Best of
Judaism

1986

When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough: The Search for a Life That Matters


Harold S. Kushner - 1986
    Why is it that, after attaining many of our goals, we are left with a sense that something vital is missing? In his deeply inspiring bestseller, Rabbi Kushner shows us how to live as human beings are meant to. He guides us to a heightened sense of joy, purpose, and meaning, and helps us to redirect our energies toward goals that will bring us lasting happiness and true fulfillment.

The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism


Conor Cruise O'Brien - 1986
    A courageous, dramatic telling of the Jewish homeland's extraordinary story, from the birth of Zionism and its founders on.

The Halakhic Mind: An Essay on Jewish Tradition and Modern Thought


Joseph B. Soloveitchik - 1986
    Soloveitchik.Discusses the conflict between philosophy and science, examines the growth of religious knowledge, and shows how the Halakha, Jewish religious law, can be used to formulate a new religious outlook.

Miriam's Tambourine


Howard Schwartz - 1986
    Miriam's Tambourine presents fifty classic Jewish folktales that come from virtually every corner of the globe and every historical period. Readers of all ages will delight in the Jewish versions of the Snow White, Rapunsel, and Sinbad stories, which in some cases were the original sources of these popular folktales. Howard Schwartz has also selected and retold those tales which have retained their uniquely Jewish character and have become part of the heritage of the Jewish people, including the Golem, the tales of Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav and of the Ba'al Shem Tov, tales of Elijah the Prophet, Miriam and her mystical well, Rabbi Adam, and even of the Sambotyon, the legendary river that raged six days of the week and rested on the Sabbath. Recast in a form accessible to readers both young and old, yet true to their provenances, these tales continue to enthrall and capture the imagination as they illustrate the power of man to overcome evil; the longing of the Jewish people to return to their homeland; and the universal prayer for a world at peace. Providing careful annotation of sources and a brilliant analysis of meanings and symbolisms, Miriam's Tambourine represents a landmark in Jewish folk literature and in American-Jewish culture.

The Radiance of Shabbos


Simcha Bunim Cohen - 1986
    The complete laws of the Shabbos and Festival candle-lighting, Kiddush, Lechem Mishneh, meals, Bircas HaMazon, and Havdalah.

Exploring Exodus: The Origins of Biblical Israel


Nahum M. Sarna - 1986
    In a new Foreword to the 1996 edition, Sarna takes up the debate over whether the exodus from Egypt really happened, clarifying the arguments on both sides and drawing us back to the uniqueness and enduring significance of biblical text.

Sinister Wisdom 29-30: The Tribe of Dina: A Jewish Women's Anthology


Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz - 1986
    In richly diverse essays, stories, memoirs, poems, and interviews, the contributors to this collection affirm the depth of Jewish women's participation in Jewish life and give strength to feminist struggles in the Jewish community.

Gateway to Happiness


Zelig Pliskin - 1986
    The material has been culled from the full range of Torah literature and includes techniques the author has found effective in his counseling experience.

The Psalms


David, King - 1986
    

Roots of the Bible


Friedrich Weinreb - 1986
    

The Miracle of Intervale Avenue: The Story of a Jewish Congregation in the South Bronx


Jack Kugelmass - 1986
    This unique congregation represents the struggle of individuals to maintain their dignity, independence, and faith over the years.In The Miracle of Intervale Avenue, Jack Kugelmass tells the inspiring story of a community that continues to see the area as its own, as a place they steadfastly refuse to abandon despite a major shift in the ethnic demography of the South Bronx and an increase in violent crime.A classic ethnography of American Jewish life, The MIracle of Intervale Avenue has now been brought up to date. In a new closing chapter and epilogue, Kugelmass shows how the congregation has adapted to the radical changes in the neighborhood, bringing closure to this poignant work. Now with 38 photographs of the community over the years, the book covers the slow econmic resurgence of the South Bronx and discusses the revitalizing effect of the congregation's new members, including blacks and Latinos.

The Twelfth of June


Marilyn Gould - 1986
    Twelve-year-old Janis copes with her cerebral palsy and her changing feelings for her good friend Barney as he approaches his bar mitzvah.

Finding God: Selected Responses


Rifat Sonsino - 1986
    This latest edition of Finding God includes two new essays on the distinct theologies of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Alvin Reines, as well as a chapter on newer approaches, including those of Emil Fackenheim, Harold Schulweis, Marcia Falk, Lawrence Kushner, and Judith Plaskow. There is no one right way to view God for Jews, but with the help of this book readers will be better able to understand the multiple ways that Jews have continued to wrestle with the idea of God throughout history.-- Revised edition-- Three new chapters-- A multiplicity of distinctively Jewish theological perspectives-- Ideal for high school, adult education courses, and Introduction to Judaism-- Free discussion guide available at www.uahcpress.com

The Jewish Holidays: A Guide and Commentary


Michael Strassfeld - 1986
    . . with a greater devotion and joy."--Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler

Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice


Bernard Lewis - 1986
    This conflict is primarily political, a clash between states and peoples over territory and history. But it is also a conflict that has affected and been affected by prejudice. For a long time this was simply the "normal" prejudice between neighboring people of different religions and ethnic origins. In the present age, however, hostility toward Israel and its people has taken the form of anti-Semitism-a pernicious world view that goes beyond prejudice and ascribes to Jews a quality of cosmic evil. First published in the 1980s to universal acclaim, Semites and Anti-Semites traces the development of anti-Semitism from its beginnings as a poison in the bloodstream of Christianity to its modern entrance into mainstream Islam. Bernard Lewis, one of the world's foremost scholars of the Middle East, takes us through the history of the Semitic peoples to the emergence of the Jews and their virulent enemies, and dissects the region's recent tragic developments in a moving new afterword. "A powerful and important work, beautifully written and edited, and based on a range of erudition (in the best sense) that few others, if any, could command."—George Kennan

American Yiddish Poetry: A Bilingual Anthology


Benjamin Harshav - 1986
    The range of American Yiddish Poetry runs the gamut from individualistic verse of alienation in the modern metropolis, responses to Western culture and ideologies, and experiments with poetic form and the resources of the Yiddish language, to the vitriolic associative chains of a politically engaged anarchist existentialist; from hymns to urban architecture and landscapes and the plight of African Americans to confrontations with the experiences of Jewish history and the loss of the Yiddish language. The bilingual facing-page format, the notes and the biographies of poets, the selections from Yiddish theory and criticism, and a comprehensive introduction to the cultural background and concerns of the poetry enhance the poems themselves.

A Treasury of Sephardic Laws and Customs


Herbert C. Dobrinsky - 1986
    Although Sephardic Jewry on this continent is steadily increasing in numbers and importance, its practices and customs are still virtually unknown to most American Jews of Ashkenazic (European) background, including many of those who are charged with the responsibility for the religious education of both children and adults. This volume, the first of its kind in the history of Jewish publishing, provides a comprehensive compendium of the laws and customs of these four main communities of Sephardic Jewry in such areas as holiday observances, worship services, birth, Bar Mizvah, marriage and divorce, death and mourning, dietary laws, family relations, and many other vital areas of personal, family, and communal life. Based upon extensive research, including both written sources and thorough interviews of Sephardic scholars, it serves as a fascinating opportunity to experience the full variety and scope of Jewish life as it evolved in diverse historical periods and cultural regions. He lives in New York City.

Wine, Women, and Death: Medieval Hebrew Poems on the Good Life


Raymond P. Scheindlin - 1986
    In this delight delightful book, Scheindlin presents the original Hebrew poetry with his own melodic English translations, each followed by commentary that explains its cultural context.