jewish eating and identity through the ages – by david kraemer

History of Christianity: ModernTHE HOLY SPIRIT MOVEMENT IN KOREA: ITSHISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL DEVELOP-MENT. By Young-hoon Lee. Regnum Studies in Mission.Oxford: Regnum, 2009. Pp. xxi + 174. N.p.

Lee’s book provides an overview of the history ofChristianity in Korea from 1900 to the present. Lee is aninsider to the Pentecostal and charismatic movements inKorea and currently serves as the senior pastor of YoidoFull Gospel Church in Seoul. Lee helps to clarify the rela-tionship between Korean Pentecostalism and shamanism,since some previous works have made the charge of syn-cretism. By using the “Holy Spirit movement”—rather thanPentecostal, charismatic, evangelical, or even revivalisticones—as a template for examining significant persons andmovements, Lee has the latitude to include elements asdiverse as the Unification Church and the ecumenicalmovement. But with a more spacious narrative, one cannothelp but notice the exclusion of Pentecostal churches andmissions other than the Assemblies of God. The final thirdof the book focuses on the ministry of Yonggi Cho andYoido Full Gospel Church as the culmination, so far, of theHoly Spirit movement in Korea. Since Lee’s book relies onmany Korean-language studies of church history, there isless attention paid to the role of North American mission-aries in planting and growing the Holy Spirit movement.The renewal emphasis of this book will make it especiallywelcome to seminary students interested in global Pente-costalism.

William T. PurintonSeoul Theological University

Judaism: ModernBUKHARAN JEWS IN THE 20TH CENTURY:HISTORY, EXPERIENCE AND NARRATION. Editedby Ingeborg Baldauf, Moshe Gammer, and Thomas Loy.Weisbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2008. Pp. 239. €45.00.

This is an innovative collection of studies on a CentralAsian, non-Ashkenazi Jewish community. For most of thetwentieth century, the region was under Soviet rule so thatdevelopments in this group offer potential for fascinatingcomparisons with the fate of the Ashkenazi Jews under thecommunist regime. The first three parts of the book dealwith many aspects of Bukharan Jewish life, including theearly years after the revolution, Jewish life in the region afterWorld War II, and Bukharan Jews outside of Bukhara. Thelast two sections deal with memories and focus on individualmemoirs. The book has indices of names of people, geo-graphical names, and subjects; it is thus very easy to look upreligious issues. Among the contributors to this volume aresome of the leading researchers of Bukharan Jewry. Thatfact, together with the scope of the studies, make this volumea valuable addition for a research library, as well as for a

collection of Jewish studies that wants to break out of thetraditional concentration on Yiddish-speaking Jewry.

Shaul StampferHebrew University

SIMON-DUBNOW-INSTITUT JAHRBUCH. Edited byDan Diner. Vol. VII. Goettingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck &Ruprecht, 2008. Pp. 550. €69.90.

This fascinating volume maintains the high standardsset by the Leipzig-based Dubnow Institute. There are twobasic themes to the volume: mutual perceptions of Poles andJews in the public sphere, and Jewish-Islamic culturalhermeneutics. The latter section contains some very signifi-cant studies for students of religion, including a criticalreview of academic Jewish research on the Koran, interrela-tionships of Islamic and Jewish philosophy in the middleages, as well as a fascinating paper on parallels (and differ-ences) between Jewish and Islamic enlightenment move-ments. Some of the studies on Poland and other articles alsotouch on religious issues. The Simon Dubnow Institute Year-book has become a very serious series and one of the leadingforums not only on East European Jewry but also on thecontext of Jewish religious life in Central and EasternEurope.


JUDEISCHE ELITEN IM RUSSISCHEN REICH:AUFKLAERUNG UND INTEGRATIONS IM 19.JAHRHUNDERT. By Verena Dohrn. Koeln-Weimar-Wien:Boehlau Verlag, 2008. Pp. 482. €59.90.

This volume constitutes a valuable addition to the litera-ture on the modernization of Jewish society and, in particu-lar, on Jewish religion in the Russian empire in thenineteenth century. The five parts of the book deal withthe background to enlightenment and change, the Jews inthe Russian Empire, centers of Jewish enlightenment, theeducational theory of integration into the state and society,and new Jewish elites in the Russian empire, of which theauthor regards the modern rabbinate as a central element.Thus the chapter on centers of Jewish enlightenment isdevoted mainly to the “modern” nineteenth-century rabbini-cal schools in Vilna and Zhitomir, the chapter on theorydeals to a great extent with the ideas behind integration, andthe chapters on elites deal largely with the role and charac-ter of the “government” rabbinate. These topics have neverreceived such a detailed, careful, and documented analysisin a Western language. This perceptive and basic studyshould be an essential element in any collection that dealsseriously with East European Jewish religious developmentsin the nineteenth century. It goes a long way towards bal-ancing the current preoccupation with developments in thetraditional and orthodox sectors.


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HERE AND NOW: HISTORY, NATIONALISM, ANDREALISM IN MODERN HEBREW FICTION. By ToddHasak-Lowy. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press,2008. Pp. xlv + 176. $22.95.

This thought-provoking literary study analyzes theworks of four major figures of Hebrew literature—S. Y.Abramowitz, Y. Ch. Brenner, S. Y. Agnon, and S.Yizhar—within the context of the national, cultural, and lit-erary revival of European Jewry and the Hebrew language.Through close readings of key authors of four successivegenerations of Hebrew literature, Hasak-Lowy argues thatmodern Hebrew literature both reflected and shaped percep-tions of modern Hebrew literary culture. The author showshow Hebrew literature synthesized the very different rolesinvolved with cultural production, social critique, andnational ideology. As a result, Hebrew literature and itsdominant authors played central roles in both the construc-tion and the deconstruction of Jewish culture and national-ism in turn-of-the-century Europe, pre-state BritishPalestine, and the state of Israel itself. But these multipletasks and the key role played by Hebrew literature in theJewish national project also had their price; modern Hebrewfiction, in Hasak-Lowy’s analysis, is a “nearly schizophrenicliterature.” Hasak-Lowy has composed a work that will be ofmuch interest to scholars and students of modern Jewishculture and Israeli society, as well as those working onlarger processes of secularization and nation building.

Scott UryThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem

IN A MAELSTROM: THE HISTORY OF RUSSIAN-JEWISH PROSE (1860-1940). By Zsuzsa Hetenyi.Translated by Boris Janos. New York: CEU Press, 2008.Pp. xv + 316. $41.95.

This book surveys Jewish fiction written in Russianbetween 1860 and 1940, with a focus on eighteen writerswhom the author rightly regards as key figures for under-standing what she terms the “spiritual folklore” of the Jews.The author addresses the complexity of Jewish literary cre-ativity in a non-Jewish language from the start. The chaptersare arranged chronologically, culminating in a final chapterdealing with Russian and American Jewish writers from acomparative perspective. This is a very rich and enlighten-ing book that yields important insights into how Jews at thetime regarded many issues, including social and religiousissues such as conversion and tradition. The focus onauthors in the structure is understandable in a literarystudy. Judicious use of the index, however, can make this arich source.


FINDING THE JEWISH SHAKESPEARE: THE LIFEAND LEGACY OF JACOB GORDIN. By Beth Kaplan.Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2007.Pp. xii + 288. $24.95.

This book seeks to trace and rehabilitate the life, work,and historical place of Jacob Gordin, one of the foremostYiddish playwrights of the early twentieth century. Gordinwas born in the small town of Mirgorod in 1853 and emi-grated to New York in 1891. He became one of the best-known and most influential playwrights in the Yiddishtheater, from New York to smaller, satellite centers likeChicago, Philadelphia, and Montreal. Through the Yiddishtheater, Gordin amassed hundreds of thousands of admirersby the turn of the century, and was one of the most importantJewish cultural figures of his times. As such, an academicstudy of Gordin’s life and work is of much importance and ofgreat interest to students and researchers of modern Jewishculture, American Jewish history, urban culture, theaterstudies, and ethnicity. The author of the volume is Gordin’sgreat-granddaughter, which makes for great insight into thesubject. However, by the same token, the final product issomewhere between family folklore, a personal memoir, andan academic study.


JEWISH EATING AND IDENTITY THROUGH THEAGES. By David Kraemer. New York: Routledge, 2008.Pp. xii + 200. Paper. $41.95.

In this study, the author interprets Jewish eating prac-tices as “expressions of Jewish identity.” The first chapterdeals with the types of animals Jews were to eat according tothe Bible and the meaning of the differences from theanimals non-Jews ate. The second chapter deals with atti-tudes to the food of the gentiles in the Second Temple period.Subsequent chapters deal with the issues of milk and meat,mixings of the prohibited and the permitted, and blessingsin rabbinic Judaism. The questions of the required breakbetween eating milk and meat, separation of dishes used formilk and meat, and the tension between stringency andleniency each have a chapter devoted to them. The lastchapter deals with struggles and conflicts over laws ofkashrut. This book is fascinating, highly original and verypertinent to the study of religious practice, sociology andreligion, popular religion, and much more. The links theauthor finds between food and religion should interest manyreaders. It is well written and documented, and does notrequire previous knowledge of the intricacies of Jewish law.Therefore this book could also be very useful for the study ofcomparative religion.


A HISTORY OF PALESTINE: FROM THE OTTOMANCONQUEST TO THE FOUNDING OF THE STATE OFISRAEL. By Gudrun Krämer. Translated by GrahamHarman and Gudrun Krämer. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Uni-versity Press, 2008. Pp. viii + 357. $38.50.

This book is designed to examine the history of Pales-tine before the rise of the Zionist movement and the state of


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Israel and the subsequent politicization of the region and itsmultiple histories. The book’s central intellectual goal is aneffort to write a balanced history of the region that wouldbecome Ottoman Palestine, British Mandatory Palestine, andeventually Israel, Jordan, and Palestinian territories. Aftertwo introductory chapters, the book dedicates two chaptersto Palestine in the late Ottoman period, analyzes the rise andinfluence of the Zionist movement, and then focuses on colo-nial attempts to mediate between Arabs and Jews during theBritish Mandatory period. The book provides a readable his-torical narrative of colonial and postcolonial national com-petitions over the region in question and strives to strike ajudicious balance between the different factions and theirconflicting and intersecting histories. This is a welcomeaddition to the growing number of studies on this increas-ingly popular field, and the book will be of much use to thoseteaching classes on Middle Eastern history, the history of theOttoman Empire and Israel Studies. It will also prove usefulin seminars on the construction of historical narratives, theconnection between religion and nationalism, and processesof decolonialization.

Scott UryTel Aviv University

EVERYDAY JEWS: SCENES FROM A VANISHEDLIFE. By Yehoshue Perle. Edited by David Roskies. Trans-lated by Maier Deshell and Margaret Birstein. New Haven,CT: Yale University Press, 2007. Pp. xxx + 350. $38.00.

This Yiddish-language novel of Polish Jewish life in theinterwar period is far from presenting an idealized picture ofthe time. Widely regarded as one of the classics of modernYiddish literature, this novel merits serious attention notonly from students of literature, but also for those seeking anunderstanding of the context of Jewish religious life anddevelopments in the interwar period. Perle’s work lacks theelement of sentimentality and longing for a vanished worldthat characterizes much writing about the period that isavailable in English. The learned and profound introductionby D. Roskies gives the reader the background to the authorand the novel so that it can be understood in context, andalso offers suggestions for further reading. There are alsoexplanatory notes at the end that explain customs and con-cepts mentioned in the novel.


THE OPEN CANON: ON THE MEANING OF HALA-KHIC DISCOURSE. By Avi Sagi. Translated by BatyaStein. London: Continuum, 2007. Cloth, $130; paper, £17.99.

Avi Sagi is regarded as one of the leading scholars inIsrael dealing with the philosophic aspects of halakha (Jewishlaw). This work is a revised translation of his Hebrew bookEilu veEilu (Tel Aviv, 1966). The author presents differentapproaches to Jewish law: the monistic approach that for eachquestion of Jewish law there is only one answer, the pluralis-tic approach that there can be a number of answers, and an

approach that seeks an underlying harmony. The last chap-ters deal with creativity and innovation in halakha and ondiffering views of disputes and authority. This is an extremelyuseful source for readers familiar with non-Jewish religioustraditions who want to understand the complex attitudes tolaw among Jews who are committed to halakha. It is anequally useful corrective to simplistic but widespread depic-tions of Jewish law. The author is equally at home in tradi-tional Jewish legal sources and in modern philosophy. Hepresents a sophisticated depiction of complex topics that isstimulating and thought provoking. This book should attracta wide readership in the fields of Jewish thought and religion.


SPRACHE IN DER ZERSTREUUNG: DIE SAEKULA-RISIERUNG DES HEBRAISCHEN IN 18. JAHRHUN-DERT. By Andrea Schatz. Goettingen: Vandenhoeck &Ruprecht, 2009. Pp. 304. €49.90.

One of the projects of the eighteenth-century Jewishenlightenment movement was to transform Hebrew from asacred language into the modern language of the Jewishpeople in the diaspora. The author’s goal in this book is toexamine to what degree this endeavor can be seen as aprocess of secularization. The book itself is divided intothree sections. The first deals with Hebrew as a holy lan-guage, the second goes on to deal rather creatively with thetension between the image of Hebrew as a superior languageand the perceived limitations of Hebrew. The final sectiondeals with the complex link between concepts of languageand nationalism, focusing on issues of language revival.While centered on the eighteenth century, the author referseruditely to medieval Jewish philosophical and theologicalworks. The author’s discussions of secularization in manycontexts are well documented and are important for anyattempt to interpret early Jewish enlightenment policies.This book is very stimulating and would be a valuable addi-tion to any serious research library that deals with modernJewish thought and society.


HISTORY OF THE YIDDISH LANGUAGE. By MaxWeinreich. Edited by Paul Glasser. Translated by ShlomoNoble with assistance of Joshua Fishman. New Haven, CT:Yale University Press and YIVO Institute for JewishResearch, 2008. Pp. xiv + 1011. $300.

This massive study is the standard history of the Yiddishlanguage. But it is, at the same time, a highly unorthodoxspecies of historical writing. In Weinreich’s opinion, Yiddishcan be understood only in the context of Jewish civilization.His volume contains fundamental discussions of popularreligious mentality, education, and rituals of East EuropeanJewry, and many of these discussions can be found nowhereelse. It also explains many practices, customs, and terms.Unfortunately, the book lacks a detailed table of contents,


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but there is a superb, 250 (!)-page detailed index (of the textand the notes) that makes it easily searchable. The body ofthe history was published in 1980, but without the notes,which constitute 700 pages of this book. It is highly doubtfulthat this study will ever be surpassed, and it is an essentialtool for any serious study of East European Jewish religiousculture. The richness of the notes makes this two-volume seta very desirable acquisition even for libraries that alreadyhave the older edition.


CALL IT ENGLISH: THE LANGUAGES OF JEWISHAMERICAN LITERATURE. By Hana Wirth-Nesher.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009.Pp. xv + 224. $22.95.

This book examines the different ways that keyAmerican-Jewish literary authors were influenced by theirJewish cultural, religious, and linguistic heritage, arguingthat these authors resist the fact that they produced works ofAmerican literature “with a Jewish accent.” This is a learned,engaging and delightful book that examines the fiction ofdefinitive authors such as A. Cahan, M. Antin, H. Roth, S.Bellow, C. Ozick, and P. Roth. By doing so, Wirth-Neshersheds much light on the Jewish encounter with America, thedelicate balancing act employed by different writers, and themanner in which American culture influenced and wasinfluenced by generations of Jewish authors who wrote inAmerica. Wirth-Nesher does a masterful job of integratingtheoretical studies into a field—the study of AmericanJewry—that is often oversaturated with nostalgia and ethnickitsch. This book will be of much interest to scholars andstudents of American society and religion, minority litera-tures, modern Jewish society and culture, and that slippery,all-encompassing term that simultaneously means so muchand so little: ethnicity.

Scott UryTel Aviv University

ETHNOCRACY: LAND AND IDENTITY POLITICS INISRAEL/PALESTINE. By Oren Yiftachel. Philadelphia:University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. Pp. xi + 350.$69.95.

Yiftachel is intent on showing that Israel is an ethnoc-racy and not a democracy. Rather than concentrating on thehistory of national movements, the collapse of imperialsystems, and the subsequent wars of national liberation, thisbook focuses on questions of geographic resources, access,and conflict to provide different perspectives on the study ofIsraeli society, as well as larger questions regarding the roleof religion and religious identities in the process of nationbuilding. The author raises questions regarding the connec-tion between nationalism, land distribution, interethnic rela-tions, and democracy. While the book is periodically plaguedby polemical digressions and moments of narrative deja vu,the book’s contentious discussion of land and power will be

of interest to those working on the modern Middle East,nationalism studies, and democratic societies. It will alsomake for provocative discussion material in seminars onIsrael studies and ethnicity, as well as classes addressingcontemporary Jewish history, culture, and society.


IslamMECCA AND EDEN: RITUAL, RELICS AND TERRI-TORY IN ISLAM. By Brannon Wheeler. Chicago: Univer-sity of Chicago Press, 2006. Pp. 288, 2 halftones, 2 linedrawings. Cloth, $62.00; paper, $25.00.

Wheeler’s work is the most concerted effort in recentyears to analyze Islam within the perspective of comparativereligions. In his latest book, he demonstrates the role ofsacred space in Islam through objects and rituals and theirrelation to the mythological origins of human and Islamiccivilization, as they are delineated in exegetical texts. Theintroduction argues that, similar to other religions, in theIslamic tradition relics and rituals are socially constructedand not inherently sacred. Wheeler’s argument follows theo-ries of the social origins of the sacred used by W. R. Smith,Durkheim, M. Douglas, and J. Z. Smith. Purity rituals, relics,and the stories of the prophets are intended “as remindersthat the existence of the Prophet and the law he brought wasmade necessary by the loss of Eden.” Wheeler’s book is, inpart, intended to dispel the notion that the ritualistic andliturgical nature of Islam is divorced from meaningful theo-logical concepts that can be utilized in comparative endeav-ors. His work will be useful in courses on both Islam and thecomparative study of religions, either in its entirety or asindividual chapters. He showed that Islam is far from excep-tional and may be situated within the context of comparativemethodologies. This compelling book should motivateIslamicists to engage the broader study of religion with theirown research and dispel the notion of Islam’s uniqueness fornonspecialists. These findings may then shape and chal-lenge the field of comparative religions and broaden discus-sions going on in the field.

Kristian PetersenUniversity of Washington

OceaniaISLAND MINISTERS: INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIPIN NINETEENTH CENTURY PACIFIC ISLANDSCHRISTIANITY. By Raeburn Lange. Christchurch, NewZealand and Canberra, Australia: University of Canterbury/Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies/AustralianNational University-Pandanus Books, 2005. Pp. 436. Paper,AUD$31.78.

While it is universally acknowledged that indigenousevangelists and catechists were key to the spread of Chris-


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jewish eating and identity through the ages – by david kraemer

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