More recently, Kabbalah nearly disappeared—as most of its practitioners perished in the Holocaust. Now this powerful spiritual tradition, after centuries of secrecy and near-extinction, is explained clearly in this book by one of its most prominent teachers.Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? How do we get there? These questions have fueled Kabbalists for nearly a millennium. Rabbi David A. Cooper is the first to bring this obscure and difficult tradition to a mainstream audience in a way that gently leads us to the heart of the subject, showing us how to transform profound teachings into a meaningful personal experience—and appreciate fully this great mystical process we know as God.

    In Biblical Literacy, Telushkin turns his attention to the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Old Testament), the most influential series of books in human history. Along with the Ten Commandments, the Bible's most famous document, no piece of legislation ever enacted has influenced human behavior as much as the biblical injunction to "Love your neighbor as yourself." No political tract has motivated human beings in so many diverse societies to fight for political freedom as the Exodus story of God's liberation of the Israelite slaves--which shows that God intends that, ultimately, people be free.The Bible's influence, however, has conveyed as much through its narratives as its laws. Its timeless and moving tales about the human condition and man's relationship to God have long shaped Jewish and Christian notions of morality, and continue to stir the conscience and imagination of believers and skeptics alike.There is a universality in biblical stories:The murder of Abel by his brother Cain is a profound tragedy of sibling jealousy and family love gone awry (see pages 11-14).Abraham',s challenge to God to save the lives of the evil people of Sodom is a fierce drama of man in confrontation with God, suggesting the human right to contend with the Almighty when it is feared He is acting unjustly (see pages 32-34).Jacob's, deception of his blind father, Isaac raises the timeless question: Do the ends justify the means when the fate of the world is at stake (see pages 46-55).Encyclopedia in scope, but dynamic and original in its observations and organization, Biblical Literacy makes available in one volume the Bible's timeless stories of love, deceit, and the human condition; its most important laws and ideas; and an annotated listing of all 613 laws of the Torah for both layman and professional, there is no other reference work or interpretation of the Bible quite like this Stunning volume.

    With a new section on mother/daughter relationships, new and updated material on Israel, and new poetry and photographs.

    Rich in stories of David Aaron's own personal experiences as a husband, father, teacher, and spiritual mentor, Endless Light offers us a new and deeper awareness of ourselves, our inner conflicts, and the choices we must make to understand and receive life's bounteous gifts. The author also retells the familiar stories of the Torah - the Creation, the Expulsion from Eden, and many others - clarifying their mysterious meanings and deciphering what they teach us about ourselves and how to fulfill our purpose in life. He shares the Kabbalah's wisdom about how to truly love and be loved; he addresses the conflict between the powers of fate and free will. And he describes the steps along the path of life that will lead us to spiritual growth, creativity, freedom, happiness, and inner peace.

    Levenson, Harvard Divinity SchoolWhile other English translations of the Bible render its language as if it had been written in English, this new translation re-creates the full force of the Bible's original rhetoric and poetry--its rhythms, nuances, and stylistic devices--allowing the English reader to experience the spiritual and aesthetic power of the Bible's own voice while recovering layers of meaning that are missed entirely in conventional translations.Everett Fox has devoted twenty-five years to this unique approach to Bible translation. Based on principles developed by Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig, this new English translation restores the poetics of the Hebrew original--the echoes, allusions, alliterations, and word-plays that rhetorically underscore its meaning and are intrinsic to a text meant to be read aloud and heard. Widely praised by Bible scholars and theologians of every denomination, the publication of the first volume of The Schocken Bible is a major religious, scholarly, and literary event. Together with its extensive commentary and illuminating notes, this unique translation draws the reader closer to the authentic living voice of the Bible.

    First published in 1997, it's a full traditional seder, but with large amounts of art and commentaries, and discussion starters -- all in a user-friendly format that makes it easy to customize your seder. The Four Children section (with 20 representations going back to 1526) is already a classic. Easy-to-follow instructions make this book accessible to even a novice seder leader; and the many short commentaries will enrich anyone's Passover.

    It is a commonplace to note how the landless and scattered Jewish communities have, from the time of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. until the founding of modern Israel in 1948, cleaved to the text and derived their identity from it. But the story is far more complex. The shift from the Bible to the Torah, from biblical religion to rabbinic Judaism mediated by the Sages, and the sealing of the canon together with its continuing interpretive work demanded from the community, amount to what could be called an unparalleled obsession with textuality. Halbertal gives us insights into the history of this obsession, in a philosophically sophisticated yet straightforward narrative.People of the Book offers the best introduction available to Jewish hermeneutics, a book capable of conveying the importance of the tradition to a wide audience of both academic and general readers. Halbertal provides a panoramic survey of Jewish attitudes toward Scripture, provocatively organized around problems of normative and formative authority, with an emphasis on the changing status and functions of Mishnah, Talmud, and Kabbalah. With a gift for weaving complex issues of interpretation into his own plot, he animates ancient texts by assigning them roles in his own highly persuasive narrative.

    "Because God loves stories." Storytelling has been part of Jewish religion and custom from earliest times and it remains a defining aspect of Jewish life. In Because God Loves Stories, folklorist Steve Zeitlin assembles the work of thirty-six Jewish storytellers, each of whom spins tales that express his or her own distinctive visions of Jewish culture. Contemporary storytellers re-interpret stories from the Talmud for modern sensibilities, the Grand Rabbi of Bluzhov tells tales of the Holocaust, beloved comedian Sam Levenson regales readers with hilarious vignettes of Jewish life in America, and much more.

    It contains some of his most famous published writings, as well as significant writings which were previously unpublished. Spanning almost 30 years of continuously deepening reflection, the book presents the full range of Strauss's contributions as a modern Jewish thinker. These essays and lectures cumulatively point toward the "postcritical" reconstruction of Judaism which Strauss envisioned, suggesting in rebuild along Maimonidean lines. Thus, the book lends credence to the view that Strauss was able to uncover and probe the crisis at the heart of modern Jewish thought and history, perhaps with greater profundity than any other contemporary Jewish thinker.

    The Western notion of the aggressive, sexually dominant male and the passive female reaches back through Freud to Roman times, but as Boyarin makes clear, such gender roles are not universal. Analyzing ancient and modern texts, he reveals early rabbis—studious, family-oriented—as exemplars of manhood and the prime objects of female desire in traditional Jewish society.Challenging those who view the "feminized Jew" as a pathological product of the Diaspora or a figment of anti-Semitic imagination, Boyarin argues that the Diaspora produced valuable alternatives to the dominant cultures' overriding gender norms. He finds the origins of the rabbinic model of masculinity in the Talmud, and though unrelentingly critical of rabbinic society's oppressive aspects, he shows how it could provide greater happiness for women than the passive gentility required by bourgeois European standards.Boyarin also analyzes the self-transformation of three iconic Viennese modern Jews: Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis; Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism; and Bertha Pappenheim (Anna O.), the first psychoanalytic patient and founder of Jewish feminism in Germany. Pappenheim is Boyarin's hero: it is she who provides him with a model for a militant feminist, anti-homophobic transformation of Orthodox Jewish society today.Like his groundbreaking Carnal Israel, this book is talmudic scholarship in a whole new light, with a vitality that will command attention from readers in feminist studies, history of sexuality, Jewish culture, and the history of psychoanalysis.

    Christians must reexamine God's Word and become equipped to reach out to and receive Jewish people with the love of God in their hearts.

    Sacks proposes a new politics of responsibility in which all portions of society have a part to play - a politics not of interest but of involvement - and hope.

    In new condition

    The reason for the rejection of the exodus tradition is said to be the lack of historical and archaeological evidence in Egypt. Those advancing these claims, however, are not specialists in the study of Egyptian history, culture, and archaeology. In this pioneering book, James Hoffmeier examines the most current Egyptological evidence and argues that it supports the biblical record concerning Israel in Egypt.

    Topics include the calendar, the prayers, blessings, family life, and more.

    But, one lifetime is not enough to master the fine art of living. Distilled over centuries, the biblical book of Ecclesiastes offers us the time-tested advice of Israel's sages. This is the best of wisdom, with echoes of East and West--from Zen and Tao to Merton and Moore--all rolled into one.In Ecclesiastes, Bible scholar Choon-Leong Seow creatively translates and carefully interprets one of the world's most profound, most enduring collections of ancient wisdom. Sometimes joyful and exultant, other times cynical and fatalistic, the ancient author Qohelet ("Teacher") wrestles with the ups and downs of real life. Even today, we recognize and repeat the sayings of this treasure-trove of apt advice. The book begins and ends with the infamous claim, "Vanity of vanities, says Qohelet, vanity of vanities! All is vanity!" In between, the sage leaves no stone unturned in the search for meaning. As the wisdom of biblical Ecclesiastes has stood the test of time, so shall Dr. Seow's Ecclesiastes become a classic in the venerated tradition of the Anchor Bible series.

    Her sophisticated history is the first book-length exploration of the sexual politics underlying the "marriage" of Hebrew and Yiddish, and it has profound implications for understanding the centrality of language choices and ideologies in the construction of modern Jewish identity.Seidman particularly examines this sexual-linguistic system as it shaped the work of two bilingual authors, S.Y. Abramovitsh, the "grand-father" of modern Hebrew and Yiddish literature; and Dvora Baron, the first modern woman writer in Hebrew (and a writer in Yiddish as well). She also provides an analysis of the roles that Hebrew "masculinity" and Yiddish "femininity" played in the Hebrew-Yiddish language wars, the divorce that ultimately ended the marriage between the languages.Theorists have long debated the role of mother and father in the child's relationship to language. Seidman presents the Ashkenazic case as an illuminating example of a society in which "mother tongue" and "father tongue" are clearly differentiated. Her work speaks to important issues in contemporary scholarship, including the psychoanalysis of language acquisition, the feminist critique of Zionism, and the nexus of women's studies and Yiddish literary history.

    In Stalking Elijah, Kamenetz takes his wild mind on the road, seeking the counsel of spiritual teachers across the country as he searches for his own Jewish truth. Entertaining, illuminating, and deeply moving, Stalking Elijah takes us all on a remarkable journey through the new landscape of Jewish practice.

    This text takes issue with these "revisionists", arguing that they have ignored or misinterpreted much documentation in developing their analysis of Israel's history.

    It advocates the acceptance of lesbians into the Jewish tradition by offering new interpretations of the Torah traditionally regarded as prohibitive of homosexuality. The book counters the millenia of Midrashim (scholarly comment on the Torah) condemning gays and lesbians, by examining the culture of biblical lawgivers and the culture of the commentators themselves.

    In a refreshing, straightforward style, the author of 'The Magic Touch' addresses the subject of tzniut, modesty, providing insight and inspiration for all.

    . . and we have the stories to prove it! Here are ten first-person accounts of Jewish doctors who came to know Jesus as their personal Messiah and who want other Jews to hear the gospel as well. As you read their testimonies, just imagine what it would be like to have the Jewish people you know and care about read them, too! Chapters Include: His success failed him; She wanted the truth but feared the consequences; Dealing with death -- the difference Jesus makes; The Jewishness of a Triune God -- A second opinion; The Doctor will see you now.

    

    Forty-six sections cover the people of the Bible and how they lived-from family life to law to transportation. This affordable one-volume resource offers over 6,000 topics and facts, making the wonders of Bible cultures more accessible than ever before.

    David Palladini's masterful tarot deck is illuminated by "Reading Tarot Cards, Susan Hansson's detailed explanation of tarot symbols, correspondences, and spreads.

    Based on his experiences on the streets of New York, the book describes his programs to encourage stronger family links. Fully returnable.

    It will take you step-by-step through the well-documented evidence. Whether a skeptic or a believer, this book will help you reach a verdict - that could very well change your life! Robert J. Morgan, 96 pages, paper, ISBN 0-910566-70-4 Aside from personal faith in God, is there any evidence to substantiate the claims of Christianity? What about Jesus Christ - was He more than just a man? And the Bible - is it more than just an interesting piece of literature? Much of the research for this book was conducted to answer the author's own earlier doubts about Christianity's claims. Table of Contents Introduction: Can Christianity Be Proven? The Empty Tomb The Eyewitnesses The Existence of Creation The Complexity of Creation Historical Prophecy Messianic Prophecy The Unequaled Christ The Solidarity of Scripture The Reliability of the Biblical Documents The Evidence of Archaeology The Witness of Changed Lives The Absence of Alternatives

    Rabbi Marc Angel looks at the Jewish holidays from the perspective of a Sephardic Jew.

    Nahum Sarna's selection on Egyptian slavery, and Rabbi David Hartman's on storytelling and family education resources for the advanced seder leader - a symposium about the four children, the four questions in depth, famous quotes on slavery and freedom - to trigger a discussion at the seder table short memoirs on great seders and exoduses of the past (Ethiopia, Russia, Marranos, and more) role playing for adults (by Peter Pitzele) and games for young children

    Seeking to defend their revolutionary vision during the neo-Assyrian crisis, the reformers turned to earlier laws, even when they disagreed with them, and revised them in such a way as to lend authority to their new understanding of God's will. Passages that other scholars have long viewed as redundant, contradictory, or displaced actually reflect the attempt by Deuteronomy's authors to sanction their new religious aims before the legacy of the past.Drawing on ancient Near Eastern law and informed by the rich insights of classical and medieval Jewish commentary, Levinson provides an extended study of three key passages in the legal corpus: the unprecedented requirement for the centralization of worship, the law transforming the old Passover into a pilgrimage festival, and the unit replacing traditional village justice with a professionalized judiciary. He demonstrates the profound impact of centralization upon the structure and arrangement of the legal corpus, while providing a theoretical analysis of religious change and cultural renewal in ancient Israel. The book's conclusion shows how the techniques of authorship developed in Deuteronomy provided a model for later Israelite and post- biblical literature.Integrating the most recent European research on the redaction of Deuteronomy with current American and Israeli scholarship, Levinson argues that biblical interpretation must attend to both the diachronic and the synchronic dimensions of the text. His study, which provides a new perspective on intertextuality, the history of authorship, and techniques of legal innovation in the ancient world, will engage pentateuchal critics and historians of Israelite religion, while reaching out toward current issues in literary theory and Critical Legal Studies.

    

    Eckstein skillfully frames Jewish beliefs and practices in their historical context and offers the reader an understanding of the contemporary experience of the Jew: the Holocaust, the birth of Israel, and the diversification of the Jewish experience.

    The Society of Biblical Literature recently ended the work of a group devoted to the study of Paul's theology. We are now seeing the publication of a number of books from various points of view that are examining the life, thought, and influence of the apostle Paul. Despite this recent attention to Paul's thought, J. Louis Martyn believes that insufficient attention has been paid to the discovery of numerous and pervasive apocalyptic themes in Paul's letters. Further, says Martyn, Paul is still being studied somewhat in isolation, almost as though he had had neither comrades nor competitors. One of the results is that Paul is sometimes credited with views he did not hold--views which were, in fact, held by his opponents. In Theological Issues in the Letters of Paul we find the results of a lifetime of study of Paul's letters by a well-known and widely respected New Testament scholar. "This volume presents highly significant Pauline insights by one of the most perceptive and innovative New Testament scholars of our time."--Raymond E. Brown, Union Theological Seminary, New York "No American in our generation has done as much to map the terrain of Pauline theology as has J. Louis Martyn. Cogent in crafting an argument, faithful in interpreting a text, and lucid in simple prose, Martyn here offers a compelling depiction of Paul as an apocalyptic theologian. It is a boon to teachers, students, and pastors to have the fruits of Martyn's lifelong engagement with Paul made available in this volume."--Charles B. Cousar, Columbia Theological Seminary "With unusual perspicacity and insight [Martyn] sheds new light on the matters that most distinguish Paul's gospel, including his understanding of the covenant, the cross, and the new creation."--Victor Paul Furnish, Perkins School of Theology, SMU

    The sources collected in this volume--spanning two thousand years and including material from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East--include depictions of peak religious experiences and visions, examples of ecstatic prayer, and counsel on how to keep company with the divine.Supplemented with commentary by Louis Jacobs, one of the world's most knowledgeable scholars of Jewish mysticism, these accounts offer an exciting new window on Jewish religious experience and inspiration to spiritual seekers of all persuasions.

    Together the essays present a coherent theory of the way in which each successive phase of Jewish literature has drawn upon and reimagined the previous ones. The book is organized into four sections: The Ancient Models; The Folk Tradition; Mythic Echoes; and Modern Jewish Literature and the Ancient Models. Within these divisions, each of the essays focuses on a specific genre, ranging from Torah and Aggadah to Kabbalah, fairy tales, and the modern Yiddish stories of S.Y. Agnon and Isaac Bashevis Singer.Arguing the important thesis that there is a continuity in Jewish literature which extends from the Biblical era to our own times--a period of over 3,000 years--this collection also serves as a guide to the history of that literature, and to the genres it comprises.

    Ranging from the end of the nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth, these poems explore the immigrant experience in America, assimilation and anti-Semitism, the legacy of the Holocaust and two world wars, Israel and modern Jewish life. They delve into religious matters: the Bible and ancient Jewish history, theology and mysticism, holidays and ritual. And they movingly illuminate universal concerns: relationships between parents and children, the search for love and community, the pain of death and loss, the quest for the meaning of life.Telling and Remembering offers the work of exceptional poets, including Allen Ginsberg, Louise Gluck, Anthony Hecht, John Hollander, Maxine Kumin, Stanley Kunitz, Denise Levertov, Philip Levine, Eve Merriam, Howard Nemerov, Cynthia Ozick, Grace Paley, Marge Piercy, Adrienne Rich, Muriel Rukeyser, Delmore Schwartz, and Karl Shapiro.

    In this first-ever translation into English, Avraham Yaakov Finkel has reorganized the work topically for clarity and easy reference, at last making this important text available to a wider audience. Although written more than seven-hundred years ago, the author's observations on the world are strikingly relevant to the contemporary scene. The work of addresses subjects ranging from love of God, Torah study, and the after-life, to choosing a mate, financial matters, and anger. Scattered throughout the book, Rabbi Yehudah HeChasid includes examples of actual life experiences to illustrate moral lessons. The original work has been a favorite of both scholars and laypeople for its straightforward style, in contrast to other medieval writings on ethics that are largely theoretical and reflective. Rabbi Yehudah HeChasid was born in Speyer, Germany, ca. 1150, about fifty years after the Jews of the region were massacred in the First Crusade of 1096, and only three years after the mobs of the Second Crusade killed thousands of Jews throughout Germany. He is the most prominent of the chasidei Ashkenaz, the German pietists (not to be confused with the chasidic movement founded by the Baal Shem Tov) who stressed strong and simple faith. He is also one of the Rishonim, the early Talmudic sages who expounded on the Talmud and halachah - other Rishonim include Rashi, Maimonides, and Nachmanides. Remarkably, the Jewish people of Rabbi Yehudah HeChasid's time were concerned with the same philosophical questions asked by Jews today: While society around us is in constant flux, how can we find inner space? How can we manage to live in harmony with ourselves, our families, and our neighbors? What does God want from us? The challenged brought by Rabbi Yehudah HeChasid in his stories and teachings is to practice self-exam