Customer Reviews
Intelligent and interesting - By: A. Lester, 24 Jun 2008 
I have read many of the very short introduction series & have found them thorough, interesting but not too heavy. This has proven the same with Solomon's book. As a intellectual blank on Judaism prior to reading this book it ahs proven an able stepin developing a solid knowledge of the subject. Solomon is able to explain a lot about Judaism without going too far into scripture itself. This is undoubtedly a plus when reading itin a obstensibly secular vein such as myself. A very good read.
Solomon's good judgment - By: Peter Reeve, 03 Feb 2008 It must be a daunting prospect for a scholar, having to condense a vast store of knowledge into one of these little books, deciding what to include & what must go, but Solomon judges this well. He emphasizes the diversity & continuing evolution of Judaism, correcting common misconceptions about how ancient or orthodox certain aspects of Judaism are. He also lays special stress on the importance of the Holocaust & of the existence of a modern state of Israelin shaping contemporary Jewish thought.
There are plenty of basic facts - descriptions of festivals, etc - included here, as you would expect. It also raises a great many issues & cites a number of authors, making this an excellent place to begin a more detailed study, if you wished.
Solomon writes well, with a light, sometimes even humorous touch, where appropriate. He was a lecturer at Oxford when this book was first publishedin 1996, but is now retired, I believe. A revised edition wouldn't go amiss. Perhaps he is too busy working on his Penguin Classics Talmud, which is due out soon & should be worth reading. He is not to be confused with the American activist of the same name, although Amazon does exactly that, so that if you click on either author, you get a list of books by both of them. Take it from me, they are very different!
Patchy in Places - By: Mrs. K. A. Wheatley, 24 Oct 2007 
I love these Very Short Introductions to, they are invariably spot onin finding a way into what can be some tricky issues or ideas. This one however, did not live up to expectation. It did help me outin giving me a reasonable groundingin understanding the basics of Judaism, but I felt that the author had a bit of an axe to grind about what he perceived other people thought of as 'the jews'. this is totally understandable given the long history of persecution that the Jewish people have endured from practically all other quarters of the earth, but I felt it was a little inappropriate here. These books are short & have to fit a great deal into their few pages. I would have appreciated a little more about the nuts & bolts of what is a complex set of religious beliefs & a little less, dare I say it, axe grinding. Having said that, the end sectionin particular, showing ways to interpret Jewish Law was fascinating, I was only disappointed that not all of the book lived up to this level of interest & information.
Handy, concise guide to the most important basics of Judaism - By: , 12 Feb 2002 
The "very short introduction" series is usefulin that the most important facts & aspects of a topic are presented to you clearly & concisely - no need to flick through pages & pages, no need to lookin the index or anything. The book itself is dividedin chapters such as Festivals, Why Judaism & Christianity split etc. Norman Solomon has successfuly selected the most intriguing bits of Judaism to present to usin this 150 page book.
Not only does the book provide the facts about the religion like festivals, worship etc, but also contemporary issues like Zionism & the conflicts of modern Israel & Palestine, a topic that should interest many. It is hard to find a book that deals with this subject that is not greatly biased; Solomon on the other hand makes it very clearin the introduction that he aims to present the facts of Judaism as Jews would, i.e. not from a Christian perspective, not using Christian language.
I definitely recommend this book if you are interestedin the religion. However, if you want to delve really deep into the sectsin the religion (which is briefly but well dealt within this book) & other topics, buy a big thick book on Judaism rather than this "very short introduction".
