SJSU Research Guides: Humanities: Books and eBooks

Jewish Studies Collection at SJSU

Donations from Retired Rabbi Steven Kaplan's personal library serve as the foundation for SJSU's Jewish Studies Collection

Encyclopaedia Judaica [electronic resource]
Fred Skolnik, editor-in-chief ; Michael Berenbaum, executive editor.

Encyclopaedia of Judaism This link opens in a new window
This unique reference tool offers an authoritative, comprehensive, and systematic presentation of the current state of scholarship on fundamental issues of Judaism, both past and present. While heavy emphasis is placed on the classical literature of Judaism and its history, it also includes principal entries on contemporary issues. This subscription is supported by an NEH Challenge Grant: "Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this database do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities."

Jewish Encyclopedia.com
JewishGen Vizkor Book Project
Yizkor (Memorial) Books are some of the best sources for learning about Jewish communities in Eastern and Central Europe. Groups of former residents, or landsmanshaftn, have published these books as a tribute to their former homes and the people who were murdered during the Holocaust. The majority of these books were written in Hebrew or Yiddish, languages that many contemporary genealogists cannot read or understand.
The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe
The only resource of its kind, this encyclopedia provides the most complete picture of the history and culture of Jews in Eastern Europe from the beginnings of their settlement in the region to the present. This Web site makes accurate, reliable, scholarly information about East European Jewish life accessible to everyone.

New York Public Library: Yizkor Books Online
The New York Public Library's Digital Yizkor Book Viewer provides page-turner technology to read or consult crystal-clear digital images of complete Holocaust memorial books, exactly as issued. 650 of the 700 postwar yizkor books at The New York Public Library are accessible online in their entirety.
The National Library of Israel Qiryat Sefer
"Qiryat Sefer" - the national bibliography of the State of Israel and of the Jewish people - was established in 1925. The aim of the bibliography is to document every Israeli publication in all languages and on all subjects, deposited in the Jewish National and University Library - the National Library of Israel.
The Jewish Virtual Library
The Jewish Virtual Library is the most comprehensive online Jewish encyclopedia in the world, covering everything from anti-Semitism to Zionism. So far, more than 13,000 articles and 6,000 photographs and maps have been integrated into the site. The Library has 13 wings: History, Women, The Holocaust, Travel, Israel & The States, Maps, Politics, Biography, Israel, Religion, Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress, Vital Statistics and Reference.