Encyclopaedia Judaica

The Encyclopaedia Judaica is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel.

The CD-ROM version has been enhanced by at least 100,000 hyperlinks and several other features, including videos, slide shows, maps, music and Hebrew pronunciations.

Ten volumes from Aach to Lyra appeared before the project halted due to Nazi persecutions.

Advertisers describe it as the result of about three decades of study and research by about 2,200 contributors and 250 editors around the world.

A Shorter Jewish Encyclopedia in Russian, launched in the early 1970s as an abridged translation of the Encyclopaedia Judaica, evolved into a largely independent publication that by late 2005 included eleven volumes and three supplements.

Donald Altschiller of Boston University, writing in Choice, states that the second edition of Encyclopaedia Judaica "has already attained a secure place in the reference pantheon...Essential.

"[14] Barbara Bibel, writing in Booklist, calls the set "a welcome addition to reference collections.

In presenting the award, Edward Kownslar, the chairman of the Dartmouth Medal committee said: "This 22-volume set is an authoritative, interdisciplinary and comprehensive examination of all aspects of Jewish life, history and culture.

In addition to updating all world and political events affecting Jewish life and culture since the early 1970s, 'Judaica' has significantly enhanced biblical studies and the Holocaust from the first edition.