Judaisms

This introductory textbook asks what it means to be Jewish by considering whether Jews form a culture, an ethnicity, a nation, a nationality, a race, or a religion, or some combination of these. Its twelve chapters each take up one theme: Narratives, Sinais, Zions, Messiahs, Laws, Mysticisms, Cultures, Movements, Genocides, Powers, Borders, and Futures. Each theme is used to question what readers assume about the Jewish community.

The author designed the book for a classroom approach that treats identity formation as central to how people live. Rather than relying on a single authoritative account, it draws on alternative and marginalized voices to show that Jews have continually reworked their customs, practices, and beliefs over time.

The book is presented as the first to survey Jewish history from the Hebrew Bible to the present using multiple perspectives. It is published by University of California Press.