Ebook: A history of Judaism

"Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world, and it has preserved its distinctive identity despite the extraordinarily diverse forms and beliefs it has embodied over the course of more than three millennia... In this...book, Martin Goodman takes readers from Judaism's origins in the polytheistic world of the second and first millennia BCE to the temple cult at the time of Jesus. He tells the stories of the rabbis, mystics, and messiahs of the medieval and early modern periods and guides us through the many varieties of Judaism today."--Jaquette.;Introduction: Approaching the history of Judaism -- Part I. Origins (c. 2000 BCE-70 CE) -- Deserts, tribes, and empires -- The formation of the Bible -- Worship -- The Torah of Moses : Judaism in the Bible -- Part II. Interpreting the Torah (200 BCE-70 CE) -- Jews in a Graeco-Roman world -- "Jewish doctrine takes three forms" -- The limits of variety -- Preoccupations and expectations -- Part III. The formation of rabbinic Judaism (70-1500 CE) -- From pagan Rome to Islam and medieval Christendom -- Judaism without a temple -- Rabbis in the east (70-1000 CE) -- Judaism beyond the rabbis -- Rabbis in the west (1000-1500 CE) -- Part IV. Authority and reaction (1500-1800) -- The European Renaissance ad the New World -- New certainties and new mysticism -- Part V. The challenge of the modern world (1750-present) -- From the Enlightenment to the state of Israel -- Reform -- Counter-reform -- Rejection -- Renewal -- Part IV. Epilogue -- Waiting for the Messiah?