• Getting Started
• Finding Books
• Finding Articles
• Web Sites

Getting Started: Selected Reference Works

Begin your research with reference works to find background information, locate statistics and facts, and build a bibliography.

Encyclopaedia Judaica
DS102.8 .E52 2007
Twenty-two volume set updates the first edition, considered to be a classic work. Covers all aspects of Jewish life and knowledge. Lengthy bibliographies accompany most of the articles.

The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion
Ref BM50 .O94 1997
This comprehensive dictionary covers all areas in the field of Judaism in great detail. The articles are written by scholarly authors and contain cross-references and short bibliographies.

The Talmud - The Steinsaltz Edition
Ref BM499.5 .E4 1989
Twenty-two volumes comprise the complete Talmud. The Hebrew text and Rashi's Commentary are accompanied by an English commentary and both literal and expanded translations. Notes in the margins provide additional background information.

Midrash Rabbah
BM517.M6 E54 1983
The complete Midrash is presented here in ten volumes, translated into English with notes, a glossary, and indexes.

The Zohar
BM525.A52 B47 1999
This unabridged English translation of the Zohar includes commentary and fills 22 volumes.

The Anchor Bible Dictionary
Ref BS440 .A54 1992
This six-volume illustrated dictionary contains articles on all aspects of biblical scholarship, including the Hebrew Bible. Entries include cross-references and bibliographies.

Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew
PJ4830 .B38 1960
Eliezer Ben Yehuda's eight-volume dictionary contains definitions and etymological information for words and expressions that were lost in the transition from Ancient to Modern Hebrew.

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Finding Books

Two kinds of books, monographs and essay collections, compose the majority of Gould library's collection. A monograph offers an extended analysis of a given subject by a single author, while an essay collection bring together articles, often by different authors, on related topics.

BRIDGE

In BRIDGE, the shared library catalog for the libraries of Carleton and St. Olaf Libraries:

• Begin with a keyword search and enter words that describe your topic (names, places, events, etc.).
  • When you find a book on your topic, examine its subject headings for relevance to your topic.
  • Click on a hyperlinked subject heading to perform subject heading search and retrieve related books.

• Perform a subject heading search in BRIDGE only if you know a valid Library of Congress subject heading.
  • For example, the term Moses is not a complete subject heading. By using the proper subject heading Moses (Biblical leader) you avoid getting results like Moses Mendelssohn And The Enlightenment.
  • Note that many books relevant to Judaic Studies may be located throughout the collection and with varied subject headings, so these suggestions are starting points.
    

When searching in BRIDGE, it is important to understand that BRIDGE can look for the titles of journals, but not for the articles within those journals.

WorldCat
Search WorldCat, an online catalog for libraries throughout the world, to take your search beyond Northfield.

Call Numbers
Browsing the stacks can help you evaluate the library's collection in a given field of study. The following call number ranges contain works relevant to Judaic studies:

BM1-449 - General Judaism
BM480-488.8 - Pre-Talmudic Jewish literature
BM495-532 - Sources of Jewish religion, rabbinical literature
BM545-582 - Principles of Judaism
BM600-645 - Dogmatic Judaism
BM650-747 - Practical Judaism
BM750-755 - Biography
DS101-151 - History of Israel
PJ4501-5192 - Hebrew language and literature

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Finding Articles

Use databases and indexes to locate articles and book chapters on your topic. Gould Library does not subscribe to all of the titles listed in these resources. If we don't have what you're looking for, take advantage of our InterLibrary Loan Services

Periodical Databases & Indexes

ATLA Religion Database + ATLAS (1949- current)
The American Theological Library Association maintains this database of more than 1,060,000 books, book reviews, essays, and journal articles. Indexed journals focus mostly on Christian traditions, but also cover Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism, Confucianism, and other religious traditions.

ProQuest Religion (1986- current)
This database covers more than 90 leading journals in the field of religion from 1986 to the present. Full text articles date from 1992 forward, full image articles from 1988, and articles with text and graphics from 1996.

RAMBI: Index of Articles on Jewish Studies (1966-current)
Provides selective indexing of thousands of journals and essay collections in Hebrew, Yiddish, and European languages. International in focus.

Religious and Theological Abstracts
Main Reference (1958-2003): Ref BL1 .R286
Scholars from around the world provide these abstracts for more than 400 journals relating to Christianity, Judaism, and other world religions. Abstracts are written in English, although the articles they summarize may not be.

Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) (1975- current)
A&HCI indexes 1,144 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals, many of which focus on Judaic studies. It features current and retrospective bibliographic information, author abstracts, and cited references.

Journals

The following are some important journals to be aware of in the field of Judaic studies. If you need an article from one of them, and Carleton or St. Olaf doesn't own the particular volume you need, place an Interlibrary Loan request for the article(s).

Association for Jewish Studies Review (AJS Review)
Online (1976-2001)
AJS Review is a semi-annual journal featuring book reviews and scholarly articles on subjects from rabbinic texts to modern Jewish literature.

Azure: Ideas for the Jewish Nation
Online (1996-present)
Azure presents a conservative perspective on Jewish and Israeli literature, history, and cultural and intellectual trends.

Conservative Judaism
In Print
This quarterly journal "publishes articles which express a serious, critical inquiry of Jewish texts and traditions, legacy and law; further the quest for a Conservative theology and ideology; and explore today's changing Jewish community."

Hebrew Studies
The National Association of Professors of Hebrew publishes this journal on Hebrew language and literature. It is not available at Carleton or St. Olaf, so you will need to request articles through InterLibrary Loan.

Israel Studies
Online
Israel Studies is a semi-annual journal featuring scholarly articles on Israeli history, politics, society, and culture, as well as essays and reviews of recent research.

Jewish Social Studies
Online
Jewish Social Studies publishes theoretical discussion of and new scholarly approaches to Jewish history and life.

The Journal of Jewish Studies
In Print
This semi-annual journal publishes new research and discussions of Jewish history, literature, and religion. There is also a section for reviews of recent publications.

Judaism: A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life & Thought
In Print and Online (1971-current)
Articles in Judaism promote awareness of Jewish affairs and affirm Jewish religious, cultural, and historic identity.

Prooftexts: a Journal of Jewish Literary History
Online
Prooftexts is a quarterly journal dedicated to the study of Jewish literature, with articles contributed by Israeli and American scholars.

The Reconstructionist
In Print; Online through RRC (1994-2005)
"The Reconstructionist serves as a medium for the continuing development of Reconstructionist ideas, practices, and institutions, by addressing religious, political, social and moral issues of contemporary Jewish life." Each issue of this semi-annual journal presents various perspectives on a chosen theme.

Reform Judaism
In Print; URL
This quarterly journal covers Jewish history, ethics, movements, traditions, texts, and theology from a Reform perspective.

Shofar
Online
This quarterly, interdisciplinary journal of Jewish studies features scholarly articles, opinion pieces, pedagogical essays, and book reviews.

Tikkun: A Bimonthly Jewish Critique of Politics, Culture & Society
In Print and Online
Tikkun publishes articles from a politically liberal point of view, as well as poetry, fiction, and reviews.

Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought
In Print (1981-present)
Tradition features articles, essays, reviews, and surveys of recent literature concerning Orthodox Judaism.

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Web Sites

The Jewish History Resource Center
Scholars from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have organized these links to over 6000 web sites in more than 30 categories dealing with Jewish history.

Judaic Studies
Rutgers University maintains this comprehensive, annotated list of web resources for Judaic studies, most of which are other academic sites.

Torah.org - The Judaism Site
Torah.org hosts Project Genesis, an outreach program seeking to promote education about Jewish identity and Judaism.

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