Non­fic­tion

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

Ani­ta Dia­mant with Howard Cooper

  • Review
By – October 10, 2011

First pub­lished in 1991, this guide to Jew­ish life is a favorite for lib­er­al Jew­ish fam­i­lies, stu­dents, and edu­ca­tors. Revised and updat­ed, it con­tin­ues to pro­vide thought­ful infor­ma­tion for those who want to incor­po­rate more Jew­ish obser­vance into their lives. It has chap­ters about Shab­bat and hol­i­day obser­vance, life­cy­cle events, com­mu­ni­ty, and edu­ca­tion, as well as dietary laws, Jew­ish trav­el, and Jew­ish orga­ni­za­tions. The new edi­tion includes online resources, mate­r­i­al about con­ver­sion, adop­tion, and Israel, as well as updat­ed infor­ma­tion about cur­rent events and changes in the Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty. It is an excel­lent resource that demon­strates the diver­si­ty of Jew­ish obser­vance and Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty and its rel­e­vance in the mod­ern world. This book would also be appro­pri­ate for those new to Judaism, whether study­ing for con­ver­sion or reconnecting.

Bar­bara M. Bibel is a librar­i­an at the Oak­land Pub­lic Library in Oak­land, CA; and at Con­gre­ga­tion Netiv­ot Shalom, Berke­ley, CA.

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