Soloveitchik, the rabbi known as “The Rav” by his followers worldwide, was a leading authority on the meaning of Jewish law and prominent force in building bridges between traditional Orthodox Judaism and the modern world. In The Lonely Man of Faith, a soaring, eloquent essay first published in Tradition magazine in 1965, Soloveitchik investigates the essential loneliness of the person of faith in our narcissistic, materially oriented, utilitarian society.In this modern classic, Soloveitchik uses the story of Adam and Eve as a springboard, interweaving insights from such important Western philosophers as Kierkegaard and Kant with innovative readings of Genesis to provide guidance for the faithful in today’s world. He explains prayer as “the harbinger of moral reformation,” and discusses with empathy and understanding the despair and exasperation of individuals who seek personal redemption through direct knowledge of a God who seems remote and unapproachable. He shows that while the faithful may become members of a religious community, their true home is “the abode of loneliness.” In a moving personal testimony, Soloveitchik demonstrates a deep-seated commitment, intellectual courage, and integrity to which people of all religions will respond.

    Ninety three weeks on the best-seller list.Sotah introduces a family with three daughters approaching the age of marriage: Devorah, Dina and Chaya Leah. In the strict orthodoxy of their world, a Sotah is a wife suspected of infidelity who can be tried by ordeal to prove she is guiltless. Which sister could be capable of such a thought, let alone the act? Into the pious world of strict chaperoning and modest clothing, where a married woman's hair must never be seen by a man other than her husband--insinuates this serpent suggestion of evil. Ragen's powerful tale of three sisters spins endless questions: Which one? Could she? Did she? What changes could come into this orderly world because of unthinking actions?

    First published in Odessa in 1908-11, it was recognized immediately as a masterwork in its own right, and reprinted numerous times in Israel.The Hebrew poet Hayim Nahman Bialik and the renowned editor Yehoshua Hana Ravnitzky, the architects of this masterful compendium, selected hundreds of texts from the Talmud and midrashic literature and arranged them thematically, in order to provide their contemporaries with easy access to the national literary heritage of the Jewish people -- the texts of Rabbinic Judaism that remain at the heart of Jewish literacy today.Bialik and Ravnitzky chose Aggadah -- the non-legal portions of the Talmud and Midrash -- for their anthology. Loosely translated as "legends", Aggadah includes the genres of biblical exegesis, stories about biblical characters, the lives of the Talmudic era sages and their contemporary history, parables, proverbs, and folklore. A captivating melange of wisdom and piety, fantasy and satire, Aggadah is the expressive medium of the Jewish creative genius.The arrangement of this compendium reflects the theological concerns of the Rabbinic sages: the role of Israel and the nations; God, good and evil; human relations; the world of nature; and the art of healing. Here, the reader who wants to explore traditional Jewish views on a particular subject is treated to a selection of relevant texts at his fingertips but will soon become immersed in a way of thinking, exploring, and questioning that is the hallmark of Jewish inquiry."Whatever the imagination can invent is found in the Aggadah," wrote the historian Leopold Zunz, "its purpose always being to teach man the ways of God." The Book of Legends/Sefer Ha-Aggadah, now available in William Braude's superbly annotated translation, enables modern Jews to experience firsthand the richness and excitement of their cultural inheritance.

    When the hospital was forced to close the children that had survived were taken to the death-camps. Blady-Szwajger became a reluctant courier for the resistance. She left the ghetto and began to carry paper money pinned into her clothing to those in hiding. She and her flat-mate pretended to be good-time girls having fun and threw parties to disguise the coming and going of their male visitors. This heroic memoir pays tribute to all the men and women who paid with their lives for the safety of others.

    Personal journeys seldom have a clear beginning, and they rarely have a definite end. If there is an end to our journey, surely it is one that leads to some measure of wisdom, and thence back to its own beginning. But somewhere along the way, we come to realize that we must know where we have been going, why we have been going. Most of all, we come to understand as best we can the One who sends us on our way. --from the Introduction Rabbi Arthur Green leads us on a journey of discovery to seek God, the world, and ourselves. One of the most influential Jewish thinkers of our time, Green has created a roadmap of meaning for our lives in the light of Jewish mysticism, using the Hebrew letters that make up the divine name: Yod-- Reality at the beginning. God as the oneness of being at the outset, before it unfolds into our universe. Heh-- Creation and God's presence in the world. A renewed faith in God as Creator has powerful implications for us today. Vav-- Revelation, the central faith claim of Judaism and the claim it makes on our lives. Heh-- Redemption and our return to God through the life of Torah and by participating in the ongoing repair of the world. A personal and honest framework of understanding for the seeker, this revised and updated edition of a classic sheds new light on our search for the divine presence in our everyday lives.

    Personal stories of people who believe they died in the Holocaust and have reincarnated.

    Bonder goes beyond popular wisdom to wield the Kabbalah. He draws on the wisdom of the Talmud and Jewish mystical lore in his insights into envy, jealousy, hatred and anger.

    His direct involvement, compelling polemics, and trenchant criticism have established his steadfast significance for contemporary Israeli--and Jewish--intellectual life. These hard-hitting essays, his first to be published in English, cover the ground Leibowitz has marked out over time with moral rigor and political insight. He considers the essence and character of historical Judaism, the problems of contemporary Judaism and Jewishness, the relationship of Judaism to Christianity, the questions of statehood, religion, and politics in Israel, and the role of women. Together these essays constitute a comprehensive critique of Israeli society and politics and a probing diagnosis of the malaise that afflicts contemporary Jewish culture.Leibowitz's understanding of Jewish philosophy is acute, and he brings it to bear on current issues. He argues that the Law, Halakhah, is essential to Judaism, and shows how, at present, separation of religion from state would serve the interest of halakhic observance and foster esteem for religion. Leibowitz calls the religious justification of national issues "idolatry" and finds this phenomenon at the root of many of the annexationist moves made by the state of Israel. Long one of the most outspoken critics of Israeli occupation in the conquered territories, he gives eloquent voice to his ongoing concern over the debilitating moral effects of its policies and practices on Israel itself. This translation will bring to an English-speaking audience a much-needed, lucid perspective on the present and future state of Jewish culture.

    With hundreds of brilliantly detailed maps, photographs, and drawings, and chronologies and commentaries by leading experts, A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People is both an authoritative reference work and a sumptuous gift volume.

    

    Students will learn how to pronounce the Hebrew letters and vowels, enabling them to read more than 30 essential Hebrew blessings and prayers. For classroom and individualized instruction.

    Jews have always studied, interpreted, and revered sacred texts; they have also adorned the settings and occasions of sacred acts. Calligraphy and ornamentation have transformed Hebrew letters into art; quotation, interpretation, legend, and wordplay have made ceremonial objects into narrative. This book represents just such a collaboration between art and language. Ellen Frankel and Betsy Platkin Teutsch, writer and artist, have brought their extensive knowledge and talents together to create The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols, the first reference guide of its kind, designed for use by educators, artists, rabbis, folklorists, feminists, Jewish and non-Jewish scholars, and lay readers.

    The fundamentals of Jewish faith which are set forth in this volume, such as humility, faith and trust, kindness, revenge, self-sacrifice, and sanctifying G-d's name, were not abstract theories, but the day-to-day guidelines of his life. This book reveals the erudite scholarship and mastery of Torah which was the source of Rabbi Kahane's untiring activities. Detailed indexes, by subject, Biblical source, Talmudic source and Midrashic source, for both volume one and volume two, are found in The Jewish Idea, volume two.

    Jewish lesbian magic realism -- dynamic piece of writing.

    Sequel to the immensely popular Living Each Day.

    This volume of Rabbi Steinsaltz's pioneering translation of Talmud deals offers ethical guidelines for various commercial transactions, with a special focus on employer-employee relations.

    Pardes studies women's plots and subplots, dreams and pursuits, uncovering the diverse and at times conflicting figurations of femininity in biblical texts. She also sketches the ways in which antipatriarchal elements intermingle with other repressed elements in the Bible: polytheistic traditions, skeptical voices, and erotic longings.

    Paperback re-issue of a book tracing the concept of demon and power in Christian theology.

    Sachar tells the stories of Spanish marranos and Russian refugees, of aristocrats and threadbare social revolutionaries, of philanthropists and Hollywood moguls. At the same time, he elucidates the grand themes of the Jewish encounter with America, from the bigotry of a Christian majority to the tensions among Jews of different origins and beliefs, and from the struggle for acceptance to the ambivalence of assimilation.

    Religion/Politics

    Ariel locates the Jewish mystical tradition within the context of Jewish history and traces its evolution throughout the ages, concluding with the role of mysticism in contemporary Judaism.David S. Ariel is president of the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies.

    To scholars who had hoped to prove the Bible's authenticity, the results were traumatic.One by one, the various books of the Bible were discovered to contain errors of fact, inaccurate guesses, rationalizations, prophecies ex post facto (usually combined with prophecies of the future that proved inaccurate), and unmistakable, deliberate lies. Such was the power of the churches that, despite the publication of thousands of scholarly books and articles refuting every part of the Judaeo-Christian Bible, to this day the existence of unchallengeable proof that the Bible is a work of fiction is unknown to ninety percent of the population of Christian-dominated societies.For a century this information has been available only to students willing to wade through dozens of books, each of which deals with only one aspect of Judaeo-Christian mythology. It is hoped that, by bringing together information on the origin and development of every part of the Yahweh- and Jesus-myths, Mythology's Last Gods will make the facts available to a large enough segment of the population to end the equation of god-mythology with history permanently. This is the first book to critically analyze, and take issue with, every section of the Judaeo-Christian Bible from a wholly skeptical, utterly scholarly perspective.Mythology's Last Gods is a comprehensive history of the development of Judaeo-Christian god-mythology. Harwood traces the beginning of the "god" concept, the evolution of Judaism to the first century, and the evolution of Christianity from its monotheistic beginnings to its emergence as a three-god creed in A.D. 325. Harwood's work reveals many things including that Jesus the Nazarite preached only Essene Judaism, and that every teaching attributed to him can be traced to a pre-Christian source.

    In reality it was as a way station to Auschwitz. When young Gonda Redlich was deported to Terezin in December of 1941, the elders selected him to be in charge of the youth welfare department. He kept a diary during his imprisonment, chronicling the fear and desperation of life in the ghetto, the attempts people made to create a cultural and social life, and the disease, death, rumors, and hopes that were part of daily existence. Before his own deportation to Auschwitz, with his wife and son, in 1944, he concealed his diary in an attic, where it remained until discovered by Czech workers in 1967.

    The evil eye—the power to inflict illness, damage to property, or even death simply by gazing at or praising someone—is among the most pervasive and powerful folk beliefs in the Indo-European and Semitic world.  It is also one of the oldest, judging from its appearance in the Bible and in Sumerian texts five thousand years old.  Remnants of the superstition persist today when we drink toasts, tip waiters, and bless sneezers.  To avert the evil eye, Muslim women wear veils, baseball players avoid mentioning a no-hitter in progress, and traditional Jews say their business or health is "not bad" (rather than "good").    Though by no means universal, the evil eye continues to be a major factor in the behavior of millions of people living in the Mediterranean and Arab countries, as well as among immigrants to the Americas.  This widespread superstition has attracted the attention of many scholars, and the twenty-one essays gathered in this book represent research from diverse perspectives:  anthropology, classics, folklore studies, ophthalmology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, sociology, and religious studies.  Some essays are fascinating reports of beliefs about the evil eye, from India and Iran to Scotland and Slovak-American communities; others analyze the origin, function, and cultural significance of this folk belief from ancient times to the present day.  Editor Alan Dundes concludes the volume by proffering a comprehensive theoretical explanation of the evil eye.     Anyone who has ever knocked on wood to ward off misfortune will enjoy this generous sampling of evil eye scholarship, and may never see the world through the same eyes again.

    Filled with beautiful ideas, piercing insights, and provocative anecdotes -- based on lessons from each weekly Torah reading -- it will enrich the life of every reader.

    

    Using Hitler's concentration camps as a point of departure, Hay leads us on a tour of the devilish scenes and spectacles which have been produced by Christian hatred of Jews for some 1900 years.

    Drawing on the Bible, Talmud, and Midrashic sources, the author traces the Jewish search for God through language.

    They bring strong spiritual support for daily living and recovery from addictions of all kinds: alcohol, drugs, eating, gambling and sex. A profound sense of the spirit soars through their words and brings all people in Twelve Step recovery programs home to a rich and spiritually enlightening tradition. This book is not just for Jewish people. It's for all people who would gain strength to heal and insight from the Bible and the teachings of Jewish tradition. "Meets a vital need; it offers a chance for people turning from alcoholism and addiction to renew their spirits and draw upon the Jewish tradition to guide and enrich their lives." --Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, President, Jewish Life Network "Will benefit anyone familiar with a religion of the Book. Jews, Christians, Muslims..." --Ernest Kurtz, author of Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous and The Spirituality of Imperfection "[This book will have] an enduring impact upon the faith community as it seeks to blend the wisdom of the ages represented in the tradition with the twelve steps to recovery and wholeness." --Robert H. Albers, Ph.D., Editor, Journal of Ministry in Addiction and Recovery

    This guide blends consolation with information. What happens at the funeral service? What is Kaddish? How is shiva observed? What is yahrzeit? Discover the meaning and compassion of the Jewish way of mourning, and begin to heal.