this question, unique to it as a Jewish genre which is distinctly universalistic in its approach to other religions. If you're interested in it: check out the work of R. Elie Benamozegh, specifically his Israel and Humanity. In it, he puts forward an understanding of certain Kabbalistic ideas that leads to seeing all religions as having shared truths and that all are manifesting the same underlying reality in different ways.

In contemporary Jewish thought, R. Adin Steinsaltz has picked up on a lot of R. Benamozegh's ideas and integrated them into his own theological discussions, such as The Thirteen Petalled Rose

As others have advised, reading is a good first step. If you're starting from zero and just want to learn about the basic ideas and practices, some very accessible (non-Orthodox) entry points are:

- Diamant: Living a Jewish Life

- Green: Judaism's Ten Best Ideas

You might also research introductory classes at nearby synagogues. Many offer them and they are frequently open to all ... but inquire. You are welcome to DM me if you have further questions.

The classic is probably The Book of Jewish Food. Almost every Jewish kitchen I've come across has a copy, since it has recipes for all the well-known dishes (challah, gefilte fish, honey cake, bagels, etc), as well as hundreds more that aren't so common. If you only want one book, this will provide almost everything you need. If you want more of a library I agree that the Kosher by Design books are a good investment.

At that age, I was going to my shul's youth minyan. It ended early, and the Rabbi who led it read this book to us, and gave us prizes for remembering the stories. It was awesome.

If you're interested in Modern Orthodox Judaism, Rabbi Marc Angel wrote Choosing to Be Jewish, which covers a lot of ground. He has a youtube channel, too, with short videos about different topics.

Anita Diamant's Living a Jewish Life covers a lot of liberal Judaism. I have to admit that I haven't read it yet, but it's been on my Amazon wish list because I've seen it on so many other people's bookshelves.

I bet you'll be reading a lot about Jewish beliefs, so I linked to things on Jewish practice.

I'd recommend the Big Book of Jewish Humor. Happy cake day!

Strongly strongly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/What-You-Mean-Cant-Home/dp/080524221X

The sidebar which I'm linking here is a really great place to start. If you want to read the Torah, I suggest picking up a chumash, which is the Torah + commentary (don't read it without commentary). The one I use regularly is Etz Hayim.

I think converts should read works from all across the Jewish perspective. Especially the "very different sort."

How else is anyone supposed to know what they believe if they don't know or understand what they don't? It's not an informed decision if you're not informed.

On that note...

Exploring Judaism: A Reconstructionist Persepctive.

Choosing a Jewish Life (liberal, leaning Reform)

To Pray as a Jew (Orthodox)

OP: Go wild. Read across the spectrum. Read things you agree with and things you don't. Read stuff you don't understand yet. Ask questions about what you read. Read, read, read!

The English Sefer ha-Aggadah is my all-time favorite Jewish book. I also like Isaac Bashevis Singer and Agnon a lot.

as flawed as it is, the most accessible translation out there of the Hebrew Bible is the JPS: this one is the newest.

for a fascinating, sometimes awkward, but totally totally literal translation of the Torah (only the first give), check out Everett Fox's translation

lastly, got to put a plug in for a Jewish translation of the NT recently published called The Jewish Annotated New Testament - it may help clarify Jewish readings of Christian scripture and vice versa.

By far the Everett Fox translation. It is as accurate as you can get, it reads beautifully, and it captures the feel of the underlying Hebrew.

Phoenician was different too. We do not know how Phoenician was pronounced.

EDIT (@u/Avtaras): If you want to learn more, I highly recommend the book In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language by Joel Hoffman. It will give you a sense of how little we actually know about how Hebrew was pronounced in Biblical times.

We actually have our own dictionary. Check out frumspeak it really helps.

> Reform trope

I had a conversation with a Reform Rabbi recently about it, and she says it's actually Binder A (mode 1) and Conservative is Binder B (mode 2).

Although the TropeTrainer Software says it's Wolff/Portnoy which is a variation on Binder, and that checks since they write the URJ's book on Trope

But yea I think they are both E European, although I think they are adding in Germany to that in this paper.

I found the help section that explains which is which after I wrote the above post.

Maybe this book could help you.

Also good is this though some may object if they don't like Buber.

Best response in the thread, imo. I had to read this book in college and it was really eye-opening.

My partner views themselves as white even though they were born in Israel and come from a sephardic background because their only American experiences are in liberal San Francisco. Which is fine, b/c "white" is a meaningless/useless label.

However, I grew up in Texas and my experience is very different. So, when the white nationalist uprisings started during the election and whatnot I had to explain to them that many people in America don't consider Jews to be white—it made them so angry and they didn't believe me until that whole disaster in Charlottesville.

I learned from this book with CD amazon
it's not bad, when I had some question, I asked my rabbi. It's eastern ashkenaz which is used in US (so it's not so practical here in Europe). It teaches the principle-the melody of each cantillation mark (or group of cantillation marks), so when You learn this, you can lein almost everything (there is another book for haftarot and megilot)...

I think you want this.

https://www.amazon.com/unofficial-Hogwarts-Haggadah-Moshe-Rosenberg/dp/0692859055

In the US Jews weren't really considered white until the 1970s. There's a book that came out a while back called How Jews Became White Folks and What That Says About Race in America that discusses this topic in detail.

Have you heard of "Hershal and the Hanukkah Goblins"?

Documentary on Hasidic Jews - https://www.amazon.com/What-Judaism-Tevya-Heller/dp/B01LYYRLXW/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1498927976&sr=1-2&keywords=judaism

Documentary on kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibuSPtXG5dg&t=1289s

Documentary of the history of Judaism - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW9x-Z3u2Lo

English Tanakh (Holy scripture) -https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060621796/ref=crt_ewc_title_oth_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

English Talmud (Jewish law) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465082734/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

https://www.amazon.com/Frumspeak-Dictionary-Yeshivish-Chaim-Weiser/dp/1568216149

Just buy this book

I just saw below that you said you are converting reform. In that case, you might like Choosing a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant. It's more geared towards Reform, but I do warn whenever I recommend it that it kind of disparages the other movements of Judaism a little bit. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're 100% totally set on reform conversion. Otherwise, I think Becoming a Jew is more balanced (although talks a lot about observances that are most common in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism) in that regard.