Have you ever heard a grandmother’s biological clock tick? Are you certain that a piano is about to fall on your head, simply because too many good things have happened to you lately? Would your own mother out you as a lesbian at her Yiddish club? The Modern Jewish Girl’s Guide to Guilt is a laugh-out-loud funny pull-no-punches collection of original essays on topics that aren’t usually talked about—much like the recent bestselling anthology The Bitch in the House. o Molly Jong-Fast, author of Normal Girl and daughter of Erica Jong, writes about displeasing her therapist in “Tell Me About Your Mother.” o Tova Mirvis, author of the bestselling novel The Ladies Auxiliary, writes about the pressure to be perfect in “What Will They Think?” o Lori Gottlieb, author of the bestselling memoir Stick Figure, writes about trying to outwit her mother using caller ID in “Conversations with My Mother.” Also includes pieces by: Jennifer Bleyer · Pearl Gluck · Rebecca Goldstein · Lauren Grodstein · Dara Horn · Rachel Kadish · Cynthia Kaplan · Binnie Kirschenbaum · Ellen Miller · Katie Rophie · Laurie Gwen Shapiro · Susan Shapiro · Ayelet Waldman, and many more.

    Jews no longer needed Jerusalem to be Jews. Whenever a Jew studied—wherever he was—he would be in the holy city. In this way, a few rabbis turned a real city into a city of the mind; in this way, they turned the Temple into a book and preserved their faith. Though you can burn a city, you cannot sack an idea or kill a book. But in our own time, Zionists have turned the book back into a temple. And unlike an idea, a temple can be destroyed. The creation of Israel has made Jews vulnerable in a way they have not been for two thousand years.In Israel Is Real, Rich Cohen’s superb new history of the Zionist idea and the Jewish state—the history of a nation chronicled as if it were the biography of a person—he brings to life dozens of fascinating figures, each driven by the same impulse: to reach Jerusalem. From false messiahs such as David Alroy (Cohen calls him the first superhero, with his tallis as a cape) and Sabbatai Zevi, who led thousands on a mad spiritual journey, to the early Zionists (many of them failed journalists), to the iconic figures of modern Jewish Sparta, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, and Ariel Sharon, Cohen shows how all these lives together form a single story, a single life. In this unique book, Cohen examines the myth of the wandering Jew, the paradox of Jewish power (how can you be both holy and nuclear?), and the triumph and tragedy of the Jewish state—how the creation of modern Israel has changed what it means to be a Jew anywhere.

    Prevailing classifications have sometimes assigned Jews to the white race and at other times have created an off-white racial designation for them. Those changes in racial assignment have shaped the ways American Jews of different eras have constructed their ethnoracial identities. Brodkin illustrates these changes through an analysis of her own family's multi-generational experience. She shows how Jews, in her opinion, experience a kind of double vision that comes from racial middleness: on the one hand, marginality with regard to whiteness; on the other, whiteness and belonging with regard to blackness.

    Folktales about and exploration of the mystical meanings of the Hebrew Alphabet. Open the old prayerbook-like pages of The Book of Letters and you will enter a special world of sacred tradition and religious feeling. More than just symbols, all twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet overow with meanings and personalities of their own.

    Lubavitcher Hasidim are famous for their efforts to inspire secular Jews to become more observant and for their messianic fervor. Strict followers of Orthodox Judaism, they maintain sharp gender-role distinctions. Levine spent a year living in the Lubavitch community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, participating in the rhythms of Hasidic girlhood. Drawing on many intimate hours among Hasidim and over 30 in-depth interviews, Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers offers rich portraits of individual Hasidic young women and how they deal with the conflicts between the regimented society in which they live and the pull of mainstream American life. This superbly crafted book offers intimate stories from Hasidic teenagers' lives, providing an intriguing twist to a universal theme: the struggle to grow up and define who we are within the context of culture, family, and life-driving beliefs.

    Undoubtedly, some of the most well-known horrific acts are those that took place in Nazi concentration camps, and Auschwitz is perhaps the most famous of these camps. This book gives you a detailed look into the environment and happenings of the camp, as well as stories from those who were there and lived to tell about it. Pick up your copy today. Here's a Preview of What You Will Learn * The purpose of Auschwitz * The environment of the camp * Experiments and methods of execution * Survivor stories of Auschwitz prisoners * Present-day museum efforts

    Rifka's parents are actors in the Yiddish Theater in New York, but one day Rifka finds herself center stage in a special role! A slice of immigrant life on New York's Second Avenue, this is a unique book about a vanished time and a place - the Yiddish theater in the early 20th century―made real through the telling of the true life story of the 96-year-old author as a little girl.

    in English literature from Cambridge University. The Particulars of Rapture, the sequel to her award-winning study of the Book of Genesis, takes its title from a line by the American poet Wallace Stevens about the interdependence of opposite things, such as male and female, and conscious and unconscious. To her reading of the familiar story of the Israelites and their flight from slavery in Egypt, Avivah Zornberg has brought a vast range of classical Jewish interpretations and Midrashic sources, literary allusions, and ideas from philosophy and psychology. Her quest in this book, as she writes in the introduction, is "to find those who will hear with me a particular idiom of redemption," who will hear "within the particulars of rapture . . . what cannot be expressed."Zornberg's previous book, The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis, won the National Jewish Book Award for nonfiction in 1995 and has become a classic among readers of all religions. The Particulars of Rapture will enhance Zornberg's reputation as one of today's most original and compelling interpreters of the biblical and rabbinic traditions.From the Hardcover edition.

    Along the way, their little girl delights in the wonders of nature, saying good night--lilah tov--to the creatures and landscapes they pass. Wherever she looks--on land, in the sky above and even, eventually, in the water below her boat--there are marvels to behold. "Lilah tov to the birds in the trees, lilah tov to the fish in the sea." Then, when their travels are finally over, her parents tuck her in tight, safe and ready for dreams in their new home.

    Twentysomething Benji Steiner views the concept with skepticism. But the elderly rabbi who stumbles into Benji's office one day has no such doubts. Jacob Zuckerman's late wife, Sophie, was his bashert. And now that she's gone, Rabbi Zuckerman grapples with overwhelming grief and loneliness. Touched by the rabbi's plight, Benji becomes his helper—driving him home after work, sitting in his living room listening to stories. Their friendship baffles everyone, especially Benji's sharp-tongued, modestly observant mother. But Benji is rediscovering something he didn't know he'd lost. Yet the test of friendship, and of both men's faith, lies in the difficult truths they come to share. With each revelation, Benji learns what it means not just to be Jewish, but to be fully human—imperfect, striving, and searching for the pieces of ourselves that come only through another's acceptance. "A story that is beautifully told, profound and funny. " —Jonathan Rosen, author of Joy Comes In The Morning"A stirring story about the face of love on many different levels." —Carolyn Hessel "An unforeseen tale of friendship and faith. " —Dave King, author of The Ha-HaWayne Hoffman is a writer and editor whose cultural reporting has appeared in the Washington Post, Village Voice, The Forward, The Advocate, and elsewhere. Wayne is currently deputy editor of Nextbook Press. He lives in New York City and the Catskills.

    Even people who have tried other books without success have learned to read Hebrew using this book. Here's what makes it different: * Fun memory tricks make it super simple to remember the sounds of the letters * Pace - The book is divided into 12 simple lessons. Two a week for 6 weeks. * The cheerful style of the book is great for adults and children alike. * From week one you are given words you can read from the Hebrew Bible! * The charming illustrations make learning Hebrew a pleasure. At the end of six weeks you WILL be able to read from the original Hebrew Bible, Psalms or the Siddur (Jewish prayer book) and you will have taken the first big step towards learning the Hebrew Language!

    This movie brought us such famous and universally recognizable songs as “If I were a Rich Man”, "Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make me a Match", “Tradition" and "Sunrise, Sunset". Tevye the dairyman is one of the most delightful and amusing characters in all of fiction, and this chronicle of Tevye and his daughters is, beyond question, the great Jewish humorist's masterpiece. Tevye was baffled by his daughters. That he had seven daughters and no sons--well, that was God's will, and Tevye loved them all dearly. And the girls--ah, their world revolved around papa and they gave him all their devotion. But as they grew up, they saw that the world was big and changing, that there were other ideas and other people. What made it so difficult for Tevye was not that they were such fine and lovely girls--dark-eyed Beilke, laughing Sprintze, brave Hodel--but that they had minds and wills of their own. Tevye couldn't quite understand that - it wasn't supposed to be that way. His gay heart was heavy at times, and the girls mixed tears with their laughter. When you have read this book, you will know why many Jews refer to Sholom Aleichem not as "the great Jewish humorist," but rather as one of "the greatest writers of our time." There are short stories in this book too: "If I Were Rothschild," "The Littlest of Kings," and a dozen others that display Sholom Aleichem's wonderful storytelling gift at its best.

    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.

    Yentl’s Revenge chronicles a range of experiences lived by an entire generation of women, from Judeo-pagan witches to young Orthodox mothers, from rabbis to sex educators. Contributors ponder Jewish transgenderdom, Jewish body image, Jewish punk, the stereotype of the Jewish American Princess, intermarriage, circumcision, faith, and intolerance. Essays include “Bubbe Got Back: Tales of a Jewish Caboose” by Ophira Edut, and “On Being a Jewish Feminist Valley Girl” by Tobin Belzer.

    Step into Its Fulfillment.  The study of prophecy inspires elaborate timelines and speculation about which world leader might rise to power in the last days. But meanwhile, it’s far too easy to miss the significant prophetic signs contained in stories of biblical characters, in God’s creation, and in the lives and actions of today’s Israelis and Palestinians.  The Holy Land Key opens our eyes to little-known aspects of prophecy, including: ·         God’s master plan revealed in the seven Feasts of the Lord ·         The ingathering of God’s people, and the ways Israelis are hearing from God today ·         Significant prophetic patterns discovered in the lunar cycle ·         Awe-inspiring testimonies to God’s glory spelled out in the night sky ·         Glimpses of God’s future kingdom revealed in the stories of well-known figures from Scripture   For decades, author and pastor Ray Bentley has partnered with God’s people in Israel, including Judea and Samaria, the area known as the West Bank. There, he witnesses the fulfillment of prophecy firsthand. This is your introduction to prophetic signs that God reveals in sometimes unexpected ways. He does not want us to miss the work he is doing to usher in the coming Kingdom.