Best history of judaism books according to redditors
We found 87 Reddit comments discussing the best history of judaism books. We ranked the 31 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
15. The Jewish Connection to Israel, the Promised Land: A Brief Introduction for Christians
1 mention
It helps to have more specific questions, but of course, having specific questions usually requires some basic level of knowledge.
jewfaq.org is pretty good. we have some decentish resources in our wiki. there's a judaism stackexchange, but like stackexchange as a whole it tends a bit towards elitist, high-level, and unfriendly to beginners.
The standard book recommendations when this situation comes up is To Be a Jew and Jewish Literacy.
Also possibly relevant, depending on your tastes, This is My God by Herman Wouk. Was reminded of this book by this Ask the Rabbi, which also recommends Partners in Torah -- possibly relevant, depending on your level of investment in learning more (sets you up with a weekly study partner)
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did a quick google, this looks relevant: https://www.xojane.com/it-happened-to-me/found-out-jewish-ancestry-in-20s
So does the book Suddenly Jewish, which I found via this article
oh and there's this post from a day ago: judaism for beginners
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also, for your perusal, the search results for "found out jewish" on this sub
was this on your mother's side or your father's side? Given that most cultures give you a last name based on your father's side I'm going to assume father's..in which case most jews would not consider you jewish since judaism is 'passed down' through women, but not men. There are some groups that consider judaism as "passed down' from both women and men but only if you yourself were raised jewish (which clearly you weren't). Anyway this doesn't mean that you might not want to learn more about judaism given you still have jewish ancestry but you should be aware....
Also ashkenazi's aren't a tribe per se, more of an ethnic group that means your anscensters were european (mostly central/eastern european) jews. There is another group called sephardis that are descended from jews in spain/the iberian peninsula (and many from north africans who moved there after the spanish expulsion of jews), and then there are mizrachis which are descended from middle easterners. But all 3 groups are supposedly descended from the original group of jews who lived in Israel and were expelled by the romans (and moved to different areas afterwards and developed somewhat different traditions and foods and stuff, but were still pretty similar).
If you are interested in learning more about judaism and how it is currently practiced, I would recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Literacy-Revised-Ed-Important/dp/0061374989 although it's kinda like an encyclopedia so might be boring AF at times.
You may be better served posting this in r/judaism , this page is more for people who grew up as religious jews and no longer keep the religion.
Just to start off, its shabbos in much of the world so you won't get so many responses for a bit.
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Lots and lots of people grew up with some Jewish identity, didn't do much, and later became religious. Seriously, its a whole movement. Of course everyone's situation is unique, but you aren't the first to struggle with this kinda thing. Thankfully, that has meant a ton of books and resources for people in your shoes, who want to learn more and do more but didn't grow up with it. Some of the biggest resources online are Aish and Chabad, I just found NJOP but it doesn't have as much on the site.
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Now, as you know, the first step is to find a synagogue. I'd recommend looking for a Chabad or a young adults organization like a Young Jewish Professionals type of thing. They will have lots of classes for people from all sorts of backgrounds and will be super happy to help you find good resources, to teach you, etc. Chabad especially is everywhere, the joke is that only Coca-Cola and Chabad are worldwide. Next weekend is actually The Shabbos Project, which brings together people from all sorts of background to do a shabbos in a community. Actually one of these helped me really finalize my decision to become religious. And there are people here from all over who can recommend places.
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So there are lots of basic books out there. One thing I would definitely recommend is to get a Chumash, I'd recommend the Stone Edition since its the most common but the Steinsaltz one also came out recently. A Chumash has the whole Torah and the Haftorot (the section from the Prophets read in synagogues every shabbos) with commentaries. Both the ones I linked have stuff from all sorts of commentators that help explain the text. One section of Torah is read every week on shabbos, so it makes for a great reading guide.
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A good beginner book is To Be a Jew by Rabbi Hayim HeLevy Dovin. That one is absolutely classic. He also has another one, To Pray as a Jew, that's also excellent. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin also has a great one, Jewish Literacy, that goes through everything from Bible stories and characters to Jewish historical figures and writings. R' Teluskhin has tons of good stuff, I also have his A Code of Jewish Ethics, Jewish Wisdom, and a daily study book The Book of Jewish Values, they are all great learning resources. I'd also recommend Exploring Jewish Tradition, it really gets to the basics of Jewish practices. The 'Jewish Book of Why' set is also good, there are two volumes. There's no need to dive full on into halacha (Jewish law) and like books on Talmud right away, take the basics and then explore what is interesting to you. People sometimes burn out if they try too much too quick, but others love to just jump in full on and learn a bunch really quick (I'm the second but know people in the first category, both are totally ok ways to be).
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If there is any specific thing you would like to read more about, I can recommend more stuff after shabbos. Its only been a year since I decided to become religious so I know the position you are in. And if you have any questions, there are lots of great resources online and lots of knowledgeable people here. Of course, as I'm sure your mother can attest, there are unhealthy Jewish communities. But I firmly believe for every bad one there are far more great ones. I'm pretty new to it but the couple places I have been are both very welcoming and I have made friends from most of the major areas. It does not have to be suffocating, and there's nothing wrong with learning and doing more at your own pace. If its ever too much, slow down and reassess before jumping in further. If you listen to what your neshama (soul) is saying it'll guide you right!
My recommendations from books I read in the last year or so (yes, these are all VERY STRONG recommends curated from ~100 books in the last year) -
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Science fiction-
Derek Kunsken's The Quantum Magician (I would describe it as a cross between Oceans Eleven with some not-too-Hard Science Fiction. Apparently will be a series, but is perfectly fine as a standalone novel).
Cixin Lu's very popular Three Body Problem series (Mixes cleverly politics, sociology, psychology and science fiction)
James A Corey's The Expanse Series (which has been made into the best sci fi tv series ever!)
Hannu Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief series (Hard science fiction. WARNING - A lot of the early stuff is intentionally mystifying with endless terminology that’s only slowly explained since the main character himself has lost his memories. Put piecing it all together is part of the charm.)
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Fantasy-
James Islington's Shadow of What was Lost series (a deep series which makes you think - deep magic, politics, religion all intertwined)
Will Wight's Cradle series (has my vote for one of the best fantasy series ever written)
Brandon Sanderson Legion series (Brandon Sanderson. Nuff said. Creative as always)
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Manga -
Yukito Kishiro's Alita, Battle Angel series (the manga on what the movie was based)
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Non-Fiction-
Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind - Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (and how we are not as rational as we believe we are, and how passion works in tandem with rationality in decision making and is actually required for good decisionmaking)
Rothery's Geology - A Complete Introduction (as per title)
Joseph Krauskopf's A Rabbi's Impressions of the Oberammergau Passion Play, available to read online for free, including a fabulous supplementary of Talmud Parallels to the NT (a Rabbi in 1901 explains why he is not a Christian)
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Audiobooks -
Bob Brier's The History of Ancient Egypt (as per title - 25 hrs of the best audiobook lectures. Incredible)
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Academic biblical studies-
Richard Elliot Friedman's Who Wrote The Bible and The Exodus (best academic biblical introductory books into the Documentary Hypothesis and Qenite/Midian hypothesis)
Israel Finkelstein's The Bible Unearthed (how archaelogy relates to the bible)
E.P. Sander's Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63BCE-66CE (most detailed book of what Judaism is and their beliefs, and one can see from this balanced [Christian] scholar how Christianity has colored our perspectives of what Jews and Pharisees were really like)
Avigdor Shinan's From gods to God (how Israel transitioned from polytheism to monotheism)
Mark S Smith's The Early History of God (early history of Israel, Canaanites, and YHWH)
James D Tabor's Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity (as per title)
Tom Dykstra's Mark Canonizer of Paul (engrossing - will make you view the gospel of Mark with new eyes)
Jacob L Wright's King David and His Reign Revisited (enhanced ibook - most readable book ever on King David)
Jacob Dunn's thesis on the Midianite/Kenite hypothesis (free pdf download - warning - highly technical but also extremely well referenced)
I know you were asking for Tanakh specifically, but you'll probably have better results with a book like Jewish Literacy.
It has a summary of the Tanakh along with sections on history, beliefs & practices, etc.
Do you have access to the goat necessary for entering the covenant? A sheep can work but the goat would be best.
Seriously though, the fact you have family that is practicing already puts you at an advantage. I'd get into contact with them and visit them on holidays and ask them for advice. They can be really supportive in this.
In terms of basics, there are some solid books that are great for breaking down the topic.
Essential Judaism is a great book for basics. It explains historical, cultural, and common practices in a way which anyone can understand. It's a solid book for filling gaps.
I don't know if you live near a synagogue but if you have access to one I would suggest possibly speaking with the Rabbi there. A Rabbi can be a great resources if you ever need some direction or guidance. Family is great but the Rabbis can sometimes direct you to useful resources. (study programs and so on)
Keep in touch if you have more questions!
Edit: BTW this is merely one perspective from an Orthodox perspective. I don't mean to discount the other opinions here.
Personally I'd just recommend picking up a copy of Jewish Literacy. It's very large but very readable. Covers many different areas. Great place to start. You might be able to find it in a library as well depending on your location.
http://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Literacy-Revised-Ed-Important/dp/0061374989/
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
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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.
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
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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.
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:
Particularly because you mentioned that you are a feminist, I thought you might also be interested in:
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.
You should really read Jewish Magic and Superstition by Rabbi Joshua Trachtenberg. It’s a study of the magical techniques and, more importantly, the magical philosophy which flourished among Jews primarily in the Rhineland around the 12th Century (known as the Hasidei Ashkenaz). The book is available for free at the link I provided, but you can also purchase it pretty cheap and find it in other formats elsewhere.
Magic of this type is termed “Practical Kabbalah” (distinguishing it from the more well known Meditative Kabbalah as found in the Zohar). I found this website some time ago on Practical Kabbalah. It has a really pretty format, but ultimately is nearly contentless and looks abandoned. However, it has a pretty great starting bibliography. I’ve been working on and off to collect the books on said bibliography and other books relating to Jewish magical practices. Recently I acquired a partial translation of Sefer Hasidim (the foundational text of the Hasedei Ashkenaz).
You might also want to look into the magical thought and stories in the Hasidic movement (not to be confused with the like-named Hasedei Ashkenaz). The aforementioned bibliography has, I think, two books on the subject, but there’s more books which broadly look at the mystical/magical practices of Hasidism and their legends. A good beginner book focusing on Hasidic legends is Elie Wiesel’s Souls on Fire. Martin Buber has written Tales of the Hasidim which has more tales, but is a little more dry.
There are some other books I have of varying relevance, but I don’t know how many book recommendations you need. Some of the books mentioned, centrally Jewish Magic and Superstition, are probably a good start. Also, a good book on mythic stories in Judaism is Tree of Souls by Howard Schwartz.
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Edit:
I just finished reading Alan J. Avery-Peck’s article “The Galilean Charismatic and Rabbinic Piety: The Holy Man in the Talmudic Literature” in The Historical Jesus in Context. It focuses on Honi the Circle Drawer and Hanina ben Dosa, two individuals part of the charismatic, miracle tradition of antiquity and how this tradition was rethemed and incorporated into Rabbinic Judaism. You might be interested in such individuals and such a tradition. Of the same general time period, you might also be interested in Maaseh Merkavah (and Hekhalot) and Maaseh Bereshit (from which emerges Sefer Yetzirah).
Also, some Jewish figures have featured prominently in alchemy (like Mariam the Jewess).
It looks like I’m just going to keep editing this post with more stuff. Anyway, in regards to patriarchal religion being introduced by the Jews which led to the destruction of the Great Goddess, well, the whole Great Goddess hypothesis isn’t really argued in modern academia. Regardless, a patriarchal dynamic to religion was not introduced by Jews, and the Jewish God is overtly asserted to not have a gender (or be two genders, depending on how you read the text) and female personification has historically been applied to the Jewish God. All of this aside, Rabbi Jill Hammer has done a lot of theological work focusing on the Divine Feminine in Judaism. She even worked to make a highly female inclusive siddur (which seems to be permanently out of print). She runs this website which has, for instance, an article on the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine of the Godhead which is the kind of thing that’d probably fit just as easily on a website on Wicca. She’s also written, like, a Jewish wheel of the year book (which I bought and, regardless of how one feels about the book as a whole, is a nice assortment of references to midrash). In a similar theme, I’ve also read On the Wings of Shekhinah: Rediscovering Judaism’s Divine Feminine by Rabbi Leah Novick, but I didn’t really like it.
You might also want to look into The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism. I own it, but haven’t really looked through it. I’ve seen some other people cite it though. So I can’t really give my own opinion of it other than mention its existence.
Wait, also also, just occurred to me, you might want to look into the creation of Matzevot and Bethel as seen primarily in Genesis. They’re akin to altars anointed with oil where the Divine is asked to be present. The best book I know of academically touching on the subject is Benjamin Sommer’s Bodies of God (which is a book I somehow manage to tie into just about everything I ever write on Reddit). Glancing around to see if I could find anything else on this theme, I came across this text
(I don’t know how relevant or interesting it is since I hadn’t read it, I’m reading it now)(Finished reading. I’d certainly recommend it as an interesting text. Not much about Metzevot. Instead a whole lot on early Medieval Jewish magic involving oil. There are a good handful of these divination rituals translated. The rituals primarily involve using oil and a reflective surface [predominantly a fingernail, but also mentioned is oil on water, iron, mirror, liver, glass cups, and resin] to commune with spiritual Princes.).Probably should have also mentioned Ancient Jewish Magic: A History by Gideon Bohak which makes reference to Trachtenberg's work, but aims to be more expansive and make use of later scholarship to advance the neglected study of Jewish magical traditions.
I like Essential Judaism personally.
This is from a Reform/maybe Conservative viewpoint.
Also, to echo /u/sabata00, you should be talking to Rabbis and going to services. Catholic to Judaism is a paradigm shift (I was born and raised Catholic). PM me if you have any questions!
Seven Kingdoms of The Litvaks [PDF] is a really great summary of our cultural heritage, what the term Litvak encompassed. I recommend it highly.
For more about the religious outlook that defined the (religious) Litvish communities, I would recommend The Legacy and Minhagei Lita (both English books, the latter quite technical in some parts, but accessible overall).
Some addenda:
>You could do a lot worse than the trilogy by Rabbi Beryl Wein.
You could also do a lot better. He's a well read and honest layman, but has no particular academic training.
>Ken Spiro...
Ken Spiro's work is not particularly academic. He uncritically recycles standard rabbinic narratives and as one reviewer puts it (very well):
>I don’t think there is anything in Spiro’s account that could not have been written by an eighteenth century Polish rabbi... it is entirely uninformed by modern historical scholarship. I had started comparing these sections to Dr. Lawrence Schiffman’s From Text to Tradition: A History of Judaism in Second Temple and Rabbinic Times, but the books are so different that there are few points of comparison... Spiro operates within Jewish tradition and outside of the world of historical scholarship.
Speaking of, the Schiffman text is absolutely crucial to read for the OP.
>Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson is not an historian. Decent enough survey, but it's not an academic one.
For a scholarly translation: The JPS Study Bible
For a more "traditional" translation, The Artscroll Tanach
However, I need to note that you won't learn about Judaism or Jewish practice from reading the Tanach. I hear Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Telushkin is a very good starting place.
You would probably like Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. I personally found it even more thorough than Essential Judaism.
Essential Judaism is pretty good.
https://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Literacy-Revised-Ed-Important/dp/0061374989
Keep in mind though that the Jewish religion and culture is filled with an enormous range of beliefs. It is a culture that has always allowed interpretation and practically motivates one to question and argue with the texts. So her 'beliefs' will not be found in a book, but by talking with her and asking about her upbringing.
Becoming a Jew is a great overview of the conversion process (from an orthodox perspective but imo a lot can translate to conservative judaism too), with stories written by converts. It's not specifically a religious text, but it's a great book for converts.
Jewish Literacy by Telushkin is also a good bet, but it's very much a 'broad strokes' overview of many individual stories in Tanakh. If you really have ZERO knowledge of Tanakh, it's a good place to start before you dive deeper.
I've really enjoyed the clarity and depth of Essential Judaism by George Robinson.
For a good overview of Judaism: Jewish Literacy
You may be interested in the Theological stance of Rabbi Elijah Benamozegh in "Israel and Humanity"
https://www.amazon.com/Elijah-Benamozegh-Humanity-Classics-Spirituality/dp/0809104687
In terms of "Judeo-Sufism," might I suggest "The Guide to Serving God " by Rabbenu Avraham Ben ha-Rambam?
https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Serving-Torah-Classics-Library/dp/1583309810
One of the most comprehensive and well written books is "Jewish Literacy" by Joseph Telushkin.
If you want another book to better learn about the Jewish people and our history, read Joseph Telushkin's Jewish Literacy
my guess is the latter is a bigger problem than the former to them
the two books to read would be
To be a Jew
https://www.amazon.com/Be-Jew-Jewish-Observance-Contemporary/dp/0465086322
and Jewish literacy
https://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Literacy-Revised-Ed-Important/dp/0061374989
Might I recommend https://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Literacy-Revised-Ed-Important/dp/0061374989.
It's an encyclopedia with short blurbs on the Jewish religion, people, and history. Reading through it will give you a great breadth of knowledge related to Judaism.
Not the person you were talking to but Atenism is very similar Second Temple Judaism. I can dig up some books on it if you're interested, but here is a series of five mini lectures (should start at ep 108 if I got the link right).
Regarding the origins of Judaism, I would recommend The Origins of Biblical Monotheism, Yahweh and The God's and Goddesses of Caanan and anything by Thomas Römer. Links to his classes and others you might enjoy here. And here's a PDF of From Gods to God that shows how Israel interacted with the religions of its neighbors through myth.
I apologize if anyone is coming off as rude. The mention of kabbalah just touches a lot of nerves around here. Here are a few books that I think most of us here would agree are good places to start:
Once you've got a broad perspective, if there's a particular area you'd like to understand in greater depth, come back and we'll make more recommendations.
The Our People book series.
https://www.amazon.com/Our-People-Jewish-History-School/dp/0826602215
Well, if you are interested, we have an excellent community here on Reddit. /r/judaism would be glad to answer any questions you have. Just remember that Judaism encompasses a wide range of opinions on many issues, so there is very rarely any one answer to any one question. For example, a lot of the more mystically-minded Jews believe that the souls of the departed "rest" in heaven for a while before being reincarnated and sent back down to Earth. Our Talmud is the record of the ancient debates and discussions that rabbis of the past had on a multitude of biblical topics. There is a saying that when you ask two Jews a question, they'll give you three opinions!
We have a nice little FAQ about Judaism you can read if you're interested.
Here is an article they wrote on why we don't believe in Jesus, and another on the differences between Christianity and Judaism. I really recommend reading that one.
If you want a book to read, Jewish Literacy by Joseph Telushkin is one that is frequently recommended on our sub.
No problem, if you want some starter books here are some that I enjoyed reading.
Tefillin by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
Judaism and Christianity: A contrast by Rabbi Stuart Federow
Kashrut, Tefillin, Tzitzit by Stephen Bailey
Basic Judaism by Rabbi Milton Steinberg
These are some pretty good books to read giving you a little bit of an insight to some basic Jewish practices.
Aish.com is a good website for info and you can ask the Rabbi a question too.
Chabad.org is similar to Aish and you can, again, ask the Rabbi a question.
You should still go to a Rabbi and talk to him about your reasons for your desire to convert as well as the process.
The three best academic books on the Haggadah that I know. All three put the haggadah into it's historical context and try to show it's development based on critical textual readings and historical context.
The origins of the Seder by Baruch Bokser (JTS Press/UC Press)
The JPS Haggadah by Joseph Tabory. (JPS Press).
If you can handle the Hebrew, then The Goldschmidt Haggadah by Daniel Goldschmidt (Mosad Bialik). It was originally written in German in 1936, and this is the Hebrew translation. I do not believe it has ever been translated into English.
Dont feel bad about not knowing. I spent more than a year doing research before I even first approached a Rabbi. For us learning is a life long process.
Books:
Possibly most importantly I'd say you need a Jewish bible with commentary. I'd recommend the Stone Chumash. I also keep a JPS Hebrew/English Tanakh on my desk. The "chumash" (AKA the Torah) is the five books of Moses. The "Tanakh" is the Torah, Prophets and Writings, the entire Hebrew bible .I say a "Jewish Bible" because 1) the translation is more direct from Hebrew, without the distortions of the KJV/NIV/etc. 2) you also get commentary on the text from key Jewish scholars throughout the ages to help you understand the meaning of the text, this part is very important.
All above book links are to Amazon but I am not an affiliate and do not gain in any way. You can probably find all those and more at a specialty Judaica shop like http://www.judaism.com or another similar site.
BTW you probably want to go over this site entirely http://www.jewfaq.org/ It is written by an Orthodox guy so is slanted that way but the information is all good.
The first question one would have to answer is is the account of the Exodus accurate, historically.
There is much debate about this and scholars fall on varying sides from 'didn't happen at all' (Finkelstein and Silberman) to 'probably happened but was not the same in number' (Friedman and some others).
The most interesting book I have read on this recently is Friedman's Exodus^1 which argues for the arrival of 2 main groups inside the 'Holy Land' the second later group being the Levites who were in Egypt/From Egypt although whether they were slaves is still some debate. Which Friedman goes into, and notes examples of items like they had knowledge of Egyptian brickmaking techniques compared to Canaanite techniques. Moses is an Egyptian name, he gives some other examples however I don't have the text in front of me at the moment.
The early tribes in Israel would have come (or risen to power) and conquered/Mixed with the tribes already in Canaan and taken on some of their deities, some of the early types would have been El and Baal, for example, we note that some of the early creation stories map to Canaanite creation stories.
The earliest person we know of to accept the Israelite religion was Abraham as per the Torah itself, and there is evidence for someone like an Abraham around 1800 B.C.E. But there's no direct connection. What we can see is the common earliest reference to Israel as a unique entity which is in the Merneptah Stele, which dates to around 1200 BCE, although some scholars have identified a possible reference to Israel (the text is not complete, however) on a pillar in Egypt going back as far as 1400 BCE.^1.
So we know that the Israelites spread out and mixed with Canaanite cultures and were a part of them but eventually, the culture (and religion) of the Israelites eventually won out and developed into its own distinct religion. This would have been in the time of the Iron Age I (1200-1000 BCE). Going back to Friedman here, he shows genetic and historical evidence that the Levites come in and adapted themselves as another Tribe and planted the Exodus story among the existing (forming) Israelites. This Iron Age I would have been when this happened. This Yahewism would have been the basis for monotheism. This could have been from the Levites who brought the YHVH diety with them from the Midianites and supplanted it over the others.
However, there were pockets of idolatrous worship especially on the North for some time. Statuettes of different home or hearth goddesses have been found near Tel Dan for example in the Temple there. This Temple in Northern Israel would not have been condoned by the people in Judea and would have been in a contest with it (Schiffman^3) as the Priests in Judea (First Temple) would have felt the only true Temple was the one in Jerusalem. Really some forms of idolatry continued into the First Temple period and in the Second Temple period, it would have most likely been Monolatry (accepting that others deities could exist along theirs). The clearest case for this is the changes to the Shema (Duet 6:4) which at that time read: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” this statement defines the deity YHVH as the one for Israel although it allowed for other cultures to have theirs as well. This is shown in sources such as the Septuagint and in the Nash Papyrus in the Second Temple period. An amulet found in Halbturn, Austria called The Halbturn amulet shows the current version (in Greek) as we now know it to be “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”
So to sum all that up, the historical evidence points to a polytheistic culture that developed into a monotheistic culture.
>Because in between the Exodus and the Promised Land it wasn't strictly Judaism yet, was it?
Which type of Judaism? Current Judaism is Rabbinic Judaism which takes the written tradition (Torah) plus the Oral Tradition (Talmud/Mishna) this developed most notably in the Babylonian Exile, prior to that there was the Temple Cult.
I really like James Micheners "The Source", which tries to tell the story of the origins of religions in the form of a novel.
For Islam you absolutely must read "Islam: The Religion and the People" by Bernard Lewis.
For Judaism I would suggest "The Jewish Book of Why" for traditions and "Our People" for history.
And for Atheism you can read "The Rubayat" by Omar Kayyan.
Second on Telushkin's Jewish Literacy. For theology: God in Search of Man by R. Heschel. Also, Basic Judaism by R. Milton Steinberg
Jewish Literacy by Telushkin
Here, from the son of the Rambam. https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Serving-Torah-Classics-Library/dp/1583309810
^ This so much. Also, another great introductory book is Joseph Telushkin's Jewish Literacy.
Buy and read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Sages-Vol-II-Yavne-Kokhba-Revolt/dp/1592642462/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462277987&sr=8-1&keywords=sages+vol+2
Funny I am seeing this since I wrote a book about this deity awhile back.
Find a rabbi you are comfortable with, and don't be shy to meet with a few before moving forward.
I had met with two rabbis before choosing the one who made me feel the most comfortable with my decision. The first two I met with were orthodox, quite conservative and I didn't click with either and the process seemed a bit too intense for what my fiance and I were looking for. Then we came across a reform synagogue and we fell in love with the rabbi there and we're completing our first round of classes in a couple of weeks.
It's been a beautiful process so far and it's exciting! There are several books I too found good, some of them were provided with our classes as well:
Best of luck in your research!
I've read up on it a fair amount. I am by no means an expert, but a few books have been particularly informative when it comes to the sheer complexity of the issue, particularly The Jewish Connection to Israel, the Promised Land by Rabbi Eugene Korn and Witnessing for Peace in Jerusalem and the World by Bishop Munib Younan, a Palestinian Christian. I also had the chance to travel to Israel/Palestine a few months back, and had some great opportunities to meet with all sorts of people, including Donniel Hartman, president of the Hartman Institute, several rabbis from Rabbis for Human Rights, the aforementioned Munib Younan, Elias Chacour, and others. I also had the chance to visit a couple of Israeli settlements (one near Jerusalem, and one in Hebron), as well as spending some time at a refugee camp near Bethlehem. I was there for a while, and it was an incredibly broadening experience, especially as a Christian American.
One thing I don't understand is why people look at the faults of the Israeli government and can't support both Israel and reform. There are a lot of things I don't like about America too, but I'm not about to support returning my land to British rule. I'm pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, and, in my mind most important, pro-Human Rights.
>while I truly believe that poor Christian theology has caused a lot of problems in Israel, treating it as the lynch pin seems self-absorbed
This is a great way to put it, and I couldn't agree more.
Jewish Literacy by Joseph Telushkin covers pretty much all the basic stuff you should know regarding Jewish traditions and their roots
As others have mentioned, there was of course the Korban Pesach (with matzot and marror), which was very different from the modern seder.
However, unlike other holidays, whose sacrifices were centralized, national, Temple rituals, Passover had an individual sacrifice -- every family was required to bring its own Paschal lamb. Plus there are the verses about children asking about the holiday and discussing the miraculous redemption. So it's fair to say that there was some sort of home celebration, even in Temple times.
I'm currently reading The Origins of the Seder by Baruch Bokser. It's very academic and a lot of it is over my head, but the general topic is how the Rabbis designed the "modern" Passover practice to give a sense of continuity with Temple practice, emphasizing non-sacrificial aspects of the holiday. Since Passover had these biblically mandated, individual rituals, it was particularly useful for the Rabbis' goal of providing that continuity.