Best of
Judaica

2000

The Book of Jewish Values: A Day-by-Day Guide to Ethical Living


Joseph Telushkin - 2000
    Telushkin speaks to the major ethical issues of our time, issues that have, of course, been around since the beginning. He offers one or two pages a day of pithy, wise, and easily accessible teachings designed to be put into immediate practice. The range of the book is as broad as life itself: The first trait to seek in a spouse (Day 17)When, if ever, lying is permitted (Days 71-73)Why acting cheerfully is a requirement, not a choice (Day 39)What children don't owe their parents (Day 128)Whether Jews should donate their organs (Day 290)An effective but expensive technique for curbing your anger (Day 156)How to raise truthful children (Day 298)What purchases are always forbidden (Day 3)In addition, Telushkin raises issues with ethical implications that may surprise you, such as the need to tip those whom you don't see (Day 109), the right thing to do when you hear an ambulance siren (Day 1), and why wasting time is a sin (Day 15). Whether he is telling us what Jewish tradition has to say about insider trading or about the relationship between employers and employees, he provides fresh inspiration and clear guidance for every day of our lives.

The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy : A New Translation with Introductions, Commentary: 1


Everett Fox - 2000
    Offers a translation of and commentary on the first five books of the Hebrew Bible...Title: .The Five Books of Moses..Author: .Fox, Everett (EDT)/ Schwebel (ILT)/ Fox, Everett..Publisher: .Random House Inc..Publication Date: .2000/02/01..Number of Pages: .1024..Binding Type: .PAPERBACK..Library of Congress: .BL 00007461

A Letter in the Scroll: Understanding Our Jewish Identity and Exploring the Legacy of the World's Oldest Religion


Jonathan Sacks - 2000
    And it is true that, many times in the course of history, they have been nearly decimated: when the First and Second Temples were destroyed, when the Jews were expelled from Spain, when Hitler proposed his Final Solution. Astoundingly, the Jewish people have survived catastrophe after catastrophe and remained a thriving and vibrant community. The question Rabbi Jonathan Sacks asks is, quite simply: How? How, in the face of such adversity, has Judaism remained and flourished, making a mark on human history out of all proportion to its numbers?Written originally as a wedding gift to his son and daughter-in-law, A Letter in the Scroll is Rabbi Sacks's personal answer to that question, a testimony to the enduring strength of his religion. Tracing the revolutionary series of philosophical and theological ideas that Judaism created -- from covenant to sabbath to formal education -- and showing us how they remain compellingly relevant in our time, Sacks portrays Jewish identity as an honor as well as a duty.The Ba'al Shem Tov, an eighteenth-century rabbi and founder of the Hasidic movement, famously noted that the Jewish people are like a living Torah scroll, and every individual Jew is a letter within it. If a single letter is damaged or missing or incorrectly drawn, a Torah scroll is considered invalid. So too, in Judaism, each individual is considered a crucial part of the people, without whom the entire religion would suffer. Rabbi Sacks uses this metaphor to make a passionate argument in favor of affiliation and practice in our secular times, and invites us to engage in our dynamic and inclusive tradition. Never has a book more eloquently expressed the joys of being a Jew.This is the story of one man's hope for the future -- a future in which the next generation, his children and ours, will happily embrace the beauty of the world's oldest religion.

Essential Judaism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs and Rituals


George Robinson - 2000
    In Essential Judaism, George Robinson has created the accessible compendium that he sought when he rediscovered his Jewish roots as an adult. Robinson illuminates the Jewish life cycle at every stage, and lays out many fascinating aspects of Judaism -- the Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, the evolution of Hasidism, and much more -- while keeping a firm focus on the different paths to living a good Jewish life in today's world.

Celebrating Life: Finding Happiness in Unexpected Places


Jonathan Sacks - 2000
    Happiness isn't somewhere else, it's where we are. It isn't something we don't have, we do. It isn't fantasy, it's reality experienced in a certain way. Happiness is a close relative of faith'Following the painful loss of his father, Chief Rabbi Sacks began to learn how to celebrate life in a new way. He discovered where happiness lives, often in unexpected places, through family, community, friendship and responsibilities. He also found it through a renewed relationship with God who spoke to his deepest needs.Based, in part, on his columns in the UK's Times newspaper, Celebrating Life is for people of all faiths and none. It shows us how to be human and, in becoming so, how we can touch the divine.

More Stories from My Father's Court


Isaac Bashevis Singer - 2000
    B. Singer's classic memoir In My Father's Court, these stories, published serially in the Daily Forward, depict the beth din in his father's home on Krochmalna Street in Warsaw. A unique institution, the beth din was a combined court of law, synagogue, scholarly institution, and psychologist's office where people sought out the advice and counsel of a neighborhood rabbi.The twenty-seven stories gathered here show this world as it appeared to a young boy. From the earthy to the ethereal, these stories provide an intimate and powerful evocation of a bygone world.

Aleph Isn't Tough: An Introduction to Hebrew for Adults (Book 1)


Linda Motzkin - 2000
    By carefully introducing the letters and vowels of the Hebrew alphabet, the goal is to develop the reader's ability to decode written Hebrew words as well as to ground the learning of Hebrew in the broader sense of its use in Jewish life, ritual, study, and tradition. Each chapter introduces two or three Hebrew letters; through instructional drills and exercises, the reader progressively becomes familiar with key Hebrew vocabulary and its role in Jewish tradition, text, and prayer.

Wise Men and Their Tales: Portraits of Biblical, Talmudic, and Hasidic Masters


Elie Wiesel - 2000
    And what interests him most about these people is their humanity, in all its glorious complexity. They get angry—at God for demanding so much, and at people, for doing so little. They make mistakes. They get frustrated. But through it all one constant remains—their love for the people they have been charged to teach and their devotion to the Supreme Being who has sent them. In these tales of battles won and lost, of exile and redemption, of despair and renewal, we learn not only by listening to what they have come to tell us, but by watching as they live lives that are both grounded in earthly reality and that soar upward to the heavens.From the Hardcover edition.

Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, vol. 2: Theological Objections


Michael L. Brown - 2000
    A Jewish believer in Jesus defends the Christian faith by providing answers to theological objections raised by the Jewish community.

Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: General and Historical Objections


Michael L. Brown - 2000
    Provides detailed and satisfying answers to 19 general and 16 historical objections raised by Jews.

The Dawn: Political Teachings of the Book of Esther


Yoram Hazony - 2000
    It reveals Esther's ideas of the good state, how effective leadership makes decisions for the welfare of its people, and what modern-day Jews can learn about how to stand up to their enemies and maintain Jewish faith and nationhood even as God's face remains hidden from His people.

The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions


Elyse Goldstein - 2000
    Discover how their interpretations of the Torah can enrich your perspective. "Rich and engaging...makes available to a wide readership the collective wisdom of women who have changed the face of Judaism." --Judith Plaskow, author, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective; Professor of Religious Studies, Manhattan College Here, for the first time, women's unique experiences and perspectives are applied to the entire Five Books of Moses, offering all of us the first comprehensive commentary by women. In this groundbreaking book, more than 50 women rabbis come together to offer us inspiring insights on the Torah, in a week-by-week format. Included are commentaries by the first women ever ordained in the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative movements, and by many other women across these denominations who serve in the rabbinate in a variety of ways. This rich resource offers new perspectives to inspire all of us to gain deeper meaning from the Torah and a heightened appreciation of Judaism. A major contribution to modern biblical commentary. The gift of choice for every young woman's bat mitzvah, and for anyone wanting a new, exciting view of Torah. Contributing Rabbis: Rebecca T. Alpert - Lia Bass - Miriam Carey Berkowitz - Elizabeth Bolton - Analia Bortz - Sharon Brous - Judith Gary Brown - Nina Beth Cardin - Diane Aronson Cohen - Sandra J. Cohen - Cynthia A. Culpeper - Lucy H.F. Dinner - Lisa A. Edwards - Amy Eilberg - Sue Levi Elwell - Rachel Esserman - Helaine Ettinger - Susan Fendrick - Lori Forman - Dayle A. Friedman - Elyse D. Frishman - Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer - Shoshana Gelfand - Laura Geller - Elyse M. Goldstein - Julie K. Gordon - Claire Magidovitch Green - Rosette Barron Haim - Jill Hammer - Karyn D. Kedar - Sarra Levine - Valerie Lieber - Ellen Lippmann - Sheryl Nosan - Stacy K. Offner - Sara Paasche-Orlow - Barbara Rosman Penzner - Hara E. Person - Audrey S. Pollack - Sally J. Priesand - Geela-Rayzel Raphael - Laura M. Rappaport - Debra Judith Robbins - Rochelle Robins - Gila Colman Ruskin - Sandy Eisenberg Sasso - Ilene Schneider - Rona Shapiro - Michal Shekel - Beth J. Singer - Sharon L. Sobel - Ruth H. Sohn - Julie Ringold Spitzer z"l - Shira Stern - Pamela Wax - Nancy Wechsler-Azen - Nancy H. Wiener - Elana Zaiman

A Guide to Jewish Prayer


Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz - 2000
    One of the world's most famous and respected rabbis has given us the one guide we need to practice Jewish prayer and understand the prayer book.From the origins and meaning of prayer to a step-by-step explanation of the daily services to the reason you're not supposed to chat with your friends during the service, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz answers many of the questions likely to arise about Jewish prayer.  Here are chapters on daily prayer; Sabbath prayer; prayer services for the holidays; the yearly cycle of synagogue Bible readings; the history and make-up of the synagogue; the different prayer rites for Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Yemenites, and other cultural/geographic groupings; the role of the rabbi and the cantor in the synagogue; and the role of music in the service.The book also contains a glossary, a bibliography, and biographical sketches of the rabbis who were instrumental in creating and ordering the prayers through the ages.Rabbi Steinsaltz's guide is an essential volume both for the newcomer to Jewish prayer and for those who have been engaged in prayer for years.From the Hardcover edition.

Because Nothing Looks Like God


Lawrence Kushner - 2000
    With young hands and old hands, With your hands." Mixing sparks of curiosity and spiritual imagination, this wondrous book lights children's creativity and shows how God is with us every day, in every way. It is a vibrant invitation to children and their adults to explore--together--what, where, and how God is in our lives. Multicultural,Nondenominational, Nonsectarian; Endorsed by Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish Religious Leaders

Fate and Destiny: From the Holocaust to the State of Israel


Joseph B. Soloveitchik - 2000
    In it Rabbi Soloveitchik presents an extended theological meditation on the Holocaust and the rise of the State of Israel, the Jewish covenant of faith, and the covenant of fate and destiny which links all Jews, religious, irreligious, and nonreligious. Rabbi Dr. Walter S. Wurzberger, a prominent discipline of the Rav, has provided an introduction.

Philosophical and Theological Writings


Franz Rosenzweig - 2000
    Additional selections are presented in new or revised translations. Introduction and notes by Franks and Morgan set Rosenzweig’s works in context and illuminate his role as one of the key thinkers of the period.

An Enemy of the State: The Life of Murray N. Rothbard


Justin Raimondo - 2000
    Murray N. Rothbard was the founder of the libertarian movement, a radical free marketeer who came of age in the era of collectivism and fought all his life for individualism and laissez-faire against overwhelming odds. The story of his life is at the same time a cavalcade of virtually all of the controversial events, ideas, and personalities of the latter part of the twentieth century.The author of twenty-eight books and thousands of articles, Rothbard's life goal was to found a science of liberty, a comprehensive libertarian system of social thought encompassing philosophy, ethics, economics, and history. This book tells the story of the intellectual adventure that was Rothbard's life, his relationship with the great libertarian economist and philosopher Ludwig von Mises, and his intellectual growth and development as an economist and a thinker. While Rothbard's contributions to the history of social thought are important, his life story is interesting in itself: against almost impossible odds he managed to singlehandedly create the libertarian movement out of thin air at a time when such ideas were considered completely outside the pale.An Enemy of the State traces Rothbard's ideological odyssey, from the Old Right of the Chicago Tribune and the "isolationist" America First Committee, to the conservative movement of the fifties and early sixties, to the New Left of the mid-sixties, and then on to the Libertarian Party and the post-Cold War return to his Old Right roots. Rothbard was that interesting combination, an intellectual system-builder and theorist who was also an intellectual street fighter, a scholar, and a man of action. Anyone interested in the history of ideas, whether or not they agree with Rothbard's ideology, is bound to be captivated by and drawn into the story of his fascinating life.

Jewish American Literature: A Norton Anthology


Jules Chametzky - 2000
    Joining them are younger writers such as Melvin Jules Bukiet, Jacqueline Osherow, Art Speigelman, Steve Stern and Allegra Goodman, who bring the tradition up to its thriving present.Yiddish and Hebrew Writing in AmericaJewish American Literature: Traces in breadth and depth America's rich Yiddish-language culture, from the work of Morris Rosenfeld and David Edelshtadt in the 1880s through the Yunge and Introspectivist movements to the post-Holocaust writings of Kadya Molodowsky and Isaac Bashevis Singer. Also represented is Hebrew writing, in translations of the work of Ephraim E. Lisitzky and modernist Gabriel Preil.Special Sections: Jewish Humor offers choice selections of Groucho Marx, Woody Allen, and a cluster of perennial Jewish jokes; The Golden Age of the Broadway Song samples the unforgettable lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II, Irving Berlin, Frank Loesser, and Stephen Sondheim, among others; Jews Translating Jews reflects on the translator's role in transmitting tradition, gathering poems translated from Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Hungarian, Italian, and Spanish by Jewish American poets from Emma Lazarus to David Unger.Helpful and Lively Reader's Apparatus: The Reader's Apparatus includes a general introduction, period introductions, author headnotes, explanatory annotations, and selected bibliographies.

Sabbath: Days Of Eternity


Aryeh Kaplan - 2000
    

I, Dreyfuss


Bernice Rubens - 2000
    For Rubens, the anti-semitism which rocked France at the turn of the last century has not gone away. This time it crops up in 1990s England. Sir Alfred Dreyfus is the headmaster of a Church of England school. His only sin has been one of omission--he has concealed his Jewish origins to further his career. However, the novel opens with Sir Alfred imprisoned for a crime far more heinous. Literary agent and fellow Jew Sam Temple (names are emblematic for Rubens, and Temple does indeed prove to be an emotional haven for Dreyfus) visits the prisoner in his cell and persuades him to write a memoir of his downfall. The resulting narrative reveals a man coming to terms with his religious identity, and reclaiming his family's past. It is a deeply felt account of spiritual renewal, and should be read as an expertly crafted parable. Fans of psychological realism may balk at the evil anti-Semites she pits against her hero, but will rally at the sly humour of her ending. --Lilian Pizzichini

The Will to Live On: This is Our Heritage


Herman Wouk - 2000
    All these powers merge in this major new work of nonfiction, The Will to Live On, an illuminating account of the worldwide revolution that has been sweeping over Jewry, set against a swiftly reviewed background of history, tradition, and sacred literature.Forty years ago, in his modern classic This Is My God, Herman Wouk stated the case for his religious beliefs and conduct. His aim in that work and in The Will to Live On has been to break through the crust of prejudice, to reawaken clearheaded thought about the magnificent Jewish patrimony, and to convey a message of hope for Jewish survival.Although the Torah and the Talmud are timeless, the twentieth century has brought earthquake shocks to the Jews: the apocalyptic experience of the Holocaust, the reborn Jewish state, the precarious American diaspora, and deepening religious schisms. After a lifetime of study, Herman Wouk examines the changes affecting the Jewish world, especially the troubled wonder of Israel, and the remarkable, though dwindling, American Jewry. The book is peppered with wonderful stories of the author's encounters with such luminaries as Ben Gurion, Isidor Rabi, Yitzhak Rabin, Saul Bellow, and Richard Feynan.Learned in general culture, warmly tolerant of other beliefs, this noted author expresses his own other beliefs, this noted author expresses his own faith with a passion that gives the book its fire and does so in the clear, engaging style tha-as in all Wouk's fiction -- makes the reader want to know what the next page will bring.Herman Wouk writes, in The Will to Live On:"And so the Melting Pot is beginning to work on Jewry. Its effect was deferred in the passing century by the shock of the Holocaust and the rise of Israel, but today the Holocaust is an academic subject, and Israel is no longer a beleaguered underdog. Amkha in America is not dying, it is slowly melting, and those are very different fates. Dying is a terror, an agony, a strangling finish, to be fought off by sheer instinct, by the will to live on, to the last breath. Melting is a mere diffusion into an ambient welcoming warmth in which one is dissolved and disappears, as a teaspoon of sugar vanishes into hot tea....Yet here in the United States, for all the scary attrition I have pictured, we are still a community of over five million strong....At a far stretch of my hopes, our descendants could one day be a diaspora comparable to Babylonia. At the moment, of course, that is beyond rational expectation. We have to concentrate on lasting at all...."

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Yiddish


Benjamin Blech - 2000
    You can serve up a mean s'il vous plait in a French bistro, live la vida loca for a night of margaritas, and manage a sayonara! after sushi, sake, and karaoke. But when it comes to throwing around a little Yiddish, you feel like a total nebbish!Don't throw your hands up in a helpless 'Oy, vey' just yet! 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Yiddish' is your guide to this unique tongue, whether you're tackling rules of grammar or just throwing around some key phrases so you sound a little less goyish. In this 'Complete Idiot's Guide', you get:-A fascinating explanation of how and why Yiddish developed.-An easy introduction to the Yiddish alphabet, as well as to the distinctive sound of Yiddish.-All the Yiddish you'll need for communicating with family and friends or for bargain-hunting on New York's Lower East Side. -A treasury of Yiddish words and phrases for everything.

Guiding Your Child Through Grief


James P. Emswiler - 2000
    This caring and compassionate guide offers expert advice during difficult days to help a child grieve the death of a parent or sibling. Based on their experience as counselors--and as parents of grieving children--the authors help readers to understand:The many ways children grieve, often in secretChanges in family dynamics after death--and straightforward, effective ways to ease the transition Ways to communicate with children about death and grief How to cope with the intense sorrow triggered by holidaysThe signs grief has turned to depression--and where to find helpAnd more insights, information, and advice that can help a child heal

Trees, Earth, and Torah: A Tu B'Shvat Anthology


Ari Elon - 2000
    The relationship of humanity with the earth—of adam to adamah—has long been a vital element of Hebrew Scripture. Today the Tu B’Shvat holiday has taken on added significance because of the greening of Israel and the growth of the ecology and environmental movements in the United States and abroad. This anthology draws from biblical, rabbinical, medieval, and modern sources that address the significance and historical development of the holiday, offers several examples of a “Seder Tu B’Shvat,” and includes mystical writings along with Zionist and Eco-Jewish pieces.

Menstrual Purity: Rabbinic and Christian Reconstructions of Biblical Gender


Charlotte E. Fonrobert - 2000
    Is the designated impurity of menstruation sexist? Or does ritual absence from sex during menstruation encourage a rhythmic reaffirmation of conjugal intimacy?This book offers a new perspective on the extensive rabbinic discussions of menstrual impurity, female physiology, and anatomy, and on the social and religious institutions those discussions engendered. It analyzes the functions of these discussions within the larger textual world of rabbinic literature and in the context of Jewish and Christian culture in late antiquity.How did gender work—how was it made to work—in rabbinic literature? How did that literature dictate the place of women in Jewish culture? In search of answers to these questions, the author analyzes the architectural metaphors deployed to describe female anatomy, arguing that this discursive construction operated culturally to associate women with the home and exclude them from rabbinic study halls.The author shows that rabbinic discourse is not completely controlled by rabbinic ideology, however. She analyzes talmudic discussions that allow alternative gender perspectives to emerge, indicating that women and their bodies were not completely objectified. This suggests that the Babylonian Talmud does not present a completely homogeneous gender structure, but contains a number of different, sometimes contradictory, possibilities.The book concludes with a study of early Christian texts that relate to the same biblical laws on menstrual impurity as rabbinic texts, focusing in particular on a Jewish-Christian text in which the anonymous author polemicizes against Jewish women converts who remain attached to the biblical laws. This text allows us to reconstruct women’s perspectives on the inscription of religious meaning onto their bodies and physiological processes.

Isaiah: A Commentary


Brevard S. Childs - 2000
    He furnishes a fresh translation from the Hebrew and discusses questions of text, philology, historical background, and literary architecture, and then proceeds with a critically informed, theological interpretation of the text.The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

The Way Into Torah


Norman J. Cohen - 2000
    For everyone who wants to understand Torah, this book shows the way into an essential aspect of Judaism, and allows you to interact directly with the sacred texts of the Jewish tradition.Guided by Dr. Norman J. Cohen, rabbi and professor of midrash at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, The Way Into Torah helps us explore the origins and development of Torah, why it should be studied, and how to do it.What Torah is. The texts, and beyond: Not simply the Five Books of Moses, Torah refers to much more than written words.The different approaches to studying Torah. The many ways Jews have interacted with Torah through the ages and how, by learning to read Torah ourselves, we can connect it to our lives today.The levels of understanding Torah. How Torah can come alive in different ways, at different times; and how new meanings of Torah are discovered by its readers.Why Torah study is a part of the Jewish experience. How it allows us to experience God's presence--and why the Rabbis called Torah study more important even than belief in God.This guide offers an entrance into the world of Torah, and to its meaning for our lives. The Way Into Torah shows us why reading Torah is not the same as reading anything else--and enables us to become a part of a chain of Jewish tradition that began millennia ago, and remains unbroken today.

The Hem of His Garment: Touching Power in God's Word


John D. Garr - 2000
    Slight wear from time on shelf like you would see on a major chain. Immediate shipping

Walk Exodus!: A Messianic Jewish Devotional Commentary


Jeffrey Enoch Feinberg - 2000
    Jeffery Feinberg has done it again. Following his highly successful Walk Genesis! he has continued his Walk series with this excellent devotional commentary. Using the weekly synagogue readings, Dr. Feinberg has put together some very valuable material. Each section includes a short Hebrew lesson (for the non-Hebrew speaker), key concepts, an excellent overview of the portion, and some very practical applications. Can be used as a daily devotional as well as a Bible study tool for digging deeper in the Word. If you enjoyed Walk Genesis, you'll love Walk Exodus! 224 pages.

A Mediterranean Society, An Abridgment in One Volume


S.D. Goitein - 2000
    D. Goitein's magisterial five-volume work on Jewish communities in the medieval Mediterranean world offers an unparalleled view of how people lived, traveled, worshiped, and conducted their economic and social affairs. Living under Muslim rule, the Jews became increasingly urbanized and played a significant part in an expanding world economy. As major actors in the flourishing intellectual life of the period, they forged much of what constitutes traditional Judaism today and served as a conduit of Islamic learning to the Christian West.Goitein's masterpiece is now abridged and reworked by Jacob Lassner in a single volume that captures the essential narratives and contexts of the original. To understand the value of this distillation, we need to picture the remarkable, all-but-impenetrable cache of unique letters and documents found by accident in a geniza, or repository of sacred writings, in Old Cairo. These materials, unlike historical chronicles and literary texts of the time, represent the living experiences of people in a wide variety of settings throughout the entire Mediterranean and stretching as far east as the Indian subcontinent.Goitein explored and interpreted these texts as no other scholar had. Lassner, in turn, makes Goitein's findings available to a wide audience and then moves on to raise a host of new and tantalizing questions about the Jews of the Geniza and the relationship of their community to the hegemonic Muslim society.

The Art of Torah Cantillation: A Step-By-Step Guide to Chanting Torah [With CD]


Marshall Portnoy - 2000
    Divided into 13 lessons and additional useful appendices and bibliography, the book allows the reader to "self-teach" the important principles of Torah cantillation. The only pre-requisite for this course of learning is a basic ability to read Hebrew and a willingness to learn! It is a perfect selection for B'nai Mitzvah students, beginning learners, and for adult education courses. Step-by-step exercises and instructions CD of recordings correspond with written exercises Includes both male and female voices on recording Includes glossary, list of parashiyot, High Holy Day cantillation and more!

Climbing the Mountain: The Scientific Biography of Julian Schwinger


Jagdish Mehra - 2000
    Schwinger was one of the most important and influential scientists of the twentieth century. The list of his contributions is staggering, from his early work leading to the Schwinger action principle, Euclidean quantum field theory, and the genesis of the standard model, to later valuable work on magnetic charge and the Casimir effect. He also shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics with Richard Feynman. However, even among physicists, understanding and recognition of his work remains limited. This book by Mehra and Milton, both of whom were personally acquainted with Schwinger, presents a unique portrait that sheds light on both his personality and his work through discussion of his lasting influence on science. Anyone who wishes to gain a deeper understanding of one of the great physicists of this century needs to read this book.

Sephardic Flavors: Jewish Cooking of the Mediterranean


Joyce Goldstein - 2000
    In Sephardic Flavors, Goldstein uncovers the culinary history of the Diaspora, revealing in vivid prose and delicious recipes how the Sephardic Jews adapted the cuisines of their new homelands. Drawing upon the cultural and gastronomic heritages of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Turkey, Goldstein has amassed a remarkable array of unique recipes and historical information. A fascinating voyage into culinary history as well as a compilation of superbly satisfying dishes, Sephardic Flavors captures the indomitable spirit and brilliant cuisines that continue to capture our imaginations today.

Words and Minds: How We Use Language to Think Together


Neil Mercer - 2000
    Examining everyday language and drawing on a wide range of research, but always with a light style, Neil Mercer provides a unified account of the relationship between thought and language.Mercer analyses real-life examples of language being used effectively, or otherwise, in many different settings, including workplaces and schools, the home, the internet and the courtroom, and offers practical insights into how we might improve our communication skills.Words and Minds will appeal to anyone interested in language and the psychology of everyday life.

The Tapestry of Jewish Time: A Spiritual Guide to Holidays and Life-Cycle Events


Nina Beth Cardin - 2000
    With descriptions of both traditional and contemporary practice, The Tapestry of Jewish Time hands us our tradition as an heirloom and shows us how to remake that tradition. In Part One, Jewish Holidays, Rabbi Cardin tells the story of the Jewish week, month, and year, showing us the struggles and celebrations we share with our ancestors, and how we have transformed those struggles and celebrations. Rabbi Cardin teaches that Jews once celebrated Passover by sacrificing a lamb, but Jews now celebrate Passover by foregoing chametz, leavening. Jews have always left a cup of wine for Elijah; today some leave a cup of water for Miriam as well. But we all celebrate Passover with a family meal and the telling of the freedom story.In Part Two, Jewish Life-Cycle Events, Rabbi Cardin reveals the eternal cycle of Jewish life through contemporary and ancient stories. She writes about marriage in the down-to-earth language of Genesis, the poetic language of the Song of Songs, and the devout language of the Talmud. But Rabbi Cardin also describes the variety of wedding ceremonies Jews choose from today, shows us how Judaism releases men and women from unhappy unions, and remembers the widow and the widower.Perhaps most strikingly, The Tapestry of Jewish Time teaches all of us to knit our personal stories together with those of our ancestors. The chapter Prayers and Rituals for the Home shares blessings in Hebrew, English, and transliteration, empowering us to transform our everyday life by speaking those ancient words. The beautifully decorated Personal Weavings write-in chapter invites us to weave memories and experiences from our own lives into Tapestry itself.About the Author: Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin is the Director of Jewish Life at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore, and the Chair of the Editorial Committee of Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility. She was the editor of Sh'ma from 1993 to 1998, and Director of the National Jewish Healing Center in New York City from 1995 to 1997. She lives in Baltimore with her husband, Rabbi Avram Reisner, and their children.

The Story Of The Jewish Defense League


Meir Kahane - 2000
    This enhanced edition includes bibliographical citations and Rabbi Kahane's own "Introduction to the Second Edition," written by him in 1990. The book details the ideological basis of the JDL and its campaign to free Soviet Jewry.

Schottenstein Daf Yomi Edition of the Talmud : English Berachos Volume 1 (folios 2a-30b)


Mesorah - 2000
    

The Handbook of Jewish Meditation Practices


David A. Cooper - 2000
    This book shows you how to do it. "Renew the soul and your perspective of daily life will completely change. It is simply a matter of taking time, slowing down, shifting mundane consciousness into realms of higher insight and giving yourself the gift of reflection and contemplation."--from the IntroductionWhile broad interest in Jewish meditation is a relatively new phenomenon, meditative practices have been deeply rooted in Judaism for thousands of years. Here, Rabbi David A. Cooper shows newcomers and experienced meditators alike how Jewish meditation can be an integral part of daily life, and can refresh us in our day-to-day encounters with ourselves, other people and in ritual, prayer, Torah study and our celebration of the Sabbath and other holy days.

The Jewish Political Tradition: Volume I: Authority


Michael Walzer - 2000
    Each volume includes a selection of texts from the Bible and Talmud, midrashic literature, legal responsa, treatises, and pamphlets annotated for modern readers and accompanied by new commentaries written by eminent philosophers, lawyers, political theorists, and other scholars working in different fields of Jewish studies. These contributors join the arguments of the texts, agreeing or disagreeing, elaborating, refining, qualifying, and sometimes repudiating the political views of the original authors. The series brings the little-known and unexplored Jewish tradition of political thinking and writing into the light, showing where and how it resonates in the state of Israel, the chief diaspora settlements, and, more broadly, modern political experience. The first volume, Authority, addresses the basic question of who ought to rule the community: what claims to rule have been put forward from the time of the exodus from Egypt to the establishment of the state of Israel? How are such claims disputed and defended? What constitutes legit

Spirit in Nature: Teaching Judaism and Ecology on the Trail


Matt Biers-Ariel - 2000
    Divided into six chapters--including Trees: The Torah of Life, Opening Our Eyes to Miracles, and Ma'ariv Aravim: Blessing the Night--Spirit in Nature's 27 activities are designed to enhance environmental awareness from a Jewish perspective. Through these activities, hikers of all ages will come alive to the miracle of God's creations. They focus on the marvels of nature: hosts of tiny creatures living in the soil, the rainbow of colors embellishing fields and trees and stones, the intricate interdependence of plants and animals. Each discovery celebrates the divine spark that exists within every living creature and every object found in the natural world. Building on Jewish sources and Jewish tradition, Spirit in Nature fosters respect for flora, fauna, and natural phenomena and shows how to sanctify them with the appropriate prayer, such as the blessing recited upon seeing a rainbow or upon smelling a fragrant plant. This pioneering work will awaken hikers to the wisdom of Jewish tradition in its dedication to safeguarding and preserving the bounty of God's creation. An index highlighting the connection between key Jewish values and the environment makes Spirit in Nature an effective classroom tool. A must-have for camp directors, counselors, teachers, rabbis, parents, youth group leaders, and community center workers.