Book picks similar to
Kabbalah for Beginners: Understanding and Applying Kabbalistic History, Concepts, and Practices by Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks
jewish-mysticism
non-fiction
prayer-and-meditation
jewish
Seek My Face: A Jewish Mystical Theology
Arthur Green - 1992
Personal journeys seldom have a clear beginning, and they rarely have a definite end. If there is an end to our journey, surely it is one that leads to some measure of wisdom, and thence back to its own beginning. But somewhere along the way, we come to realize that we must know where we have been going, why we have been going. Most of all, we come to understand as best we can the One who sends us on our way. --from the Introduction Rabbi Arthur Green leads us on a journey of discovery to seek God, the world, and ourselves. One of the most influential Jewish thinkers of our time, Green has created a roadmap of meaning for our lives in the light of Jewish mysticism, using the Hebrew letters that make up the divine name: Yod-- Reality at the beginning. God as the oneness of being at the outset, before it unfolds into our universe. Heh-- Creation and God's presence in the world. A renewed faith in God as Creator has powerful implications for us today. Vav-- Revelation, the central faith claim of Judaism and the claim it makes on our lives. Heh-- Redemption and our return to God through the life of Torah and by participating in the ongoing repair of the world. A personal and honest framework of understanding for the seeker, this revised and updated edition of a classic sheds new light on our search for the divine presence in our everyday lives.
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.
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!
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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.
Kabbalah For Dummies
Arthur Kurzweil - 2006
"Kabbalah For Dummies" also shows how Kabbalah simultaneously presents an approach to the study of text, the performance of ritual and the experience of worship, as well as how the reader can apply its teaching to everyday life.
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.
German Girl?
Vivian Bolten Herz - 2012
In thetone of voice that adults reserve for talking to six-year-olds,he asks again, “Now, tell me Vivian, when did you last seeyour Papa?”I shake my head and say, “No, I haven’t seen him for along time. I don’t know where he is.”The finger comes again, hooking my chin and forcingmy head up and toward him. I look into the pale, wateryeyes of the man in the gray Gestapo uniform. My heartpulses so hard in my ears that I can barely hear his words.“Have you seen Papa this week, Liebchen” (Sweetie), hecoos. “Who are his friends?” I shake my head “No,” knowingthat a few hours earlier Papa came to our street, near theapartment. He stood in the shadow of the corner house,watching me. I knew that he had come to see me, andsomehow, instinctively, I also knew that I should not go tohim and that he could not come to me. We looked at eachother, and then he turned and slipped away. It will bealmost ten years before I would see him again.The Gestapo man stands and abruptly leaves the bedroom.It isn’t until I see him in the living room, talking to Oma, that my tears come.In German Girl?, I reflect on my extraordinary childhood years, 1942 to 1953, growing up in Nazi Germany. As a "Mischling", a child with one Jewish parent and one Christian parent, my experiences during World War II, and its effect on the years that followed, provide a unique picture of wartime life as seen through the eyes of a child. My Lutheran grandparents hid and protected me while my mother was jailed and questioned tortuously on the whereabouts of my father. A Jewish man, my father lived “underground.” In "German Girl", I describe my father’s ingenuity and bravery, the enduring strength of my mother and the simple pleasures and comforting love of my grandparents stolen in a time of horror for so many. I have included copies of historical documents and photographs of the people discussed in the book.* In "German Girl", I have filled my book with memories, pictures, reproductions of forged documents and the incredible story of growing up alongside the appalling destruction of WWII in East Berlin.Copyright © 1998 Vivian Ert Bolten Herz.All rights reserved.The Library of Congress, catalog card number 2005351683United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,Washington D.C.Catalogue card number DS135.G5 H 4659 1998;Jüdisches Museum Berlin, GermanyYad Vashem Library, Jerusalem, Israel., catalog card number 105-0271Yad Vashem - Bet Vahlin Library, Israel., catalog card number HER-09
The Red String Book: The Power of Protection
Yehuda Berg - 2004
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet: the Sacred Letters as a Guide to Jewish
Michael L. Munk - 1983
This fascinating best-seller weaves these golden threads into a glorious tapestry, presenting hundreds of ideas and comments on the Aleph-Beis, including: the Aleph-Beis as the force of Creation, as a primer for Jewish living, and as a fountainhead of Torah insight and mystical meaning. The product of decades of learning, thinking, and teaching by the revered educator, lecturer, and community activist Rabbi Michael L. Munk. A treat not to be missed.
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.
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.