To go directly to a specific category, click below:
General Books about Jewish Texts
Bible
Talmud
Midrash
Halakhah
Liturgy
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General
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Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts, edited by Barry Holtz (Simon & Schuster, 1984).
Learn Hebrew Today: Alef-Bet for Adults, by Howard I. Bogot (Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1998).
Bible
TaNaKh: A New Translation of the Holy Scriptures According to the Traditional Hebrew Text (Jewish Publication Society).
Etz Hayim Torah and Commentary, by David L. Liebe (Rabbinical Assembly, 2001).
The Soncino Chumash, by Arthur Cohen (Soncino Press, 1947).
The Five Books of Moses, by Everett Fox (Schocken, 1995).
The Way Into Torah, by Norman J. Cohen (Jewish Lights, 2000).
Who Wrote the Bible?, by Richard Eliot Friedman (Harper San Francisco, 1997).
The Art of Biblical Narrative, by Robert Alter (Basic Books, 1983).
Studying the Torah: A Guide to In-Depth Interpretation, by Avigdor Bonchek (Jason Aronson, 1996).
A Torah Commentary for Our Times, by Harvey Fields (Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1998).
Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, by Avivah Zornberg (Jewish Publication Society, 1996).
Exodus: The Particulars of Rapture, by Avivah Zornberg (Doubleday, 2001).
The Great Torah Commentators, by Avraham Yaakov Finkel (Jason Aronson, 1996).
The Apocrypha, by E.J. Goodspeed (Vintage Books, 1989).
Josephus: Complete Works, by William Whiston (Hendrickson, 1987)
Works of Philo, by C.D. Yonge (Hendrickson, 1993).
The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, by Geza Vermes, (Penguin, 1998).
Talmud
Swimming in the Sea of Talmud, by Michael Katz and Gershon Schwartz (Jewish Publication Society, 1998).
The Talmud for Beginners, by Judith Z. Abrams (Jason Aronson, 1994).
The Talmud: Selected Writings, by Ben Zion Bokser (Paulist, 1989).
Rabbinic Stories, by Jeffrey L. Rubinstein (Paulist Press, 2002).
The Kehati Mishnah, by Pinhas Kehati (Feldheim).
Midrash, Mishnah, Gemara, by David HaLivni (Harvard, 1986).
Mind of the Talmud, by David Kraemer (Oxford).
Rereading the Rabbis: A Woman’s Voice, by Judith Hauptman (Westview Press, 1999).
The Essential Talmud, by Adin Steinsaltz (Basic Books, 1984).
The Talmud: An Analytical Guide to its History and Teachings, by Dr. Isaac Unterman (Bloch, 1985).
Midrash
The Classic Midrash: Tannaitic Commentaries on the Bible, by Reuven Hammer (Paulist Press, 1995).
Searching for Meaning in Midrash: Lessons for Everyday Living, by Michael Katz and Gershon Schwartz (Jewish Publication Society, 2002).
Legends of the Jews, by Louis Ginzberg (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998).
The Book of Legends (Sefer Ha-Aggadah): Legends From the Talmud and Midrash, by Hayim N. Bialik and Yehoshua H. Ravnitzky (Pantheon, 1991).
A Midrash and a Maaseh, by Hanoch Teller (Feldheim, 1996).
The Midrash: An Introduction, by Jacob Neusner (Jason Aronson, 1994).
The Aggadic Midrash Literature, by Hananel Mack (Jewish Lights, 1997).
From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, by Stephen Fraade (SUNY Press, 1991).
Reimagining the Bible: The Storytelling of the Rabbis, by Howard Schwartz (Oxford University Press, 1998).
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Halakhah
A Maimonides Reader, by Isidore Twersky (Behrman House, 1972).
A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice, by Isaac Klein (Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1988).
Concise Book of Mitzvoth, by Chafetz Chaim, (translated by Charles Wengrov) (Feldheim, 1990).
Horeb: A Philosophy of Jewish Laws & Observances, by Samson Raphael Hirch (translated by I. Grunfeld), (Soncino, 1997).
Evolving Halakhah: A Progressive Approach to Traditional Jewish Law, by Moshe Zemer (Jewish Lights, 1999).
Liturgy
Artscroll Siddur: Nusach Sefard, by Nosson Scherman, Meir Zlotowitz (Mesorah Publications Ltd, 1985). (Orthodox)
Gates of Prayer: The New Union Prayerbook (Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1975). (Reform)
Kol HaNeshamah (Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, 1989). (Reconstructionist)
The Book of Blessings, by Marcia Falk (Beacon Press, 1999).
To Pray As a Jew: A Guide to the Prayer Book and the Synagogue Service, by Hayim Halevy Donin (Basic Books, 1991).
My People’s Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries, by Larry Hoffman (Jewish Lights, five volumes to date).
Entering Jewish Prayer, by Reuven Hammer (Schocken, 1995).
Entering the High Holy Days, by Reuven Hammer (Jewish Publication Society, 1998).
Alef-Bet
Pronounced: ah-luff BET, Origin: Hebrew, the Hebrew alphabet.
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Avraham
Pronounced: AHVR-rah-ham, Origin: Hebrew, Abraham in the Torah, considered the first Jew.
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Midrash
Pronounced: MIDD-rash, Origin: Hebrew, the process of interpretation by which the rabbis filled in “gaps” found in the Torah.
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Moshe
Pronounced: moe-SHEH, Origin: Hebrew, Moses, whom God chooses to lead the Jews out of Egypt.
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Talmud
Pronounced: TALL-mud, Origin: Hebrew, the set of teachings and commentaries on the Torah that form the basis for Jewish law. Comprised of the Mishnah and the Gemara, it contains the opinions of thousands of rabbis from different periods in Jewish history.
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Torah
Pronunced: TORE-uh, Origin: Hebrew, the Five Books of Moses.
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Yaakov
Pronounced: YAH-kove or YAH-ah-kove, Origin: Hebrew, Jacob, one of the Torah’s three patriarchs.
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