Oxford University Press breaks exciting new ground in the field of study Bibles with The Jewish Study Bible. This innovative volume will, for the first time, offer readers of the Hebrew Bible a resource that is specifically tailored to meet their needs. The JSB presents the center of gravity of the Scriptures where Jews experience it--in Torah. It offers readers the fruits of various schools of Jewish traditions of biblical exegesis (rabbinic, medieval, mystical, etc.) and provides them with a wealth of ancillary materials that aid in bringing the ancient text to life. The nearly forty contributors to the work represent the cream of Jewish biblical scholarship from the world over. The JSB uses The Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation, whose name is an acronym formed from the Hebrew initials of the three sections into which the Hebrew Bible is traditionally divided (Torah, Instruction; Nevi'im, Prophets; and Kethubim, Writings). A committee of esteemed biblical scholars and rabbis from the Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism movements produced this modern translation, which dates from 1985.Unlike other English translations based upon such ancient versions as the Septuagint and Vulgate, which emend the Hebrew text, TANAKH is faithful to the original text. Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Jews, professors, students, rabbis: indeed, anyone interested in acquiring a fuller understanding of the riches of the Hebrew Bible will profit from reading The Jewish Study Bible.

本书以通俗的语言简明扼要地阐述了《塔木德》这一涉及犹太人的生活的方方面面及其繁琐复杂的宗教法典。犹太民族是人类大家庭中的伟大成员之一。她创造了以《圣经》和《塔木德》为代表的灿烂辉煌的希伯莱文化，造就了一大批杰出的思想大师、科学巨匠、政界名流和工商业巨子，为人类的发展和进步做出了卓越的贡献。

本书中所叙述的内容并不仅仅是某种有关迫害、苦难以及学术成就的记载；而屠杀的血腥与文学的优美也并非像迄今为止的所有作品那样，机械地交替流溢于书面之间。它更像是一部社会的历史。我尽力去展现普通犹太人的本来面目——他们如何开始那咱与众不同的经历，取得了一些什么样的成就，他们都从事什么职业以及缘何会从事那些职业，是什么原因造成了他们目前的分布状态和活动方式，以及同他们普遍相联系的形形色色的特点又是如何发生演变的，等等。当然，文学与精神生活也没有忽视，因为就犹太人而言，这样一种遗漏实在要比在其他的历史领域中的同样的情况下更加不可原谅。但是，本人尽力而为地用他们自己的特有的视角去展示他们所经历的包括悲剧性迫害在内的一切——并不是仅仅作为一种民族实体的存在，而是作为这种存在的各个方面。