The Jewish Body by Melvin Konner

The Jewish Body by Melvin Konner

Part of the Jewish Encounter series

A history of the Jewish people from bris to burial, from muscle Jews to nose jobs.

Melvin Konner, a renowned doctor and anthropologist, takes the measure of the Jewish body, considering sex, circumcision, menstruation, and even those most elusive and controversial of microscopic markers-Jewish genes. But this is not only a book that examines the human body through the prism of Jewish culture. Konner looks as well at the views of Jewish physiology held by non-Jews, and the way those views seeped into Jewish thought. He describes in detail the origins of the first nose job, and he writes about the Nazi ideology that categorized Jews as a public health menace on par with rats or germs.

A work of grand historical and philosophical sweep, The Jewish Body discusses the subtle relationship between the Jewish conception of the physical body and the Jewish conception of a bodiless God. It is a book about the relationship between a land-Israel-and the bodily sense not merely of individuals but of a people. As Konner describes, a renewed focus on the value of physical strength helped generate the creation of a Jewish homeland, and continued in the wake of it.

With deep insight and great originality, Konner gives us nothing less than an anatomical history of the Jewish people.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780805242362
ISBN 10	0805242368
Title	The Jewish Body
Author	Melvin Konner
Series	Jewish Encounters Series
Condition	Unavailable
Publisher	Schocken Books
Year published	2009-01-13
Number of pages	304
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.