These Pictures That We're Going To Paint...

Hey! So I know there are a few of these floating around but Ifelt it necessary to make my own post of what I consider essential websites, books, and other resources for learning about Judaism + a little note with what kind of info it has. The name of each should have a link.

Websites:

My Jewish Learning - pulls articles from several branches of Judaism. Really useful for gathering pockets of information on a variety of topics, & sometimes goes super in-depth. Loads of articles with words to know for certain times of year and they have a related website with recipes. 

JewFAQ - written by an Orthodox Jew, so obviously comes from an Orthodox perspective but occasionally mentions when the standards are different in other branches. Generally really good information & each page has a rating to tell you if a beginner would be likely to struggle with the topic or not and a few important notes at the top.

Chabad.org - also from a more Orthodox perspective. Great if you’re looking for the stricter interpretation of halacha (Jewish law) & has a /lot/ of information. Almost all words that may require further reading for understanding will have a link to another article.

ReformJudaism.org - obviously, Reform (liberal Judaism). Will go in detail on the generally accepted Reform perspective on several topics

JewishRecon - Reconstructionist Judaism (in terms of liberal - conservative, it’s generally less liberal than Reform Judaism). I don’t have much experience with this site personally.

JewishVirtualLibrary - I linked to the page on Conservative Judaism, but Jewish Virtual Library has a wide range of information, generally (in my experience with it) from the more historical perspective

CoffeeShopRabbi - Generally short blogs addressing pretty much every question you may have, all written by a female Rabbi. She’s also pretty good about responding to comments and tweets so I wouldn’t hesistate to reach out to her.

Books:

(check libraries, synagogues, and jewish used books before buying brand new books! books can be so expensive!)

Judaism’s 10 Best Ideas - a really short intro text to some of the major concepts in Judaism

Aleph Isn’t Tough series - intro to Biblical and prayer Hebrew (yes, it is a bit different from Modern Hebrew)

Essential Judaism - an overview of Jewish beliefs & practices

Finding G-d: Selected Responses - a short but kind of dense series of essays on Jewish concepts of G-d

Jewish Feminists - a compilation of interviews and writings on/about second-wave feminists who also identify as Jews

Living a Jewish Life - aimed more at families, but Anita Diamant is kind of one of those authors a lot of converts read at some point

Choosing a Jewish Life - Diamant’s book aimed at converts

Seasons of Our Joy - recommended to me by my Rabbi “but a bit mystical,” she told me. I really loved it and it was a good book for learning about the holidays

Videos:

BimBam (formerly G-dcast) - a series of short videos going over the basics of Judaism

Jewish Music Toronto - literally how I learned the song Dayenu for Passover. Good resource if you’re looking for Jewish music basics

Jewish.tv - Chabad’s website for Jewish videos

Questions to Start:

Looking into Judaism can be really overwhelming, so here are a few questions I have had and seen others ask, along with links to get you started looking (but please, keep reading beyond these!)

- What do Jews believe? 

- What are the Jewish sacred texts? 

- What are the Jewish holidays? 

- Why do the dates of holidays change every year (on the secular calendar)?

- What is kosher? Why follow these laws?