What does it mean to be a Jew? The many answers to this question are inspiring, surprising and not a little nerve-racking. From statesmen to rappers, Kabbalah to kugel, you'll find it all here - the captivating, bothersome, tragic, joyous record of a global culture more relevant today than ever in its 5700-year history.
order now

 Continuing the legacy of Jewish scholarship

Intense scholarship helped sustain Jewish identity through millennia of strife and dispossession. Indeed, Jews were known from ancient times as “People of the Book” in the far-flung lands of the Diaspora.
Nowhere is the enduring legacy of Jewish culture related as comprehensively as in the new second edition of the Encyclopaedia Judaica, which updates the 1972 original honored as one of the best reference works ever published.

Designed for ease of use, with expanded imagery portraying Judaism’s worldwide scope, it’s as ideal for the home as the for finest university libraries.

The 22-volume set is available in a leather-bound gift edition with custom dedication pages. For teaching institutions, a searchable eBook is also available.

Learn more about the Encyclopaedia Judaica »

Encyclopaedia Judaica receives Dartmouth Medal

News
Selected entries view more »
Festivals
The root of חַג is חָגֹג ḥagog, to celebrate, or possibly חוּג ḥug, to go round. It is related to the Arabic ḥajja which means to go on a pilgrimage from which comes ḥajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. Read More »		 Tel Aviv-Jaffa
Heb. תֵּל־אָבִיב-יפָוֹ ), second biggest city in Israel, in the central part of the Coastal Plain, created in 1949 by the merger of Tel Aviv and Jaffa. Tel Aviv itself, the "first all-Jewish city" in modern times, was founded in 1909, originally as a garden suburb of Jaffa... Read More »		 Dance
In the Bible, Mishnah, and Talmud, dance is referred to in various contexts as an important ritualized activity and as an expression of joy. None of these references, however, contain descriptions of how the dancers actually moved. Read More »		 Dietary Laws
The collective term for the Jewish laws and customs pertaining to the types of food permitted for consumption and their preparation. The Hebrew term is kashrut, which is derived from the root כשר ("fit" or "proper"). Read More »