- The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies
- List of Contributors
- List of Abbreviations
- Preface
- The Nature of Jewish Studies
- Biblical Studies and Jewish Studies
- Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period
- The Literature of the Second Temple Period
- Historiography on the Jews in the ‘Talmudic Period’ (70–640 ce)
- Classical Rabbinic Literature
- The Narratives of Medieval Jewish History
- Medieval Jewry In Christendom
- Medieval Jewry in the World of Islam
- Rabbinic Literature in the Middle Ages 1000–1492
- The Study of Hebrew Literature of the Middle Ages: Major Trends and Goals
- Medieval Karaism
- Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewries since 1492
- European Jewry in the Early Modern Period: 1492–1750
- Western and Central European Jewry in the Modern Period: 1750–1933
- Eastern European Jewry in the Modern Period: 1750–1939
- The Holocaust
- Settlement and State in Eretz Israel
- American Jewish History
- The Hebrew Language
- Modern Hebrew Literature
- Yiddish Studies
- Judaeo-Spanish Studies
- Judaeo-Arabic and Judaeo-Persian
- Other Diaspora Jewish Literatures Since 1492
- Halacha and Law
- Bible Interpretation
- Mysticism
- Jewish Liturgy and Jewish Scholarship: Method and Cosmology
- Jewish Philosophy and Theology
- Jewish Women's Studies
- Demography
- Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
- Music
- Jewish Theatre
- Jewish and Israeli Film Studies
- Anti-Semitism Research
- Jewish Folklore and Ethnography
- Modern Jewish Society and Sociology
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
The social-scientific study of Judaism is a modern phenomenon just as are the social sciences themselves. Several themes run through various efforts to study Jews and Judaism in social-scientific terms. First is the need to understand the socio-political and ideological backgrounds to making Jews the object of scientific study. Another question is whether the impetus to a study of the Jews comes from a particular interest in their situation and development. Related to both of these issues is the question whether those undertaking the research are Jews or Gentiles. Another significant dividing line is the sociology of modern communities in the diaspora in contrast to the sociology of Israeli society that took shape at the time the state was established. A related topic that is worth tracing is the degree to which historians or other scholars of Jews and Judaism have adopted social-scientific modes of thought into their writings.
Keywords: Jewish sociology, Judaism, sociological theory, Jewish history, Gentiles
Harvey E. Goldberg, Professor Emeritus, Sarah Allen Shaine Chair in Sociology and Anthropology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
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- The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies
- List of Contributors
- List of Abbreviations
- Preface
- The Nature of Jewish Studies
- Biblical Studies and Jewish Studies
- Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period
- The Literature of the Second Temple Period
- Historiography on the Jews in the ‘Talmudic Period’ (70–640 ce)
- Classical Rabbinic Literature
- The Narratives of Medieval Jewish History
- Medieval Jewry In Christendom
- Medieval Jewry in the World of Islam
- Rabbinic Literature in the Middle Ages 1000–1492
- The Study of Hebrew Literature of the Middle Ages: Major Trends and Goals
- Medieval Karaism
- Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewries since 1492
- European Jewry in the Early Modern Period: 1492–1750
- Western and Central European Jewry in the Modern Period: 1750–1933
- Eastern European Jewry in the Modern Period: 1750–1939
- The Holocaust
- Settlement and State in Eretz Israel
- American Jewish History
- The Hebrew Language
- Modern Hebrew Literature
- Yiddish Studies
- Judaeo-Spanish Studies
- Judaeo-Arabic and Judaeo-Persian
- Other Diaspora Jewish Literatures Since 1492
- Halacha and Law
- Bible Interpretation
- Mysticism
- Jewish Liturgy and Jewish Scholarship: Method and Cosmology
- Jewish Philosophy and Theology
- Jewish Women's Studies
- Demography
- Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
- Music
- Jewish Theatre
- Jewish and Israeli Film Studies
- Anti-Semitism Research
- Jewish Folklore and Ethnography
- Modern Jewish Society and Sociology
- Index