Jason Aronson, Inc.
Pages: 288
Trim: 6½ x 9¾
978-0-7425-4402-4 • Hardback • October 2004 • $103.00 • (£79.00)
Moshe Weiss is an Orthodox rabbi with a doctorate from Yeshiva University who makes his home in Israel and the United States. Raised in Oswiecim, which later became known as Auschwitz, he arrived in America with his family before the Second World War. A prolific columnist and popular lecturer, he is the author of From Oswiecim to Auschwitz (1996), based on the many visits he made back to Poland, beginning in the 1950s, well before such pilgrimages became common. He is also the author of a scholarly study of the Rushino commentary on the Pentateuch, as well as biographies of leading figures in the Religious Zionist movement.
Chapter 1 Abraham to David: 1726-958 B.C.E.
Chapter 2 Solomon to the Destruction of the First Temple: Circa 990-586 B.C.E.
Chapter 3 The Babylonian Exile to the Return to Zion: 586-333 B.C.E.
Chapter 4 Alexander the Great to the Syrian Rule: 333-165 B.C.E.
Chapter 5 The Maccabean Revolt and the Hasmonean Period: 165-37 B.C.E.
Chapter 6 Herod to the Destruction of the Second Temple: 37 B.C.E.-70 C. E.
Chapter 7 Postdestruction Period to the Compilation of the Mishnah: 70-217
Chapter 8 Talmudic Period to the Rise of Islam: 225-622
Chapter 9 The Geonim and the Saadiah Gaon: 700-1040
Chapter 10 The Golden Age in Spain to Maimonidean Controversy: 1200-1400
Chapter 11 The Spanish Inquisition to the Kabbalists of Safed: 1480-1600
Chapter 12 Germany and Holland: 1250-1772
Chapter 13 False Messiahs to Hasidism: 1650-1800
Chapter 14 Enlightenment and Emancipation: 1750-1900
Chapter 15 France and Religious Toleration: 1785-1906
Chapter 16 England and the United States: 1700-1914
Chapter 17 Russia and Jewish Nationalism: 1800-1914
Chapter 18 World War I to the Holocaust: 1914-1945
Chapter 19 The American Jewish Community: 1945-2000
Chapter 20 The State of Israel—The First Fifty Years: 1948-1998
In this popular account of the contours of Jewish history, Rabbi Weiss reaffirms that an abiding faith in the Torah's teachings is the mainstay ensuring our survival.
— Dr. Norman Lamm, Yeshiva University
A wonderful book for the student or adult to begin one's journey into the fascinating story of the Jews. Rabbi Weiss is to be commended for his efforts and scholarship.
— Rabbi Berel Wein, author of Triumph of Survival
Rabbi Weiss has performed a great service in writing a concise and readable history of our people. His work is most refreshing and necessary.
— Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
The history of the Jewish people is anything but brief - so many centuries, so many countries, so many languages, so many movements, so many personalities and so much more material both primary and secondary. Squeezing all this into a slim volume that is readable, concise, accurate, and that balances comprehensive scope with rich details is quite challenging. For the most part Rabbi Dr. Weiss manages to do just that. One may quibble with what was omitted and how many paragraphs were allotted to certain topics, as one may differ on certain interpretations of events. However, this volume is a very good and efficient summary of many major element of Jewish history...This book is well suited as an introductory text of Jewish history, and the Glossary and Index are quite useful.
— Jewish Book World
I warmly recommend this book as an elementary textbook for the study of Jewish history.
— AJL Newsletter
This highly readable and erudite book must appeal to anyone interested in Jewish history.
— Elie Wiesel