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The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a 22-volume English-language
encyclopedia
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
of the
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish people,
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
, and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...
of all eras, culture,
holidays
A holiday is a day set aside by Norm (social), custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate ...
,
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
,
scripture
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...
, and
religious teachings. As of 2010, it had been published in two editions accompanied by a few revisions.
The English-language ''Judaica'' was also published on
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...
. The CD-ROM version has been enhanced by at least 100,000 hyperlinks and several other features, including videos, slide shows, maps, music and
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
pronunciations. While the CD-ROM version is still available, the publisher has discontinued it.
The encyclopedia was written by
Israeli
Israeli may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel
* Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel
* Modern Hebrew, a language
* ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008
* Guni Israeli ...
,
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an professional subject specialists.
History
Preceding attempts
Between 1901 and 1906 ''
The Jewish Encyclopedia
''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...
'' had been published in 12 volumes. It was followed by the ''Jüdisches Lexikon I–II'' (1927–28, in German), ''Encyclopaedia Judaica I–II'' (1927–28) and ''Zsidó Lexikon'' (1929, edited by Ujvári Péter, in
Hungarian).
An unfinished German-language ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' was published by
Nahum Goldmann
Nahum Goldmann ( he, נחום גולדמן) (July 10, 1895 – August 29, 1982) was a leading Zionist. He was a founder of the World Jewish Congress and its president from 1951 to 1978, and was also president of the World Zionist Organization from ...
's Eshkol Publishing Society in Berlin 1928–1934. The chief editors were
Jakob Klatzkin
Jakob Klatzkin, Yakov/Jakub Klaczkin ( he, יעקב קלצקין; russian: link=no, Яков Клачкин) (October 3, 1882, Biaroza, Grodno Governorate, now Belarus – March 26, 1948, Vevey, Switzerland) was a Jewish philosopher, publicist, a ...
and
Ismar Elbogen
Ismar Elbogen (September 1, 1874 – August 1, 1943) was a German rabbi, scholar and historian.
Biography
Yitzhak Moshe (Itamar) Elbogen was born in Posen. He was taught by his uncle, Jacob Levy, author of the "'", and then attended the gymn ...
. Ten volumes from ''Aach'' to ''Lyra'' appeared before the project halted due to
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
persecutions.
[ Two Hebrew-language volumes ''A-Antipas'', were also published under the title ''Eshkol'' (Hebrew: ''אשכול''). A few of the articles from the German ''Judaica'' and even some of the ]reparations
Reparation(s) may refer to:
Christianity
* Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation
* Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin
History
*War reparations
**World War I reparations, made from G ...
payments to Goldmann were used in making the English-language ''Judaica''.
First edition
The English-language ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' was first published from 1971–1972 in sixteen volumes, in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
by Keter Publishing House
Keter ( he-a, כֶּתֶר, Keter.ogg, link=yes, ''Keṯer'', lit. " crown") also known as Kether, is the topmost of the sephirot of the Tree of Life in Kabbalah. Since its meaning is "crown", it is interpreted as both the "topmost" of the Se ...
, and in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
by the Macmillan Company
Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
. Between 1973 and 1991 eight "Yearbooks" were published (dated 1973, 1974, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1983–85, 1986–87, 1988–89, and 1990–91) along with two "Decennial" volumes dated 1973–1982 (also published as "Volume 17") and 1983–1992. Together these volumes contained more than 15 million words in over 25,000 articles.
Its general editors were, successively, Cecil Roth
Cecil Roth (5 March 1899 – 21 June 1970) was a British Jewish historian.
He was editor in chief of ''Encyclopaedia Judaica''.
Life
Roth was born in Dalston, London, on 5 March 1899. His parents were Etty and Joseph Roth, and Cecil was the young ...
and Geoffrey Wigoder Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to:
People
* Geoffrey (name), including a list of people with the name
* Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095–c. 1155), clergyman and one of the m ...
. Advertisers describe it as the result of about three decades of study and research by about 2,200 contributors and 250 editors around the world. Contributors included Gershom Scholem
Gershom Scholem () (5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982), was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kaballah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish Myst ...
.
A ''Shorter Jewish Encyclopedia
The ''Shorter Jewish Encyclopedia'' (''SJE''; russian: Краткая еврейская энциклопедия, Kratkaya Yevreyskaya Entsiklopedia) was published in 11 volumes in Jerusalem from 1976 to 2005 in Russian by the Society for Resear ...
'' in Russian, launched in the early 1970s as an abridged translation of the ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', evolved into a largely independent publication that by late 2005 included eleven volumes and three supplements. A number of editions of a version of the English Encyclopaedia for youth were also published.
Because of its comprehensive scope, authority, and widespread availability, the ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' has been recommended by the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
and by the Association of Jewish Libraries
The Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) is an international organization dedicated to the production, collection, organization and dissemination of Judaic resources and library/media/information service. AJL has members in the United States, Can ...
for use in determining the authoritative romanization
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
of names of Jewish authors. Its guidelines for transliterating Hebrew into English are followed by many academic books and journals.
The 1972 edition has generated both positive and negative reviews.[Levy, David B. (2002)]
"The Making of the ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' and the ''Jewish Encyclopedia''"
''Proceedings of the 37th Annual Convention of the Association of Jewish Libraries''.
The word Judaica is commonly used to refer to objects of Jewish art and Jewish ceremonial objects.
Second edition
In July 2003, Thomson Gale
Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007.
The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale Gro ...
announced that it had acquired the rights to publish a second edition of ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', expecting to publish in December 2006 under one of its imprints, Macmillan Reference USA
Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007.
The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale G ...
. The 22-volume work was published on December 30, 2006 and released in January 2007.
Gale has published other substantial revisions of major reference works in the field of religion in recent years, including second editions of ''The Encyclopedia of Religion'' and ''The New Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'' (NCE) is a multi-volume reference work on Roman Catholic history and belief edited by the faculty of The Catholic University of America. The NCE was originally published by McGraw-Hill in 1967. A second edition, ...
''. Together with original publishers Keter Publishing House, Gale has made major updates to many sections of ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' for the new edition, including the entries on the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
, American Jewry
American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who descend from diaspora Je ...
, Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and others.
Fred Skolnik
Fred Skolnik is an American-born writer and editor. Born in New York City, he has lived in Israel since 1963, working mostly as an editor and translator. Best known as the editor in chief of the 22-volume second edition of the ''Encyclopaedia Jud ...
, who served as a co-editor on the original edition of ''Judaica'', was retained as Editor-in-Chief for the 2nd edition. American Holocaust scholar Michael Berenbaum
Michael Berenbaum (born July 31, 1945, in Newark, New Jersey) is an American scholar, professor, rabbi, writer, and filmmaker, who specializes in the study of the Holocaust. He served as deputy director of the President's Commission on the Holo ...
, adjunct professor of theology at the American Jewish University
American Jewish University (AJU), formerly the separate institutions University of Judaism and Brandeis-Bardin Institute, is a Jewish institution in Los Angeles, California.
Its largest component is its Whizin Center for Continuing Education in ...
as well as director of its Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust, serves as the editor for the Holocaust and Americana sections of the encyclopedia and executive editor for the work at large. Judith Baskin
Judith Reesa Baskin (born 1950) is a religious studies scholar at the University of Oregon in the United States. She is Associate Dean for Humanities, Director of the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies, and the Philip H. Knight ...
, University of Oregon Judaic Studies department head, was brought on to supervise improvement of women's studies and gender issues coverage. In total, more than 50 divisional editors, including five winners of the Israel Prize
The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor.
History
The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...
, oversaw contributions from nearly 1,200 scholars and editors. The new edition contains more than 21,000 signed entries, including 2,600 brand-new entries and 12,000 changed entries.["Updated Judaica", ''Dateline World Jewry'', World Jewish Congress Foundation, December 2006/January 2007]
Online edition
, some articles from ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' have been published at Encyclopedia.com
Encyclopedia.com (also known as HighBeam Encyclopedia) is an online encyclopedia. It aggregates information from other published dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference works including pictures and videos.
History
The website was launched by ...
. As of 2022 most of the entries of the 2007 Digital Second Edition of the ''Encyclopaedia'' are accessible by searching th
Encyclopedia.com search engine
directly.
Critical reception and awards
Reviews from library literature have been positive. Donald Altschiller of Boston University, writing in ''Choice'', states that the second edition of ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' "has already attained a secure place in the reference pantheon...Essential."
Barbara Bibel, writing in ''Booklist
''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...
'', calls the set "a welcome addition to reference collections."
Dartmouth Medal
The second edition of the ''Encyclopaedia'' received a number of major awards for excellence, including the 2007 Dartmouth Medal
The Dartmouth Medal of the American Library Association is awarded annually to a reference work of outstanding quality and significance, published during the previous calendar year.
History
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a priv ...
from the American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
, the most prestigious award in the field of reference publishing." In presenting the award, Edward Kownslar, the chairman of the Dartmouth Medal committee said: "This 22-volume set is an authoritative, interdisciplinary and comprehensive examination of all aspects of Jewish life, history and culture. This title is an extensive revision of the first edition, which was published in 1972, and has 2600 new entries. In addition to updating all world and political events affecting Jewish life and culture since the early 1970s, 'Judaica' has significantly enhanced biblical studies and the Holocaust from the first edition. This title has also expanded the area of women's studies."
Other awards
The ''Encyclopaedia'' was also named in the "Best Reference 2007" list by the ''Library Journal
''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...
'', and was added to the list of "Outstanding Reference Sources for Small and Medium-sized Libraries" by the Reference and User Services Association
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) annual Outstanding Reference Sources awards are considered the highest awards honoring academic reference books or media,. Besides these awards, the American Library Association (ALA) also grants ...
of the American Library Association in 2008.[Outstanding Reference Sources]
:
2008 List
. Reference and Users Services Association, Division of the American Library Association. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
References
Citations
Sources
* Biella, Joan.
Authority Work in Ruritania
.
', 2001. In an instructive fantasy, a librarian establishes a work's author's name by using the ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' according to accepted procedure.
* Leiman, Shnayer
* Levy, David B.
The Making of the ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' and the ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
" ''Proceedings of the 37th Annual Convention of the Association of Jewish Libraries'', 2002. A review and comparison of these two encyclopedias as works of scholarship and as library information resources.
* Thomson Gale Publishing.
Gale Acquires a Cultural Treasure: Gale to publish the ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' - first new edition in more than 30 years
, press release July 29, 2003, archived 18 May 2007, at Thomson Gale.
External links
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
to the Encyclopaedia Judaica 2nd edition at Encyclopedia.com
Encyclopedia.com (also known as HighBeam Encyclopedia) is an online encyclopedia. It aggregates information from other published dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference works including pictures and videos.
History
The website was launched by ...
* Ephross, Peter,
New Encyclopaedia Judaica Hits Shelves
, about the Second Edition. Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 24 October 2006
{{Authority control
Cengage books
Jewish encyclopedias
Keter Publishing House books
Macmillan Publishers books