The beginnings of Jewishness :: boundaries, varieties, uncertainties /

In modern times, various Jewish groups have argued whether Jewishness is a function of ethnicity (membership in a descent group, a function of birth), nationality (citizenship in a state, a function of politics), religion (membership in a group characterized by various beliefs and practices), or all...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cohen, Shaye J. D.
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Berkeley : University of California Press, ©1999.
Series:Hellenistic culture and society ; 31.
S. Mark Taper Foundation imprint in Jewish studies.
Subjects:
Online Access:DE-862
DE-863
Summary:In modern times, various Jewish groups have argued whether Jewishness is a function of ethnicity (membership in a descent group, a function of birth), nationality (citizenship in a state, a function of politics), religion (membership in a group characterized by various beliefs and practices), or all three. These fundamental conceptions were already in place in antiquity; the peculiar combination of ethnicity, nationality, and religion that would characterize Jewishness through the centuries first took shape in the second century B.C.E.
This book studies the ways in which these elements were understood and applied in the construction of Jewish identity - by Jews, by gentiles and by the state - in such a way that the question "Who was a Jew?" could be variously answered.
Physical Description:1 online resource (xiii, 426 pages)
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 381-392) and indexes.
ISBN:9780520926271
0520926277
0585246432
9780585246437

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