Why does such a small country speak to so many global concerns? More pressingly: Why does Israel make the decisions it does? And what lies in its future?We cannot answer these questions until we understand Israel’s people and the questions and conflicts, the hopes and desires, that have animated their conversations and actions. Though Israel’s history is rife with conflict, these conflicts do not fully communicate the spirit of Israel and its people: they give short shrift to the dream that gave birth to the state, and to the vision for the Jewish people that was at its core. Guiding us through the milestones of Israeli history, Gordis relays the drama of the Jewish people’s story and the creation of the state. Clear-eyed and erudite, he illustrates how Israel became a cultural, economic and military powerhouse—but also explains where Israel made grave mistakes and traces the long history of Israel’s deepening isolation.With Israel, public intellectual Daniel Gordis offers us a brief but thorough account of the cultural, economic, and political history of this complex nation, from its beginnings to the present. Accessible, levelheaded, and rigorous, Israel sheds light on the Israel’s past so we can understand its future. The result is a vivid portrait of a people, and a nation, reborn.

    With the Nazi Party at the height of its power, the occupying army empties Poland’s towns and cities of their Jewish populations. As neighbor turns on neighbor and survival often demands unthinkable choices, Poland has become a moral quagmire—a place of shifting truths and blinding ambiguities.Blending folklore and fact, Helen Maryles Shankman shows us the people of Wlodawa, a remote Polish town: we meet a cold-blooded SS officer dedicated to rescuing the creator of his son’s favorite picture book, even as he helps exterminate the artist’s friends and family; a Messiah who appears in a little boy’s bedroom to announce that he is quitting; a young Jewish girl who is hidden by the town’s most outspoken anti-Semite—and his talking dog. And walking among these tales are two unforgettable figures: the enigmatic and silver-tongued Willy Reinhart, Commandant of the forced labor camp who has grand schemes to protect “his” Jews, and Soroka, the Jewish saddlemaker and his family, struggling to survive.

    Mrs. Goldman always knits hats for everyone in the neighborhood, and Sophia, who thinks knitting is too hard, helps by making the pom-poms. But now winter is here, and Mrs. Goldman herself doesn’t have a hat—she’s too busy making hats for everyone else! It’s up to Sophia to buckle down and knit a hat for Mrs. Goldman. But try as Sophia might, the hat turns out lumpy, the stitches aren’t even, and there are holes where there shouldn’t be holes. Sophia is devastated until she gets an idea that will make Mrs. Goldman’s hat the most wonderful of all. Readers both young and old will relate to Sophia’s frustrations, as well as her delight in making something special for someone she loves.A knitting pattern is included in the back of the book.

    It seems like something we already know. But do we? Questions haunt the careful reader. Among them: Doesn't the name Passover seem a bit strange? Why not just call it Freedom Day, or Independence Day? And did the Exodus have to be so complicated? Couldn't an All-Powerful deity have teleported the Israelites out of Egypt and spared everyone the arduous process of the Ten Plagues? Then there's the uncomfortable parts of the Exodus: Why, exactly, did God have to harden Pharaoh's heart? Was that really fair? In this book, Rabbi Fohrman invites us to look at the Exodus story with fresh eyes - to join him, as it were, on a guided adventure, a close reading of the ancient Biblical text. In so doing, Rabbi Fohrman reveals a side of the Exodus story that illuminates not just our past, but our future, and tells not only of our freedom, but of our destiny. This book will uncover secrets that lay hidden in this ancient and sacred saga; it tells the tale of the Exodus you thought you knew.

    In a Jewish settlement a young woman is about to embark upon her destiny. Her father has arranged a marriage for her and she must comply with his wishes. She has never seen her future husband and she knows nothing about him. Michal’s destiny lies in the hands of fate. On the night of her wedding she is terrified but her mother assures her that she will be alright. Her mother explains that it is her duty to be a good wife, to give her husband children and always to obey him. However, although her mother and her mother’s mother before her had lived this way, this was not to be Michal’s destiny. Terrible circumstances would force Michal to leave her home and travel to the city of Berlin during the Weimar period where she would see and experience things she could never have imagined. Having been a sheltered religious girl she found herself lost and afraid trying to survive in a world filled with contrasts. Weimar Berlin was a time in history when art and culture were exploding, but it was also a period of depravity and perversions. Fourteen tumultuous years passed before the tides began to turn for the young girl who had stood under the canopy and said “I do” to a perfect stranger. Michal was finally beginning to establish her life However, the year was 1933, and Michal was still living in Berlin. Little did she know that Adolf Hitler was about to be appointed Chancellor of Germany and that would change everything forever.

    Even people who have tried other books without success have learned to read Hebrew using this book. Here's what makes it different: * Fun memory tricks make it super simple to remember the sounds of the letters * Pace - The book is divided into 12 simple lessons. Two a week for 6 weeks. * The cheerful style of the book is great for adults and children alike. * From week one you are given words you can read from the Hebrew Bible! * The charming illustrations make learning Hebrew a pleasure. At the end of six weeks you WILL be able to read from the original Hebrew Bible, Psalms or the Siddur (Jewish prayer book) and you will have taken the first big step towards learning the Hebrew Language!

    Believing the Hebrew Bible to be the ultimate blueprint for Western morality, Rabbi Sacks embarks upon an ethical exploration of the weekly Torah portion, uncovering its message of truth and justice, dignity and compassion, forgiveness and love. "

    Her heart was open even wider than her doorway, and somehow every Jew - thousands and thousands of them - found a beloved place in it. That was Rebbetzin Henny Machlis.Henny was a girl from Brooklyn - Idealistic, friendly, down to earth, lots of fun. In Sara Yoheved Rigler's masterwork, Emunah with Love and Chicken Soup, we see how this "typical" American Jewish girl transformed herself into a legend - a holy woman who many believe was the Sarah Imeinu (Sarah, our Matriarch) of our time. If you've ever spent time in Jerusalem, you have probably heard of the legendary Machlis hospitality, how they fit 100-150 (and sometimes more) people in a Yerushalayim (Jerusalem)-sized living room, how Henny would prepare for every Shabbos (Sabbath) forty chickens, three different kugels, countless salads, four desserts, and, of course, gefilte fish, chicken soup, and cholent (stew) - both traditional and vegetarian.But as Rigler, a friend of Henny's, discovered as she interviewed Henny's fourteen children, relatives, students, and friends, the Shabbos hospitality was just one glowing facet of the multifaceted diamond that was Rebbetzin Henny Machlis.A master of prayer, a virtuoso in chessed (loving-kindness), an adept in child-rearing, a wise Torah teacher, an expert at working on middos (character traits), and a successful shadchannit (matchmaker), Henny Machlis regarded a life of Torah and mitzvos (Torah-commandments) as a great treasure that she was eager to share with everyone.And her emunah (faith)? That was where her light shone the most brightly. She lived, everyone said, on the planet of Emunah, a place where miracles were everyday occurrences, because she knew, really knew, that only Hashem (G-d) is in charge and He can do anything. And, for Henny, He often did.Like a steaming bowl of chicken soup, this book will satisfy you, comfort you, and heal you - in a way that only Rebbetzin Henny Machlis could. Sip it. Savor it. And be inspired and transformed.

    Every day, parents are bombarded by demands. The pressures of work and life are relentless; our children’s needs are often impossible to meet; and we rarely, if ever, allow ourselves the time and attention necessary to satisfy our own inner longings. Parenthood is difficult, demanding, and draining. And yet, argues Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, if we can approach it from a different mindset, perhaps the work of parenting itself can offer the solace we seek.Rooted in Judaism but incorporating a wide-range of religious and literary traditions, Nurture the Wow asks, Can ancient ideas about relationships, drudgery, pain, devotion, and purpose help make the hard parts of a parent’s job easier and the magical stuff even more so? Ruttenberg shows how parenting can be considered a spiritual practice—and how seeing it that way can lead to transformation. This is a parenthood book, not a parenting book; it shows how the experiences we have as parents can change us for the better.Enlightening, uplifting, and laugh-out-loud funny, Nurture the Wow reveals how parenthood—in all its crazy-making, rage-inducing, awe and joy-filled moments—can actually be the path to living fully, authentically, and soulfully.

    Anna, a young Jewess from Salonika, has gone to live in Athens. Trained as a doctor, Anna knows if the German army invades, she will no longer be allowed to practice medicine at the hospitals. With great anguish, Anna masks her faith and her vocation to live as a Christian and avoid arousing any suspicion. Anna falls in love with Alexander, an Orthodox Christian. Documenting the terrible brutal occupation of Greece by the Nazis, Hidden in Plain Sight shines a light on the plight of Greece’s Jews and the brave attempts of the Archbishop of Athens to protect them. Carefully researched and expertly plotted, this novel’s attention to detail and compelling characters will appeal to fans of historical fiction and those of Jewish faith or Greek heritage. This book is similar to The Lost Wife by Alyson Richmond.

    (Free online)Exceptional situations call for exceptional husbands.

    What we cannot lose.A sweeping masterwork of love and loss, secrets and survival, On the Sickle's Edge is told through the voices of three characters who lay bare their family's saga: the endearing, scrappy South-African born Lena, transported to Latvia and later trapped in the USSR; her granddaughter Darya, a true Communist whose growing disillusionment with Soviet ideology places her family at mortal risk; and Steven, a painter from Boston who inadvertently stumbles into the tangled web of his family's past. Against the roiling backdrop of twentieth-century Russia and Eastern Europe, the novel delivers equal parts historical drama, political thriller and poignant love story.On the Sickle's Edge takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride through some of the most tumultuous events of the 20th century. Instantly immersed in seven generations of the Shtein family, we witness their exhilarating celebrations and provocative controversies, and gain an intimate understanding of the pivotal events in South Africa, Latvia and the Soviet Union. Neville Frankel's ability to combine historical insight and human passion is spellbinding. I couldn't put it down. --Pamela Katz, The Partnership: Brecht, Weill, Three Women, and Germany on the BrinkIn the hands of a masterful storyteller, On the Sickle's Edge pits the weight of an oppressive regime against individual tenacity and profound personal courage. Inspired by Frankel's own family history, this multi-generational epic holds up a mirror to a universal truth: all immigrants face the powerful tension between assimilation and cultural identity. We have--all of us--lived life on the edge of the sickle. --Rabbi Andrew Baker, Director of International Jewish Affairs, American Jewish Committee

    The People and the Books shows how central questions and themes of our history and culture are reflected in the Jewish literary canon: the nature of God, the right way to understand the Bible, the relationship of the Jews to their Promised Land, and the challenges of living as a minority in Diaspora. Adam Kirsch explores eighteen classic texts, including the biblical books of Deuteronomy and Esther, the philosophy of Maimonides, the autobiography of the medieval businesswoman Glückel of Hameln, and the Zionist manifestoes of Theodor Herzl. From the Jews of Roman Egypt to the mystical devotees of Hasidism in Eastern Europe, The People and the Books brings the treasures of Jewish literature to life and offers new ways to think about their enduring power and influence.

    In Mamaleh Knows Best, Tablet Magazine columnist Marjorie Ingall smashes this tired trope with a hammer. Blending personal anecdotes, humor, historical texts, and scientific research, Ingall shares Jewish secrets for raising self-sufficient, ethical, and accomplished children. She offers abundant examples showing how Jewish mothers have nurtured their children’s independence, fostered discipline, urged a healthy distrust of authority, consciously cultivated geekiness and kindness, stressed education, and maintained a sense of humor. These time-tested strategies are the reason Jews have triumphed in a wide variety of settings and fields over the vast span of history. Ingall will make you think, she will make you laugh, and she will make you a better parent. You might not produce a Nobel Prize winner, but you’ll definitely get a great human being.

    Explore the years between The Pharaoh's Daughter and Miriam.

    But those ten people would be wrong. Jesus wasn't a Christian. Jesus lived and died as a Jew. Understanding the Jewishness of Jesus is the secret to knowing him better and understanding his message in the twenty-first century.Walking through Jesus' life from birth to death, Rabbi Evan Moffic serves as a tour guide to give Christians a new way to look at familiar teachings and practices that are rooted in the Jewish faith and can illuminate our lives today. Moffic gives fresh insight on how Jesus' contemporaries understood him, explores how Jesus' Jewishness shaped him, offers a new perspective on the Lord's Prayer, and provides renewed appreciation for Jesus' miracles.In encountering his Jewish heritage, you will see Jesus differently, gain a better understanding of his message, and enrich your own faith.

    Never one to miss an opportunity for genealogical research;methodical and meticulous Molly plans a side trip to Ukraine. Intriguingly, her mother, Judith, evokes a favorite Yiddish proverb, 'Man plans and God laughs.' If Judith had her way, her daughter would still be dressing up in fairy wings and princess crowns- collecting wild flowers and connecting with her spiritual energy, but for Molly; making plans and compiling data came as second nature. She and her father had delighted in spending long, cozy, afternoons cuddled in the library studying ancient family history. David Abramovitz began recounting tales of great-grandparents trekking across Mother Russia when his daughter was still quite young. Captivated, Molly learned how her relatives boarded a ship and sailed across the ocean to reach the shores of Argentina. Now, at last, Molly's plans are coming to fruition. Her trek to her ancestral home leads her to an accidental discovery of a mythical tarot card. Will the life lessons revealed on this enchanted journey shake up her staid and uncomplicated life? Only time will tell.

    At the behest of his agent, renowned author Yoel Blum reluctantly agrees to visit his birthplace of Amsterdam to meet with his Dutch publisher, despite promising his late mother that he would never return to that city. While touring the Jewish Museum with his wife, Yoel stumbles upon a looping reel of photos offering a glimpse of pre-war Dutch Jewish life, and is astonished to see the youthful face of his beloved mother staring back at him, posing with her husband, Yoel’s older sister, Nettie…and an infant he doesn’t recognize.This unsettling discovery launches him into a fervent search for the truth, revealing Amsterdam’s dark wartime history and the underground networks which hid Jewish children away from danger—but at a cost. The deeper into the past Yoel digs, the better he understands his mother’s silence, and the more urgent the question that has unconsciously haunted him for a lifetime—Who am I?—becomes. Evocative, insightful, and deeply resonant, House on Endless Waters beautifully illustrates the complex nature of identity and belonging, and the inextricability of past and present.

     “Your Name is Love” An energetic royal guard takes her artist wife on a scavenger hunt around the city so she can stop having artist’s block about the lesbian graphic novel she’s supposed to make for the queen. “No Whining” Trans woman Chef Yael dithers over whether to switch wine sellers, at the urging of her husband Aaron, when her regular vendor is incompetent but the delivery girl is a trusted ally. “Every Us” A prince with anxiety is comforted in the arms of his partner when he wakes up from a nightmare. “Take Time to Stop and Eat the Roses” A trans teenager and his girlfriend go on a midnight quest for flowers for her sister’s wedding. “The Generous Princess” A royal family with two moms and two dads puts their own special twist on celebrating Purim. And now, bundled with Tales from Outer Lands, two contrasting stories of heroic Jewish womanhood: “Rivka in Port Saltspray” Trapped in a seedy port town because an innkeeper is holding her shapeshifting dragon-horse hostage until she can pay all the charges he invented, nomadic warrior Rivka finally has a chance at some decent money when a wealthy but weak man hires her to rescue his fiancée. But she has to think on her feet when she learns there may be more at stake. “Aviva and the Aliens” On the night before the royal Passover seder, Aviva has to outsmart the aliens who abducted her to cook for them because they had grown sick of their spaceship's food replicators. Will she get home before Queen Shulamit wakes up and panics from her absence?

    Bronfman's clarion call to a generation of secular, disaffected, and unaffiliated Jews, this book addresses the most critical question confronting Judaism worldwide. Completed in December 2013, just weeks before he passed away, Why Be Jewish? expresses Edgar Bronfman's awe, respect, and deep love for his faith and heritage. Bronfman walks readers through the major tenets and ideas in Jewish life, fleshing out their meaning and offering proof texts from the Jewish tradition gleaned over his many years of study with some of the greatest teachers in the Jewish world. With honesty, poignancy, and passion, Bronfman shares in Why Be Jewish? insights gleaned from his own personal journey and makes a compelling case for the meaning and transcendence of a secular Judaism that is still steeped in deep moral values, authentic Jewish texts, and a focus on deed over creed or dogma.

    Sequel to Further Arguments In Support of Yudah Cohen's Proposal to Bluma Zilberman, in which Bluma's cousin Shaina is deeply embarrassed to discover herself in need of rescue from supernatural danger (especially if rescue comes in the form of annoying cousins)

    Combining the inventive spirit of a new generation and respect for their culinary tradition, they present more than a hundred recipes pulled deep from the kitchens of Eastern Europe and the diaspora community of North America. Their recipes highlight the best of Ashkenazi home and storefront cuisine, tapping into the enduring Jewish values of resourcefulness and seasonality.Drawing inspiration from aromatic Jewish bakeries (Classic Challah with a Marble Rye Twist, Seeded Honey Rye Pull-Apart Rolls), neighborhood delis (Home-Cured Corned Beef and Pastrami, Rustic Matzo Balls, and Old World Stuffed Gefilte Fish), old-fashioned pickle shops (Crisp Garlic Dilly Beans, Ashkenazi Kimchi), and, of course, their own childhood kitchens, Yoskowitz and Alpern rediscover old-world food traditions, helping you bring simple and comforting recipes into your home.Dishes like Spiced Blueberry Soup, Kasha Varnishkes with Brussels Sprouts, and Sweet Lokshen Kugel with Plums celebrate flavors passed down from generation to generation in recipes reimagined for the contemporary kitchen. Other recipes take a playful approach to the Old World, like Fried Sour Pickles with Garlic Aioli and Sour Dill Martinis.The Gefilte Manifesto is more than a cookbook. It’s a call to action, a reclamation of time-honored techniques and ingredients, from the mind-blowingly easy Classic Sour Dill Pickles to the Crispy Honey-Glazed Chicken with Tsimmes. Make a stand. Cook the Manifesto. The results are radically delicious.

    Providing an accessible guide through the journey of t'shuvah (repentance) and cheshbon hanefesh (self-reflection), it bridges the personal and the communal, as well as the ritual and the ethical dimensions of Yamim HaNoraim. From feelings of awe to moments of solace, from the solitude of contemplation to the solidarity of song and worship, Mishkan HaNefesh inspires a multifaceted experience through the High Holy Days while embracing both the rich liturgical voices of the Jewish past and the aspirations of our people today. Special Features - Fully transliterated liturgy - Expanded options for Torah readings - Study texts that provide background and context - Contemporary poetry and alternative readings - Rich commentary drawing from Jewish tradition - A range of theological possibilities - New translations that capture the beauty of the Hebrew - Original woodblock art by acclaimed artist Joel Shapiro - Includes essays by the leading Reform Movement thinkers This ebook is the Yom Kippur volume only. The Rosh HaShanah volume is also available via Kindle.

    Two delicious recipes. And one granddaughter caught in the middle!Sophie loves Bubbe's Jewish chicken soup, made with kreplach. She also loves Nai Nai's Chinese chicken soup, with wonton. But don't tell Bubbe and Nai Nai that their soups are the same! Can Sophie bring her whole family together for a warm and tasty surprise?An inclusive look at a multicultural family, and a little girl's unique approach to combining her family's traditions. The book includes three chicken soup recipes at the end.[T]he good feelings (and good tastes) that it brings to mind are cooked just right for families like Sophie's--and everyone else--to enjoy.--Kirkus ReviewsThis family's story, lovingly depicted in the colorful illustrations, should resonate across cultures.--The Horn Book GuideThis is a wonderful book both for multiethnic families and for developing sensitivity to multiethnic families as well as for anyone interested in cultural similarities in food. Watercolor and pencil illustrations are cheery and bright, with wonderful endpapers which enhance the book's artistic feel.--Jewish Book Council

    Is that too much to ask?Evidently so for Joel, as he tries to survive Hannukah, 1971 in the suburbs of the suburbs of Los Angeles (or, as he calls it, “The Land of Shriveled Dreams”). That’s no small task when you’re a “seriously funny-looking” twelve-year-old magician who dreams of being his own superhero: Normalman. And Joel’s a long way from that as the only Jew at Bixby School, where his attempts to make himself disappear fail spectacularly. Home is no better, with a family that’s not just mortifyingly embarrassing but flat-out broke. That’s why Joel’s betting everything on these eight nights, to see whether it’s worth believing in God or miracles or anything at all. Armed with his favorite jokes, some choice Yiddish words, and a suitcase full of magic tricks, he’s scrambling to come to terms with the world he lives in—from hospitals to Houdini to the Holocaust—before the last of the candles burns out.No wonder his head is spinning: He’s got dreidels on the brain. And little does he know that what’s actually about to happen to him and his family this Hanukkah will be worse than he’d feared . . . And better than he could have imagined.

    November's beautiful and profound meditations on work and family life, and the intersections of the sacred and the secular, invite the reader--regardless of background--to imaginatively inhabit a life of religious devotion in the midst of our society's commotion.

    OUTCASTS WILL RISE.The Priesthood is in disarray. The House of God has been dismantled. The scattered Twelve Tribes are surrounded on all sides by stronger, more technologically advanced enemies, ready to invade. Will the Chosen People be “wiped off the map?” In this epic tale of faith-based historical fiction, the fate of a nation hangs in the balance as three men struggle for the soul of ancient, Iron Age Yisra’el.Shemu’el: the wise and respected Seer finds himself at odds with the will of the people. They want to replace the rule of Yahweh with the rule of man.Sha’ul: the strong and handsome first King of Yisra’el. Hailed a savior and unifier of the nation, can the King overcome the temptations of absolute power or will he fall into darkness?David: the young shepherd who becomes a legendary Hero, betrothed to the princess. But with great success comes many enemies, and the warrior-poet soon finds himself in a desperate fight for survival.What readers are saying about Kings of the Promised Land:“I actually felt as if these events were unfolding right before me.”“Tolkien-esque.”“A Judeo-Christian Game of Thrones.”“Makes the scarlet thread that weaves all scripture together come alive for me!”“A masculine work of Biblical fiction.”

    With each chapter revolving around a single theme (Narratives, Sinais, Zions, Messiahs, Laws, Mysticisms, Cultures, Movements, Genocides, Powers, Borders, and Futures) this introductory textbook interrogates and broadens readers’ understandings of Jewish communities. Written for a new mode of teaching—one that recognizes the core role that identity formation plays in our lives—this book weaves together alternative and marginalized voices to illustrate how Jews have always been in the process of reshaping their customs, practices, and beliefs. Judaisms is the first book to assess and summarize Jewish history from the time of the Hebrew Bible through today using multiple perspectives.   Ideal for classroom use, Judaismsprovides a synthetic and coherent alternative understanding of Jewish identity for students of all backgrounds;focuses on both the history of and potential futures for physical and ideological survival;includes an array of engaging images, many in color;offers extensive online resources including notes, key terms, a timeline of major texts, and chapter-by-chapter activities for teaching.

    Assuming responsibility for the future of the Torah, the sages set about bringing it out of the Temple and into everyday life, determined to keep it alive in a world of change. In his commentary to Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg mines the book for the religious and ethical wisdom, the humility and the courage, the staunch traditionalism and the bold innovation that guided the sages through this tempestuous era. Framed by thumbnail sketches of the lives and times of the sages, the book's line-by-line commentary offers an original reading of Pirkei Avot, applying its teachings to the questions and challenges of our rapidly changing world.

    Providing an accessible guide through the journey of t'shuvah (repentance) and cheshbon hanefesh (self-reflection), it bridges the personal and the communal, as well as the ritual and the ethical dimensions of Yamim HaNoraim. From feelings of awe to moments of solace, from the solitude of contemplation to the solidarity of song and worship, Mishkan HaNefesh inspires a multifaceted experience through the High Holy Days while embracing both the rich liturgical voices of the Jewish past and the aspirations of our people today. Special Features - Fully transliterated liturgy - Expanded options for Torah readings - Study texts that provide background and context - Contemporary poetry and alternative readings - Rich commentary drawing from Jewish tradition - A range of theological possibilities - New translations that capture the beauty of the Hebrew - Original woodblock art by acclaimed artist Joel Shapiro - Includes essays by the leading Reform Movement thinkers This ebook is the Rosh HaShanah volume only. The Yom Kippur volume is also available via Kindle.

    Stories of the past and fear of annihilation in the wars of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s shaped her perceptions and identity. In America, she met a Palestinian woman who had grown up under Israeli Occupation, and as they shared memories of war years in Jerusalem, an unlikely friendship blossomed.A Land Twice Promised delves into the heart of one of the world’s most enduring and complex conflicts. Baum’s deeply personal memoir recounts her journey from girlhood in post­-Holocaust Israel to her adult encounter with “the other.” With honesty, compassion, and humor, she captures the drama of a nation at war and her discovery of humanity in the enemy.  Winner of the 2017 Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award, among others, this compelling memoir demonstrates the transformative power of art and challenges each reader to take the first step toward peace.

    The collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the city's incorporation into Greece in 1912 provoked a major upheaval that compelled Salonica's Jews to reimagine their community and status as citizens of a nation-state. Jewish Salonica is the first book to tell the story of this tumultuous transition through the voices and perspectives of Salonican Jews as they forged a new place for themselves in Greek society.Devin E. Naar traveled the globe, from New York to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Moscow, to excavate archives once confiscated by the Nazis. Written in Ladino, Greek, French, and Hebrew, these archives, combined with local newspapers, reveal how Salonica's Jews fashioned a new hybrid identity as Hellenic Jews during a period marked by rising nationalism and economic crisis as well as unprecedented Jewish cultural and political vibrancy. Salonica's Jews—Zionists, assimilationists, and socialists—reinvigorated their connection to the city and claimed it as their own until the Holocaust. Through the case of Salonica's Jews, Naar recovers the diverse experiences of a lost religious, linguistic, and national minority at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East.

    Some of these Torah figures were deeply impacted by an academic field, such as philosophy or lit¬erature. Others developed a Torah-based perspective on develop¬ments within the West, such as the rise of Zionism, democracy, or biotechnology. Still others reflected on the very nature of religious knowledge. The Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva Uni¬versity invited twenty-first century thinkers to paint intellectual portraits of these luminaries, illustrating how each figure bridged the worlds of Torah and the West in a unique way. The essays are meant to inspire Orthodox Jews and all intellectually engaged in¬dividuals of faith to learn from the lives of these luminaries, and to have the courage to bridge these worlds as well. Great thinkers examined in this volume include Rabbi Yehuda Amital, Rabbi Yitzchak Herzog, Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits, Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kook, Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, Prof. Nechama Leibowitz, Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein, Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Rabbi Dr. Isadore Twersky. With essays by contemporary scholars Rabbi Shalom Carmy, Rabbi Dr. Carmi Horowitz, Dr. Alan Jotkowitz, Dr. Yehudah Mirsky, Dr. Daniel Rynhold, Rabbi Dr. David Shatz, Rabbi Dr. Meir Y. Soloveichik, Yael Unterman, Rabbi Dr. Itamar Warhaftig, Rabbi Reuven Ziegler, and Rabbi Shlomo Zuckier.

    Using lyrical tricks and linguistic intuition, Annah Anti-Palindrome has mapped a world of survival, finding deep beauty everywhere. A serious literary triumph. -Michelle Tea (Valencia) ... DNA Hymn is a double helix of creation and re-creation, naming the hard price and tender pleasures of inheritance. This book is a gorgeous, rich song of restraints and bonds, attraction and repulsion, and truths that are elemental, in a voice as lovely on the page as it is to the ears. -Daphne Gottlieb (Kissing Dead Girls) ... Every poet teaches us what a poem can be. Annah Anti-Palindrome shows us how all small things are a testament to survival. A stained tooth offers gritty sagacity. A thistle growing in the compost pile foreshadows tremendous change. A stray eyelash makes an overture of longing. Only a deft and daring poet can connect so many incisive details to a much larger narrative of survival. By the end of DNA Hymn, the amassing of small things transforms trauma into undeniable wisdom. For those of you who learn, like I do, through poetry, be thankful for Annah Anti-Palindrome's lessons. -Amber Dawn (How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler's Memoir) ... In her long-awaited debut collection, DNA Hymn, Annah Anti-Palindrome panned for gold, and she found it: working class, rural-femme survivor gold, unearthed by the brilliant hard femme poetic labor of its creator. This book is an essential weapon in the work we do to defy and transform all of our best and most crucial inheritances. Adaptogen magic bursting out of its mullein, morphine, blood and honey laden soil, hitchhiking home to a queer land off the map. - Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (Dirty River) ... Sometimes the act of reading can save you from yourself. Reading Annah Anti-Palindrome's DNA Hymn did just that for me. I began to read with a hope of forgettig, yet arrived at a place of remembering--a place that can only be found in a book--on the page and in that space in between. I will always remember these words. -Truong Tran (Dust and Conscience) ... DNA Hymn does not hesitate: this debut collection is the hard-swallowed keystone in a larger history that is as deeply painful as it is stunning, as much archive as it is mythology, & as entrenched in epigenetics as it is in etymology. Each poem insists on our attention, on our surrender-& we would be fools to turn away from such generosity. Few poets can play with language so deftly & still make us feel the weight of life or death in each word. Let this book saw you open & keep you from inheriting your own hurt. -Meg Day (Last Psalm at Sea Level)

    The volume engages the reader in a wide range of interdisciplinary methods and perspectives, such as gender and feminist criticism, social-scientific methods, post-colonial and psychoanalytical theory that emphasize the inherently intersectional dynamics of race, ethnicity, and class at work in womanist thought and analysis.

    Written in a lyrical Aramaic, the Zohar, a masterpiece of Kabbalah, features mystical interpretation of the Torah, rabbinic tradition, and Jewish practice.Volume 11 comprises a collection of different genres within the Zoharic library. The fragmentary Midrash ha-Ne'lam on Song of Songs opens with its treatment of mystical kissing. Highlights of Midrash ha-Ne'lam on Ruth are the spiritual function of the Kaddish prayer, the story of the ten martyrs, and mystical eating practices. In Midrash ha-Ne'lam on Lamentations, the inhabitants of Babylon and the inhabitants of Jerusalem vie to eulogize a ruined Jerusalem. It reframes the notion of a Holy Family in Jewish terms, in implicit contrast to the Christian triad of Father, Mother, and Son.The Zohar on Song of Songs consists of dueling homilies between Rabbi Shim'on bar Yohai and the prophet Elijah, contrasting spiritual ascent with the presence of the demonic. The climax projects the eros of the Song of Songs onto the celestial letters that constitute the core of existence. Matnitin and Tosefta are dense, compact passages in which heavenly heralds chide humanity for its spiritual slumber, rousing people to learn the mysteries of holiness. Packed with neologisms and hortatory in tone, these passages are spurs to pietistic devotion and mystical insight.

    When the soul is full of pain, there is prayer. When it seems there is no one to talk to or nothing to say, there is prayer. Jewish prayer gives wings to our emotions and words to our yearnings. It has the power to uplift, articulate, and clarify. Formal prayer is crucial. In addition, praying informally, personally, and often, can be a deeply rewarding exercise in spirituality and in our relationship with Hashem. In this meaningful, touching, and deep book, Ruchi Koval has explained and added personal connection to some of the most fundamental Jewish prayers, as well as created and adapted some new ones for contemporary Jewish women - all written for all Jewish women, whether observant , just Jewish , or just beginning to daven. A brief introduction precedes each prayer explaining when it is said and it's purpose. Each prayer includes the original Hebrew text, as well as transliteration, and a translation that brings out it's essence. Following the prayer is a "takeaway" which makes the prayer personal and help internalize it's message. Tefillah is referred to as service of the heart. With this unique book, we can open our hearts to G-d, our families, and ourselves.

    Modern history teaches otherwise. Reimagining citizenship as a legal spectrum along which individuals can travel, Extraterritorial Dreams explores the history of Ottoman Jews who sought, acquired, were denied or stripped of citizenship in Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—as the Ottoman Empire retracted and new states were born—in order to ask larger questions about the nature of citizenship itself. Sarah Abrevaya Stein traces the experiences of Mediterranean Jewish women, men, and families who lived through a tumultuous series of wars, border changes, genocides, and mass migrations, all in the shadow of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the ascendance of the modern passport regime. Moving across vast stretches of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas, she tells the intimate stories of people struggling to find a legal place in a world ever more divided by political boundaries and competing nationalist sentiments. From a poor youth who reached France as a stowaway only to be hunted by the Parisian police as a spy to a wealthy Baghdadi-born man in Shanghai who willed his fortune to his Eurasian Buddhist wife, Stein tells stories that illuminate the intertwined nature of minority histories and global politics through the turbulence of the modern era.

    This story explores contrasting versions of bisexuality: Adina's open preference for women vs. the closets and dangers of Rose's era.

    But its current state, like that of many other formerly glorious regions, is nothing like its earlier status. Forgotten about and exhausted, much of its structural environment has been left to decay. The Borscht Belt, which features essays by Stefan Kanfer and Jenna Weissman Joselit, presents Marisa Scheinfeld's photographs of abandoned sites where resorts, hotels, and bungalow colonies once boomed in the Catskill Mountain region of upstate New York.The book assembles images Scheinfeld has shot inside and outside locations that once buzzed with life as year-round havens for generations of people. Some of the structures have been lying abandoned for periods ranging from four to twenty years, depending on the specific hotel or bungalow colony and the conditions under which it closed. Other sites have since been demolished or repurposed, making this book an even more significant documentation of a pivotal era in American Jewish history.The Borscht Belt presents a contemporary view of more than forty hotel and bungalow sites. From entire expanses of abandoned properties to small lots containing drained swimming pools, the remains of the Borscht Belt era now lie forgotten, overgrown, and vacant. In the absence of human activity, nature has reclaimed the sites, having encroached upon or completely overtaken them. Many of the interiors have been vandalized or marked by paintball players and graffiti artists. Each ruin lies radically altered by the elements and effects of time. Scheinfeld s images record all of these developments."

    Written in a lyrical Aramaic, the Zohar, a masterpiece of Kabbalah, features mystical interpretation of the Torah, from Genesis to Deuteronomy.The tenth volume of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition presents Midrash ha-Ne'lam on the Torah, the earliest texts of the Zoharic corpus and first fruits of the Zoharic world. In contrast to the main body of the Zohar, Midrash ha-Ne'lam is composed in both Aramaic and Hebrew; its style combines philosophical allegory and kabbalistic midrash.Particularly noteworthy is the extended allegorical interpretation of the patriarchal narratives. They are read as an account of the descent of the soul, its adventures on earth, and its wandering journey after death, finally culminating in its reunion with the perfected body following resurrection. Quintessential Zoharic motifs such as "walking on the way" and the "nocturnal delight in the Garden of Eden" make their first appearances here. The volume also includes many short narratives featuring the "Masters of Mishnah," a group of sages possessing esoteric knowledge of the soul and the cosmos, the forerunner of the Zoharic fellowship.

    One mother. One summer camp. Twenty years apart. If only Reena could stay in the city, instead of spending the last summer before high school at her cousin’s Jewish sleepaway camp. From morning prayer to Color War to the social pecking order, she is lost from the start, and her cousin Lila is no ally. While working on her survival skills, Reena begins to find clues of the mother she never knew. Twenty years earlier, Naomi stands on a dock in the middle of the lake. Just finished with her first year of college, camp feels too small to contain her giant dreams. Her sister Mara is all about finding a man, but Naomi believes something more awaits. A mysterious, barefoot stranger appears on a hill, offering blessings and songs. Can he guide Naomi to her future? Can he help Reena untangle her past?

    The narrator celebrates ("We break a glass. Mazel tov! We cry.") and mourns her losses ("Sometimes, between three and four a.m./on a break from her game/of bridge, your dead mother visits."). Riffing on Jewish liturgy, the feminist declares "everyday/I thank God/I was born a woman." Avowed delivers a complex, sustained vision of intimate partnership while celebrating the political changes that have secured LGBTQ visibility.Robin Becker, author of Tiger HeronAvowed asks the critical question, "Is paper all that makes a marriage?" For the queer bride in a long-term relationship, the answer is as hard-won as the right to marry. Julie R. Enszer explores the bittersweet journey of a lesbian couple's struggle through the happily ever after with an edgy and humorous perspective that dares to share deep truths about desire, sex, and love.Rigoberto GonzAlez, author of Unpeopled Eden

    In What Is Modern Israel?, however, Yakov M. Rabkin turns this understanding on its head, arguing convincingly that Zionism, far from being a natural development of Judaism, in fact has its historical and theological roots in Protestant Christianity. While most Jewish people viewed Zionism as marginal or even heretical, Christian enthusiasm for the Restoration of the Jews to the Promised Land transformed the traditional Judaic yearning for ‘Return’—a spiritual concept with a very different meaning—into a political project.   Drawing on many overlooked pages of history, and using on a uniquely broad range of sources in English, French, Hebrew, and Russian, Rabkin shows that Zionism was conceived as a sharp break with Judaism and Jewish continuity. Rabkin argues that Israel’s past and present must be understood in the context of European ethnic nationalism, colonial expansion, and geopolitical interests rather than—as is all too often the case—an incarnation of Biblical prophecies or a culmination of Jewish history.

    

    Here he does it again as he delves into the realm of the supernatural. Drawing from both Old and New Testaments, Bernis addresses seven specific areas--or "dualities"--of confusion and doubt for many Christians, offering a sound biblical perspective on topics including- Good and evil: If God is so powerful, how did the devil get so strong?- Sickness and healing: If God is a healer, why are people still sick?- Heaven and hell: Are these places real? Who goes where?- And more!Through it all, Rabbi Bernis reveals the heart of a faithful God, encouraging you to embrace His supernatural working in your own life with confidence.

    Many texts in this volume are drawn from episodes of conflict that helped form Modern Orthodox Judaism. These include the traditionalists’ response to the early expressions of Reform Judaism, as well as incidents that helped define the widening differences between Orthodox and Conservative Judaism in the early twentieth century. Other texts explore the internal struggles to maintain order and balance once Orthodox Judaism had separated itself from other religious movements.   Zev Eleff combines published documents with seldom-seen archival sources in tracing Modern Orthodoxy as it developed into a structured movement, established its own institutions, and encountered critical events and issues—some that helped shape the movement and others that caused tension within it. A general introduction explains the rise of the movement and puts the texts in historical context. Brief introductions to each section guide readers through the documents of this new, dynamic Jewish expression.

    No longer are women rabbis a unique phenomenon, rather they are part of the fabric of Jewish life. In this anthology, rabbis and scholars from across the Jewish world reflect back on the historic significance of women in the rabbinate and explore issues related to both the professional and personal lives of women rabbis. This collection examines the ways in which the reality of women in the rabbinate has impacted on all aspects of Jewish life, including congregational culture, liturgical development, life cycle ritual, the Jewish healing movement, spirituality, theology, and more"--

    The lucky little cat, whom Misha names Mazel, inspires Misha to turn each night of Hanukkah into something special. He doesn't have money for Hanukkah candles, but he can use his artistic skills to bring light to his home--as Mazel brings good luck to his life.-- "Journal"

    In an orderly manner the Ramchal discusses the precise system through which HaShem directs every aspect of existence - addressing the oneness of HaShem, HaShem s concealment, the body-soul relationship, the way HaShem directs the world of good and evil, prophecy, the world s ultimate perfection, and much more. With a superlative new translation, complete with extensive commentary and convenient summary sections, this beautiful, bi-lingual edition is a must-read sefer for those who wish to fortify their emunah and successfully face the challenging times in which we live.

    We've looked at each service, thinking through how it was put together, how the tradition around it developed, what customs were dropped that can be reincorporated, and what contemporary ideas can respond to the text. Siddur Lev Shalem is designed for use by individuals as well as for congregations, in the home and in the synagogue. In the tradition of Mahzor Lev Shalem, the siddur includes an extraordinary array of sources and commentary -- historical, halakhic, and spiritual. While the siddur includes all the traditional prayers, psalms, and songs that are familiar from previous Conservative siddurim, it serves also as an anthology, offering a wide array of readings that can be used to celebrate Shabbat as well as material for study about Shabbat: poems both ancient and modern, Hasidic wisdom, rabbinic midrashim, and commentary on the history and diversity of the liturgy. Today, as in the medieval synagogue, each community and individual can choose from the variety of texts offered, adding our own voices to the harmonious and lavishly textured "Song of Shabbat."

    In the United States, this has resulted primarily in an Ashkenazi table of matzo ball soup and knishes, brisket and gefilte fish. But Joyce Goldstein is now expanding that menu with this comprehensive collection of over four hundred recipes from the kitchens of three Mediterranean Jewish cultures: the Sephardic, the Maghrebi, and the Mizrahi.  The New Mediterranean Jewish Table is an authoritative guide to Jewish home cooking from North Africa, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, and the Middle East. It is a treasury filled with vibrant, seasonal recipes—both classic and updated—that embrace fresh fruits and vegetables; grains and legumes; small portions of meat, poultry, and fish; and a healthy mix of herbs and spices. It is also the story of how Jewish cooks successfully brought the local ingredients, techniques, and traditions of their new homelands into their kitchens. With this varied and appealing selection of Mediterranean Jewish recipes, Joyce Goldstein promises to inspire new generations of Jewish and non-Jewish home cooks alike with dishes for everyday meals and holiday celebrations.

    This introduction is followed by an exploration of the various ways these ostensibly incompatible identities can gel together, addressing topics such as Jewish humor, New York City, the Holocaust, individualism, "tough Jews," outsider identity, tikkun olam ("healing the world"), and radicalism. The following chapters discuss prominent Jews in punk, punk rock bands that overtly put their Jewishness on display, and punk influences on other types of Jewish music--for example, klezmer and Hasidic simcha (celebration) music. The book also explores ways that Jewish and punk culture intersect beyond music, including documentaries, young adult novels, zines, cooking, and rabbis.

    Just pull up a chair to our dining room table and savor the love (served with a hearty dollop of butter and sour cream) in every recipe.Like dessert, the best is saved for last, and you'll find Diana "Nama" Goldberg's easy recipe for the world's best cheesecake, along with family favorites for every course: matzo ball soup, beef tenderloin, farfel, strudel, kugel, mandelbrate, schnecken, and more, seasoned with dining room table talk and kitchen hints.

    

    Original dramas, comedies, musicals, and vaudeville, along with sophisticated productions of Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Chekhov, were innovatively staged for crowds that rivaled the scene on Broadway. While these productions were in Yiddish and catered to Eastern European Jewish audiences (the largest immigrant group in the city at the time), their artistic and aesthetic creations and their play with politics and history came to influence all facets of the American stage. Vividly illustrated and with contributions from leading historians and critics, this history recounts in absorbing detail the heyday of “Yiddish Broadway” and its vital contribution to American Jewish life and its crossover to American culture. Performances grappled with Jewish nationalism, labor relations, women’s rights, religious observance, acculturation, and assimilation. They reflected a range of genres, from tear-jerkers to experimental theater, and introduced American audiences to avant-garde dramatic technique. The artists who came of age in this environment include Stella Adler, Eddie Cantor, Jerry Lewis, Sophie Tucker, Mel Brooks, and Joan Rivers. The story of the Yiddish theater is therefore a tale of creativity and legacy, immigrants who in the process of becoming Americans had an enormous impact on the country's cultural and artistic landscape. From the Bowery to Broadway is a companion to an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York scheduled for February 2016.

    In his acclaimed trilogy, author Stephen Birmingham paints an engrossing portrait of Jewish American life from the colonial era through the twentieth century with fascinating narrative and meticulous research.   The collection’s best-known book, “Our Crowd” follows nineteenth-century German immigrants with recognizable names like Loeb, Sachs, Lehman, Guggenheim, and Goldman. Turning small family businesses into institutions of finance, banking, and philanthropy, they elevated themselves from Lower East Side tenements to Park Avenue mansions. Barred from New York’s gentile elite because of their religion and humble backgrounds, they created their own exclusive group, as affluent and selective as the one that had refused them entry.  The Grandees travels farther back in history to 1654, when twenty-three Sephardic Jews arrived in New York. Members of this small and insulated group—considered the first Jewish community in America—soon established themselves as wealthy businessmen and financiers. With descendants including poet Emma Lazarus, Barnard College founder Annie Nathan Meyer, and Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo, these families were—and still are—hugely influential in the nation’s culture, politics, and economics.   In “The Rest of Us,” Birmingham documents the third major wave of Jewish immigration: Eastern Europeans who swept through Ellis Island between 1880 and 1924. These refugees from czarist Russia and Polish shtetls were considered barbaric, uneducated, and too steeped in the traditions of the “old country” to be accepted by the well-established German American Jews. But the new arrivals were tough, passionate, and determined. Their incredible rags to riches stories include those of the lives of Hollywood tycoon Samuel Goldwyn, Broadway composer Irving Berlin, makeup mogul Helena Rubenstein, and mobster Meyer Lansky.   This unforgettable collection comprises a comprehensive account of the Jewish American upper class, their opulent world, and their lasting mark on American society.

    Youth is supposed to be fun and carefree. But for five Tel-Aviv teenagers, reality turned out to be quite different. As a wave of violence washes over Israel, their lives are thrown into a turmoil of threat and anxiety that shatters every aspect of their personal security. After witnessing a terrible act of violence that deeply shakes their world, the five teenagers are forced to come out of their upper-class comfort zone and give reality a straight look in the eye. For the first time, they decide to take responsibility for their personal security and safety. They undergo a profound personal change, and at the moment of truth, manage to make a real impact on reality itself. With a strong devotion to the values of self-defense, these five teenagers prevent one of the severest terrorist attacks ever planned against Israel. ˃˃˃ Five Teenagers prove that with bravery, initiative and belief, even a group of boys can save the world. Self Defense brings the extraordinary experiences of brave teenagers in a land consumed by violence and strife. ˃˃˃ Don’t miss this fascinating and highly relevant book, full of action and breathtaking adventures. Scroll up to grab your copy of Self Defense now!

    He rejects both the sweeping denouncements of those who view religion as an inherent impediment to moral progress and the apologetics of fundamentalists who proclaim religion’s moral perfection against all evidence to the contrary.Hartman identifies the primary source of religion’s moral failure in what he terms its “autoimmune disease,” or the way religions so often undermine their own deepest values. While God obligates the good and calls us into its service, Hartman argues, God simultaneously and inadvertently makes us morally blind. The nature of this self-defeating condition is that the human religious desire to live in relationship with God often distracts religious believers from their traditions’ core moral truths.The answer Hartman offers is this: put God second. In order to fulfill religion’s true vision for humanity—an uncompromising focus on the ethical treatment of others—religious believers must hold their traditions accountable to the highest independent moral standards. Decency toward one’s neighbor must always take precedence over acts of religious devotion, and ethical piety must trump ritual piety. For as long as devotion to God comes first, responsibility to other people will trail far, far behind.In this book, Judaism serves as a template for how the challenge might be addressed by those of other faiths, whose sacred scriptures similarly evoke both the sublime heights of human aspiration and the depths of narcissistic moral blindness. In Putting God Second, Rabbi Hartman offers a lucid analysis of religion’s flaws, as well as a compelling resource, and vision, for its repair.

    Then the war is over, a remnant is saved, and all drift back into the normal world. But for those who survived and their children, it is never over. Duvid’s sons, born in Israel, raised in Montreal, grow up haunted by their father’s memories. They overhear whispered secret stories from that war in disconnected bits and pieces. These simply add to their confusion. September 1939. Duvid sees his family carried off by the Nazis, and can do nothing. His life takes many turns–he survives the death camps, becomes a partisan, and settles in Israel, and finally Canada, silent about the past. On his death, his sons follow the clues their father has left–a packet of written fragments secreted away in a suitcase for close to 40 years–and find the impossible. Gravitational Fields is a lyrical story, an epic tale of family, adventure, survival, and especially, love.

    More Jewish athletes have competed as boxers than all other professional sports combined; in the period from 1901 to 1939, 29 Jewish boxers were recognized as world champions and more than 160 Jewish boxers ranked among the top contenders in their respective weight divisions. Stars in the Ring, by renowned boxing historian Mike Silver, presents this vibrant social history in the first illustrated encyclopedic compendium of its kind."

    Anti-Semitism is wrong and has always been repudiated by the Church. However, a Christian must be anti-Jewish in the sense of opposing beliefs and actions of Jews that operate as a consequence of the Jewish rejection of Christ. Many Jews try sincerely to live up to the moral law. Nevertheless, the Jews rejected Logos, the Reason for the universe and its redemption, and so rejected Christ, the Supernatural Messiah, in order to support anti-Christian revolutionary movements. This rejection of Logos has led directly to that cultural subversion and collapse of the moral order expressed in the title of this book.The book first examines the use of sexual imagery and propaganda as a means of psychological warfare and social control, a technique of subversion with a long history and recently used by Jews in the modern Culture Wars. The book then explains the roots of the Jewish subversion of the moral law situated centrally in the rejection of Logos, the moral and social order stemming from God and Christ.The book then examines the prominent role played by Jews in the media, notably in film and Hollywood, and the battles that have taken place in this context between the Catholic Church and the Jews. A similar phenomenon can be seen in relation to the widespread Jewish promotion of abortion, which is examined next, followed by a study of Jewish influence in the arts and culture.The book then moves from specifics to general principle, namely the malign influence of Wilhelm Reich in the overturning of traditional morality and its replacement by sexual revolution. An analysis of the role of Logos in history, the fostering and protection of the moral order under the authority of the Catholic Church, then follows as a contrast. The book then looks at a case study of the tragic consequences of revolution, namely the recent situation relating to the sexual abuse of women in India. This is followed by a discussion of the prominent role played recently by Jews to promote a reversion from traditional marriage to "same-sex marriage."A short conclusion deals with the way forward for defenders of the moral law. Central to this is a move away from the materialistic ethos and back to traditional moral and religious principles characterized by Logos.

    Daniel M. Horwitz’s insightful introductions and commentary accompany readings in the Talmud and Zohar and writings by Ba'al Shem Tov, Rav Kook, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and others.  Horwitz’s introduction describes five major types of Jewish mysticism and includes a brief chronology of their development, with a timeline. He begins with biblical prophecy and proceeds through the early mystical movements up through current beliefs. Chapters on key subjects characterize mystical expression through the ages, such as Creation and deveikut (“cleaving to God”); the role of Torah; the erotic; inclinations toward good and evil; magic; prayer and ritual; and more. Later chapters deal with Hasidism, the great mystical revival, and twentieth-century mystics, including Abraham Isaac Kook, Kalonymous Kalman Shapira, and Abraham Joshua Heschel. A final chapter addresses today’s controversies concerning mysticism’s place within Judaism and its potential for enriching the Jewish religion.

    Providing an up-to-date 'snapshot' of scholarship, it includes essays, specially commissioned for this volume, by twenty-three leading scholars. The volume examines a range of topics, including the historical and religious contexts for the contents of the biblical canon, and critical approaches and methods, as well as newer topics such as the Hebrew Bible in Islam, Western art and literature, and contemporary politics. This Companion is an excellent resource for students at university and graduate level, as well as for laypeople and scholars in other fields who would like to gain an understanding of the current state of the academic discussion. The book does not presume prior knowledge, nor does it engage in highly technical discussions, but it does go into greater detail than a typical introductory textbook.

    In doing so, they hoped to instill religious orthodoxy in the colonies and believed Muslim converts, or Moriscos, would hamper efforts to convert indigenous people to Catholicism. Nevertheless, Moriscos secretly made the treacherous journey across the ocean, settling in the forbidden territories and influencing the nature of Spanish colonialism. Once landed, Morisco men and women struggled to define and practice their religion or pursue their trades, all while experiencing increasing anxiety about their place in the emerging Spanish empire. Many Moriscos were accused by authorities of descending from Muslims or practicing Islam in secret and turned to the courts to assert their legitimacy.Forbidden Passages is the first book to document and evaluate the impact of Moriscos in the early modern Americas. Through close examination of sources that few historians have used--some one hundred cases of individuals brought before the secular, ecclesiastical, and inquisitorial courts--Karoline P. Cook shows how legislation and attitudes toward Moriscos in Spain assumed new forms and meanings in colonial Spanish America. Moriscos became not simply individuals struggling to join a community that was increasingly hostile to them but also symbols that sparked authorities' fears about maintaining religious purity in the face of territorial expansion. Cook reveals how Morisco emigrants shined a light on the complicated question of what it meant to be Spanish in the New World.

    In this series, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed’s well-organized, clear, and concise writing style brings the halakha, from principle to practical detail, to readers of all backgrounds. With over 500,000 copies in circulation, Peninei Halakha stands as one of the most popular and useful halakha series in Israel today.

    We follow his adventures and come away with a deeper appreciation and understanding of the Sephardic immigrant experience during the 20th century.” — Marc D. Angel, author of The Crown of Solomon and Other Stories

    

    As such, the book offers a corrective view in the form of social history, one that commands attention and demands respect for the vitality and activism of the generation of Polish Jews so brutally annihilated by the barbarism of the Nazis.In Warsaw, a city with over 300,000 Jews (one third of the population), Bernstein was the Jewish Labor Bund’s “enforcer,” organizer, and head of their militia—the one who carried out daily, on-the-street organization of unions; the fighting off of Communists, Polish anti-Semitic hooligans, and antagonistic police; marshaling and protecting demonstrations; and even settling family disputes, some of them arising from the new secular, socialist culture being fostered by the Bund.Goldstein’s is a portrait of tough Jews willing to do battle—worldly, modern individuals dedicated to their folk culture and the survival of their people. It delivers an unparalleled street-level view of vibrant Jewish life in Poland between the wars: of Jewish masses entering modern life, of Jewish workers fighting for their rights, of optimism, of greater assertiveness and self-confidence, of armed combat, and even of scenes depicting the seamy, semi-criminal elements. It provides a representation of life in Poland before the great catastrophe of World War II, a life of flowering literary activity, secular political journalism, successful political struggle, immersion in modern politics, fights for worker rights and benefits, a strong social-democratic labor movement, creation of a secular school system in Yiddish, and a youth movement that later provided the heroic fighters for the courageous Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

    As the years go by, Gabriel's family prospers and they, in turn, help their neighbors. Could their good luck have something to do with the soldier or the horn?-- "Journal"

    In The Psychology of Tzimtzum, Professor Mordechai Rotenberg seeks to establish an alternative: a Jewish psychology, based on the kabbalistic concept of Tzimtzum (self-contraction). God’s primordial act of Creation, contracting Himself to make room for the world, becomes for Rotenberg a model for all human interaction. When the self contracts to make room for the other, the resulting relations are ones of dialogue rather than conflict, self-effacement rather than self-assertion, a desire to give rather than a desire to destroy.

    The late Mordkhe Schaechter collected and researched spoken and literary Yiddish in all its varieties and this landmark dictionary reflects his vision for present-day and future Yiddish usage. The richness of dialect differences and historical developments are noted in entries ranging from "agriculture" to "zoology" and include words and expressions that can be found in classic and contemporary literature, newspapers, and other sources of the written word and have long been used by professionals and tradesmen, in synagogues, at home, in intimate life, and wherever Yiddish-speaking Jews have lived and worked.

    The rabbinate's monopoly on opinions and interpretations prevents rabbis from expressing their individual positions out of fear of delegitimization. The current structure gives the public a negative impression of the rabbinic establishment. The Importance of the Community Rabbi strives to describe and delineate key requirements for a good rabbi, i.e., one who can provide socially acceptable halachic solutions within the parameters of Orthodox thinking. Rabbi Sperber elucidates the halachic techniques and mechanisms that may be used toward this goal. These are further illustrated with stories from rabbinic literature and examples from various responsa.