I am not new to Judaism, but I have a lot to learn…actually, that is an understatement…I have mountains to learn! Essential Judaism is the one book that all people interested in Judaism, whether just in passing, as a potential convert, or as an actual Jew, should own. You will learn about all phases of Jewish life…from prayer, festivals, and how to live Jewishly, to Torah, mysticism, and philosophy. The narrative is very in-depth for such short overviews of all the various subjects and there are also sidebars to further elaborate on some things, including a listing of the entire 613 mitvot from the Torah. This book has been a valuable learning tool for me.

As a Christian, this book has given me some great insight. The chapters on the ritual calendar and life cycle were particularly helpful. Moreover, the discussion on the oral tradition given to Moses and both Babylonian and Palestinian Talmud was excellent.

This book is a starting point. It probably will not answer in any great depth pointed or particular fine points regarding the Jewish faith. It is definitely a survey. However, the bibliography is excellent, and Robinson does an excellent job of naming his sources.

In short, I recommend this book as the place to start. It is well written, enlightening and, from my perspective as a Christian, does a great job in orienting the non-Jewish reader to what is a vast and complex covenantal relationship with God. I recommend it highly.

Over the last few years I’ve read my way through many of the popular “how-to”s and primers of Jewish literacy, books by Telushkin, Donin and Dosick, for example.

George Robinson’s Essential Judaism is by far the best of the lot. Subtitled “A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs, and Rituals,” the book is indeed that and a lot more.

In the course of its 650 pages, the book lucidly explores Jewish worship and practice, sacred literature (Torah, Talmud, other rabbinical works), Kabbalah and mysticism, holidays, life cycle events, dietary laws, and Jewish history and denominationalism.

The treatment Robinson gives such topics as the prayer service, the blessings of daily life, and the evolution of contemporary Judaism is surprisingly deep for a work of this kind.

In particular, his chapters on the mitzvot (“Living a Jewish Life”) and non-Rabbinic Jewish thought (“The Philosophers: The Continuing Evolution of Jewish Thought”), stand out not only for their all-around comprehensiveness, but also for their originality of ideas and presentation.

Essential Judaism is a well-organized and well-indexed book that can be enjoyed read from beginning to end, dipped into arbitrarily, and kept nearby as a handy reference. In just the month or so I’ve had it, I’ve already had several occasions to use it in this last manner, to answer questions or explain references I’ve stumbled over in other books, and it hasn’t failed me yet.

Most books like this are written by rabbis, and some have particular agendas, ideological or religious. I think the very fact that Robinson is not a rabbi but a journalist who immersed himself over several years in the literature and lore of Judaism, processed all this information from all points of view, consulted various authorities and experts, and then found a way to explain it that was both accessible to the general reader yet utterly worthy of the importance and depth of the subject matter, goes far toward explaining why this book instantly arrives as the best one-volume reference to Judaism.

Essential Judaism is a lot more than “Essential.” It’s great. It’ll make gift-giving time – whether birthdays or Bar-Mitzvahs, Chanukah or conversions – a lot easier. And when friends ask for a recommendation for that one book — the one that is, besides THE book — George Robinson’s Essential Judaism will make that a lot easier, too.