Norman Solomon "Judaism: A Very Short Introduction"

I did not know much about Judaism chiefly because there are few Jews in Japan. There are some books about world-dominating Jewish conspiracy theory at bookstores that no one would seriously believe. There are also books that say "Learn Jewish way of thinking and become rich" sort of things. Maybe some people seriously read this sort of books. My little knowledge about Judaism came chiefly from a TV series "Evangelion" in the same way I learned Catholicism and Protestantism from OVA "Hellsing". What I mean is that this book is very nice for beginners or lay persons. As an average Japanese sometimes I find it difficult to distinguish those religions and Islamic sects from each other. It is a really nice beginner's guide to Judaism.

普通にユダヤ教の歴史や文化や哲学や風俗や生活を概説している本。一冊でコンパクトに概観できていて、まさしくシリーズの趣旨に沿っている。わたしは多少はキリスト教に詳しいのでまだしもだが、普通の日本人に取っては、ユダヤ教というのは、イスラム教と大して距離感が変わらないんじゃないかと思う。多分、そんな人でも、これを読めば多少は親しみが持てるんじゃないかと思う。世界には色々な宗教や民俗がありますね、というような。