Jewish Identity in the Modern World: Its Nature and Dynamics, pt. 1

Discussion of the development of Jewish identity, considering the Enlightenment, Antisemitism, and Zionism.

Recent Archaeological Discoveries and Biblical Research, pt. 1

Discussion of how archaeology today can illuminate the world of the Bible, specifically the Israelite settlement in Canaan, and how it is possible to reconstruct the lost background of the Israelite cults.

Kiss of God: Spiritual Death in Jewish Religious History, pt. 1

Discussion of the spiritual face of Judaism in one of its many appearances. Fishbane explores the quest for spiritual perfection in early rabbinic sources and in Jewish philosophy and mysticism. The "kiss of God," a symbol for union with God, and the ritual practices - meditation and performance - connected with it are presented.

Pardes: The Quest for Spiritual Paradise in Judaism, pt. 1

Mysticism in Judaism

Gender and Assimilation: The Roles and Representation of Women in Modern Jewish History, pt. 1

Explores the relation between gender and the encounter of Jews with various conditions of Modernity. She makes clear that the study of the process of Jewish assimilation in contemporary times must include women and gender in its framework.

Creative survival : I.L. Peretz and the makings of modern Jewish culture, pt. 1

Wisse discusses the life and literature of Issac Leib Peretz and his influence on Jewish culture.

The Invention of Hebrew Prose: Literary Language and the Dilemmas of Mimesis, pt. 1

DIscussion of how the Hebrew literary language developed and how it is used to create a reality

Choosing to be Jews: a Sociological Reflection on American Jews Since 1950, pt. 1

The second half of the twentieth century has been a time when American Jews have experienced a minimum of prejudice and almost all domains of life have been accessible to them, but it has also been a time of assimilation, of swelling rates of inter-marriage, and of large numbers ignoring their Jewishness completely. Jews have no trouble building synagogues, but they have all sorts of trouble filling them. The quality of Jewish education is perhaps higher than ever before, and the output of Jewish scholarship is overwhelming in its scope and quality, but most American Jews receive a minimum of religious education and can neither read nor comprehend the great corpus of Jewish literature in its Hebrew (or Aramaic) original. This is a time in America when there is no shame in being a Jew, and yet fewer American Jews seem to know what being a Jew means. This book is part of a stocktaking that has been occurring among Jews as the century in which their residence in America was firmly established comes to an end. Grounded in empirical detail, it provides a concise yet analytic evaluation of the meaning of the many studies and surveys of the last four and a half decades. All those who want to know what it means and has meant to be an American Jew will find this volume of interest.

The Invention of Hebrew Prose: Literary Language and the Dilemmas of Mimesis, pt. 3, sect. 1

DIscussion of how the Hebrew literary language developed and how it is used to create a reality.