Best of
Judaism

1999

The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel


Robert Alter - 1999
    Robert Alter's brilliant translation gives us David, the beautiful, musical hero who slays Goliath and, through his struggles with Saul, advances to the kingship of Israel. But this David is also fully human: an ambitious, calculating man who navigates his life's course with a flawed moral vision. The consequences for him, his family, and his nation are tragic and bloody. Historical personage and full-blooded imagining, David is the creation of a literary artist comparable to the Shakespeare of the history plays.

The Art of Blessing the Day: Poems with a Jewish Theme


Marge Piercy - 1999
    The whole collection is strong, passionate, and poignant, but the mother and daughter poems, fierce and emotional, with their intense ambivalence, pain and joy, themes of separation and reconnecting, are among the very strongest about that difficult relationship."These striking, original, beautifully sensuous poems do just that. Ordinary moments--a sunset, a walk, a private religious ritual--are so alive in poems like 'Shabbat moment'  and 'Rosh Hodesh.' In the same way that she celebrates ordinary moments, small things become charged with memories and feelings: paper snowflakes, buttons, one bird, a bottle-cap flower made from a ginger ale top and crystal beads. "She celebrates the body in rollicking, gusto-filled poems like 'Belly good' and 'The chuppah,' where 'our bodies open their portals wide.' So much that is richly sensuous: 'hands that caressed you,  . . . untied the knot of pleasure and loosened your flesh till it fluttered,' and lush praise for 'life in our spines, our throats,  our knees, our genitals, our brains, our tongues.'"I love the humor in poems like 'Eat fruit,' the nostalgia and joy in 'The rabbi's granddaughter and the Christmas tree,' the fresh, beautiful images of nature--'In winter . . .the sun hangs its wizened rosehip in the oaks.'"I admire Piercy's sense of the past alive in the present, in personal and social history. The poems are memorials, like the yahrtzeit candle in a glass. 'We lose and we go on losing,' but the poems are never far from harsh joy, the joy that is 'the wine of life.'"Growing up haunted by Holocaust ghosts is an echo throughout the book, and some of the strongest poems are about the Holocaust, poems that become the voices of those who had no voice: 'What you  carry in your blood is us,  the books we did not write, music we could not make, a world  gone from gristle to smoke, only  as real now as words can make it.'"Marge Piercy's words make such a moving variety of experiences beautifully and forcefully real."

Honey from the Rock: An Easy Introduction to Jewish Mysticism


Lawrence Kushner - 1999
    Journey to a place as far from here as breathing out is from breathing in-where people are human with the same grace that a willow is a willow-with this insightful, absorbing and practical introduction to the ten gates of Jewish mysticism.

Narrated Bible in Chronological Order (New International Version)


F. LaGard Smith - 1999
    Lagard

The New Complete Works of Josephus


Flavius Josephus - 1999
    This newly edited version updates the original 18th century language; includes commentary by the award winning author and historian, Dr. Paul L. Maier; features over forty photos of ancient sites and artifacts mentioned by Josephus; cross references numbers throughout to the Greek text of Josephus in the Loeb Classical Library; and offers revised indexes of subjects and Old Testament texts.

Children of a Vanished World


Roman Vishniac - 1999
    Using a hidden camera and under difficult circumstances, Vishniac was able to take over sixteen thousand photographs; most were left with his father in a village in France for the duration of the war. With the publication of Children of a Vanished World, seventy of those photographs are available, thirty-six for the first time. The book is devoted to a subject Vishniac especially loved, and one whose mystery and spontaneity he captured with particular poignancy: children.Selected and edited by the photographer's daughter, Mara Vishniac Kohn, and translator and coeditor Miriam Hartman Flacks, these images show children playing, children studying, children in the midst of a world that was about to disappear. They capture the daily life of their subjects, at once ordinary and extraordinary. The photographs are accompanied by a selection of nursery rhymes, songs, poems, and chants for children's games in both Yiddish and English translation. Thanks to Vishniac's visual artistry and the editors' choice of traditional Yiddish verses, a part of this wonderful culture can be preserved for future generations.Earlier books of Roman Vishniac's photographs include To Give Them Light: The Legacy of Roman Vishniac (1995), A Vanished World (1983), and Polish Jews (1947).A major exhibition titled "Children of a Vanished World: Photographs byRoman Vishniac" is scheduled at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. The show will open to the public on March 7 and run through June 4, 2000.

The Thinking Jewish Teenager's Guide to Life


A. Tatz - 1999
    There's no "talking down" here, there's just straight inspiration and answers to some of life's deepest and most complex questions. Free will, the relationship between man and woman, happiness, getting high and staying high, freedom versus responsibility, individuality and defining your role in life are just some of the issues explored here. The Thinking Jewish Teenager's Guide to Life is for every Jewish teen who wants ideas and principles to guide their growth to maturity.

Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy: The Life and Works of Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, 1884-1966


Marc B. Shapiro - 1999
    of Scranton, Pennsylvania) discusses the many aspects of the life and thought of Rabbi Weinberg (1884-1966), an important ideologue of modern Orthodoxy. The author focuses on his evolving philosophical orientation, from his early years in Poland, his years in Germany, Lithuania, and Poland from WWI through the Nazi era, and his post-war years in Switzerland.

Chofetz Chaim: A Daily Companion


Michoel Rothschild - 1999
    The Chofetz Chaim's influence continues to grow, as thousands upon thousands adopt his message that the tongue can be a priceless tool or a lethal weapon.This new book is a vital gift for those who "wish to live" and "guard their tongues," and long to learn how.

The Gentle Weapon: Prayers for Everyday and Not-So-Everyday Moments--Timeless Wisdom from the Teachings of the Hasidic Master, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov


Moshe Mykoff - 1999
    The startling wisdom of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov will help you talk with God and enable you to hear your own voice as well.

Adjusting Sights


Haim Sabato - 1999
    A month later, Haim returns alone, on his first leave home. Struggling to come to terms with his experiences he wonders what happened to Dov during those fateful days.

Poyln: Jewish Life in the Old Country


Alter Kacyzne - 1999
    His candid and intimate views of teeming village squares and rustic workshops, cattle markets and spinning wheels give us a privileged view of a world that is no more.For more than sixty years, Alter Kacyzne's Forverts photographs-the sole fragment of his vast archive to survive World War II-lay unseen. Now, for the first time, the work of this lost master is restored to the world in a volume of extraordinary poetic force. At once ter and humorous, Poyln tells the story of a way of life and recalls the warmth and spirit of a community on the edge of destruction.Poyln is sure to stand with Roman Vishniac's A Vanished World as a rare treasure, an indispensable portrait of a people.

God Whispers: Stories of the Soul, Lessons of the Heart


Karyn D. Kedar - 1999
    So Karyn Kedar reminds us. By sharing significant moments in the lives of ordinary people, she helps us along the journey to spiritual awareness and understanding.Drawing on her experience as a spiritual leader, Kedar's gentle, revealing stories include that of a woman struggling to come to terms with her mother's death at the hands of her father; a thirteen-year-old girl who finds hope within the uncertainty of her parents' divorce; a realtor who entered for the hundredth time a house she was trying to sell--and suddenly saw the beauty of God's creation in the way the sunlight struck the hardwood floors.God Whispers teaches readers of all faiths and backgrounds that the joy and pain in our lives have meaning and purpose, and that by fully embracing life's highs and lows, we can enrich our spiritual well-being. Kedar tells eloquent stories from the lives of ordinary people who, like all of us, must cope with difficulties such as divorce and reconciliation, illness, loss, conflict and forgiveness, loneliness and isolation.God Whispers will inspire you to take a second look at everything around you, and to rediscover a world that can be filled with the wonders of creation. "The universe abounds with gifts," Kedar writes. "Open your heart and receive them."

Give Us a King!: Samuel, Saul, and David


Everett Fox - 1999
    This translation re-creates the echoes, allusions, alliterations, and wordplays of the Hebrew original detailing the story of David A new interpretation of Samuel I and II Includes illuminating commentary and notes 288 pp.

The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years


Lee I. Levine - 1999
    It traces its development from a communal institution to one which had a distinctively religious profile, describing its basic features, the roles of its rabbis and priests, its liturgy, and its art.

Book of Our Heritage (Pocket Edition)


Eliyahu Kitov - 1999
    Midrashic commentaries and insights of great Jewish thinkers and spiritual leaders enhance the heartwarming, inspiring text. 3 volume gift boxed set. Individual volumes not sold separately. Now available in Pocket size, the Book of Our Heritage, three-volume set is the perfect companion to take with you anywhere you go. Sold as a set only.

My Very Own Haggadah: A Seder Service for Young Children


Judyth Groner - 1999
    With bright pictures to color. Plus recipes, and craft ideas. The ultimate children's haggadah has over 2 million copies in print.

Haikus for Jews: For You, a Little Wisdom


David M. Bader - 1999
    In just three short lines, it captures the sublime beauty of nature--the croak of the bullfrog, the buzzing of the dragonfly, the shriek of the cicada, the scream of the cormorant. Now, with Haikus for Jews, there is finally a collection that celebrates the many advantages of staying indoors.        Inspired by ancient Zen teachings and timeless Jewish noodging, this masterful work is filled with insights that will make you exclaim, "Ah!" or at least "Oy!" Whether you are Jewish or you simply enjoy a good kosher haiku, these chai-kus (so called because of their high chutzpah content) are certain to amuse. What's more, with each poem limited to seventeen syllables, Haikus for Jews is perfect for people in a hurry. Find out why God has made these The Chosen Haikus.

A Spiritual Life: A Jewish Feminist Journey


Merle Feld - 1999
    From the experiences of early childhood, to the spiritual awakening of a secular adolescent encountering Jewish tradition, to the alternately funny and searing tales of new-found independence, early married life, young motherhood, and midlife, Feld comments with remarkable honesty and clarity on the many stages of spiritual and artistic exploration and growth. Overarching all these accounts is the picture of how the cycle of the Jewish calendar year comes to provide an ever-renewing source of sustenance for the author's deepening spiritual expression.

Star in My Forehead: Selected Poems


Else Lasker-Schüler - 1999
    At great cost, she rescued her innocence from the brutality of the Nazi age and tested the resilience of her Jewish soul. In these translations, Janine Canan renders into English both the lyrical intensity of that endeavor, and the palpable danger and mystery that made it possible. This is travel at root-level."-Andrei CodrescuNight SecretI have chosen you among all these stars.Am awake, a listening flower in the buzzing bush.Our lips long to make honey, our shimmering nights are in full bloom.From your body's holy spark my heart lights its heaven.All my dreams hang from your gold. I have chosen you among all these stars.

A Time to Tear Down and a Time to Build Up: A Rereading of Ecclesiastes


Michael V. Fox - 1999
    As this study demonstrates, however, it is precisely these contradictions that make Ecclesiastes so meaningful and so powerfully relevant to life in the world. By looking carefully at the language and thought of Ecclesiastes, as well as at its uses of contradictions in probing the meaning of life, Fox confronts the problems that have confounded interpretation of this biblical book. He shows that by using contradiction to tear down holistic claims of meaning and purpose in the world and rebuilding meaning in a local, restricted sense instead, the author of Ecclesiastes shapes a bold, honest-and ultimately uplifting-vision of life. Based on solid scholarly insight yet readable by all, Fox's work provides some of the best commentary available on this challenging section of Scripture.

Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan


John M.G. Barclay - 1999
    In this book, John Barclay assembles and analyzes evidence about the Jewish communities in Egypt, Syria, Cyrenaica, Rome, and Asia. Barclay's ambitious goal is to describe, as precisely as the evidence allows, the varying levels of assimilation and antagonism between Jews and the non-Jewish communities in these areas for this 440-year period. With a concluding review of Jewish identity in the Diaspora as a whole, this book provides our first comprehensive and multi-faceted survey of Diaspora communities and Diaspora literature.

The Secret Doctrine of the Kabbalah: Recovering the Key to Hebraic Sacred Science


Leonora Leet - 1999
    For centuries the Kabbalah has fascinated devotees of mysticism while its origins have remained obscure. Now, in her brilliant new work, Leonora Leet reveals that the Kabbalah was the product of a sophisticated, though largely forgotten, Hebraic sacred science that was the rival of any in Egypt or Greece. Not only does Leet reconstruct the secret teachings of the priest-scientists of the Hebrew temple, she also shows them to be the key to understanding both biblical and kabbalistic cosmology. Unlike previous purely historical explorations of the Jewish esoteric tradition, The Secret Doctrine of the Kabbalah resurrects this ancient body of knowledge to reveal eternal truths that can have a profound and positive impact on contemporary spirituality. New experimental methods of practicing Hebraic sacred science are explored that explain as never before the meaning of the central cosmological diagram of the entire Western esoteric tradition--the kabbalistic Tree of Life. Leet shows that the Kabbalah and its central diagram enshrine a key to the purpose of the cosmos, a key that has vast implications for modern physics and cosmology. In a final synthesis, she envisions a culmination in which the universe and its divine child, perfected humanity, achieve that unification of the finite and infinite which has ever been the secret doctrine of the Kabbalah.

When the Beginning Began: Stories about God, the Creatures, and Us


Julius Lester - 1999
    Written especially for readers who might not make their way to the stories of the Bible otherwise, these tales are a welcome opening to a glorious world that will touch the spirit of all readers--no matter what religion guides them.

The Bible for the Clueless But Curious: Finally, A Guide to Jewish Wisdom for Real People


Nachum Braverman - 1999
    A storehouse of ancient wisdom is now available in everyday language.

Edith Stein: Her Life in Photos and Documents


Maria Amata Neyer - 1999
    Enriched by a broader range of contemporary literature about Edith Stein as philosopher, educator, spiritual writer, and Jewish victim of the Holocaust, this new presentation of the classic biography cited by so many brings the reader closer to the real Edith Stein. This revised work is eminently readable. The editors have avoided weighing down this engaging life story with scholarly notes and commentaries. Instead they have relegated such material to a separate section of Gleanings. This gives the reader the option of enjoying the biography unencumbered by supplementary matter, or of delving into the Gleanings for more background and information when so desired.

Sacred Intentions: Morning Inspiration to Strengthen the Spirit, Based on Jewish Wisdom


Kerry M. Olitzky - 1999
    Abrams - Bradley Shavit Artson - Tsvi Blanchard - Lester Bronstein - Nina Beth Cardin - Michael M. Cohen - William Cutter - Amy Eilberg - Dov Peretz Elkins - Edward Feinstein - Mordecai Finley - Nancy Flam - Elyse Frishman - David Gelfand - Neil Gillman - James Stone Goodman - Leonard Gordon - Irving (Yitz) Greenberg - Joel Lurie Grishaver - Lawrence A. Hoffman - Abie Ingber - Elana Kanter - Irwin Kula - Lawrence Kushner - Lori Lefkovitz - Adina Lewittes - Arthur J. Magida - Vivian Mayer - Michael Paley - James Ponet - Bernard S. Raskas - Rachel T. Sabath - Jeffrey K. Salkin - Sandy Eisenberg Sasso - Amy Scheinerman - Harold Schulweis - Rami M. Shapiro - Mychal B. Springer - Ira Stone - Joseph Telushkin - Harlan J. Wechsler - Sharon L. Wechter - David Wolpe

The Defiant Muse: Hebrew Feminist Poems from Antiquity: A Bilingual Anthology


Shirley Kaufman - 1999
    The Dutch, French, German, and Italian volumes represent their respective countries; the Hispanic volume includes poems from the many Spanish-speaking nations; and the Hebrew volume encompasses writing in Hebrew from around the world. The poems are presented in their original languages alongside English translations. Each volume includes an introduction, placing the poetry in historical and aesthetic perspective, and full biographical and bibliographical notes on the poets.

A Women's Guide to the Laws of Niddah


Binyomin Forst - 1999
    As a result, married Jewish women are generally expected to cover their hair, except in front of her husbands, and sometimes in the company of other women. For most of Jewish history this practice was not disputed - mainly because society at large also considered it immodest for women to let their hair down in its city streets. However, as the general definition of modesty has changed in the last two centuries, Jewish women have followed suit, debating the necessity of covering their hair in a world that remains 'uncovered.' Today, most observant, married Jewish women cover their hair in some way although a vocal minority declines to do so at all. Hair covering has, therefore, become the bellwether for religiosity, turning practice into politics. Sources dispute the when, why, and how of hair covering,

The 39 Melochos


Dovid Ribiat - 1999
    The text skillfully guides the reader from the basic concepts to practical application of the halachah, law. Among the topics covered are toys and games, cosmetics, wig care, wheelchairs, crockpots, techumin, and much more. Includes over 10,000 Hebrew notes. 4-volume gift-boxed set

The Reason for Wings


Joyce Reiser Kornblatt - 1999
    A legacy for her missing granddaughter, Rachel's narrative is a testimony to hope and the heart's resilience.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Bible


Eugene Ulrich - 1999
    Prior to the discovery of the Scrolls, scholars had textual evidence for only a single, late period in the history of the biblical text, leading them to believe that the text was uniform. The Scrolls, however, provide documentary evidence a thousand years older than all previously known Hebrew manuscripts and reveal a period of pluriformity in the biblical text prior to the stage of uniformity. In this important collection of studies, Eugene Ulrich, one of the world's foremost experts on the Dead Sea Scrolls, outlines a comprehensive theory that reconstructs the complex development of the ancient texts that eventually came to form the Old Testament. Several of the essays set forth his pioneering theory of "multiple literary editions," which is replacing older views of the origins of the biblical text.The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Bible represents the leading edge of research in the exciting field of Scrolls studies.

Talmudic Stories: Narrative Art, Composition, and Culture


Jeffrey L. Rubenstein - 1999
    Focusing on six famous stories of the Babylonian Talmud and discussing many others in relation to these, Rubenstein's analysis illuminates the ways in which the rabbis used narratives to grapple with fundamental tensions of their culture. The book also features an appendix including the original Hebrew/Aramaic texts for the reader's reference.

The Illustrated Hebrew Bible: 75 Stories


Ellen Frankel - 1999
    It collects compelling stories from this ancient text which are retold in lyrical, accessible language. The volume is illustrated with reproductions of illuminated manuscripts, ancient artefacts, synagogue mosaics and paintings by Renaissance masters an others, including William Blake and Marc Chagall.

A Heart of Many Rooms: Celebrating the Many Voices Within Judaism


David Hartman - 1999
    From the perspective of traditional Judaism, he helps us understand the varieties of twentieth-century Jewish practice and shows that commitment to both Jewish tradition and to pluralism can create bridges of understanding between people of different religious convictions.

Through The Eyes Of Innocents: Children Witness World War II


Emmy E. Werner - 1999
    In Through the Eyes of Innocents, Emmy Werner tells the story of the children of World War II through their own words. Drawing on diaries, letters, and journals kept by youngsters caught up in the war, Werner shows the universality of their experience. Children and teenagers from a dozen countries - England, Germany, France, Japan, the former Soviet Union, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Poland and the United States - are all represented in some 200 eye-witness accounts. Werner focuses on their shared reactions to the war, the hardships they endured, how they coped, and how the war experience shaped their lives. The message they share with other children in contemporary wars is an extraordinary affirmation of life and the sustaining power of hope and human decency.

Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice


Mark Washofsky - 1999
    Mark Washofsky, a highly respected professor at Hebrew Union College, leads the reader to an understanding of the whole of Jewish lives -- from blessings to bar/bat mitzvah, Havdalah to haftarah, and tikkun olam to tikkun Leil Shavuot. This user-friendly compendium for living a Jewish life is a wonderful tool for those seeking an understanding of current Reform Jewish practice.-- Definitive source for Reform Jewish practice-- Easy-to-use format-- Excellent resource for study or reference

My People's Prayer Book, Vol. 3: P'sukei D'zimrah (Morning Psalms)


Lawrence A. Hoffman - 1999
    It will help modern men and women find new wisdom and guidance in Jewish prayer, and bring the liturgy into their lives. It also has received significant attention in the Christian world.The major sections of the prayer book each are covered in separate volumes in this series. My People's Prayer Book provides in each volume: -- The traditional Hebrew text.-- A modern translation (designed to let people know exactly what the prayers actually say).-- Commentators from all perspectives of the Jewish world, some of today's most respected Jewish scholars and teachers, who cover the prayer book's connections to the Bible, history, traditional law, kabbalistic wisdom, feminism, modern developments, and much more.This stunning work, an important expression of the spiritual revival of our times, enables all worshipers to claim their connection to the heritage of the traditional Jewish prayer book. It rejuvenates Jewish worship in today's world, and makes its power accessible to all.

Fighting to Become Americans: Assimilation and the Trouble Between Jewish Women and Jewish Men


Riv-Ellen Prell - 1999
    Her plated gold jewelry with paste stones reveals its cheapness by its very extravagance.This description of a ghetto girl was printed in the American Jewish News in 1918, but with slight variation it might easily be mistaken for a description of our current pernicious and pejorative stereotype of Jewish womanhood, the JAP. What are the origins of these stereotypes? And even more important, why would an American ethnic group use racist terms to describe itself? Riv-Ellen Prell asks these compelling questions as she observes how deeply anti-Semitic stereotypes infuse Jewish men's and women's views of one another in this history of Jewish acculturation in the twentieth century.

The Religious Thought of Hasidism: Text and Commentary (Sources and Studies in Kabbalah, Hasidism, and Jewish Thought, V. 4)


Norman Lamm - 1999
    It presents annotated translations of selected passages arranged according to topic. Introductory sections provide an overview and a context for the material in each chapter, and a general introduction does the same for the volume as a whole. It sketches the historical background of the early hasidic movement, charts its central ideas in their intellectual and historical context--the wide range of Jewish religious and mystical thought. Unrivaled in its scope Religious Thought is a veritable encyclopedia of hasidic religious thought, covering all of the major topics and major hasidic thinkers of the first three generations, with occasional forays into later currents. It can be used as either a text or a supplement in courses in Jewish thought or theology, or even general courses in mystical thought or modern religious movements.

Secrets of the Future Temple: Mishkney Elyon


Moshe Chayim Luzzatto - 1999
    the Temple is the center point where all the branches of the Tree of Life connect with their roots, channeling a flow of sustenance and blessing to the entire world.SECRETS OF THE FUTURE TEMPLEpresents a clear English translation of this kabbalistic classic together with diagrams of the Temple and Altar and other study aids. An extensive Overview traces the Temple vision from the Founding Fathers of Judaism onwards, revies Ramchal's life and works, and explains the central concepts of Mishkney Elyon in simple, understandable terms.TEMPLE INSTITUTE / AZAMRA INSTITUTEJerusalem

Muktzeh: A Practical Guide: A Comprehensive Treatment of the Principles and Common Applications of the Laws of Muktzeh


Simcha Bunim Cohen - 1999