This is the second volume of the series that describes the major "rites of passage" of the Jewish life cycle. From birth, through circumcision, to marriage, divorce, sickness, death and mourning. Daniel Sperber presents detailed descriptions of the major customs attending these events. These customs are examined in light of their original sources, their integration and evolution in varying Jewish communities, and the popular explanations given for their practice, both historically and today.
This second volume adds to the first, drawing on the whole spectrum of rabbinic literature, comparing its stories and explanations with folk beliefs of other cultures throughout the world. Sperber makes use of a wide range of resources , medieval and modern, legal, folkloristic, anthropological and literary - in his discussion of customs, proving that Jewish communities were never isolated from their environment. He also examines in depth the earliest origins of many of our well-known and commonly practiced Jewish customs.
This volume, like the first, makes use of iconographic material found in illustrated books written by non-Jews describing Jewish practice. These illustrations are analyzed in detail, constituting yet another rich source for the understanding of the evolution of Jewish customs. Customs, by their nature, are often taken for granted. In this book, Daniel Sperber offers an expert, detailed and lively analysis of some of the most and least commonly practiced customs in Jewish tradition.
Daniel Sperber, former Dean of the Faculty of Jewish Studies at Bar-Ilan University, was the Milan Roven Chair is Talmudic Studies and served as President of the University’s Jesselson Institute for Advanced Torah Studies. He has written over forty books and over four hundred articles in the field of Talmudic history, philology, archaeology and Jewish art history. He is best known, perhaps, for his eight-volume series on the history of Jewish customs, a series that has become the standard reference work on the subject. In 1992 he was awarded the "Israel Prize" in Jewish Studies.
