What I'm Reading

JPS Tanakh / The Hebrew Bible

I guess I'll always be reading this for the rest of my life but I have not read it in its entirety (which btw is a goal of mine to complete by the end of this year). 

The Way of Torah: an Intro to Judaism by Jacob Neusner

I checked this out from my school's library when I wanted to learn about Judaism last spring. I never finished it because it was rather dry. 

Conversion to Judaism (forget the author)

I also checked this out from the library last spring. It tells various stories of converts in recent history about why they converted and stories of the conversion process. It was pretty good, though I just skipped around in it a lot. Somewhat outdated. 

The Literary Guide to the Bible edited by Robert Alter

I used this for an English class freshman year. It contains very interesting essays about the Bible (Hebrew and Christian). It gives great insight into the writing and narratives of the Bible. It's not a book of theology by any means but that doesn't mean you can't learn something about the religion of Judaism from it. You'll get more history than anything else. 

Conservative Judaism: The New Century by Neil Gillman

This book contains the history and theology of Conservative Judaism. 

The Jewish Book Of Why by Alfred J. Kolatch

This book is full of brief responses to questions about Jewish beliefs and customs. Fills in some blanks that other Jewish introductions leave out. It's actually the perfect supplement to something like Judaism for Dummies or This Is My G-d.

For the Sake of Heaven and Earth by Rabbi Irving Greenberg

Rabbi Greenberg is a Modern Orthodox Rabbi. He writes about the future of Jewish-Christian relations and how to live together peacefully in the modern world. Seems very important for prospective converts to read since we will be forcing our families to become interfaith. 

Why Be Jewish? by David Wolpe

A more spiritual explanation of Judaism. I read a few pages of it a while ago and haven't been compelled to pick it up since. However, it is recommended on many conversion reading lists so I will probably read it at some point.