A practical approach to creating wealth-based on the established principles of ancient Jewish wisdom-made accessible to people of all backgrounds. The ups and downs of the economy prove Rabbi Daniel Lapin's famous principle that the more things change, the more we need to depend upon the things that never change. There's no better source for both practical and spiritual financial wisdom than the time-tested knowledge found in the ancient Jewish faith and its culture.
Your plain-English guide to Judaism. Whether you're interested in the religion or the spirituality, the culture or the ethnic traditions, Judaism for Dummies explores the full spectrum of Judaism, dipping into the mystical, meditative, and spiritual depth of the faith and the practice. In this warm and welcoming audiobook, you'll find coverage of: Orthodox Jews and breakaway denominations; Judaism as a daily practice; the food and fabric of Judaism; Jewish wedding ceremonies.
In Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction, Joseph Dan, one of the world's leading authorities on Jewish mysticism, offers a concise and highly accurate look at the history and character of the various systems developed by the adherents of the Kabbalah. Dan sheds light on the many misconceptions about what Kabbalah is and isn't - including its connections to magic, astronomy, alchemy, and numerology - and he illuminates the relationship between Kabbalah and Christianity on the one hand and New Age religion on the other.
Norman Solomon's succinct audiobook is an ideal introduction to Judaism as a religion and way of life. In addition to surveying the nature and development of Judaism, this Very Short Introduction outlines the basics of practical Judaism - its festivals, prayers, customs, and various sects. Modern concerns and debates of the Jewish people are also addressed, such as the impact of the Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel, the status of women, and medical and commercial ethics.
It is sometimes said that the Bible is one of the most unread books in the world, yet has been a major force in the development of Western culture and continues to exert an enormous influence over many people's lives. This Very Short Introduction looks at the importance accorded to the Bible by different communities and cultures and attempts to explain why it has generated such a rich variety of uses and interpretations.
Mussar is an illuminating, approachable, and highly practical set of teachings for cultivating personal growth and spiritual realization in the midst of day-to-day life. Here is an accessible and inspiring introduction to this Jewish spiritual path, which until lately has been best known in the world of Orthodox Judaism. The core teaching of Mussar is that our deepest essence is inherently pure and holy, but this inner radiance is obscured by extremes of emotion, desire, and bad habits.
This incisive history upends the complacency that confines anti-Judaism to the ideological extremes in the Western tradition. With deep learning and elegance, David Nirenberg shows how foundational anti-Judaism is to the history of the West. Questions of how we are Jewish and, more critically, how and why we are not have been churning within the Western imagination throughout its history. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans; Christians and Muslims of every period; even the secularists of modernity have used Judaism in constructing their visions of the world.
The history of Jewish persecution is as old as the written word, though the epithet anti-Semitism was conceived only in the late 19th century, as it reached the beginning of its most horrifying chapter. Throughout Christian history the hatred and prejudice toward the Jewish people have often been blamed on the betrayal and crucifixion of Christ, but ethnic Jewish oppression began long before. It is beyond dispute that antisemitism in our societies is on the increase.
Everyone has heard of of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but amidst the conspiracies, the politics, and the sensational claims, it can be difficult to separate the myths from the reality. Here, Timothy Lim presents the true facts and leading theories behind the cultural and historical background of the scrolls, and examines their significance for our understanding of the Old Testament and the origins of Christianity and Judaism.
Preselector says:
"Author too close to the subject to share it."
"You shall be holy," teaches the Bible. The masters of the Jewish Mussar tradition have crafted a roadmap to help people approach that lofty goal. Mussar is a system of introspective practices that can help you identify and break through the obstacles to your inherent holiness, using methods that are easy to integrate into daily life. Every Day, Holy Day is an essential companion for anyone who wants to experience the life-changing gifts of Mussar.
Six Minor Prophets Through the Centuries is the work of highly respected biblical scholars Richard Coggins and Jin H.Han. The volume explores the rich and complex reception history of the last six Minor Prophets in Jewish and Christian exegesis, theology, worship, and arts.
This is a highly comprehensive introduction to the Talmud, the age-old storehouse of Jewish wisdom. Bokser covers the long history of the Talmud, from its origin in the Babylonian exile, its growth through the five centuries after the Roman destruction of the Temple, and the later persecution of the Talmud. The book covers a number of high-level topics, including social ethics and personal morality, with numerous examples from the Talmud. Ben Zion Bokser was one of the major Conservative rabbis of America.
This book seeks to provide a guided examination of what unites and divides the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic communities. With over 25 years of experience teaching in the subject area, Dr. Fritz Wenisch begins to unravel this complex and often contentious topic by first discussing the legal injunctions applying to religious studies courses at secular U.S. universities. He investigates the type of monotheism each religion shares before providing an in-depth overview of each religion, one by one.
Taking his lead from his subject, Gershom Scholem - the 20th-century thinker who cracked open Jewish theology and history with a radical reading of Kabbalah - Prochnik combines biography and memoir to counter our contemporary political crisis with an original and urgent reimagining of the future of Israel.
While many readers may have heard of Kabbalah in recent years, how many understand the origins and unique perspective of this collection of Jewish mystical beliefs? Handed down in the oral tradition for thousands of years and transcribed in fourteenth-century Spain, the Kabbalah is the classical expression of Jewish mysticism. This collection draws from the main work of Kabbalah and offers insight into the great body of Hebrew literature that sprang up and grew parallel to the traditional writings of rabbinical literature.
The Devil of Williamsburg is a fast-paced true crime story about one of the most shocking and important child sex abuse cases in recent memory, which unfolded mere blocks from the hipster capital of the world, but eras away, in ultra-Orthodox Jewish Williamsburg, Brooklyn. There, an insular community of Satmar Hasidim shirk the Internet, the president and the rules of secular America, even hiding crimes within the community from police and the courts.
Whether complete or only fragmentary, the 930 extant Dead Sea Scrolls irrevocably altered how we look at and understand the foundations of faith and religious practice. Now you can get a comprehensive introduction to this unique series of archaeological documents, and to scholars' evolving understanding of their authorship and significance, with these 24 lectures. Learn what the scrolls are, what they contain, and how the insights they offered into religious and ancient history came into focus.
Jonathan says:
"Excellent: Much More Than The Dead Sea Scrolls"
It is a story like no other: an epic of endurance against destruction, of creativity in oppression, joy amidst grief, the affirmation of life against the steepest of odds. It spans the millennia and the continents - from India to Andalusia and from the bazaars of Cairo to the streets of Oxford. It takes you to unimagined places: to a Jewish kingdom in the mountains of southern Arabia; a Syrian synagogue glowing with radiant wall paintings; the palm groves of the Jewish dead in the Roman catacombs.
'There's probably no God ... but I wish there was. I've got some things I need to ask him.' Based on Marcus Brigstocke's award-winning Edinburgh and West End show, God Collar focuses on the 'God-shaped hole' that opens up in Marcus's life following the death of his best friend.
C. Lavine says:
"Sorry but I don't do 'Laugh out loud'"
Each of the great three Abrahamic religious traditions holds the seeds for deep mystical contemplation. But what do most of us know about these mystics and the tradition they sustained? Explore this spiritual, literary, and intellectual heritage in these great faiths of the West as it unfolds over three millennia with these 36 enlightening, thought-provoking lectures that offer nearly
The well-known and acclaimed work of Dr. Joseph Lumpkin has been enlarged to include new research on the Books of Enoch, Fallen Angels, the Watchers, and the Nephilim. After presenting extensive historical backgrounds and brilliant translations of The First, Second, and Third Books of Enoch, Lumpkin takes time to piece together a historical narrative of Fallen Angels, the Watcher, and the Nephilim, using his extensive knowledge of ancient texts.
In the eight-part series Discovering Genesis, the late David Neiman, professor of Jewish theology at Boston College, expertly guides you through the book's first chapters - from the story of creation to the Tower of Babel - to examine how the Biblical writers grappled with the fundamental questions and mysteries of the shared human experience: Where do we come from? Who are we? What makes us different? How did civilization come about? Why do we die?
Here is a practical and convenient way to connect to the meaning of life, comprehend what we are doing here and what our purpose is in this world. The audio version of Attaining the Worlds Beyond allows you to absorb the ultimate fulfillment of moving spiritual content in plain English wherever you happen to be. The poignant narration takes you on a journey that enlightens the mind, invigorates the heart, and moves you to the depths of your soul.
The offspring of the Watchers (and their human mates) were what the bible calls "giants" or "Nephilim." These half-humans/half-fallen-angel hybrids were extremely wicked, and began eating everything and everybody! This is the reason, some scholars say, for God's sending the flood of Noah. Additionally, The Book of the Watchers outlines how these fallen angels corrupted mankind by teaching them forbidden knowledge of weapon-making, sorcery, witchcraft, astrology, and other forbidden technologies.
Scholars, journalists, and politicians uphold Muslim-ruled medieval Spain - "al-Andalus" - as a multicultural paradise, a place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in harmony. There is only one problem with this widely accepted account: It is a myth. In this groundbreaking book, Northwestern University scholar Darío Fernández-Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain. As professors, politicians, and pundits continue to celebrate Islamic Spain for its "multiculturalism" and "diversity", Fernández-Morera sets the record straight.
In a paradigm of true leadership, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of sainted memory, embraced all issues of import to Jews, Jewish life, and beyond, spurring a Jewish revival that continues to gain momentum even after his passing. Through his incisive and illuminating Torah expositions, the Rebbe inspired an awareness of a attainable higher reality and sparked an enthusiasm for Torah study among scholars and layman alike.
There are no mistakes in Torah. That said, week after week when reading the weekly Torah portion, scholars and laymen alike encounter broken, enlarged - and even missing - letters without stopping to realize that the bodies of these oddball letters themselves hold some of the Torah's most cogent life lessons.
The Apostle Paul said that the rapture will happen "at the last trumpet". Hear how the rapture relates to Rosh HaShanah, the Feast of Trumpets, one of the seven feasts God gave to the Nation of Israel. My friend, someday you will turn on the news and see that millions of people have suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from all around the world. As I write this brochure, this disappearance is a future event known as "The Rapture of the Church".
As a religion, culture, and civilization, Judaism has evolved in surprising ways during its long and remarkable history. In this series of 24 lectures, Professor Cherry explores this rich religious heritage from biblical times to today. From the first lecture on the Torah to the last on the Jews as the Chosen People, this course is packed with truly fascinating information.
Amazon Customer says:
"Introduction to Judaism - a review by I Waine"
What is the essence of Judaism? Is it the Ten Commandments, given by God to Israel at Mount Sinai? Or is it the totality of teachings in the Hebrew Bible? Or is it symbolized by something outside the Bible? Find out with this illuminating 12-lecture investigation of the fundamental concepts, beliefs, issues, and themes in the ever-changing, 4,000-year-old saga of Judaism, one of the world's most ancient and influential faiths. Throughout the lectures, you'll study Judaism from within-as it was understood by its adherents in the past and by those who practice or identify with Judaism today.
O Jerusalem! is the epic drama of 1948, when Arabs and Jews fought for control of the city of Jerusalem. This story traverses centuries and continents, covering the time between WWII and the creation of the independent state of Israel. Based on five years of intensive research and thousands of interviews, this is a story of courage, terrorism, heroism, and ultimately, war.
Caroline says:
"Best History book ever, NOT a novel"
Nearly everyone in the Western world is familiar with the stories in the book of Genesis. Its language is simple. Its powerful sentences are short. And its messages glisten with clarity. But is it possible that the understanding of the book of Genesis we've all grown up with isn't as complete as we'd like to believe? That its deceptively simple sentences and surface appearance hide from contemporary readers a purposeful and intricate structure designed to let its depth and detail and implication resonate with the readers and listeners of its own time?.
Despite predictions of continuing secularisation, the 21st century has witnessed a surge of religious extremism and violence in the name of God. In this powerful and timely book, Jonathan Sacks explores the roots of violence and its relationship to religion, focusing on the historic tensions between the three Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Carôle says:
"Informative, Enlightening and Worth Re-reading"
Martin Buber's I and Thou has long been acclaimed as a classic. Many prominent writers have acknowledged its influence on their work; students of intellectual history consider it a landmark; and the generation born after World War II considers Buber one of its prophets. Buber's main proposition is that we may address existence in two ways: (1) that of the "I" toward an "It," toward an object that is separate in itself, which we either use or experience; (2) that of the "I" toward "Thou," in which we move into existence in a relationship without bounds.
Mr. Kevin Snow says:
"Profound and fresh approach to psychology"
When one thinks of the Kabbalah, they often think of the 10 emanations of the tree of life. It is by far the most popular of the Kabbalistic symbols and rightfully so. It is also the one most, how shall I say, comprehensible of the Kabbalistic principles. Of course, it contains deep mysteries but if one were to attempt to describe its function, it can be done so with ease. This is the aspect of Kabbalah most people are exposed to.
For thousands of years, Jews have looked to the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament by Christians, for their origins, and have located in them the tenets of their faith. However, much of what is recognized today as Judaism does not appear in the Bible. How did Judaism develop from its biblical roots to the highly developed system we know today? What has changed - and what has remained constant? In this series of 24 spirited and provocative lectures, Professor Gafni investigates how the Jewish faith struggled to continually redefine itself during the first thousand years after the completion of the last books of the Hebrew Bible.
Amazon Customer says:
"Very engaging and interesting "
