The reader is exhorted to be mindful of God at all times, with specific advice given for enhancing the experience of prayer. By addressing adults who are not withdrawn from worldly pursuits, Reb Kalonymus has provided a timeless guide to Jewish spirituality that will be an invaluable resource for today's seekers.

    The reader takes a voyage into the rich and variegated world of twentieth-century Hasidism in Poland, a world destroyed by the Holocaust. This is a volume inspired by a deeply sensitive and poetic individual of faith who is grappling with an unfolding disaster. While the Holocaust has engendered a voluminous body of religious and philosophical writings attempting to probe the issues this unfathomable period raises in all their enormity, virtually all were written after the war, when a modicum of distance and reflection is possible. Contemporaneous diaries and chronicles written as the events were happening concentrate on the descriptive accounts of the horrors. The Holy Fire, however, engages a sustained theological reflection and stands alone as an extended religious response from within the heart of darkness itself while the catastrophe takes place, and is, for this reason, an extraordinary document and an astonishing personal achievement.

    Along the way, Rabbi Ginsburgh reveals each letter's secrets and demonstrates that they are a key to Jewish spirituality.

    Far more engaging than a mere how-to reference guide, this landmark book is also part detective story and part spiritual quest. As Arthur Kurzweil takes you along on his own fascinating journey through his family's past, you'll learn about the tools, techniques, and the step-by-step process of Jewish genealogical research - including the most current information on using the Internet and the newly accessible archives of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. But even more, after reading this fully updated, revised, and beloved classic, you will undoubtedly be inspired to embark on a genealogical quest of your own!

    A selection of Rabbi Steinsaltz's works focusing on the needs of today's spiritual seekers.

    Ms. Schram, who believes that stories form 'the link between the generations, ' helps forge that link with this book, ensuring that these stories will continue to live and breathe in the modern world. The life force animating these tales is almost tangible. The printed words seem to vibrate, as if the author possessed the voices of various tellers and lent their lilting tones and ripe inflections to the printed page. Furthermore, the laughter, sobs, and delighted cries of countless listeners also echo in these pages. Schram, who has written a thoughtful, informative introduction for each story, demonstrates on every page her belief that the stories 'connect to our lives.' And when the lifelike characters woven into Schram's magic tapestry suffer or enjoy the fates they most deserve, we rejoice, secure in their storybook world?a world where justice, however incomprehensible, is always done, and where we attain happiness by living in accordance with Jewish law and in harmony with the world's natural order. Jewish Stories One Generation Tells Another abounds in a gentle wisdom that presses itself upon our complex and often self-contradictory lives, infusing us with patience, tolerance, and hope. We identify with the kings and princes, fools and beggars, heroes and leaders, villains and witches of yesteryear because, though our lives are vastly different from theirs, we share their moral choices and experience their dilemmas. Schram joins Jewish storytellers throughout the ages, linking past to present and preserving an invaluable legacy for generations yet unborn

    The authors offer translations of significant passages from the most important works of Jewish ethical literature. They clearly show modern readers that while these writings might be old, they are not obsolete, and while the conditions of human life have changed over the centuries, the human condition itself is essentially unchanged. By introducing readers to the major works of Jewish ethical literature, the authors illustrate that this Jewish genre offers "a road map for the individual committed to the creation of the supreme art-form - one's own life." Chapters include "How to Believe in God, " "How to Deal with the Ego, " "How to Die, " "How to Behave Sexually, " and "How to Parent." Rabbis Byron Sherwin and Seymour Cohen, both highly regarded scholars, have brought together their expertise and passion for their subject. To the reader who cannot study these texts in their original languages, they offer acces to the treasure trove of Jewish ethical literature, choosing important passages from such classics as the Kuzari by Judah Ha-Levi, the Zohar, The Path of the Upright by Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto, Duties of the Heart by Bahya ibn Pakudah, and Nachmanides' Commentary on the Torah. Accompanying their selections are in-depth essays that review the ways that Jewish ethical literature has treated these universal subjects. As the authors explain, Jewish ethical literature deals with the most intimate problems of human experience. This literature was written "not to inform but to transform" the reader. How to Be a Jew: Ethical Teachings of Judaism is, itself, just such a book.

    Organized around the weekly Torah portions, Sparks beneath the Surface is designed to designed to resemble the pages of the Talmud. In the center of each page the rabbis present the targum - the English translation of the phrase or verse being explored. The authors include material from great chasidic teachers, offer insights from Jewish tradition to add depth to the point under discussion, and provide sources for further study. Sparks beneath the Surface provides the student, whether experienced or new to Torah study, with what the authors refer to as 'psycho-spiritual' insights on the Bible. This work represents the first time chasidic insights have been brought to a liberal context without compromising either ideological framework.

    Here is a rich treasury compiled from over 2,500 years of Jewish writingsDfrom the Talmud, the Mishnah, the Zohar, and the Bible, through excerpts from Rashi, Maimonides, the Baal Shem Tov, as well as Spinoza, Disraeli, Herzl, Freud, Einstein, and many others. For more than forty years Dr. Joseph L. Baron, the eminent Jewish scholar, gathered material for this work, mining all the great treasuries of classic Jewish literature. The result is this magnificent volume, a classic in its own time. Classified according to subject, the quotations are indexed by topic and author. Full source references are given as well as bibliographic data.

    The "Additions to the Book of Daniel" tell the exciting stories of the Fiery Furnace, Susanna and the Elders, and the confrontations between Daniel and the gods of Babylon; and show how God preserved the faithful in the face of certain death. The "Book of Esther" is transformed by the "Additions" from a so-called 'secular' work to a wonderful and dramatic tale of God's concern and care for His people under the tyranny of foreign oppressors. The "Additions to the Book of Jeremiah" consists of poems and prayers addressed to the people to the people of the Exile, exhorting them to shun idolatry and offering encouragement for a repressed nation. Why were these invaluable "Additions" excluded from the canonical versions of the books? This is a fascinating question which is considered in the introductions and notes it the different sections of this volume. The engrossing problems of authorship, date and place of composition, and the intended relevance of each "Addition" are also dealt with clearly and comprehensively. Illustrated with pages of well-chosen photographs, this work amplifies and enhances our understanding and appreciation of the canonical scriptures.

    But without the ability to effectively analyze and interpret the text, one misses the opportunity to gain a deep and authentic appreciation of the Torah's beauty and profundity. In Studying the Torah: A Guide to In-Depth Interpretation, Avigdor Bonchek equips the reader with the proper analytic methods to make reading the Bible both a serious pursuit and a pleasurable pastime. In order for the reader of the Torah text to delve into its veiled, but ultimately visible, layered messages, he or she must first learn the appropriate interpretive techniques. These skills are the same as those used by the classic Jewish Torah commentators (Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, and others), all of whom were experts in what scholars today refer to as a "close reading" of the text. Among the "Keys to Interpretation" discussed in this book are the significance of word order, opening sentences, repetitions, word associations, psychological dimensions, and similarities and differences between texts. Each key is illustrated by several examples that offer fresh insight into otherwise familiar text, and the author offers his own original and comprehensive in-depth interpretation of two central biblical stories: the story of Joseph and the ten plagues.

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    Joseph Dan is considered to be the leading scholarly authority on Jewish mysticism in our generation, reflected in his being the Gershom Scholem Preofessor of Kabbalah at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.