Book picks similar to
Saying Kaddish: How to Comfort the Dying, Bury the Dead, and Mourn as a Jew by Anita Diamant
judaism
jewish
non-fiction
nonfiction
Death, Society, and Human Experience
Robert J. Kastenbaum - 1977
Fifteen chapters discuss subjects including the death system, causes of death, transition fro
My Father's Wake: How the Irish Teach Us to Live, Love, and Die
Kevin Toolis - 2018
Instinctively we feel we should dim the lights, pull the curtains, and speak softly. But on a remote island off the coast of Ireland's County Mayo, death has a louder voice. Each day, along with reports of incoming Atlantic storms, the local radio runs a daily roll call of the recently departed. The islanders go in great numbers, young and old alike, to be with their dead. They keep vigil with the corpse and the bereaved company through the long hours of the night. They dig the grave with their own hands and carry the coffin on their own shoulders. The islanders cherish the dead--and amid the sorrow, they celebrate life, too. In My Father's Wake, acclaimed author and award-winning filmmaker Kevin Toolis unforgettably describes his own father's wake and explores the wider history and significance of this ancient and eternal Irish ritual. Perhaps we, too, can all find a better way to deal with our mortality -- by living and loving as the Irish do.
The First Drop of Rain
Leslie Parrott - 2009
For 'Seattlite' Parrott, rain isn't a date-canceling, mood-altering nuisance. Rather, that first drop of rain and the following drizzle or downpour is a persistent, positive, mystical fact of life that both confirms the presence of God and underscores his (seeming) absences. Through original poetry, vividly-drawn vignettes, and honest reflection, Parrott mixes images of rain and 'wasteland' to explore the daily juxtaposition of deluge and desert we all encounter. A conversation about grief and death takes place in lush gardens teeming with life. A prayer, delivered and answered at a dying friend's bedside, leads to bittersweet understanding. And personal confidences ('My flaws and fears are so real, they demand my full attention.') strike a chord in all of us who struggle earnestly, if sometimes defiantly, to see God's purpose in everything.
Boychiks in the Hood: Travels in the Hasidic Underground
Robert Eisenberg - 1995
Join Robert Eisenberg as he hangs out with an ex-Deadhead in Antwerp, makes a pilgrimage to the grave of the revered Rebbie Nachman in the Ukraine, munches mini-bagels with Rollerblading kosher butchers in Minnesota, discovers the last remaining religious Jews in Poland, talks sex with a karate-champion-turned-rabbi in Israel, and more.Simultaneously respectful and hilarious, Boychiks in the Hood is a surprising and unforgettable journey through the world's flourishing Hasidic communities that reveals this vibrant tradition as never before.
Amish Proverbs: Words of Wisdom from the Simple Life
Suzanne Woods Fisher - 2010
These proverbs serve as teaching tools and maxims for practical living--but they're not just for the Amish. They're for anyone who seeks God's wisdom and truth for everyday circumstances.Ranging from the simple to the profound, from the serious to the humorous, these sayings will stick with you through life's joys and sorrows. This expanded edition of Amish Proverbs includes more than 200 additional proverbs, giving readers more of the wit and wisdom they crave.
What Dying People Want: Practical Wisdom For The End Of Life
David Kuhl - 2002
Though much has been done to address the physical pain suffered by those with a terminal illness, Western medicine has been slow to understand and alleviate the psychological and spiritual distress that comes with the knowledge of death. In What Dying People Want, Dr. David Kuhl begins to bridge that gap by addressing end-of-life realities--practical and emotional--through his own experiences as a doctor and through the words and experiences of people who knew that they were dying. Dr. Kuhl presents ways of finding new life in the process of dying, understanding the inner reality of living with a terminal illness, and addressing the fear of pain, as well as pain itself. He also offers concrete guidance on how to enhance doctor/patient relationships and hold family meetings, and provides an introduction to the process of life review. It is possible to find meaning and peace in the face of death. What Dying People Want "helps us learn to view the knowledge of death as a gift, not a curse." (New Times)
The Thompson-Chain Reference Study Bible-KJV
Frank Charles Thompson - 1981
This black genuine-leather KJV Bible employs the Thompson Topical Study System, acclaimed for more than six decades as the most helpful study system available, and which now has been completely updated and expanded.
Lament for a Son
Nicholas Wolterstorff - 1987
Though it is intensely personal, he decided to publish it in the hope that some of those who sit on the mourning bench for children would find his words giving voice to their own honoring and grieving. What he learned, to his surprise, is that in its particularity there is universality. Many who have lost children have written him. But many who have lost other relatives have done so as well, along with many who have experienced loss in forms other than the death of relatives or friends. The sharply particular words of Lament, so he has learned, give voice to the pain of many forms of loss. This book, Lament For A Son, has become a love-song. Every lament, after all, is a love-song. Will love-songs one day no longer be laments?
The Birth We Call Death
Paul H. Dunn - 1976
Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, c1976.
I've Been Thinking . . .Reflections, Prayers, and Meditations for a Meaningful Life
Maria Shriver - 2018
Shriver’s wisdom will fill you up.” —Hoda Kotb, coanchor, The Today ShowA book of reflections for those seeking wisdom, guidance, encouragement, and inspiration on the road to a meaningful life. As a prominent woman juggling many roles, Maria Shriver knows just how surprising, unpredictable, and stressful everyday life can be. In this moving and powerful book, she shares inspiring quotes, prayers, and reflections designed to get readers thinking, get them feeling, get them laughing, and help them in their journey to what she calls The Open Field--a place of acceptance, purpose, and passion--a place of joy.I've Been Thinking . . . is ideal for anyone at any point in her life. Whether you feel like you've got it all together or like it's all falling apart--whether you're taking stock of your life or simply looking to recharge, this is the book you will turn to again and again. Spend the weekend reading it cover to cover, or keep it on your nightstand to flip to the chapter you need most. Like talking with a close friend, it's the perfect daily companion—an exceptional gift for someone looking to move forward in life with hope and grace.
Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine
Harold Bloom - 2005
He also explores the character of Yahweh, who Bloom argues has more in common with Mark's Jesus than he does with God the Father of the Christian and rabbinic Jewish traditions. In fact, Bloom asserts, the Hebrew Bible of the Jews and the Christian Old Testament are very different books with very different purposes. At a time when religion has taken center stage in the political arena, Bloom's controversial examination of the incompatible Judeo-Christian traditions will make readers rethink everything they take for granted about what they believe is a shared heritage.
Wedding Song: Memoirs of an Iranian Jewish Woman
Farideh Goldin - 2003
This memoir is Goldin’s passionate and painful account of her childhood in a poor Jewish household and her emigration to the United States in 1975. As she recalls trips to the market and the mikvah, and as she evokes ritual celebrations like weddings, Goldin chronicles her childhood, her extended family, and the lives of the women in her community in Shiraz, a southern Iranian city. Her memoir details her parents’ "courtship" (her father selected her mother from a group of adolescent girls), her mother’s lonely life as a child-bride, and Goldin’s childhood home which was presided over by her paternal grandmother. Goldin’s memoir conveys not just the personal trauma of growing up in a family fraught with discord but also the tragic human costs of religious dogmatism. In Goldin’s experience, Jewish fundamentalism was intensified by an Islamic context. Although the Muslims were antagonistic to Jews, their views on women’s roles and their treatment of women influenced the attitude and practices of some Iranian Jews. In this brave and dispassionate portrayal of a little-known corner of Jewish life, Farideh Goldin confronts profound sadness yet captures the joys of a child’s wonder as she savors the scenes and textures and scents of Jewish Iran. Readers share her youthful adventures and dangers, coming to understand how such experiences shape her choice.
Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief
Joanne Cacciatore - 2017
Cacciatore is featured in the 2021 documentary series The Me You Can’t See, from Oprah, Prince Harry, and Apple TV. Bearing the Unbearable is a Foreword INDIES Award-Winner — Gold Medal for Self-Help. __ When a loved one dies, the pain of loss can feel unbearable—especially in the case of a traumatizing death that leaves us shouting, “NO!” with every fiber of our body. The process of grieving can feel wild and nonlinear—and often lasts for much longer than other people, the nonbereaved, tell us it should. Organized into fifty-two short chapters, Bearing the Unbearable is a companion for life’s most difficult times, revealing how grief can open our hearts to connection, compassion, and the very essence of our shared humanity. Dr. Joanne Cacciatore—bereavement educator, researcher, Zen priest, and leading counselor in the field—accompanies us along the heartbreaking path of love, loss, and grief. Through moving stories of her encounters with grief over decades of supporting individuals, families, and communities—as well as her own experience with loss—Cacciatore opens a space to process, integrate, and deeply honor our grief. Not just for the bereaved, Bearing the Unbearable will be required reading for grief counselors, therapists and social workers, clergy of all varieties, educators, academics, and medical professionals. Organized into fifty-two accessible and stand-alone chapters, this book is also perfect for being read aloud in support groups. Now available as an online course from the Wisdom Academy.
Great World Religions: Judaism
Isaiah M. Gafni - 2003
Course Lecture TitlesWhat is Judaism?The Stages of HistoryThe Jewish LibraryThe Emergence of Rabbinic JudaismJewish WorshipPrayer and the SynagogueThe CalendarA Communal Life-CycleIndividual Life-CyclesGod and Man; God and CommunityPhilosophers and MysticsThe Legal Frameworks of JudaismHalakhaCommon Judaismor a Plurality of Judaisms?Judaism and Others
Love is Stronger than Death: The Mystical Union of Two Souls
Cynthia Bourgeault - 2014
—Brother David Stendl-Rast"Libraries offering titles on mysticism, inner transformation, or dealing with grief will find this a unique and welcome addition."—Library JournalThis powerful book, written by an Episcopal priest, tells of her intense relationship with Brother Raphael Robin, a seventy-year-old Trappist monk and hermit. Both believed that a relationship can continue beyond this life, and here Cynthia Bourgeault describes her search for that connection before and after Robin's death. Bourgeault's previous books include The Wisdom Jesus and Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening.