Books in Review
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Jewish identity, far from being a fixed concept anchored to Israel or traditional diaspora narratives, undergoes constant reinvention across global communities and social contexts. Five recent scholarly works illuminate this dynamism while advancing our understanding of contemporary Jewish thought, practice, and meaning-making. Aviv and Shneer's *New Jews: The End of the Jewish Diaspora* examines five distinct manifestations of modern Jewish identity—from Moscow to queer communities to New York's diverse Jewish populations—revealing how today's Jews create autonomous meanings of Jewishness independent of Israel as a defining center. Yarchin's *A History of Biblical Interpretation* breaks new methodological ground by analyzing Jewish and Christian exegetical traditions side by side, uncovering complex intellectual relationships between these communities through their interpretive approaches. Through intimate ethnographic research, Berman's *Dignity Beyond Death* demystifies the Jewish burial preparation ritual of *taharah*, documenting its transformative impact on both practitioners and institutions. The contributors to Kaplan's *The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism* focus specifically on religious rather than ethnic dimensions, tracking historical trends, demographic shifts, and ongoing debates about Judaism's survival in an open society. Feldman's *The Right and the Good* rounds out this scholarly conversation by examining practical Jewish ethics through fourteen essays on everyday moral dilemmas, showcasing the sophistication of rabbinic approaches to contemporary challenges. Together, these works paint a portrait of Jewish identity, interpretation, and ethics as living traditions actively engaging with modern realities.

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Published 2007
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Jonathan Slater