Since Fear No Evil was originally published in 1988, the Soviet government that imprisoned Sharansky has collapsed. Sharansky has become an important national leader in Israel—and serves as Israel's diplomatic liaison to the former Soviet Union! New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief Serge Schmemann reflects on those monumental events, and on Sharansky's extraordinary life in the decades since his arrest, in a new introduction to this edition. But the truths Sharansky learned in his jail cell and sets forth in this book have timeless importance so long as rulers anywhere on earth still supress their own peoples. For anyone with an interest in human rights—and anyone with an appreciation for the resilience of the human spirit—he illuminates the weapons with which the powerless can humble the powerful: physical courage, an untiring sense of humor, a bountiful imagination, and the conviction that "Nothing they do can humiliate me. I alone can humiliate myself."

    Narrated by Baruch, a grandson of one of the founding fathers of the village, this lyrical novel transcends time and place by touching on issues of universal relevance, showcasing the skill of a master storyteller who never fails to entertain.

    Naomi Ragen's first novel has been called "one of the too most important Jewish books." Abraham Ha-Levi is a wealthy American businessman and the last male survivor of an important Orthodox Jewish family. He decides it's time he finally honored his religious and cultural inheritance and so forces his 18-year old daughter--the beautiful and intelligent Batsheva--into an arranged marriage. Her new husband is a devout Torah scholar who lives in Jerusalem. Batsheva finds herself plunged into a new life and a strange land, among people who follow their religious laws to the letter. Then she realizes that her husband's piety is merely a mask for his cruelty. A magnificent book that builds up momentum compellingly.

    Mortimer finds that everything his father does embarrasses him until the day he enters a baking contest in Mortimer's class.

    It seems that a demon daughter of the legendary Lilith had made her home in the mirror and would soon completely possess the unsuspecting girl. Such tales of terror and the supernatural occupy an honored position in the Jewish folkloric tradition. Howard Schwartz has superbly translated and retold fifty of the best of these folktales, now collected into one volume for the first time. Gathered from countless sources ranging from the ancient Middle East to twelfth-century Germany and later Eastern European oral tradition, these captivating stories include Jewish variants of the Pandora and Persephone myths and of such famous folktales as The Fisherman and His Wife, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Bluebeard, as well as several tales from the Middle Ages that have never before been published. Focusing on crucial turning points in life--birth, marriage, and death--the tales feature wandering spirits, marriage with demons, werewolves, speaking heads, possession by dybbuks (souls of the dead who enter the bodies of the living), and every other kind of supernatural adversary. Readers will encounter a carpenter who is haunted when he makes a violin from the wood of a coffin; a wife who saves herself from the demoness her husband has inadvertently married by agreeing to share him for an hour each day; and the age-old tale of Lilith, Adam's first wife, who refused to submit to him and instead banished herself from the Garden of Eden to give birth to the demons of the world. Drawn from Rabbinic sources, medieval Jewish folklore, Hasidic texts, and oral tradition, these stories will equally entrance readers of Jewish literature and those with an affection for fantasy and the supernatural.

    

    . . a generation of Central European Jewish intellectuals of an antiauthoritarian political orientation who left a considerable mark on 20th-century radical thought. . . . As Löwy’s subtle and profound book reminds us, their legacy is a rich one.”—American Historical Review

    It is presided over by Emmanuel Sternholz, the proprietor-waiter whose unblinking gaze takes in the tangled web of destinies and desires spun out around him. In this comic, tragic, and compelling mosaic of intertwined lives, Barbara Rogan has created a dazzling work of fiction - and a marvelously illuminating mirror of Israel today. "An inspired, passionate work of fiction." (Kirkus Reviews) "A special book...one you'll remember and want to pass on to a friend." (Erie Times News)

    Clear type, simplified translation and inspiring commentary.

    Almost blind and deaf, a woman mistakes a visiting bear for a rabbi.

    Collected from people of all walks of life, they include parables and allegories about life, luck, and wisdom; tales of magic and wonder; stories about rebbes and their disciples; and tales whose only purpose is to entertain. Long after the culture that produced them has disappeared, these enchanting Yiddish folktales continue to work their magic today.Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

    This path-breaking edition provides as close to a literal translation as possible, following the syntax of Mishnaic Hebrew in its highly formalized and syntactically patterned language. Demonstrating that the Mishnah is a work of careful and formal poetry and prose, Neusner not only analyzes the repeated construction but also divides the thoughts on the printed page so that the patterned language and the poetry comprised in those patterns emerge visually.“With meticulous methodology and with rare stylistic beauty of expression, Neusner. . . has produced an incomparable translation of the Mishnah, both new and innovative, which reflects the genius of the original Hebrew idiom. Neusner penetrates the Tannaitic mind, capturing its spirit, its subtle nuances, and its poetic cadences. . . A most impressive volume which transcends all previous versions of the Mishnah.”—Choice“The overall effect is a linguistic purity and simplicity which strives to capture not only the substance, but the spirit and style of the Mishnah’s universe. . . . An artful and impressive addition. . . . It deserves not only admiration but serious attention as well.”—Charles Raffel, Judaica Book News“The work is significant because for the first time it makes available to student and scholar alike a rendition of the Mishnah which attempts to convey not only the substance of that document, but the highly patterned and formalized language which Neusner believes is the key to comprehending its contents.”—Daniel H. Gordis, Hebrew Studies

    Newman’s readers accompany her quirky Jewish characters through all types of experiences from an initial lesbian sexual encounter to being sequestered in a college apartment after paranoid Holocaust flashbacks. In these stories characters anxiously discover their lesbian identities while beginning to understand, and finally to embrace, their Jewish heritage. The title story, "A Letter to Harvey Milk," was the second place finalist in the Raymond Carver Short Story Competition.

    It is a troy of ingenuity and heroism as well as of horror and destruction. It illuminates the indomitable human spirit as the Jews of Kovno secured food, smuggled children to safety, set up hospitals, and even organised a ghetto orchestra in the face of numbing deprivations and brutality. A gripping account of four years no human could forget.

    Offers highest-quality authorship from respected leaders in their fields. Provides numerous color and black-and-white photos, maps, charts, and timelines. Gives a broader sweep of history, starting at an earlier point and/or ending at a later point than other books on the subject. Adds and updates evidence, analysis, and insights of events, based on developments since the book's first edition. Perfect for adult study groups and Bible groups, and anyone who wants to learn more about Israel's history or needs a refresher course.

    Giving detailed instructions for observance—the rituals, prayers, foods, and songs—he shows how celebrating the holy days of the Jewish calendar not only relives Jewish history but puts one in touch with the basic ideals of Judaism and the fundamental experience of life. Insightful, original, and engrossing, The Jewish Way is an essential volume that should be in every Jewish home, library, and synagogue.

    English and Hebrew on facing pages.

    Idel provides fresh insights into the origins of Jewish mysticism, the relation between mystical and historical experience, and the impact of Jewish mysticism on western civilization.“Idel’s book is studded with major insights, and innovative approaches to the entire history of Judaism, and mastery of it will be essential for all serious students of Jewish thought.”—Arthur Green, New York Times Book Review“Moshe Idel’s original, scholarly, and stimulating study of Kabbalah contains the promise of a masterwork.”—Elie Wiesel“Moshe Idel’s book can help the nonspecialized reader to reconsider the whole of Kabbalistic tradition in comparison with many aspects of contemporary thought.”—Umberto Eco“There can be no dispute about the importance and originality of Idel’s work. Offering a wealth of complementary insights to Gershom Scholem and his school, it will command a great deal of attention and serious discussion.”—Alexander Altmann

    It includes the mystical union, the world of imagination, and concentration as a spiritual technique. The emphasis in the text is on the interaction between the "original" Spanish stage of Kabbalah and Muslim mysticism in the East, mainly in the Galilee. The influence of the Kabbalistic-Sufic synthesis on the later developments of Jewish mysticism is traced, thereby providing a more precise understanding of the history of Kabbalah as an interplay between the theosophical and ecstatic mystical experiences.

    Bob Sjogren unlocks the unifying theme of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation: God redeeming people from every tongue, tribe, and nation.

    Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way teaches the Hebrew found in all Jewish prayerbooks. Designed for students who can read Hebrew words but do not know what they mean, this text explains grammar so simply that the non-academic community can easily understand it. Twenty-one lessons include: Oral reviews Vocabulary lists Prayerbook selections Handy grammar and verb charts Exercises Prayerbook and vocabulary selections are based on several Jewish traditions. This self-paced text is suitable for beginning and intermediate students and is perfect for adult learners. A supplement to this book, Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way Companion Audio Tape Set, is also available.

    A number-one bestseller in Israel, Spinoza and Other Heretics is made up of two volumes--The Marrano of Reason and The Adventures of Immanence. Yirmiyahu Yovel shows how Spinoza grounded a philosophical revolution in a radically new principle--the philosophy of immanence, or the idea that this world is all there is--and how he thereby anticipated secularization, the Enlightenment, the disintegration of ghetto life, and the rise of natural science and the liberal-democratic state.The Marrano of Reason finds the origins of the idea of immanence in the culture of Spinoza's Marrano ancestors, Jews in Spain and Portugal who had been forcibly converted to Christianity. Yovel uses their fascinating story to show how the crypto-Jewish life they maintained in the face of the Inquisition mixed Judaism and Christianity in ways that undermined both religions and led to rational skepticism and secularism. He identifies Marrano patterns that recur in Spinoza in a secularized context: a this-worldly disposition, a split religious identity, an opposition between inner and outer life, a quest for salvation outside official doctrines, and a gift for dual language and equivocation. This same background explains the drama of the young Spinoza's excommunication from the Jewish community in his native Amsterdam. Convention portrays the Amsterdam Jews as narrow-minded and fanatical, but in Yovel's vivid account they emerge as highly civilized former Marranos with cosmopolitan leanings, struggling to renew their Jewish identity and to build a new Jerusalem in the Netherlands.

    Now, for the first time, three of his very best I Can Read Books are together in one volume. Small Pig runs away from his farm because it is too neat and shiny. He wants lots of good, sticky mud. He tries a swamp, a junkyard, and a big city, without any luck. Where can he find what he is looking for?When seven mouse boys are tucked into bed, they ask their papa for a story. He does better than that - he tells them seven Mouse Tales, one for each of them to fall asleep to.When Mother and Father Elephant are lost at sea, their elephant son is left all alone. But not for long. Uncle Elephant comes to the rescue - full of wrinkles, stories, and just the right song for any occasion.Caldecott Medal winner Arnold Lobel is at his very best in this collection of funny and gentle stories perfect for any child just learning to read.

    The status of Hebrew as the natural, intellectual, and primordial language is discussed against the background of the medieval speculations regarding this topic.Abulafia proposed an elaborate hermeneutical system, unique in the whole Kabbalistic literature, for both its systematic exposition and the eccentric exegetical devices it describes. Various versions of this sevenfold system occur in several manuscripts that are collected and analyzed here in detail for the first time.Torah was regarded by Abulafia as the most important text, reflecting the constitution of the intellectual world and being identical with the Active intellect and even to God Himself. On the other hand, Torah was interpreted in Abulafia's Kabbalah as an allegory to the psychological processes of the mystic, an approach different from the regular Kabbalistic interpretation of this text as a symbolic corpus reflecting the divine intrasefirotic life.

    Today, the Jewish population of the former Soviet Union has dwindled to half a million, but remains probably the world's third largest Jewish community. In the intervening century the Jews of that area have been at the center of some of the most dramatic events of modern history -- two world wars, revolutions, pogroms, political liberation, repression, and the collapse of the USSR. They have gone through tumultuous upward and downward economic and social mobility and experienced great enthusiasms and profound disappointments. In startling photographs from the archives of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and with a lively and lucid narrative, A Century of Ambivalence traces the historical experience of Jews in Russia from a period of creativity and repression in the second half of the 19th century through the paradoxes posed by the post-Soviet era. This redesigned edition, which includes more than 200 photographs and two substantial new chapters on the fate of Jews and Judaism in the former Soviet Union, is ideal for general readers and classroom use.

    In Growth Through Torah, Rabbi Pliskin, Director of Aish Hatorah Counseling Center, focuses on practical insights from the weekly Torah readings. Portion by portion, ideas and reflections of great Torah scholars are cited that will enable the reader to grow as a person in many areas of his life. Stories from the lives of Torah giants illustrate how to integrate these concepts. This work is geared for both beginners and scholars, young and old. Educators and speakers will find many practical messages that will enhance their talks. Each idea is concise and appropriate for reading at the Shabbos table.

    

    

    Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hacohen Kook was the first Chief Rabbi of Palestine, and the 20th century's most important Orthodox Jewish mystic.

    Their predominant thought is how slowly the time ticks by and that the service never seems to end.Written for laypeople and clergy of any denomination, The Art of Public Prayer examines how and why religious ritual works and why it often doesn't work.The Art of Public Prayer uses psychology, social science, theology and common sense to explain the key roles played by ritual, symbolism, liturgy and song in services. Each chapter features "conversation points" designed to get you and your faith community thinking and talking about your own worship patterns where they succeed, and where they need improvement.The Art of Public Prayer can help you and your fellow congregants revitalize your worship service by allowing you to organize and direct your own worship, making it a meaningful and fulfilling part of your life."

    It introduced new theological conceptions and innovations in liturgy and religious practice that affected millions of Jews, first in central and Western Europe and later in the United States.Today Reform Judaism is one of the three major branches of Jewish faith. Bringing to life the ideas, issues, and personalities that have helped to shape modern Jewry, Response to Modernity offers a comprehensive and balanced history of the Reform Movement, tracing its changing configuration and self-understanding from the beginnings of modernization in late 18th century Jewish thought and practice through Reform's American renewal in the 1970s.

    The story of Hanukkah complete with candle blessings, rules for playing dreidel and other games, recipes, songs, and thoughts on miracles, giving, and more.

    theology, and program for Messianic Judaism. Helps Christians understand God's plan for the Jewish people and their relationship in the Body. today.

    There are parties, concerts, dinners with everyday life – and death – interwoven in the rich story-telling. An actress, a painter, a set designer, a writer – all sweating and surviving in Manhattan, all scoring their first successes. Part autobiography and part documentary, artfully written, it details the lives of these creative people. Young and professional, they know there is more to life than money. There is trust and the sort of love that trades in deeds of kindness.

    Tryggve Mettinger's much-praised work analyzes the major names for God in the Old Testament to trace, through the many confrontations and challenges of individuals and groups that mark Israel's story, the historical development of Israel's conception of God.

    

    True to these words, Hayom Yom...has become a beloved, classic work and a source of daily spiritual sustenance and inspiration.