The most adventurous among them took to the high seas as freewheeling outlaws. In ships bearing names such as the Prophet Samuel, Queen Esther, and Shield of Abraham, they attacked and plundered the Spanish fleet while forming alliances with other European powers to ensure the safety of Jews living in hiding. JEWISH PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN is the entertaining saga of a hidden chapter in Jewish history and of the cruelty, terror, and greed that flourished during the Age of Discovery. Readers will meet such daring figures as “the Great Jewish Pirate” Sinan, Barbarossa’s second-in-command; the pirate rabbi Samuel Palache, who founded Holland's Jewish community; Abraham Cohen Henriques, an arms dealer who used his cunning and economic muscle to find safe havens for other Jews; and his pirate brother Moses, who is credited with the capture of the Spanish silver fleet in 1628--the largest heist in pirate history.Filled with high-sea adventures—including encounters with Captain Morgan and other legendary pirates—and detailed portraits of cities stacked high with plunder, such as Port Royal, Jamaica, JEWISH PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN captures a gritty and glorious era of history from an unusual and eye-opening perspective.

    Created in 1906 to help bewildered Eastern European immigrants learn about their new country, the column also gave them a forum for seeking advice and support in the face of problems ranging from wrenching spiritual dilemmas to petty family squabbles to the sometimes hilarious predicaments that result when Old World meets New. Isaac Metzker's beloved selection of these letters and responses has become for today's readers a remarkable oral record not only of the varied problems of Jewish immigrant life in America but also of the catastrophic events of the first half of our century.

    Scott Wilson is one of those few.God gave Wilson a vision and a plan for his staff team and volunteers. It wasn't a quick fix. The strategy took three years, and it had plenty of bumps in the road. At the end, though, the leaders of his church were more INSPIRED, CHALLENGED and EQUIPPED than ever before. Their lives, their church and their community will never be the same.

    It will enrich the classes that current teachers are giving and gives the new teacher confidence and pride when providing that very first class. Practitioners will have a greater understanding of how to apply Reiki and what is actually happening during a session. You will never again be afraid or even worried about teaching a Reiki class or giving the attunement. You will be pleased and your students will be grateful for the rich content in your classes. "The Reiki Teacher's Manual" is a precise step-by-step guide to instruct all three levels or degrees of Reiki. This manual and its format provide you with: A concise manual that is user friendly; A quick reference to answer student's questions; Consecutive steps with time approximations to make sure you teach all the information and still have plenty of time for the hands on practice sessions. How to get the most for your students during their hands on practice; How to increase the power of your attunement; How to teach the attunement to others; Goals for different segments of each class; Detailed descriptions and uses for the symbols; 15 handouts that are concise, informative, and can be copied from the book; Complete written explanations for each handout; A list of supplies for each level and suggestions for your classroom environment; Guidelines in opening your own Reiki practice; Information regarding state licensing needs; How to avoid issues with physicians and the medical community.

    It's easy to struggle in the midst of change, and each season brings new challenges. But we need reinvention: the kind that leads us to new fulfillment and our calling in Christ. To REINVENT ourselves in Christ means a transformation in our hearts, souls, bodies, and minds. And we can achieve this by biblically exploring and answering the questions: What do you want? What do you have? What will you do? and Why will you do it?Let the baggage of the past become history today. Let God renew your hope, and you will experience the joy of living like never before. No matter what has happened, and no matter where you are on this journey, REINVENT will help you start fresh and love life!

    From the authors of the bestselling Small Miracles series comes this inspirational collection of over 50 stories - each with the upbeat twist ending that has become the trademark of this remarkable series. The authors, both second-generation Holocaust survivors, have culled stories from before, during, and after the Holocaust that demonstrate the full strength and power of the human spirit.  Stories reaffirming that nothing truly happens by accident…  Even during the worst of times small miracles did happen - and the legacies of those individuals live on.

    How to Wage Spiritual Warfare in the Last Days An important spiritual law was revealed by Jesus in Luke 11:21–22 and Matthew 12:29, “How can one enter into a strongman’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strongman? And then he will spoil his house.” Now, instead of “binding” symptoms, we can attack the sixteen strongmen or demonic spirits mentioned by name in the Bible! If God names them, they are real, and He has given us dominion over them through the Name of Jesus! In easy to understand language this book…Teaches how to zero in on and quickly identify the strongman in every situationIllustrates each strongman by a tree showing the fruits or symptoms for quick identificationInstructs how to bind the enemy and loose the power of God according to Matthew 18:18Provides instant recognition when and where Satan is attacking our lives and the lives of those around usShows that God wants us to be free from Satan’s hassles so that we can reach this world for Christ. Strongman's His Name...What's His Game offers a scriptural, balanced, and uplifting approach to present-day spiritual warfare.

    Including both the modernist and the traditionalist view in his exploration, Rabbi Steinberg discusses the Torah, what Judaism says about God and the relationship between man and God, the nature of good and evil in a moral society, and what exists in the Kingdom of God. He also talks about the laws that define Judaism, the practices and rituals that sustain it, and the synagogue and the rabbinate that support it.For all students of Judaism??—??be they practicing Jews, uncommitted Jews, or curious non-Jews, Rabbi Steinberg offers a brilliant chance to understand what the Jewish faith is, why it has elicited such intense devotion, and why it remains such a mighty force in the lives of its believers and, beyond them, the world.

    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.

    Yet, as a young adult, she shocked everyone who knew her ("But you were elected Class Flirt in high school!") and became a rabbi. What was not surprising, however, was that she built her own big, unwieldy family through both birth and adoption, something she had intended from childhood. With three daughters and two sons ("We produce girls and import boys"), this unique family becomes a metaphor for the world's contradictions and complexities-a microcosm of the tragedy and joy, hope and despair, cruelty and compassion, predictability and absurdity of this world we all live in. A meditation on identity, faith, and belonging-one that's as funny as it is moving-Casting Lots will resonate with anyone who has struggled to find their place in the world and to understand the significance of that place.

    The sages of Kabbalah understood that seemingly harmless envious glances and looks of ill will are, in fact, anything but benign. These looks focus sinister forces on the object of their gaze, have tangible physical effects, and can actually halt progress toward one's potential in every area of life. The red string has been used for centuries by Kabbalists to counter these dark forces. Worn on the left wrist, the string seals protective energy within while intercepting negative energy from without. This best-selling book, the first in Yehuda Berg’s popular Technology of the Soul series, explains how and why this simple tool for healing and self-defense has worked for 5,000 years, and in the process gives a simple, clear overview of what Kabbalah is and is not.

    . . . His children. Loved. Set free. Redeemed.I Am Redeemed is an open book of Mike Weaver's life, bringing into the light everything from his battle with self-hatred to the near death of his brother and bandmate, who ultimately had both feet amputated to save his life. Mike shares the lessons learned in the loss of his father and dealing with the spirit of suicide within his band, Big Daddy Weave.At the lowest of lows, with Mike feeling rejected and alone, God broke through to speak truth and life into him. Thankful for God's plan and timing and methods, he is especially grateful for the new identity Jesus had paid for on the cross. In spite of his faults and failures, Mike learned that only God can take the stuff you hate about yourself and use it to reach people.Through the million-selling song "Redeemed" and now the powerful story behind it, as well as inspiration from Scripture, you will be encouraged to embrace God's redeeming grace so you, too, have the opportunity to be beautiful offerings to the Lord.

    Now, in this important work of historical restoration, Amos Elon takes us back to the beginning, chronicling a period of achievement and integration that at its peak produced a golden age second only to the Renaissance.Writing with a novelist's eye, Elon shows how a persecuted clan of cattle dealers and wandering peddlers was transformed into a stunningly successful community of writers, philosophers, scientists, tycoons and activists. He peoples his account with dramatic figures: Moses Mendelssohn, who entered Berlin in 1743 through the gate reserved for Jews and cattle, and went on to become "the German Socrates;" Heinrich Heine, beloved lyric poet who famously referred to baptism as the admission ticket to European culture; Hannah Arendt, whose flight from Berlin signaled the end of the German-Jewish idyll. Elon traces how this minority-never more than one percent of the population-came to be perceived as a deadly threat to national integrity, and he movingly demonstrates that this devastating outcome was uncertain almost until the end.A collective biography, full of depth and compassion, The Pity of It All summons up a splendid world and a dream of integration and tolerance that, despite all, remains the essential ennobling project of modernity.(less)

    Though supposedly "cured," he is still prone to retreating into his own mind or erupting in wordless rages. The adults' inability to make him better - or even to give his affliction a name - forces Judy to ask larger questions: If God could perform miracles for her sainted ancestors, why can't He cure Nachum? And what of the other stories her family treasured?Judy starts to negotiate with God, swinging from holy tenets to absurdly hilarious conclusions faster than a Talmudic scholar: she goes on a fast to nab coveted earrings; she fights with her siblings at the dinner table for the ultimate badge of honor ("Who will survive the next Holocaust?"); and she adamantly defends her family's reputation when, scandalously, her parents are accused of having fallen in love---which is absolutely not what pious people do.For all its brutal honesty about this insular community, This is Not a Love Story is ultimately a story of a family like so many others, whose fierce love for each other and devotion to their faith pulled them through the darkest time in their lives.

    This outrageous and inventive short story is not just focused solely on crap itself, but the spirituality of crap. This parody of the Tao Te Ching begs the question: Is everything crap? McFergus translates Li Chang's master work from an ancient roll of toilet paper, a minor Chinese national treasure purchased on eBay, to uncover the lost legend of Li Chang.DISCLAIMER: There is no Winnie the Pooh bear in this story. There is no piglet. The only honey pot in this story has crap in it. THIS IS NOT THE TAO OF POOH.