Exodus, Revisited: My Unorthodox Journey to Berlin


Deborah Feldman - 2021
    She was determined to find a better life for herself, away from the oppression and isolation of her Satmar upbringing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. And in Exodus, Revisited she delves into what happened next--taking the reader on a journey that starts with her beginning life anew as a single mother, a religious refugee, and an independent woman in search of a place and a community where she can belong. Originally published in 2014, Deborah has now revisited and significantly expanded her story, and the result is greater insight into her quest to discover herself and the true meaning of home. Travels that start with making her way in New York expand into an exploration of America and eventually lead to trips across Europe to retrace her grandmother's life during the Holocaust, before she finds a landing place in the unlikeliest of cities. Exodus, Revisited is a deeply moving examination of the nature of memory and generational trauma, and of reconciliation with both yourself and the world.

Converting to Judaism: How to Become a Jew (an Introduction to Judaism and Being Jewish)


Rachel Zahl - 2014
    Regularly priced at $4.99. Read on your PC, Mac, smart phone, tablet or Kindle device. So, you want to convert to Judaism? That’s great! You have to understand, though, that Judaism is not only a religion but is also a way of life. Jews consider themselves as one big family. Hence, to have a proper perspective about everything, you’ll have to mentally orient yourself that you’re trying to find a way in as a productive member of that Jewish family. You should also brace yourself for a long struggle ahead of you because converting to Judaism is not a walk in the park. This book will provide you with an excellent introduction to Judaism as well as what to expect during your conversion process, including lots of great tips and pointers that will help along the way. Here Is A Preview Of What You'll Learn... The Basic Beliefs of Judaism Important Practices of Judaism Celebrated Jewish Holidays Steps on How to Become a Jew Pointers for Converts Much, much more! Download your copy today! Tags: convert to Judaism, converting to Judaism, conversion to Judaism, how to become a jew, becoming a Jew, become a Jew, I want to become a Jew, I want to convert to Judaism, how to convert to Judaism, introduction to Judaism, being Jewish, how to be Jewish, Judaism beliefs, practice Judaism, practicing Judaism, how to become a Jew, Jewish convert, converting to Jew, convert to become a Jew, Jewish beliefs, Jewish customs, Jewish traditions, Jewish calendar, Jewish holidays, Jewish rituals, how to be Jewish, Jewish religious beliefs, becoming Jewish, Jewish celebrations, Jewish customs and traditions, Jewish baptism, Jewish practices, Jewish information, Jews religion, Jews, Jew, Judaism, Jew religion, becoming a Jew, Jews and Judaism, Jews culture, become a Jew, what is Judaism, Judaism beliefs, torah, Jewish commandments, introduction to Judaism, Jewish religion, Jewish religious beliefs, religion of Judaism, convert Judaism, converting questions, converting religion, converting religions, how to convert to Judaism, how to convert

Becoming Un-Orthodox: Stories of Ex-Hasidic Jews


Lynn Davidman - 2014
    For many, it involves dramatic changes of everyday routines and personal habits.Davidman bases her analysis on in-depth conversations with forty ex-Hasidic individuals. From these conversations emerge accounts of the great fear, angst, and sense of danger that come of leaving a highly bounded enclave community. Many of those interviewed spoke of feeling marginal in their owncommunities; of strain in their homes due to death, divorce, or their parents' profound religious differences; experienced sexual, physical, or verbal abuse; or expressed an acute awareness of gender inequality, the dissimilar lives of their secular relatives, and forbidden television shows, movies, websites, and books.Becoming Un-Orthodox draws much-needed attention to the vital role of the body and bodily behavior in religious practices. It is through physical rituals and routines that the members of a religion, particularly a highly conservative one, constantly create, perform, and reinforce the culture of thereligion. Because of the many observances and daily rituals required by their faith, Hasidic defectors are an exemplary case study for exploring the centrality of the body in shaping, maintaining, and shedding religions.This book provides both a moving narrative of the struggles of Hasidic defectors and a compelling call for greater collective understanding of the complex significance of the body in society.

Living Inspired


Akiva Tatz - 1993
    Living Inspired Akiva Tatz Ever wondered why there is no parking on Golders Green Road on Wednesday nights? Because Wednesday night is Coffee Lounge and Deluxe Desserts with..

My Rebbe


Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz - 2014
    During his forty years of leadership, Rabbi Schneerson transformed Chabad into a global movement marked by extensive outreach activities and a closeknit network of emissaries stationed around the world. His passionate devotion to education, social change, and acts of charity and kindness inspired countless people to embrace spirituality in their daily lives.In My Rebbe, celebrated author and thinker Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz shares his firsthand account of this extraordinary individual who shaped the landscape of twentieth-century religious life. Written with the admiration of a close disciple and the nuanced perceptiveness of a scholar, this biography-memoir inspires us to think about our own missions and aspirations for a better world.

Leviticus:The Book of Holiness (Covenant & Conversation 3)


Jonathan Sacks - 2015
    Rabbi Sacks fuses Jewish tradition, Western philosophy and literature to present a highly developed understanding of the human condition under God's sovereignty.

If you were God / Immortality and the soul / A world of love


Aryeh Kaplan - 1983
    Three of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's notable essays: If You Were G-d, Immortality and the Soul, and A World of Love.

The New Rabbi


Stephen Fried - 2002
    The New RabbiThe center of this compelling chronicle is Har Zion Temple on Philadelphia’s Main Line, which for the last seventy-five years has been one of the largest and most influential congregations in America. For thirty years Rabbi Gerald Wolpe has been its spiritual leader, a brilliant sermonizer of wide renown--but now he has announced his retirement. It is the start of a remarkable nationwide search process largely unknown to the lay world--and of much more. For at this dramatic moment Wolpe agrees to give extraordinary access to Fried, inviting him--and the reader—into the intense personal and professional life of the clergy and the complex behind-the-scenes life of a major Conservative congregation. These riveting pages bring us a unique view of Judaism in practice: from Har Zion’s strong-willed leaders and influential families to the young bar and bat mitzvahs just beginning their Jewish lives; from the three-days-a-year synagogue goers to the hard core of devout attendees. We are touched by their times of joy and times of grief, intrigued by congregational politics, moved by the search for faith. We witness the conflicts between generations about issues of belief, observance, and the pressures of secular life. We meet Wolpe’s vigorous-minded ailing wife and his sons, one of whom has become a celebrity rabbi in Los Angeles. And we follow the author’s own moving search for meaning as he reconnects with the religion of his youth. We also have a front-row seat at the usually clandestine process of choosing a new rabbi, as what was expected to be a simple one-year search for Rabbi Wolpe’s successor extends to two years and then three. Dozens of résumés are rejected, a parade of prospects come to interview, the chosen successor changes his mind at the last minute, and a confrontation erupts between the synagogue and the New York–based Conservative rabbis’ “union” that governs the process. As the time comes for Wolpe to depart, a venerated house of worship is being torn apart. And thrust onto the pulpit is Wolpe’s young assistant, Rabbi Jacob Herber, in his first job out of rabbinical school, facing the nearly impossible situation of taking over despite being technically ineligible for the position--and finding himself on trial with the congregation and at odds with his mentor. Rich in anecdote and scenes of wonderful immediacy, this is a riveting book about the search for personal faith, about the tension between secular concerns and ancient tradition in affluent America, and about what Wolpe himself has called “the retail business of religion.” Stephen Fried brings all these elements to vivid life with the passion and energy of a superbly gifted storyteller.

A Daughter of Two Mothers


Miriam Cohen - 2007
    Open this book and you will step into the world of a generation gone, of pre- and post-war Hungarian Jewry, as young Leichu moves between two communities and their divergent lifestyles. This is a gripping story of separation and reunion, of pure faith and acceptance of G-d's will, and of triumph over despair.

Suddenly Jewish: Jews Raised as Gentiles Discover Their Jewish Roots


Barbara Kessel - 2000
    One man as he was studying for the priesthood. Madeleine Albright famously learned from the Washington Post when she was named Secretary of State. "What is it like to find out you are not who you thought you were?" asks Barbara Kessel in this compelling volume, based on interviews with over 160 people who were raised as non-Jews only to learn at some point in their lives that they are of Jewish descent. With humor, candor, and deep emotion, Kessel's subjects discuss the emotional upheaval of refashioning their self-image and, for many, coming to terms with deliberate deception on the part of parents and family. Responses to the discovery of a Jewish heritage ranged from outright rejection to wholehearted embrace. For many, Kessel reports, the discovery of Jewish roots confirmed long-held suspicions or even, more mysteriously, conformed to a long-felt attraction toward Judaism. For some crypto-Jews in the southwest United States (descendants of Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition), the only clues to their heritage are certain practices and traditions handed down through the generations, whose significance may be long since lost. In Poland and other parts of eastern Europe, many Jews who were adopted as infants to save them from the Holocaust are now learning of their heritage through the deathbed confessions of their adoptive parents. The varied responses of these disparate people to a similar experience, presented in their own words, offer compelling insights into the nature of self-knowledge. Whether they had always suspected or were taken by surprise, Kessel's respondents report that confirmation of their Jewish heritage affected their sense of self and of their place in the world in profound ways. Fascinating, poignant, and often very funny, Suddenly Jewish speaks to crucial issues of identity, selfhood, and spiritual community.

The Other Hand


Andrew Kane - 2019
    As a prominent rabbi in the Orthodox Jewish enclave of Lawrence, NY, he and his wife had raised three wonderful children, and his congregation was thriving. If anything, his 30 years of success had found him growing a little restless. That, of course, was before. Before his son came out as gay. Before he and the community learned his daughter was dating a man named Raj, who was rumored to be a Muslim. Before his good friend and strongest ally, real estate mogul Benjamin Marcus, was indicted for fraud. Before his position was on the line. His family now in crisis, his congregation in revolt, Jonathan is forced to square his suddenly chaotic reality with the traditions and beliefs he has practiced and preached his entire life. Facing daunting questions about the true meanings of once-simpler notions—love, family, and faith—he must embark on a path he could never have imagined to encounter a man he might never have known. From Andrew Kane, author of Joshua: A Brooklyn Tale, Rabbi, Rabbi, and The Night, the Day, this latest offering is an emotionally stirring novel that takes the reader on a journey of devotion, discord, despair and discovery.

Life Is a Test: How to Meet Life's Challenges Successfully


Esther Jungreis - 2006
    Whether counseling a searching soul or addressing a packed house in Madison Square Garden, her message is elegantly universal. In Life Is A Test, the Rebbitzen's insights on faith, her soul-stirring wisdom, and her palpable love of all people saturate every page. Life Is A Test is really three books in one, each bearing a particular focus to help readers look for the message embedded in any difficulty. The book begins with tests of self-discovery and then examines the challenging realm of interpersonal relationships, concluding with a section on perceiving the Divine Design in the big picture of global events, as well as in one's own world. Regardless of age or experience, people of all persuasions will find meaningful substance in Life Is A Test. Rebbitzen Jungreis has captured so many of our deep-seated questions, and has graciously provided us with a decipherable answer key.

The Kalinka Affair: A Father's Hunt for His Daughter's Killer


Joshua Hammer - 2012
    Suspicions of murder began to surround her stepfather, a German doctor named Dieter Krombach, but Bamberski could only hope the truth would prevail. But when the authorities gave up their pursuit, he knew he had to act. So against the odds, Bamberski embarked on an obsessive quest to capture and punish his daughter’s killer. In this riveting true story by Joshua Hammer, a father travels to the limits of law in search of justice.

The Secret: Unlocking the Source of Joy and Fulfillment


Michael Berg - 2002
    Not long thereafter, he received a priceless spiritual teaching that revealed the source of lasting joy and fulfillment from a spiritual master whose name he would never disclose, not even after he himself became the most renowned Kabbalist of the 20th century. The young scholar's name was Rav Yehuda Ashlag, and though his letters and writings offer tantalizing hints of the wisdom that was given to him, the pieces of the puzzle have never been fully assembled until now. Here Michael Berg, himself the descendant of great Kabbalists, shares the result of years spent studying Rav Ashlag's life and work. In this book, Berg shows how the secret offers life-changing power. Drawing on stories and insights from Ashlag and other noted mystics, Berg explains how to discover one’s true purpose in the world and thereby find lasting peace and joy.

Shalom in the Home: Smart Advice for a Peaceful Life


Shmuley Boteach - 2007
    Influenced by his own experience as a child of divorce, the host of the TLC series Shalom in the Home gets to the heart of family dynamics and individual personalities to help families build deeper, more loving relationships. His insights and encouragements help you cope with all the most common domestic issues: relationships, parenting, in-laws, neighbors and more. aI'm here to inspire people to be good people first, a good couple second, and good parents third, a says Shmuley. He illustrates how families can strengthen their bonds with unforgettable stories of families in crisis who undergo intensive counseling to improve their relationships and bring peace, or ashalom, a to their homes.