Book Notes

Book Notes BOOK NOTES 201 American Jewish life Amerlcanjewish Orthodoxy in HistoricalPerspective, byJeffrey S. Gurock. Hoboken, NJ: Ktav Publishing House, 1996. 458 pp. $39.50 (c); $22.95 (P). ISBN 0-88125-594-7 (c); 0-88125-567-X (P). Fifteen of Jeffrey Gurock's essays identify and explore the ways that Orthodox Jews responded to the challenges of American freedom, opportunity, and voluntarism. It Happened in the Catskills, by Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer. New York: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1996. 272 pp. $15.00. ISBN 0-15-600238-8. The Catskills were a training ground and showcase for musical and comedic talent. Harvey and Myrna. Frommer have interviewed more than a hundred stars, including Eddie Fisher, lionel Hampton, Jerry Vale, Tony Martin, Allen and Rossi, and Neil Sedaka, for this oral history. The jew in the American World, edited by Jacob Rader Marcus. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1996. 664 pp. $59.95 (c); $24.95 (P). ISBN 0-8143-2547-5 (c); 0-8143-2548-3 (P). This volume is a documentary history ofthe Jewish people in North America from the late sixteenth century to the present. This compilation of previously published archival sources chronicles the evolving domestic, religious, and political experiences ofJews in the American colonies and later the United States. jewish Power: Inside the AmericanjewishEstablishment, byJ. J. Goldberg. New York: Addison-Wesley, 1996. 304 pp. $25.00 (c). ISBN 0-201-622424 . Each election season, candidates spend millions of dollars trying to woo the Jewish vote, even though Jews make up only 2.5 percent of the population. J. J. Goldberg examines the American Jewish political machine and its influence and clout. 202 SHOFAR Fall 1996 Vol. 15, No. 1 Ancient World and Archaeology Tbe Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: Tbe Qumran Texts in English, by Florentino Garda Martinez. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996. 584 pp. $30.00. ISBN 0-8028-4193-7. This is a new English translation ofthe two hundred longest and most important nonbiblical Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran, along with an introduction to the history ofthe discovery and publication ofeach manuscript and the background necessaryfor placing each manuscript in its actual historical context. Early Judaism, by Martin S. Jaffee. New York: Prentice Hall, 1996. 266 pp. $29.00. ISBN 0-13-519323-0. This textbook introduces the reality ofJudaism in ancient times using an approach that is both historical and phenomenological. It treats such communities as the Essenes, the Therapeutae, the Samaritans, and the early Christian communities as examples of Judaism rather than aberrant sects. Each chapter integrates quotations drawn from primary sources. Art, Photography, and Music Crowning Glory: Silver Torah Ornaments of the Jewish Museum, by Raft Grafman and Vivian B. Mann. lincoln, MA: David R. Godine, 1996. 398 pp. $75.00. ISBN 1-56792-068-3. This book describes the nearly 1000 scroll ornaments in the collection of the Jewish Museum in New York and contains over 600 duotones and 33 plates in full color. An essay by Vivian B. Mann, Chair of Judaica at the Museum, traces the history of Torah ornaments during antiquity and the Middle Ages. Another essay, by Raft Grafman, former curator of Judaica at the Israel Museum, analyzes each type of ornament and traces its development in various geographic areas. Tbe Masoretic Chant of the Bible, by Daniel Meir WeiI. Jerusalem: Rubin Mass ltd., 1995. 397 pp. $69.00 (85 N.I.S.). The cantillation signs of the biblical manuscripts transmitted a millennium ago by the Masoretes at Tiberias constitute a central riddle in Jewish musicology. In the present book, the author addresses the questions of the original tune and the occasion of original performance . Book Notes 203 Ta parole fait mes delices (Thy word is my delight), photographs by Dominique Lefevre, text by Fernand Dumont. Nouan Ie Fuzelier, France: Editions des Beatitudes, 1996. 80 pp. 139 FF. ISBN 2·84024-093·9. Photographs of Hassidic Jews in Jerusalem, accompanied by short inspirational texts. (French) Biblical and Rabbinic literature The Beginning of Desire, by Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg. New York: Doubleday, 1996. 456 pp. $15.95. ISBN 0·385·48337-6. The author presents new interpretations of the stories in Genesis. Le Commentaire des Psaumes par...