But when asked, Wiesel always said, “I am a teacher first.” In fact, he taught at Boston University for nearly four decades, and with this book, Ariel Burger—devoted protégé, apprentice, and friend—takes us into the sacred space of Wiesel’s classroom. There, Wiesel challenged his students to explore moral complexity and to resist the dangerous lure of absolutes. In bringing together never-before-recounted moments between Wiesel and his students, Witness serves as a moral education in and of itself—a primer on educating against indifference, on the urgency of memory and individual responsibility, and on the role of literature, music, and art in making the world a more compassionate place. Burger first met Wiesel at age fifteen; he became his student in his twenties, and his teaching assistant in his thirties. In this profoundly thought-provoking and inspiring book, Burger gives us a front-row seat to Wiesel’s remarkable exchanges in and out of the classroom, and chronicles the intimate conversations between these two men over the decades as Burger sought counsel on matters of intellect, spirituality, and faith, while navigating his own personal journey from boyhood to manhood, from student and assistant, to rabbi and, in time, teacher. “Listening to a witness makes you a witness,” said Wiesel. Ariel Burger’s book is an invitation to every reader to become Wiesel’s student, and witness.

    Capturing its brilliantly compact poetry and finely wrought, purposeful prose, Alter renews the Old Testament as a source of literary power and spiritual inspiration. From the family frictions of Genesis and King David’s flawed humanity to the serene wisdom of Psalms and Job’s incendiary questioning of God’s ways, these magnificent works of world literature resonate with a startling immediacy. Featuring Alter’s generous commentary, which quietly alerts readers to the literary and historical dimensions of the text, this is the definitive edition of the Hebrew Bible.

    Given our circumstances, "neighbor" might be too casual a word to describe our relationship. We are intruders into each other’s dream, violators of each other’s sense of home. We are incarnations of each other’s worst historical nightmares. Neighbors?Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor is one Israeli’s powerful attempt to reach beyond the wall that separates Israelis and Palestinians and into the hearts of "the enemy." In a series of letters, Yossi Klein Halevi explains what motivated him to leave his native New York in his twenties and move to Israel to participate in the drama of the renewal of a Jewish homeland, which he is committed to see succeed as a morally responsible, democratic state in the Middle East.This is the first attempt by an Israeli author to directly address his Palestinian neighbors and describe how the conflict appears through Israeli eyes. Halevi untangles the ideological and emotional knot that has defined the conflict for nearly a century. In lyrical, evocative language, he unravels the complex strands of faith, pride, anger and anguish he feels as a Jew living in Israel, using history and personal experience as his guide.Halevi’s letters speak not only to his Palestinian neighbor, but to all concerned global citizens, helping us understand the painful choices confronting Israelis and Palestinians that will ultimately help determine the fate of the region.

    And the reemergence of the white nationalist movement in America, complete with Nazi slogans and imagery, has been reminiscent of the horrific fascist displays of the 1930s. Throughout Europe, Jews have been attacked by terrorists, and some have been murdered.Where is all this hatred coming from? Is there any significant difference between left-wing and right-wing antisemitism? What role has the anti-Zionist movement played? And what can be done to combat the latest manifestations of an ancient hatred? In a series of letters to an imagined college student and imagined colleague, both of whom are perplexed by this resurgence, acclaimed historian Deborah Lipstadt gives us her own superbly reasoned, brilliantly argued, and certain to be controversial responses to these troubling questions.

    Judaism teaches that on Mount Sinai, God gave Israel not one, but two different Laws - the written Law (Pentateuch) as well as "the Oral Law" (Oral laws and traditions that only the rabbis can interpret). In this new and very short book (100 pages only) Eitan Bar & Golan Brosh proves that an Oral Law was never given by God - both from a textual perspective as well as from a historical one, while exposing the real pagan roots of rabbinic Judaism. The intention of the authors is to present a vigorous critique of traditional-rabbinic Judaism. It should be clearly stated at the outset, however, that this critique is offered in the context of an intramural discussion between Jews who believe in Yeshua (Jesus) and those who do not yet follow Him. It should not be understood as an attack on the Jewish people, but rather as a dispute between different sects within Judaism, over the true interpretation of the Tanakh and the authority thereof. This paper’s main objective will be to examine the validity of the following premise: for two millennia Judaism has been held hostage under the government and philosophy of one distinct sect, namely the Pharisees and their heirs—the rabbis. Since the destruction of the Second Temple, biblical Judaism had ceased to exist and the rabbinic traditions took over, with a completely reformed version of Judaism which centered on three main pillars: the rabbis themselves, the yeshiva (ישיבה) and the Halacha (הלכה). This work will also try to examine how this sect managed to enforce their traditions upon Israel and at what cost. In order to establish their authority over the Jewish people, the rabbis came up with the revolutionary idea according to which their philosophy, traditions and teachings (i.e., the Oral Law) were passed on through the generations, beginning with Moses and ultimately with God Himself. Henceforth, the focus of the rabbinic religion has been to study and meditate on the Oral Law (Oral Law). In fact, the Oral Law serves as the foundation upon which all the traditions of rabbinic Judaism stand. Without the rabbis’ traditions, rabbinic Judaism losses all its validity and existence. In other words, if the divine origin of the Oral Law is nothing but a myth, then rabbinic Judaism has no leg to stand on. Other main objectives of this paper would be to historically examine how the sect of the Pharisees was able to attain such a stronghold over Judaism, to investigate whether the Oral Law’s traditions are in fact rooted in the Bible and genuinely reflect God’s will for men, and to examine the implications of the Oral Law on Judaism today, especially in regard to Israel's relationship to the New Testament and Yeshua. The first chapter of this paper will deal with the advent of the Pharisees and the circumstances which brought them into the position of authority.

    Text, detailed photographs and beautiful illustrations combine to give the fullest picture of Anne's life, her diary and the Secret Annex. The book provides both an overview of the history of World War II and the Holocaust as well as intimate insights into the life of Anne Frank.

    This book addresses the questions about the believer's relationship to the Torah (the five Books of Moses, or the Pentateuch) and its commandments (the Law):Since Jesus kept the Law, are believers (Jewish and Gentile) also obliged to keep the Law, or at least some portions of it (Sabbath, the food laws, etc.)? What about the Oral Law (rabbinic traditions)? How does the Torah point to the Messiah? How do we apply the Law of Moses today?Though this book is based on more than a decade of academic research, it is written with the non-academic reader in mind and provides easy-to-understand answers to the questions related to the Torah and does so in a manner thoroughly rooted in a careful reading of the biblical text.

    In his war against the idolatrous King Ahav and his Queen Izevel, the Prophet Eliyahu (known in English as Elijah) has brought a devastating drought upon the Kingdom of Israel. While all search in vain for Eliyahu, the Queen hunts the remaining prophets, driving the survivors into hiding. Our story follows Lev, an orphaned musician, who scrambles to keep the prophets alive while trying to mend the rift in the Kingdom. In the face of danger and temptation, Lev must strengthen his will or fall prey to the agents of Izevel's gods, Baal and Ashera. Rooted in the Ancient Oral and Mystical Traditions Authors Dave Mason and Mike Feuer spent years researching the Oral and Kabbalistic traditions detailing the inner workings of prophecy and the world of Ancient Israel. The Epic Story Brought to Life Learn the inner story of the battle, in a way that will reframe all you've ever heard about the Israelite Kings and Prophets. Engage in a Battle of Ultimate Will

    In reality, queerness and queer Judaism have been a constant subplot of Jewish history, if only we care to look.Spanning almost two millennia and containing translations from more than a dozen languages, Noam Sienna's new book, A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts From the First Century to 1969, collects for the first time more than a hundred sources on the intersection of Jewish and queer identities.Covering poetry, drama, literature, law, midrash, and memoir, this anthology suggests that Jewish texts are not just obstacles to be overcome in the creation of queer Jewish life, but also potential resources waiting to be excavated. Through an unprecedented examination of the histories of gender and sexuality over two millennia of Jewish life around the world, this book inspires and challenges its readers to create a better future through a purposeful reflection on our past.

    Using drama, adventure, and romance, Diskin has created a colorful and captivating story that entertains and educates through the exploits of main protagonist, David Gabinsky. During the war, after losing his family to Hitler's ''final solution,'' young David leads a courageous group of Jewish resistance fighters against the Nazis. When Germany is defeated, he journeys to Jerusalem, to find a new battle brewing. British occupation forces are entrenched in Israel, blocking Holocaust survivors from immigrating to their Jewish homeland.Determined to help his people find freedom, David uses his guerilla skills to single-handedly wreak havoc on the British. As he begins his dangerous quest, David meets and falls in love with the beautiful Shoshana, a young Holocaust survivor whose spirit may have gotten damaged beyond repair. Recounting the tragic losses and heroic triumphs of the Jewish people during this critical stage in their history, Lone Wolf in Jerusalem brings these events to life in a new and inspirational way, making them accessible to a new generation. Originally written in Hebrew, this book quickly became a best seller in Israel.

    The Leper Messiah is that book. This grand adventure follows one of the greatest heroes of the western world, David, and draws the reader deeply into the ancient world. The David Code: Unlock the ancient secrets of Egyptian mysticism and the Hebrew desert world. For the Ark of the Covenant, the powerful voice of the Rose, and King David's adventures as a young boy.....are all cloaked in the robes of the Leper Messiah.

    And as any traveler worth his salt knows, the real trip happens within. Most Israel books are presented with a political, theological, or social agenda. Some are simply tourist guidebooks. Finding Jesus in Israel isn’t driven by agenda but rather it is a traveler’s journey—a book for travel veterans, people with wanderlust, or individuals who just love a good story.

    (And also Christian hegemony, racism, anti-Semitism, toxic Hotepism, and white Jewish privilege. Because today ends in "y.")But all that's the easy part.Because whether Ariel knows it or not, he's due for a breakthrough. Several, in fact. And he's about to find out whether or not he's strong enough to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew about himself, and own up to the things he didn't.Thought leader and provocateur MaNishtana turns his eye to fiction in this imaginative, semi-autobiographical novel, making Ariel Samson, Freelance Rabbi the most dazzling debut of an Orthodox black Jew born on a Saturday at 5:01 pm in a Brooklyn hospital in 1988 that you will ever have the privilege of reading.

    Homework and gym class are hard enough to deal with, but what exactly do you do when a pushy angel shows up insisting you’re a magical princess and that it’s your job to defend your school from the forces of darkness? For Harris Baumgartner, only one thing is certain — life is about to get a lot more complicated! If you've ever been watching your favorite magical girl anime and thought to yourself, "This is great and all, but it'd be even better if the main character was transgender... and Jewish!", then this is definitely the book for you!

    That interest took him down an unlikely path to becoming a fighter pilot in the Israel Air Force. After years of service, though, he began to question what he was fighting for. If Israeli society was based on Jewish ideals, what distinctive qualities in those ideals were worth the sacrifices he was making? Realizing he knew little about Judaism, Keinan then set out on a mission to educate himself. What he discovered was that Judaism is very much worth saving, but also that the number of Jews in the world is decreasing at an alarming rate. What could be done to reverse those numbers? Through the prism of his own dramatic personal story and the lessons he learned from his professional life, Keinan embarks on an investigation of the core values of Judaism in the twenty-first century. He argues forcefully that the science of Crowd Wisdom (aka swarm intelligence or collective intelligence) has played a key role in Jewish survival over the centuries, and looks to the relationship between American and Israeli Jews to enrich world Jewry in a post-Diaspora age. God Is in the Crowd presents an innovative plan in which the wisdom of the Jewish crowd is harnessed to endow Judaism with new purpose and save it from extinction.

    Drawing on her own experience and lifelong reading practice, Ladin shows how the Torah, a collection of ancient texts that assume human beings are either male or female, speaks both to practical transgender concerns, such as marginalization, and to the challenges of living without a body or social role that renders one intelligible to others—challenges that can help us understand a God who defies all human categories. These creative, evocative readings transform our understanding of the Torah’s portrayals of God, humanity, and relationships between them.

    Yet for Israel's founders, the state that emerged against all odds in 1948 was anything but ordinary. Born from the ashes of genocide and a long history of suffering, Israel was conceived to be unique, a model society and the heart of a prosperous new Middle East. It is this paradox, says historian Michael Brenner--the Jewish people's wish for a homeland both normal and exceptional--that shapes Israel's ongoing struggle to define itself and secure a place among nations. In Search of Israel is a major new history of this struggle from the late nineteenth century to our time.When Theodor Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in 1897, no single solution to the problem of normalizing the Jewish people emerged. Herzl proposed a secular-liberal New Society that would be home to Jews and non-Jews alike. East European Zionists advocated the renewal of the Hebrew language and the creation of a distinct Jewish culture. Socialists imagined a society of workers' collectives and farm settlements. The Orthodox dreamt of a society based on the laws of Jewish scripture. The stage was set for a clash of Zionist dreams and Israeli realities that continues today.Seventy years after its founding, Israel has achieved much, but for a state widely viewed as either a paragon or a pariah, Brenner argues, the goal of becoming a state like any other remains elusive. If the Jews were the archetypal other in history, ironically, Israel--which so much wanted to avoid the stamp of otherness--has become the Jew among the nations.

    In many ways, the words of Pirkei Avot were the first recorded manifesto of social justice in Western civilization. This commentary explores text through a lens of contemporary social justice and moral philosophy, engaging both classical commentators and modern thinkers.

    When we know what sort of society we seek to build, our teaching practices follow. In vivid classroom scenes from kindergarten through middle school to the university level, Blumberg conveys the drama of intellectual discovery as she offers novice and experienced teachers a pedagogy of writing, speaking, reading, and thinking that she links clearly to the moral and personal development of her students. Writing as an observant Jew and as an American, Blumberg does not shy away from the difficult challenge of balancing identities in the twenty-first century: how to remain true to a community of origin while being a national and global citizen. As she negotiates questions of faith and citizenship in the wide range of classrooms she traverses, Blumberg reminds us that teaching - and learning - are nothing short of a moral art, and that the future of our society depends on it.

    As all of Walter Brueggemann's writing is, the chapters are deeply biblical while also concerned with the identities, practices, and obligations of religious communities in contemporary contexts within the United States. Brueggemann consistently attempts to weave the biblical texts--vested as they are with the authority of a storyteller--into the deep contours of his readers' experiences, in order to foster a tenacious solidarity that might overcome both the psychic numbness cultivated by a 24-hour news cycle as well as the anxious possessiveness nurtured by so many privatized spiritualities.Brueggemann brings the "transformative potential" of the biblical texts to bear on critical contemporary contexts, including but not limited to economic disparities, racial injustice and white supremacy, climate and care for creation, and the power of memory and mentoring. He delves deeply in the Psalms, which he says, "provides a foundational script for living into the fullest and deepest realities of human existence." And he draws from the Prophets his foundational concept of totalism, which he defines as "automated fragmentation of social life such that we habitually and callously disregard our relations with others."

    Jews lived continuously in the Middle East and North Africa for almost 3,000 years. Yet, in just 50 years, their indigenous communities outside Palestine almost totally disappeared as more than 99 percent of the Jewish population fled. Those with foreign passports and connections generally left for Europe, Australia or the Americas. Some 650,000, including a minority of ideological Zionists, went to Israel. Before the Holocaust they constituted 10 percent of the world s Jewish population, and now over 50 percent of Israel s Jews are refugees from Arab and Muslim countries, or their descendants. This same process is now repeating in Christian and other minority communities across the Middle East. The book also assesses how well these Jews have integrated into Israel and how their struggles have been politicised. It charts the growing clamour for recognition, redress and memorialisation for these Jewish refugees, and looks at how their cause can contribute to peace and reconciliation between Israel and the Muslim world.

    It gives us ruined buildings, haunted faces, strange new psychic powers, fierce queer love, and turbulent skies, asking “What do you do next?”Dream Apart gives us demons and wedding jesters; betrothals and pogroms; mystical ascensions and accusations of murder; rabbi’s daughters running away to be actresses or bandits or boy soldiers; the sounds of the shofar ringing through cramped and muddy streets, of cannon fire, of the wolf’s footfalls in the snowy pine forest; asking “What do you do next?”

    This is because the rabbinic legal system has rarely wielded the political power to enforce its many detailed rules, nor has it ever been the law of any state. Even more idiosyncratically, the talmudic rabbis claim that the study of halakhah is a holy endeavor that brings a person closer to God--a claim no country makes of its law.In this panoramic book, Chaim Saiman traces how generations of rabbis have used concepts forged in talmudic disputation to do the work that other societies assign not only to philosophy, political theory, theology, and ethics but also to art, drama, and literature. In the multifaceted world of halakhah where everything is law, law is also everything, and even laws that serve no practical purpose can, when properly studied, provide surprising insights into timeless questions about the very nature of human existence.What does it mean for legal analysis to connect humans to God? Can spiritual teachings remain meaningful and at the same time rigidly codified? Can a modern state be governed by such law? Guiding readers across two millennia of richly illuminating perspectives, this book shows how halakhah is not just "law" but an entire way of thinking, being, and knowing.

    In this stirring and wryly humorous memoir, Izzy recounts his tortuous trek through rehabilitation to re-enlistment as a squad commander in the IDF. He became the world's only one-armed Special Forces sharpshooter.This isn't a typical war chronicle, full of macho bluster and the usual hero tropes. Izzy wrote this book with his fellow millennials in mind--not necessarily those with military ambitions, but everyone facing life's daily battles. His message is universal: if a self-described "nerd" and "one-armed basket case" like him can accomplish what he set his mind to, then anyone can become a hero in his or her own life.Growing up in a religious household in Miami, Izzy's early life was plagued by self-doubt, family drama, and (far too few) girl troubles. His search for direction eventually led him to that explosion on the Gaza border, changing his life forever.In the midst of disaster, Izzy discovered a deep well at his core, from which he could draw strength. Through his motivational speeches across the world, and now through this book, he encourages people to seek their own power, and to face whatever adversity life throws at them.

    Schneerson, known universally as simply "the Rebbe." Using pithy yet highly readable, brief meditations, that book unveiled for us a deeper meaning to life and provided practical guidance to weather its waves and storms. It is a book that changed tens of thousands of lives. Now, in Wisdom to Heal the Earth, Freeman continues with that winning format, this time along with complementary brief essays. But now he takes us yet further, peering toward the Rebbe's vision of a world towards which all humanity is headed, and demonstrating how the details of our everyday lives are vital, crucial, and today especially urgent in reaching that grand and ultimate destiny. In Jewish parlance we call this Tikun Olam-the notion that we all enter this world with a mission to accomplish: to repair and perfect our assigned share of the world, so that it can become the world its Creator meant it to be.

    Benjamin contends that the physical and psychological work of caring for children presents theologically fruitful but largely unexplored terrain for feminists. Attending to the constant, concrete, and urgent needs of children, she argues, necessitates engaging with profound questions concerning the responsible use of power in unequal relationships, the transformative influence of love, human fragility and vulnerability, and the embeddedness of self in relationships and obligations. Viewing child-rearing as an embodied practice, Benjamin's theological reflection invites a profound reengagement with Jewish sources from the Talmud to modern Jewish philosophy. Her contemporary feminist stance forges a convergence between Jewish theological anthropology and the demands of parental caregiving.

    The book describes the variety of reasons why people convert, a plan for how to think about conversion, a way to think about God in the Jewish tradition, a step-by-step description of the conversion process, and an extended list of further resources. There are stories of converts throughout the book.

    The book delves into the contemporary application and development of halacha and pointedly protests many accepted methods and ideals, offering new solutions to existing halachic dilemmas. Rabbi Cardozo discusses hot topics such as same-sex marriage, conversion, and religion in the State of Israel and presents a critical analysis and explanation of the application of halacha.

     A biographical novel based on a true story. Sarah Taube cowers in the bakery cellar clutching her three children, listening to the sounds of shooting by the White Cossacks during a pogrom. In order to survive, she enters into a bargain with the ruthless Commissar, Dimitri, an orthodox Jew transformed by tragedy into a high-ranking Bolshevik. Will Dimitri be able to protect Sarah Taube and her family? Will Sarah Taube be reunited with her wanderlust husband who leaves for South Africa to seek his fortune and find himself, and will she realize her life long dream to go to America? This family saga is based on true events in the life of the author’s maternal grandmother spanning three continents and five decades. It tells of a woman’s journey to independence, while living through World War I, deportation from her village in Lithuania, the Russian Revolution, the Civil War, a pogrom, and Lithuanian independence. As the story unfolds, the reader is witness to the struggles of Jews in the Pale of Settlement and the strategies they use in coping with Tsarist rule and the anti-Semitic society governing them. Some acquiesce, trying to adapt, some oppose the Tsar by joining revolutionary groups, and others by emigrating. The author weaves a matrix of emotions and ideas into her characters as they move in and out of her grandmother’s life. We learn how an uneducated, naïve young girl, raised in Shavlan, a Lithuanian shtetl, becomes an independent, strong-willed and forceful woman, schooled in the ways of the world––her education obtained by being a witness and participant in world-shaking events. Review “Shavlan by Eunice Blecker is a beautiful historical novel that begins in a small Ukrainian village in 1871 and ends in New York City, 1923. This fascinating tale blends the author’s family history with fiction. Sarah Taub, the matriarch of the family dreams of moving to America where her brother has settled. She marries a man, who after experiencing life in The United States, vows never to go back. But, unable to find himself in their small village, he follows a friend to South Africa, hoping to find his place and fortune there. Sarah Taub remains behind with the children, waiting and waiting for communication from him. When WW1 breaks out, the Jews of Shavlan, including Sarah Taub and her children are relocated to Ekaterinoslav, Ukraine. In this village, far from her home, Sarah Taub becomes her own woman.The story is written in Mrs. Blecker’s beautiful literary voice. Her emotional connection to these characters is obvious. I was very moved by the epilogue, which gives the follow-up information about the characters beyond the end of the story. The book runs a bit long, but the characters and the setting are so engaging, it's easy to lose track of the book’s length. Through the realistic portrayal of characters, the author brings humanity to a dark period of Jewish history.” (Reviewed By Susan Sofayov, author of Jerusalem Stone, The Kiddush Ladies, and Defective) “…Eunice Blecker has constructed a fictional saga of a woman who discovers her own inner strength as she lives through a turbulent era…” “…The author describes traditional life in the shtetl, where Sarah Taube learns to help in her aunt and uncle’s bakery, and dreams of the places and experiences she learns of through letters…” “…In 1915, with German troops approaching the area, all of the gubernia’s Jews are expelled and sent to Ekaterinoslav, Ukraine, where again Sarah

    Over 150 innovative recipes for everyday and holiday meals Beautiful color photos for every dish Meatless Meals section offers dairy-free and vegetarian options Guide to kosher meat cookery Comprehensive tools and ingredient list

    Believers in this notion claim that the Bible asks for more than piety and moral behavior; Jews must also endeavor to make the world a better place. This idea has led to overwhelming Jewish participation in the social justice movement, as such actions are believed to be biblically mandated. There's only one problem: the Bible says no such thing.Tikkun Olam, an invention of the Jewish left, has diluted millennia of Jewish practice and belief into a vague feel-good religion of social justice. In To Heal the World, Jonathan Neumann uses religious and political history to debunk this pernicious idea, and to show how the bible was twisted by Jewish liberals to support a radical left-wing agenda.Neumann explains how the Jewish Renewal movement aligned itself with the New Left of the 1960s, and redirected the perspective of the Jewish community towards liberalism and social justice. He exposes the key figures responsible for this effort, shows that it lacks any real biblical basis, and outlines the debilitating effect it has had on Judaism itself.

    Capturing its brilliantly compact poetry and finely wrought, purposeful prose, Alter renews the Old Testament as a source of literary power and spiritual inspiration. From the family frictions of Genesis and King David’s flawed humanity to the serene wisdom of Psalms and Job’s incendiary questioning of God’s ways, these magnificent works of world literature resonate with a startling immediacy. Featuring Alter’s generous commentary, which quietly alerts readers to the literary and historical dimensions of the text, this is the definitive edition of the Hebrew Bible.

    At its peak in the twentieth century, the population numbered around 100,000; today about 25,000 Jews live in Iran. Between Iran and Zion offers the first history of this vibrant community over the course of the last century, from the 1905 Constitutional Revolution through the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Over this period, Iranian Jews grew from a peripheral community into a prominent one that has made clear impacts on daily life in Iran.Drawing on interviews, newspapers, family stories, autobiographies, and previously untapped archives, Lior B. Sternfeld analyzes how Iranian Jews contributed to Iranian nation-building projects, first under the Pahlavi monarchs and then in the post-revolutionary Islamic Republic. He considers the shifting reactions to Zionism over time, in particular to religious Zionism in the early 1900s and political Zionism after the creation of the state of Israel. And he investigates the various groups that constituted the Iranian Jewish community, notably the Jewish communists who became prominent activists in the left-wing circles in the 1950s and the revolutionary Jewish organization that participated in the 1979 Revolution. The result is a rich account of the vital role of Jews in the social and political fabric of twentieth-century Iran.

    It may therefore come as a surprise that 80,000 Moroccans fought at General Franco's side in the 1930s. What brought these strange bedfellows together, Eric Calderwood argues, was a highly effective propaganda weapon: the legacy of medieval Muslim Iberia, known as al-Andalus. This legacy served to justify Spain's colonization of Morocco and also to define the Moroccan national culture that supplanted colonial rule.Writers of many political stripes have celebrated convivencia, the fabled "coexistence" of Christians, Muslims, and Jews in medieval Iberia. According to this widely-held view, modern Spain and Morocco are joined through their shared Andalusi past. Colonial al-Andalus traces this supposedly timeless narrative to the mid-1800s, when Spanish politicians and intellectuals first used it to press for Morocco's colonization. Franco later harnessed convivencia to the benefit of Spain's colonial program in Morocco. This shift precipitated an eloquent historical irony. As Moroccans embraced the Spanish insistence on Morocco's Andalusi heritage, a Spanish idea about Morocco gradually became a Moroccan idea about Morocco.Drawing on a rich archive of Spanish, Arabic, French, and Catalan sources--including literature, historiography, journalism, political speeches, schoolbooks, tourist brochures, and visual arts--Calderwood reconstructs the varied political career of convivencia and al-Andalus, showing how shared pasts become raw material for divergent contemporary ideologies, including Spanish fascism and Moroccan nationalism. Colonial al-Andalus exposes the limits of simplistic oppositions between European and Arab, Christian and Muslim, that shape current debates about European colonialism.

    The essays in this collection explore the spiritual underpinnings of our Jewish commitment to justice, using Jewish text and tradition, as well as contemporary sources and models. Among the topics covered are women's health, LGBTQ rights, healthcare, racial justice, speaking truth to power, and community organizing.

    Like his monumental translation and commentary of the entire Talmud, the new Steinsaltz Humash includes a treasure trove of information to make the text clear, fascinating, and relevant to users of all backgrounds. Here, Rabbi Steinsaltz’s commentary seeks to connect the reader directly to the peshat, the plain reading of the text. He includes references to many commentaries, while he aims to remove any ‘barriers’ to the text, connecting us directly to the ‘voice of the Torah’. This brand-new volume features several innovative elements including: Hebrew verses in clear Koren font, with vowels and punctuation Accessible English translation that reflects Rabbi Steinsaltz’s understanding of the text Parshiyot divided thematically with introductory explanations Color photos that identify biblical objects and illustrate complicated concepts Notes and photos of modern archaeological and scientific findings Maps, illustrations, and charts to clarify locations and concepts Supplemental background materials, cross-references to the Torah

    Designed for both Jewish and non-Jewish readers alike, The Israel Bible offers a unique commentary that seeks to explain God's focus on the Land of Israel alongside the New Jewish Publication Society translation. All 929 chapters highlight verses that relate to Israel, including relevant quotes and perspectives from prime ministers, as well as abundant maps, charts, and illustrations. In the 70 years since the modern rebirth of the State of Israel, the Jewish State has been at the forefront of the world's attention. Today, there are countless efforts to vilify the Jewish state. Yet, there is also an ever-expanding movement of biblical Zionists who stand alongside the nation of Israel as an expression of their commitment to God's eternal word. As we seek to understand the clash between these two conflicting ideologies, while seeking to make sense of the modern world s great interest in Israel, the need for The Israel Bible has never been so timely or important.

    This book is based on Rabbi Eliezer Hirsch’s most popular class - - his annual “Pesach Without the Pain: A Guide to the Laws of Passover.” Following in the wisdom he was taught that it’s the primary job of the rabbi to make it easier to follow Halacha, Rabbi Hirsch hopes his book will help readers experience the holiday of Pesach in a more meaningful way, free up their time to focus on the spiritual aspects of the holiday, and reduce the pressure so that any negative attitude toward Pesach is transformed into joy and appreciation for this beautiful Yom Tov.

    This book is a fresh and startling combination of history and personal revelation.When her son almost died at birth and her grandmother passed away, something inside of Claire Sicherman snapped. Her body, which had always felt weighed down by unknown hurt, suddenly suffered from chronic health conditions, and her heart felt cleaved in two. Her grief was so large it seemed to encompass more than her own lifetime, and she became determined to find out why.Sicherman grew up reading Anne Frank and watching Schindler's List with almost no knowledge of the Holocaust's impact on her specific family. Though most of her ancestors were murdered in the Holocaust, Sicherman's grandparents didn't talk about their trauma and her mother grew up in Communist Czechoslovakia completely unaware she was even Jewish. Now a mother herself, Sicherman uses vignettes, epistolary style, and other unconventional forms to explore the intergenerational transmission of trauma, about the fact that genes can be altered and carry memories, which are then passed down--a genetic imprinting.With astounding grace and strength, Sicherman weaves together a story that not only honours her ancestors but offers the truth to the next generation and her now nine-year-old son. A testimony of the connections between mind and body, the past and the present, Imprint is devastatingly beautiful--ultimately a story of love and survival.

    The book presents a step-by-step guide to help boards and staff plan and implement an effective strategy for strengthening connections between the leadership of the organization and its members, between members and each other, and between each person and the Jewish experience itself. Filled with many successful Spotlights on Best Practice and case studies from leading practitioners, this interactive guide will help you improve the welcoming ambience and high-quality experience offered to members and guests, as well as give you detailed instructions on how to build a robust small-groups initiative to engage your people. Extraordinarily practical, The Relational Judaism Handbook is a must-read for boards, clergy, executives, and staff who want to make Relational Judaism come alive in their community.

    This prevailing version of Paul depends heavily upon certain interpretations of key "flashpoint" passages. In this book and the subsequent volumes in this series, Mark Nanos undertakes to test a "Paul within Judaism" (re)reading of the apostle, especially of these "flashpoint" texts. Nanos demonstrates how traditional conclusions about Paul and the meaning of his letters are dramatically altered by testing the hypothesis that the historical Paul practiced a Jewish, Torah-observant way of life, and that he expected those whom he addressed to know that he did so. Nanos also tests the hypothesis that the non-Jews addressed were expected to know that his guidance was based on promoting a Jewish way of life for themselves, at the same time insisting that they remain non-Jews and thus not technically under Torah on the same terms as himself and the other Jews in this new (Jewish) movement. In conversation with the prevailing views, Nanos argues that the "Paul within Judaism" perspective offers not only more historically probable interpretations of Paul's texts, but also more promise for better relations between Christians and Jews, because these texts have informed Christian concepts of, ways of talking about, and behavior toward Jews based on the premise that Paul considered Jews and Judaism the mirror opposites of what Christians should be and become. "For over twenty years, Mark Nanos has been working on situating Paul and his thought within early Judaism. This volume brings together Nanos's innovative arguments that Paul was not an apostate Jew, but a Second Temple Jew who sought to be faithful to the Jewish law and Israel's God as he pursued a mission to gentiles. This is a must read for anyone looking to break out of traditional readings of Paul!" --Matthew Thiessen, McMaster University "Mark Nanos has pioneered the historical reconstruction of Paul as native to his own time and place--a Paul, in brief, who stands entirely within the traditional hopes, beliefs, and practices of his own people, Israel. This exciting book conveys to the reader the thrill of a refreshed portrait, free of the later overlays of Luther, of Augustine, and of post-70 CE interpretations. If you want to meet Paul again for the first time, pick up Nanos' Reading Paul Within Judaism."  --Paula Fredriksen, Author of Paul: The Pagans' Apostle Mark D. Nanos (University of St. Andrews, Scotland) is a Lecturer at the University of Kansas; his books include The Mystery of Romans (1996), The Irony of Galatians (2002), and as co-editor, Paul within Judaism (2015).

    Her grandfather was the patriarch Jacob. She's mentioned by name three times in the Hebrew Bible, but there are no stories told about her. She knew Moses and David, Spinoza and Einstein--and now, at long last, Serach bat Asher has written her autobiography. "I was born in a tent," Serach tells us, a woman long silenced by history. She is feisty, funny, and bitter. The stories she tells about what really happened to her and her family will make you laugh and cry and maybe even rage against her, the oldest woman in the world, now living two blocks from the beach in Los Angeles. "'Fiction,' says Andrew Ramer in this remarkable book, provides 'a marvelous mirror of the soul.' And, once again, Ramer has produced a profoundly soulful work packed with insight, pathos, and memorable interplay between ancient and contemporary wisdom."  --Steven J. Zipperstein, Daniel E. Koshland Professor in Jewish Culture and History, Stanford University "In this imaginatively recounted story, Andrew Ramer offers a cinematic retelling of one biblical woman, Serach bat Asher. He extends our arc of history through this 'memoir'--a beautifully written first-person account of a very sage and prescient woman. Suspending our literal understanding of Torah, we hear Serach stretch and spin a tale of forgotten stories." --Susan Berrin, Editor-in-Chief of Sh'ma Now: A Journal of Jewish Sensibilities "Ramer takes us on a delightful romp through the Hebrew Bible, filling in the missing stories of women and LGBT biblical figures. Along the way, he has important things to say about the meaning of inherited tradition and the power of reinterpretation and reinvention." --Judith Plaskow, Author of Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective "Deathless is a radical reimagining of the Hebrew Bible as it has come down to us, 'another Torah,' reintegrating the voice of our now almost invisible female lineage and the suppressed Israelite Goddess religion of the ancient world. Andrew Ramer's epic of the life of Serach bat Asher will pique your curiosity, smash your sacred cows, make you laugh in surprise, and pierce your heart." --Risa Wallach, Cantor at Congregation B'nai Shalom in Walnut Creek, California Andrew Elias Ramer is the author of Torah Told Different: Stories for a Pan/Poly/Post Denominational World; Queering the Text: Biblical, Medieval, and Modern Jewish Stories, and a co-author of the international best seller Ask Your Angels. The world's first ordained interfaith maggid (sacred story teller), he lives in Oakland, California.

    . . not only captures Scholem’s scholarship, but also his personal involvement in the major issues, conflicts, tragedies, and triumphs of Jewish life during the last century. . . . [An] excellent new book."— Reform Judaism Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) was perhaps the foremost Jewish intellectual of the twentieth century. Pioneering the study of Jewish mysticism as a legitimate academic discipline, he overturned the rationalist bias of his predecessors and revealed an extraordinary world of myth and messianism. In his youth, he rebelled against the assimilationist culture of his parents and embraced Zionism as the vehicle for the renewal of Judaism in a secular age. He moved to Palestine in 1923 and participated in the creation of the Hebrew University, where he was a towering figure for nearly seventy years. David Biale traces Scholem’s tumultuous life of political activism and cultural criticism, including his falling-out with Hannah Arendt over the Eichmann trial. Mining a rich trove of diaries, letters, and other writings, Biale shows that his subject’s inner life illuminates his most important writings. Scholem emerges as a passionately engaged man of his times—a period that encompassed two world wars, the rise of Nazism, and the Holocaust. About Jewish Lives:  Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present. In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award. More praise for Jewish Lives: "Excellent" –New York Times "Exemplary" –Wall Street Journal "Distinguished" –New Yorker "Superb" –The Guardian

    The transformation was not instantaneous, and there were deviating or at the least parallel streams of Jesus supporters early on. A critical mistake which has been made, in my opinion, is the assumption that the Jesus movement was uniform even among its early Jewish followers. Analyzing the original movement(s) in the first centuries of the Common Era can reveal how the schism between Judaism and Christianity evolved. This book explores the fascinating world of Jewish life in the Second Temple Era and the Jewish groups that endorsed Jesus' messianic claims.

    This elegant novel is utterly absorbing, thought-provoking, and also moving in ways that are all the more powerful for their quiet, unannounced approach. It is an original and powerful book, and I loved it." —Robin Black, author of LIFE DRAWING "In a novel of passion and insight, Nathaniel Popkin peels back the layers of a great American city to reveal the previous cities contained within it. He also discovers that a single man can be a city unto himself, densely inhabited by the men he once was and the potential men he might yet be, each driven by his own contradictions and errors, lusts and aversions, triumphs and sorrows." —Ken Kalfus, author of COUP DE FOUDRE Acclaimed architect Nicholas Moscowitz lands a major commission, but his drive suddenly falters. The site of the new project awakens guilty memories, and when he digs into the place’s history, he uncovers a 19th-century Moskowitz whose life offers strange parallels to his own. As Nicholas grows obsessed with this shadow man, the dual narratives of Moskowitz and Moscowitz, the city’s past and present, blend in unexpected and poignant ways. Ultimately Nicholas must face certain truths that don’t change over time—and use them to rebuild his own life. "Nathaniel Popkin renders the world of this novel with such precision, and in such stunning detail, that everything is felt. The sense of place, the longing, the regret, the desire, the frustration, the irresistible pull of history all brim with emotional content as Nicholas Moscowitz is thwarted in his attempt to design an apartment building. He must first confront the site of the planned structure, that empty space where he discovers the selves he was, and those yet to be. An immersive read." —Diane McKinney-Whetstone, author of LAZARETTO "In Nathaniel Popkin's evocative novel Everything Is Borrowed, Philadelphia arises from its foundation shimmering with glass and steel. Popkin's portrait of the city of brotherly love carries whiffs of Bellow's Chicago circa SEIZE THE DAY, or Newark in Roth's best moments. This is a novel to live inside, and to linger in." —Daniel Torday, author of THE LAST FLIGHT OF POXL WEST "As architect Nicholas Moskowitz digs through the history of his neighborhood, releasing anarchists and holy men, immigrants and philosophers, and his own lost love, he discovers that we cannot build a meaningful future until we learn to honor the past. Both poignant and cerebral, EVERYTHING IS BORROWED is an evocative meditation on the bond between a man and the places that formed him." —Stephanie Feldman, author of THE ANGEL OF LOSSES "Nathaniel Popkin has crafted a beautifully written, skillfully researched historical mystery. The story is compelling, the characters are fully realized, and the voice is gentle and engaging." —Liz Moore, author of THE UNSEEN WORLD

    Published by the University of Nebraska Press as a Jewish Publication Society book.

    At its heart is Golem—part advisor, part imaginary playmate, possible lover—a mythical figure who "believe[s] she can be anything" and is playful, wise, and always kind. Wiener welcomes us into a magical, mystifying world that is somehow also intimate and familiar. "Tie the bows," she generously tells us, "hem your brushed brown trousers. Lean in, I'm here."  —Ona Gritz, author of the poetry collection, Geode and the memoir, On the Whole: A Story of Mothering and Disability.

    How is this development understood and regarded by Americans generally, and what does it tell us about the nation's religious life? Drawing on ethnographic and historical sources, Samira K. Mehta provides a fascinating analysis of wives, husbands, children, and their extended families in interfaith homes; religious leaders; and the social and cultural milieu surrounding mixed marriages among Jews, Catholics, and Protestants. Mehta's eye-opening look at the portrayal of interfaith families across American culture since the mid-twentieth century ranges from popular TV shows, holiday cards, and humorous guides to "Chrismukkah" to children's books, young adult fiction, and religious and secular advice manuals. Mehta argues that the emergence of multiculturalism helped generate new terms by which interfaith families felt empowered to shape their lived religious practices in ways and degrees previously unknown. They began to intertwine their religious identities without compromising their social standing. This rich portrait of families living diverse religions together at home advances the understanding of how religion functions in American society today.

    He illuminates how in the quest to claim whiteness, American Jews of European descent gained the freedom to express their identity fluidly while African Americans have continued to be seen as a fixed racial group. This book demonstrates that racial ascription has been shaping Jewish selfhood for centuries. Pushing us to reassess the boundaries between race and ethnicity, it offers insight into how Black Jewish individuals strive to assert their dual identities and find acceptance within their respective communities.Putting to rest the simplistic notion that Jews are white and that Black Jews are therefore a contradiction, the volume argues that we can no longer pigeonhole Black Hebrews and Israelites as exotic, militant, and nationalistic sects outside the boundaries of mainstream Jewish thought and community life. The volume spurs us to consider the significance of the growing population of self-identified Black Jews and its implications for the future of American Jewry.

    He was one of the three rabbis of the “Portuguese Nation” in Amsterdam, a community that quickly earned renown worldwide for its mercantile and scholarly vitality.   Born in Lisbon, Menasseh and his family were forcibly converted to Catholicism but suspected of insincerity in their new faith. To avoid the horrors of the Inquisition, they fled first to southwestern France, and then to Amsterdam, where they finally settled. Menasseh played an important role during the formative decades of one of the most vital Jewish communities of early modern Europe, and was influential through his extraordinary work as a printer and his efforts on behalf of the readmission of Jews to England. In this lively biography, Steven Nadler provides a fresh perspective on this seminal figure.About Jewish Lives:  Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present. In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award.More praise for Jewish Lives: "Excellent." –New York Times "Exemplary." –Wall Street Journal "Distinguished." –New Yorker "Superb." –The Guardian

    The Exodus on Passover remains incomplete without the Revelation on Shavuot. Charting the fifty-day count of the Omer between the two holidays, Senator Joe Lieberman together with Rabbi Ari Kahn presents fifty short essays on the interplay of law and liberty in our lives. Drawing on the Bible and rabbinic literature, US politics and modern legal theory, Jewish humor and American folklore, the authors follow the annual journey from Egypt to Sinai, illustrating that there can be no liberty without law, no freedom without justice.

    This book presents a coherent and cohesive reading of the well known Bible story that offers a plausible account of Yosef’s behaviors, specifically those of an individual on the autism spectrum. Viewed through this lens, Yosef emerges as a more familiar and less enigmatic individual, exhibiting both strengths and weaknesses commonly associated with autism spectrum disorder.

    The intellectual journey of world-renowned Talmud scholar Daniel Boyarin, this book will change the study of “Judaism”—an essential key word in Jewish Studies—as we understand it today. Boyarin argues that although the world treats the word “Judaism” as appropriate for naming an alleged religion of the Jews, it is in fact a Christian theological concept only adopted by Jews with the coming of modernity and the adoption of Christian languages.

    It is not that we have lost it; we feel as if we never had it to lose. We feel the space of centuries setting us apart from the age of miracles and prophecy. As we try to warm ourselves by that distant fire, we wonder - why is the world this way? Why is the era of revelation now only a story? And is there any way to bring that ancient story to life? This book examines the fading of revelation over history and points to the dawning of a new kind of light.

    Lakshmi paints a portrait of an uncommon life: an orphan born in a remote village in India, adopted and raised by a white Jewish family in America. The tragic, mysterious death of V.’s biological mother two days after her birth foreshadows the maelstrom of sensitive feminine health issues V. would face in her life, including a twenty-year battle with endometriosis, infertility, failed adoption, and the decision to embrace hysterectomy as way of creating new life… the rebirth of V. herself.Lakshmi’s voice is rooted in a cross-cultural, adoptive-family love story that flies in the face of society’s expectations for women to look a “certain way” and slip comfortably into the American Dream. Not that our cultural dreams aren’t beautiful, yet what happens when life changes our plans? Her heartbreaking and humorous anecdotes of initially coping, then soul-searching, and ultimately releasing anger at her body and the world shines with insight into the deepest core questions of human relationships and identity: Who am I, and why am I here in this world?With vulnerability and grace, V. simultaneously captures and frees the emotions surrounding all sides of adoption, her intense encounters with racism, her path to a loss of motherhood, and her courageous renaissance—illustrating how “the end” of one road is only the beginning of another…and how the unforeseen is also beautiful and perhaps more fulfilling than we could have ever imagined.A portion of the proceeds from sales will be donated to the author's first home, Family Village Farm.

    This terrorist attack was made against Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, the most influential Jewish philanthropic organization in Argentina. Appearances are often deceiving, and while it appeared that the Argentine government was launching a thorough investigation, the reality was that a government-sponsored smokescreen was covering up the true details of the attack. Frustrated and stymied, survivors of the attack and families of its victims sought to reveal the truth. To that effect, they enlisted the services of internationally renowned prosecutor of Nazi war criminals Alberto Zuppi to investigate the heinous deed and its coverup. AMIA: An Ongoing Crime is the compelling story of Zuppi’s efforts - from the initial blast to the dramatic closing trial - to plough through the layers of corruption and intrigue to reveal the shocking truth of the case.