Steven Weitzman is the Abraham M. Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literatures and Ella Darivoff Director of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His books include Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom and Surviving Sacrilege: Cultural Persistence in Jewish Antiquity.

"The great value of the book—and it is substantial—comes not in the destination, but in the journey."---Gary Gilbert, Journal of the American Academy of Religion --- "Readers looking for a simple answer will not find one. Instead, they will find a layered, complex panoply of significant approaches to the origins of Judaism, what Judaism is all about, and how to look at questions of human origins in general." --- "I found the information presented in an easy-to-read narrative, and I could hardly wait for the conclusion. Recommended for academic, synagogue, and personal collections."---Daniel D. Stuhlman, Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews --- "An extraordinarily complex oeuvre written in clear, readable script is certainly something unusual to encounter. Steven Weitzman has achieved this feat, in the monumental task he has set himself."---Emma Klein, Tablet --- "A remarkable model of intellectual curiosity, breadth and depth of knowledge, rigor and candor, [Weitzman's] book is a tour de force." --- "Thoughtful, intricate and wide-ranging."---Devorah Baum, Times Higher Education --- "It is a brilliant book, not only in execution but also in conception. How is it brilliant in conception? As far as I know, it is unique. . . . Among its other virtues, Weitzman's writing has a humility and softness about it that is rare in academic work, making the book a pleasure to read."---David Hillel Ruben, Jewish Chronicle --- "Jews have been around since antiquity, and so their origins are not so easy to lay hold of. As of now, no one can say how and why being a Jew got started. But in his new volume The Origin of the Jews, Steven Weitzman makes a valiant effort to survey some partial answers."---David Mikics, Los Angeles Review of Books --- "Weitzman's courageous and illuminating book is essential reading for anyone who wonders or cares about what it really means to be a Jew."---Jonathan Kirsch, Jewish Journal --- "Weitzman has done his homework; he has read widely and writes well. He has done an excellent job at presenting technical material in an accessible manner. . . . As the subtitle of the book says, we live in a rootless age. People everywhere, not just Jews, seek their roots, their ancestry, their genetic makeup. We yearn to discover who we are; alas, our tools are not always up to the task. But there is pleasure in the pursuit, and we should be grateful to Weitzman for being a reliable guide."---Shaye J.D. Cohen, Moment Magazine --- "An accomplishment for the academy." --- "[A] multicourse intellectual feast. . . . Weitzman's facility with making complex points accessible to the lay reader, and his ease with synthesizing a wide range of research and prior analyses, make this an invaluable resource for both novice and scholar. His rigorous critiques will resonate even for those readers with little or no prior interest in the book’s central questions."" --- "Admirably balanced and dispassionate."---Benjamin Balint, Wall Street Journal --- "Winner of the 2017 National Jewish Book Award in Education and Jewish Identity (In Memory of Dorothy Kripke)"