Book Description
A Code of Jewish Ethics, Volume 1: You Shall Be Holy is the initial volume of the first major code of Jewish ethics to be written in the English language. It is a monumental work on the vital topic of personal character and integrity by one of the premier Jewish scholars and thinkers of our time.
With the stated purpose of restoring ethics to its central role in Judaism, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin offers hundreds of examples from the Torah, the Talmud, rabbinic commentaries, and contemporary stories to illustrate how ethical teachings can affect our daily behavior. The subjects dealt with are ones we all encounter. They include judging other people fairly; knowing when forgiveness is obligatory, optional, or forbidden; balancing humility and self-esteem; avoiding speech that shames others; restraining our impulses of envy, hatred, and revenge; valuing truth but knowing when lying is permitted; understanding why God is the ultimate basis of morality; and appreciating the great benefits of Torah study. Telushkin has arranged the book in the traditional style of Jewish codes, with topical chapters and numbered paragraphs. Statements of law are almost invariably followed by anecdotes illustrating how these principles have been, or can be, practiced in daily life. The book can be read straight through to provide a solid grounding in Jewish values, consulted as a reference when facing ethical dilemmas, or studied in a group.
Vast in scope, this volume distills more than three thousand years of Jewish laws and suggestions on how to improve one’s character and become more honest, decent, and just. It is a landmark work of scholarship that is sure to influence the lives of Jews for generations to come, rich with questions to ponder and discuss, but primarily a book to live by.
Customer Reviews:
Wise advice throughout, for anyone.......2006-10-02
One of the things I find most wonderful about this book is that I can pick it up and read only a page, and have something worth thinking about. It is packed full of good, clear advice and ethical guidance. On first glance there are some ideas that seem obvious, and some that seem impossible. But with further reading and effort the impossible becomes easier to conceive of, and ideas that seemed obvious reveal hidden depths. I am on my second reading of the book, mixed with frequently jumping around in the text, and I'm certain I'll get something new from it with future readings as well.
A particularly lovely touch to this book is that with every piece of advice, there is an explanation, an example, or an anecdote - something to tie the subject in to our every-day lives. For example, the section on common sense and tact quotes the late Jewish humorist Sam Levenson in saying "It's not so hard to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and don't say it." This seems like such a small thing, but this little bit of humor stays in my mind better than any lecture, and is just enough to remind me that I mean to improve. Other such anecdotes show that some of the "impossible" expectations through the book are in fact anything but.
So many "self-help" and "self-improvement" books are easy to skim through, more fluff and cheery stories than content. While many books on living the good life have passed through my hands, no other has lingered quite as well as this one. Every time I open it I am reminded of some aspect of life that I should focus more on, and I expect it will be on my shelf for a very long time.
excellent for the High Holy Days.......2006-09-25
Like Telushkin's Book of Jewish Values (which overlaps somewhat with this book) this book is not only full of practical ethical suggestions. Here are a few examples:
1. To help yourself give other people the benefit of the doubt, think of rationalizations that might help, just as if you were making excuses for yourself
2. Praying for others when they are sick is a fine thing, but why not go further by praying for those with other problems such as financial or relationship issues?
3. When visiting friend you haven't seen in awhile, say the Shecheyanu prayer to thank God for the privilege;
4. If someone is getting on your nerves, think of ways in which they might be superior to you;
5. Chant "Do not be easily angered" (al tehi noach lekos) to calm yourself down if you feel yourself getting angry.
Although I am not sure yet which (if any) of these ideas I will have the self-discipline to put into practice, this book has already inspired me to do a little beyond what was directly suggested.
Since this time of year is (for Jews) a propitious time for reforming oneself, I think this book is especially useful this time of year.
Concededly, a few of the book's suggestions seemed a bit overly ambitious to me- but my feeling is that if this book inspires me to do just a few small things differently, than it is worth the time I invested in it.
ample encyclopedic mind.......2006-07-03
In a longer review for jbooks.com, I wrote: "Spending time with this first volume is akin to tapping into Rabbi Telushkin's encyclopedic mind. Fortunately, it's both an ample and organized mind, as evidenced by the logical breakdown of chapters, the bulk of which appear in the second part, in which basic virtues and vices are explicated. Everything from civility and forgiveness to anger and hatred are laid bare." You can read the full review at [...]
Book Description
Passover books abound, but almost all are interpretative or supplemental manuals for conducting the Seder ceremonies. In Thinking Passover, Rabbi Ben Kamin goes much further to present an insightful, inspiring meditation on Jewish values that draws on both the historical drama of the original story and the contemporary relevance of the annual gathering together of families. Organized thematically and filled with real-life storie, Thinking Passover listens to the songs and the texts of the holidays, notes the family reunions and the life-cycle issues that accompany them, and offers a study of what Passover can mean for and offer to a contemporary family.
*Thinking Passover is for Jewish families who seek each year to reaffirm their commitment to themselves and to their communities.
*Offers a unique perspective on the holiday.
*Ben Kamin has a high profile in the Jewish community.
Customer Reviews:
pleased with order.......2007-08-16
the book is well written, I like the way it includes images regarding the readings, I am very happy with it.
Very good translation.......2006-08-05
I bought this as I'm beginning to study Judaism in my spiritual journey. The book is very well translated and includes recommendations for readings on holidays. There are also pictures throughout the book from various times and locations.
I'm also very pleased with this since it's in a paragraph format (as someone who's only read the "Hebrew Bible" as part of the Old Testament I like the ease of reading with the paragraph format).
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
The one that started it all!!!.......2004-07-18
Ah yes, the Torah!!! God's Episode IV: A New Hope! In this introduction to the Holy Book Trilogy (Torah, Bible, and Quran), God comes out swinging, relating stories from his youth (Adam and Eve), as well as shocking personal details (the truth about the 10 plagues)!
Although shorter than the other two texts, the Torah grabs the reader and does not let go...hours upon hours of exciting Hebraic laws are passed down in a fashion which almost makes it a joy to excise the lepers from your tribe!
Oh, and don't tell your friends who killed Abel! It's guaranteed to be the Book Club discussion of the month!
We can only be thankful that God changed his mind on the book of Leviticus, which was allegedly orignally a Choose Your Own Adventure-esque piece for the kids.
If you enjoyed this book, look out for the holy Bible, which picks up where the Torah left off. However, some purists may want to stay away from the sequel, as the entire story changes shape after Chapter V.
ACCURATELY TRANSLATED; VERY CONSISTENT.......2003-01-23
The translator of this version of "The Torah" deserve commendation for a job well-done. Its accuracy is consistent with the original Jewish scripts, from which it emanated. Also, the translator did his best in sticking to contemporary English: thus, making it easy for readers to understand.
I would readily recommend this version to any English speaker who has interest in the book. Both Jews and non-Jews who know one or two things about The Bible (i.e.: the Old Testament), and/or The Koran, would not read long before inferring that the spiritual accounts narrated in these holy books have got more similarities than differences.
Torah- Worlds most best selling book...EVER!.......2001-09-29
Well facts are hard to argu...
Torah and Judaism laid the ground for both Christianity and islam..
Torah is the book that changed the world..
Torah is the most read book in the history of mankind..
Average customer rating:
- A great guide to Dr. Rambam
- Fascinating brief introduction to an important thinker
- mr.
- Balancing faith and reason
- From Moses to Moses there was none like Moses
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Maimonides (Jewish Encounters)
Sherwin B. Nuland
Manufacturer: Schocken
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ASIN: 0805242007
Release Date: 2005-10-04 |
Book Description
Moses Maimonides was a Renaissance man before there was a Renaissance: a great physician who served a sultan, a dazzling Torah scholar, a community leader, a daring philosopher whose greatest work——The Guide for the Perplexed——attempted to reconcile scientific knowledge with faith in God. He was a Jew living in a Muslim world, a rationalist living in a time of superstition. Eight hundred years after his death, his notions about God, faith, the afterlife, and the Messiah still stir debate; his life as a physician still inspires; and the enigmas of his character still fascinate.
Sherwin B. Nuland——best-selling author of How We Die——focuses his surgeon’s eye and writer’s pen on this greatest of rabbis, most intriguing of Jewish philosophers, and most honored of Jewish doctors. He gives us a portrait of Maimonides that makes his life, his times, and his thought accessible to the general reader as they have never been before.
Customer Reviews:
A great guide to Dr. Rambam.......2007-08-22
The most interesting parts of this book focus on Maimonides the physician (as opposed to Maimonides the religious leader, where Nuland's discussion is a bit too sparse here and there). Maimonides (known to most Jews as Rambam) did not develop new medical knowledge, but wrote ten books synthesizing existing medical knowledge in a clear and concise way, and even occasionally criticizing the Greco-Roman masters whose works dominated medieval medicine. By the low standards of the Middle Ages, this passed for genius.
Nuland links Rambam's religious and medical careers by pointing out that in both areas, Rambam focused heavily on codifying existing knowledge in ways that would be easy for the public to use.
Nuland also engages in interesting speculation about a variety of other issues, including:
1. Why were Jews so likely to be doctors in the Middle Ages? Nuland asserts that (a) Christians were uninterested in medicine because they were more ascetic, (b) because priests could not take employment as doctors, the Christian talent pool for medicine was artificially diminished and (c) because Jews' wealth could easily be taken away, Jews had a strong incentive to seek portable skills (as opposed to investing in fixed assets such as land).
2. Why was Rambam so uninterested in accommodating or discussing competing religious views? Nuland speculates that because of Judaism's dire condition in those days (beset in persecution in some places and the temptation of assimilation into Islam in more tolerant places) Rambam may have felt the need to "circle the wagons" by encouraging as much uniformity as possible.
3. Why did Rambam (who generally opposed Messianic speculation) suggest in his letter to Yemenite Jews that prophecy might return in 1216? Nuland suggests that Rambam may have been trying to defang Messianic fever by setting a date so far in advance that he could not be disproven during his lifetime.
Fascinating brief introduction to an important thinker.......2007-06-22
Nuland has accomplished the difficult task of summarizing Maimonides' complex writings in a way that is accessible to the common reader. Nuland's style is clear and concise, and he obviously admires Maimonides as a sort of Renaissance man before the Renaissance. It is true that the book gives considerable attention to Maimonides' life as a physician, but as someone who has dipped a bit into Maimonides' writings on Jewish law and thought but knew little of his place in medical history, I didn't see that as a problem. In fact, I found that that made this book even more enlightening.
I could have used more discussion of the Guide to the Perplexed, however, beyond the notions that the book is difficult and that some see it as a hidden confession by Maimonides of his lack of belief (an unlikely hypothesis). The Guide is an extraordinarily fascinating book, from all I understand, and Nuland does not do it justice.
mr........2007-02-27
it shows you right way about life
i think it is possible to adopt it to today.
it was very interesting book for me.
it is the kind of book that i always enjoy reading
Balancing faith and reason.......2006-12-14
Dr. Nuland, himself a Jewish physician, was understandably reluctant to engage in doing the biography of perhaps the ultimate Jewish physician of all time: Moses Ben Maimon also referred to as Rambam or Maimonides.
His reluctance was understandable on a number of levels. First, Maimonides was of pronounced expertise in the healing arts. Not only the author of ten medical books, he had through dint of skill managed to elevate himself to being court physician at the court of Saladin.
Second, for Jewish thought (and derivatively for western thought itself) Maimonides was significant for his recognition of and attempt to deal with the conflict between the canonized precepts of faith and the unanswered questions of science. His "Guide for the Perplexed" itself perplexing is an attempt in some ways an attempt at striking a balance.
However, in both ways Nuland managed to briefly make the material accessible to the reader.
And significantly also, Nuland managed to connect the reader with Maimonides humanity...his early difficulties with learning, his grief at the loss of his brother and his joy in parenthood.
In this way, Nuland managed to create and even more iconic figure because rather than putting him a pedistal, Nuland put Maimonides right next to you...all the more human and therefore all the more relevant.
From Moses to Moses there was none like Moses .......2006-12-07
Sherwin B. Nuland opens this book by explaining how he finally came to after much discouragement write this book on the great Jewish thinker, halachist, communal leader and physician Moses Maimonedes, commonly known as the Rambam. Nuland's reluctance is understandable as he is not a scholar of Jewish texts, nor one deeply versed in Jewish thought. He is a prominent well- known highly esteemed physician and writer. And a good share of the book is devoted to understanding the Rambam as a physician. In the course of this Nuland provides a brief historical sketch of the development of Medicine from Galen to and through the Middle Ages. In the course of this he makes it clear that the Rambam was like all the great Medieval physicians not really a medical innovator. The Rambam was an extraordinarily dedicated physician whose observational powers were complemented by his vast knowledge of the extant medical literature. Nuland quotes the famous letter of the Rambam in which he details his exhausting schedule as physician including his work at Court and his work with the poorer Muslim population and with the Jewish community. Nuland also describes in some detail the medical writings of Rambam, including the Aphorisms and guidebooks which served a wider public to the dawn of the ear of Modern Medicine.
The Rambam turned to Medicine only after a great personal tragedy the loss at sea of his younger brother David. David had provided the material means for the Rambam to be totally devoted to scholarship. Rambam went into depression for over a year until finally emerging with the decision to practice medicine.
Nuland gives an excellent summary of the whole course of Rambam's life, including the childhood in Cordoba, the early years in Fez, the expulsions the Jewish community suffered, the forced conversion, and above all the genius which surfaced quite early. Rambam mastered whole worlds of Jewish texts , held them in his mind . And this enabled him to create his vast works of syncretic scholarship, most notably the work still studied and of great significance today , 'The Mishneh Torah'. Nuland provides a good understanding of the basic meaning of and history of 'The Mishnah Torah'. However in confronting Rambam's philosophical masterpiece "Guide to the Perplexed" Nuland is somewhat less understanding and appreciative.
In assessing Rambam's overall historical signifiance Nuland writes this telling analysis of why Rambam is held in such great importance by Jews to this very day.
" it is the iconic memory of a man whose life was devoted to the continuity of the Jewish people.
- From the letter to the Jews of Fez written when he was twenty- four years old , to his labors until the hour of his death as his community's acknowledged leader ,he devoted the totality of his prodigious talents to the preservation of the community of the Jews everywhere."
Product Description
The world's greatest book, simply written and beautifully illustrated in full color, has been approved by an editorial board of leaders in the Protestant, Catholic and Jewish faiths. Beautifully illustrated, this is the book you grew up with and will want for your young reader, too. The print is large-sized and easy to read for ages 8 and above. THE CHILDREN'S BIBLE is a wonderful introduction to the teachings of the Bible and is presented in a straight-forward and easy to understand manner.
Customer Reviews:
I DID OWN THIS GREAT BIBLE, BUT IT WAS THROWN AWAY UNFORTUNATELY!EVERY CHILD WHO IS CHRISTIAN SHOULD OWN THIS BIBLE!.......2007-01-01
.....I REMEMBER WHEN MY GRANDMOTHER USE TO SIT US DOWN BRIGHT & EARLY
EVERY SUNDAY JUST TO READ THIS BIBLE...SO THAT WE CAN BETTER OVERSTAND
THE ADULT'S BIBLE! EVEN AS A CHILD THERE WERE CERTAIN STORIES THAT STUCK
WITH MORE SUCH AS:"RICH MAN POOR MAN", THE STORY OF LAZARUS, THE BOOK OF
MATTHEW WHEN satan CHALLENGED JESUS & JESUS SIMPLY SAID "GET THEE HENCE
satan"!WHOO IT GIVES ME CHILLS EVEN NOW! 1 REVIEWER WROTE THAT THE
PICTURES OF JONAH & THE WHALE WAS GRAPHIC & SCARY... WELL I THINK THAT WAS
THE POINT, A PICTURE SAYS A THOUSAND WORDS! I'M THANKFUL FOR THE IMAGES
CHILDREN CAN RELATE TO COLORFUL PICTURES, IT GETS THEIR ATTENTION (IT GOT
MINE) *I WILL BE PURCHASING THIS BIBLE AGAIN, I LOVE IT! OH & FOR THE
PARENTS THAT WANT TO EDUCATE YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT THE WORD, LET THEM SEE
"THE MIRACLE MAKER, THE STORY OF JESUS CHRIST"!!
______________________________BOTTOM LINE________________________________
Not Suitable for Catholic Children.......2006-10-12
The Golden Children's Bible is recommended by some Catholic homeschooling curriculum providers. This children's book is supposedly a collaborative effort between Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant scholars. However, I did not see any evidence of input from the Catholic scholars. In skimming over the text, I noted a number of areas that would be problematic for Catholics:
The first red flag is the translation of Genesis 3:15. The Latin Vulgate reads:
"inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem et semen tuum et semen illius ipsa conteret caput tuum et tu insidiaberis calcaneo eius."
In the Douay-Rheims Bible, this is translated as:
"I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel."
The reference is to Mary, the new Eve, and the symbolism is a rich and important part of our faith. Think of Our Lady of Grace crushing the snake with her heel. I love that image! Now in the Golden Children' Bible it says:
"I shall make the woman your enemy and her children the enemies of your children. They shall wound you in the head and you shall wound them in the heel."
It just doesn't have the force (or fidelity) of Mary crushing the head of the snake. It loses all of the symbolism of Mary as the new Eve. Eve brought sin into our lives by yielding to the snake, whereas Mary carried our Salvation in her womb and hence through her yielding to God's will she metaphorically stomped on the head of the snake (which symbolizes evil).
Another red flag is the beginning of St. Luke, where the Archangel Gabriel appears to Mary. In the Golden Children's Bible the angel says, not "Hail, full of grace," but rather, "Hail, most favored one." Again, a seemingly small change, but it makes a big difference as to whether children can discern that the opening words to the Hail Mary came from this passage. It also diminishes the teaching that Mary was not just most favored among women, but literally full of God's grace.
Finally, in Matthew 6 where Our Lord teaches us to pray, the Golden Children's Bible tacks on a doxology to the end of the Our Father, so that their version of the prayer ends with "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." Catholics should need no comment on the impropriety of inserting these words into the text.
Those three errors were enough for me to rule out this text. There might be more errors contained within; I did not feel I needed to read more. There are beautiful pictures and it's a huge book, but it's not worth exposing children to the errors. Children should be able to trust that their "Bible stories" should contain only truth. I don't know why anybody would recommend this book for Catholic children. There are better choices.
Excellent Children's Bible!.......2006-09-27
I was given one of these as a young girl many years ago, and still enjoy reading it as an adult.
The artwork is wonderful, and the text easy to read and understand..I highly recommend it as beginning reading or listening for young people and a gift that will be cherished through the years.
Childhood memories.......2006-04-22
When I was a little girl, my grandmother used to read me bedtime stories out of this book, a favorite of mine was the story of King Solomn. To this day I remember all of the feelings that I had as a child when my grandmother read this book to me. She passed away several years ago, but I talk to her in my prayers and thank her for teaching me the value of reading, of which this book was a big part in.
Customer Reviews:
I DID NOT READ THE BOOK YET BUT I WONDER.......2007-08-20
WHY DO WE HAVE TO HAVE AN ACCOUNT TO WRITE AN OPINION? ESPECIALLY FOR THESE BOOKS? IS A JEW AFRAID OF ANTISEMITISM OR VISE VERSA IS A JEW AFRAID OF SAYING SOMETHING THAT WILL GET CHRISTIANS MAD>? WHY THE HELL WE CAN'T WRITE WITHOUT PUTTING OUR ACCOUNT INFO? I'M UNDER 13 LOL
A must read .......2007-07-19
This is a unique treatise carefully dissecting the issues that differentiate Jews and Christians. Written with deep respect for Jesus Christ and his message; while clearly and deliberately identifying the boundaries that separate Jewish thinking, philosophy, and theology.
No other text has been written in the history of these religions that approaches these differences in the style Rabbi Neusner brings.
Read it, and understand.
Seems A Bit Too Politically Correct.......2007-06-01
I personally feel V'Da Mah SheTashiv: Know What To Answer (To Missionaries) A Thorough Jewish response To Missionaries
is the book for Jews to get to see why Jews can not believe in Jesus (or Yeshua). I feel when you write a book to present the Jewish side yet say it is meant to make Christians more comfortable in their OWN religion it sounds too 'politically correct'. Meaning either the Jewish defense is not solid in it or there is overt patronizing to make Christian readers comfortable with it.
Response to the Responses.......2006-09-22
Listen folks, I don't think the polemics here (in some, not all, of the reviews) are exactly helpful in furthering meaningful dialogue-- something the author of this book deserves full credit for even attempting. If Christianity and Judaism have been talking at cross-purposes for 2000 years, it behooves those of us who call ourselves Christians to *LISTEN* and find out why.
I feel Rabbi Neusner on the whole does a fine job of addressing areas of contention and disagreement between the two faiths- however, he does miss some fine critical points:
- He contrasts the (Jewish/Torah) call to be holy because the Lord God is holy, over and against the Christian call to give up all and follow Christ- without, apparently, recognizing that for believing Christians as well as faithful Jews the chief motive for right living is to emulate God's character (why aspire to "be perfect"? Because our heavenly Father is perfect).
- He sees Judaism as addressing the practical concerns of living in the the here-and-now while Christianity is concerned with the future Kingdom Come- missing the relevance of applied Christian principles for daily living, and the idea that Christians no less than Jews are called to sanctify our days and hours, our waking and working and eating and sleeping; not just wait for "Pie in the sky by and by".
- Lastly, Neusner takes issue with the fact that that the Christian gospel message is addressed to the individual "you" and "I", not to the communal "we" of Israel. This is in fact largely true. We are called as individuals AS WELL AS corporately. But it is also a call to community, as the Body of Christ. How else to put into practice all those commands to love, serve, edify and encourage one another?
Torah, or Christ? At the end of the day, for Neusner, the question leads finally to a regretful parting of the ways.
Response to usarmy770, and the author.......2005-07-16
Although this is not a forum I feel compelled to respond to a reviewer. Yes, anyone can ride into town on a donkey, but it takes a real jackass to point out the obvious. What the Rabbi fails to mention is the fact that the prophecies are not Christian prophecies, they are Jewish. He also fails to point out that the concept of messiah was politicized by Jews of the first century because of Roman rule. Yes, anyone can ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, it is much harder to time it to fit perfectly with a six hundred year old prophecy.
What I found amazing about this book is that the Rabbi flings the same weak objections about the sabbath Jesus' contemporaries did, he defeated them them logically and the same arguments work today. The Jewish orthodoxy needs to come up with some new material two thousand years of the same argument falling mute has moved far past getting old.
The very idea that glorifiyig God by healing on the Sabbath is a violation of the Sabbath is absurd, but the argument is still the biggest gun in the orthodoxy's arsenal of fallacies. Tearing wheat is a violation of the prohibition of reaving on the sabbath, still even more proposterous. By that rational, a Jew today woudl not be able to crack walnuts on the sabbath, completely ridiculous.
I tell you this, Jesus put his contemporaries to shame with knowledge of logic and the law and he would eat alive any living rabbi. the entire Sanhedrin had to concoct an erroneous case against him, what makes them think they know more now than priests of the second temple period? Also, Jesus himself practically made them admit who indeed he was by using their own logic against them. They asked "By what authority do you do these things?" Jesus replied by asking by whay authority John the Babtist did and said the things that he did. They were unable to anwer because they had given approval to John and John pointed Jesus out as the Messiah. They knew that the crowd would stone them for deriding John against thier own judgment. That brings me to the final point and it is along those lines, how come the Priests and Scribes praised John and advised the people to listen to him because he speaks the truth. John told them flat out that he was the herald of the Messiah, and they accepted that. When he pointed "Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" now all the sudden he doesn't know what he is talking about. Now if the herald of prophecy is alive and the Jewish establishment acknowledges this fact, why is it so hard to believe the messiah walked while he preached, it stands to reason. It's no wonder why Jesus pointed a finger at the temple establishment and called them a broof of vipers and hypocrites. Anyone who cannot stand by thier own judgment in the face of what they know is right is a viper and deserves the title.
This book is a stacked deck full of fallacies, half truth, and outright erroneous conjecture. It is full of the same tired tripe foisted by the Jewish Orthodoxy since the first century and the middle ages where rabbinic Judaism really took its modern form. The author fails to point out that the Rabbinical authority has shut the very possibility of messiah out by trying to shut out Jesus of Nazareth. However, it gets three stars for though provocation and serious discourse and debate.
Average customer rating:
- To laugh with the Baal Shem Tov . . .
|
Why the Baal Shem Tov Laughed: Fifty-two Stories about Our Great Chasidic Rabbis
Sterna Citron
Manufacturer: Jason Aronson
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ASIN: 0876683502 |
Book Description
Jewish tradition is rich in stories, many of which center around the lives and work of the great chasidic rabbis, known as rebbes. As a child, Sterna Citron, who descends from distinguished rabbinic families, was surrounded by these stories. Each night at bedtime, her father, the late Rabbi Eli Chaim Carlebach, a member of one of the most outstanding rabbinic families of Germany, would tell her stories. Fifty-two of these stories, many of which appear here for the first time in English, are now collected in Why the Baal Shem Tov Laughed: Fifty-two Stories about Our Great Chasidic Rabbis.
Customer Reviews:
To laugh with the Baal Shem Tov . . ........2001-07-26
Why did the Ball Shem Tov laugh? Out of sheer delight in the way G-d had chosen to make His point: In the village of Koznitz, a tragedy has occurred. Reb Shabsai has earned no money whatever this week, and hence there is nothing with which to buy candles or even food for the Sabbath. Dispirited, he goes to the shul to welcome the Sabbath anyway. At home, his wife decides she could at least clean the house -- there may be no food, but the Sabbath Queen could hardly be welcomed in a dirty house! And what happens? While cleaning, she finds a packet of jewelry and money she had hidden away and then lost many years prior. The Sabbath was welcomed that week with both fish and chicken, and everyone shares the joy, including the Baal Shem Tov, who joins the laughter three separate times with Reb Shabsai and his wife. Once again, G-d has provided whatever His people needed.
This first of the 52 stories is typical of the others -- take simple people, in impoverished shtetl conditions, add sizeable doses of great faith, seasoned with joy, and what do you get? Moral lessons for today, well told in 2-3 page stories, together with a biographical note on the storyteller himself -- one of the Chassidic Rebbes who were the original followers of the Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760). The stories are perhaps intended for children -- one a week, perhaps? But Mrs. Citron has done her research -- most of these stories were new to me, even though I've been a fan of Chassidic stories for many years. Some of them will bring tears to your eyes -- we think WE have problems!
The book would have benefited from the inclusion of more information about the Rebbes whose favorite tales she retells -- maybe even some incident from their own persecuted lives and troubled times. Giving us their geneology -- who is whose son, grandson, father-in-law, etc -- is probably of limited interest to a general readership.
Nonetheless, this is a delightful book -- great Bar-Bat Mitzvah gift, too!
Amazon.com
Rabbi Rami Shapiro says that he went in search of Zen Judaism and found it in Hasidic literature. In writings that speak of the unity of self, God, and the world, he found a deeply spiritual tradition hidden within Judaism, for which many Jews have looked elsewhere.
From years of work in his own synagogue, Rabbi Shapiro developed 10 spiritual practices that help ground a person in divine reality and achieve balance in internal and external affairs. Perhaps you don't associate meditation or "ethical consumption" with the Torah, but Shapiro convincingly demonstrates their value to, and history within, Judaism. Eight other practices, such as attention, generosity, and kindness make up Shapiro's metaphorical Minyan. As the ties binding all things become more and more evident in this book, the necessity of persistent self-development also becomes clear. Shapiro places the self as a necessary link in a community, thereby providing us with the refuge of solitude along with the power and love of community.
Neither a conservative Hasidic nor a head-in-the-clouds mystic, Shapiro offers a detailed, tested way of Jewish spiritual growth and fulfillment.
Customer Reviews:
Thoughtful and passionate.......2001-05-26
This is an extremely interesting meditation on by a man who is passionately committed to living a life which is both solidly grounded in Jewish thought and tradition, and at the same time approaches the transcendent through mysticism. Fortunately, Judaism has had threads of mystical tradition for centuries, and this book provides detailed instructions on how to incorporate these techniques into your life.
However, this is not primarily a how-to book, but rather is the nearly poetic expression of deep comtemplation and experience of an encounter with the transcendent through the medium of Jewish prayer, ethics and ritual.
The prose clearly reflects the passion Rabbi Shapiro brings to his subject, so the book is an appealing reading experience. It is also a book which nearly cries out for rereading and serious thought. You do not have to be Jewish, or agree with everything the author says in order to find great value in this book. If nothing else, it is a case study in making traditional religion meaningful for contemporary people.
"Yesh" and "Ayin" -- Being and Emptiness.......2001-04-26
Shapiro is a Jewish liberal Rabbi and an award winning poet/essayist...Shapiro holds to the belief that anyone can become spiritually enlightened and in order to assist an individual to reach this goal he has developed a ten-fold method called Minyan. But his is not the traditonal Minyan from Rabbinic law, a quorum of ten Jews, the minimum necessary for the performance of any religious service. His Minyan refers to the practice of meditation, repetition, inspirational reading, attention, generosity, kindness, dream interpretation, ethical consumption, self-perfection, and Sabbath. The maim of Minyuan is to attain d'vekut, oneness with God, seeing both Being and Emptiness as expressions of God, of becomming conscious of both the relative and the absolute. The key to spiritual awakening is "Chabad," the temporary annihilation of your sense of separateness.
Although Shapiro's method hinges on the esoteric and breaks away from conventional Jewish thought, the underlying value of his message is one of universal application, with no embedded dogmatism, a source of inspiration for people of all faiths.
Enlivening mitzvoth, kashrut, kavvanah for the world today........2000-03-15
This book presents views of core elements of Judasim (e.g. mitzvoth, kashrut) from the perspective of today's knowledge, adding new life & meaning to them for enlightened individuals, and proceeds to offer suggestions on how to incorporate these consciously into our daily lives.
Worth rereading, and even rereading.......1999-11-10
Rabbi Rami Shapiro is one of the most informed and responsible liberal-Jewish rabbis writing today. He is always worth a read, and this book is no exception even though I disagree with large portions of it.
His opening chapters in particular are excellent; he presents what he calls "The Teaching" (a carefully nuanced version of quasi-Hasidic panentheism) succinctly and intelligibly. From there, he builds to a list of ten practices adapted from Jewish tradition and designed to increase one's awareness of Rabbi Shapiro's panentheistic G-d.
I won't detail my agreements and disagreements here; let it suffice to say that I have some significant ones of each (particularly regarding what I see as important errors in the ethical and economic foundations of "eco-kashrut"). But Rabbi Shapiro's graceful prose and thoughtful ruminations will provoke you to explorations of your own whether you end up agreeing with him or not. What Rabbi Shapiro is clearly _most_ concerned about is that Jews care about being Jews. His stimulating work will undoubtedly promote that aim.
Very good, even for a non-Jew.......1999-09-16
I'm not Jewish, but my wife is, and she suggested that I read this book. I must say that I am glad she did. What pleased me the most about "Minyan" was the way that Rami focused on spiritual principles and not dogma. I personally feel that there are spiritual truths that are manifest in all beliefs, and any book that shows how to incorporate those principles into daily life is a book that I find rewarding. This book is not only well written, but it offers practical suggestions for individuals seeking to foster spiritual development in their lives, regardless of religious affiliation.
Amazon.com
A Letter in the Scroll, by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of Britain, was inspired by a project he assigned to several university students. He suggested that they write to some of the most accomplished Jewish men and women in the world and ask what being Jewish meant to them. They sent out 200 letters and received six, mostly tepid, responses. Sacks considered these responses to be evidence of "confusion and demoralization at the heart of contemporary Jewish identity." He then decided to address the question himself, and A Letter in the Scroll is his answer. The book is a personal theology of Judaism, and it is a challenge to new generations of Jews to define the nature of their place in the story of Israel. Sacks's central theme is that "Judaism is not a theory, a system, a set of speculative propositions, an 'ism.' It is a call, and it bears our name." Sacks makes this argument in many ways, with reference to theology, philosophy, ancient history, and his personal experience. Most impressive, however, is his concise, direct, and wise use of Scripture: "The most eloquent words God spoke to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets was to call their name," he writes. "Their reply was simply Hineni, 'Here I am.' That is the call Jewish history makes to us: to continue the story and to write our letter in the scroll." --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
For too long, Jews have defined themselves in light of the bad things that have happened to them. And it is true that, many times in the course of history, they have been nearly decimated: when the First and Second Temples were destroyed, when the Jews were expelled from Spain, when Hitler proposed his Final Solution. Astoundingly, the Jewish people have survived catastrophe after catastrophe and remained a thriving and vibrant community. The question Rabbi Jonathan Sacks asks is, quite simply: How? How, in the face of such adversity, has Judaism remained and flourished, making a mark on human history out of all proportion to its numbers?
Written originally as a wedding gift to his son and daughter-in-law, A Letter in the Scroll is Rabbi Sacks's personal answer to that question, a testimony to the enduring strength of his religion. Tracing the revolutionary series of philosophical and theological ideas that Judaism created -- from covenant to sabbath to formal education -- and showing us how they remain compellingly relevant in our time, Sacks portrays Jewish identity as an honor as well as a duty.
The Ba'al Shem Tov, an eighteenth-century rabbi and founder of the Hasidic movement, famously noted that the Jewish people are like a living Torah scroll, and every individual Jew is a letter within it. If a single letter is damaged or missing or incorrectly drawn, a Torah scroll is considered invalid. So too, in Judaism, each individual is considered a crucial part of the people, without whom the entire religion would suffer. Rabbi Sacks uses this metaphor to make a passionate argument in favor of affiliation and practice in our secular times, and invites us to engage in our dynamic and inclusive tradition. Never has a book more eloquently expressed the joys of being a Jew.
This is the story of one man's hope for the future -- a future in which the next generation, his children and ours, will happily embrace the beauty of the world's oldest religion.
Download Description
Originally written as a gift to his children, the Chief Rabbi of Britain takes a definitive look at the changing face of Jewish identity and describes what it means to life a life of Torah in the new millennium.
Customer Reviews:
well written but outdated.......2003-05-26
Rabbi Sacks wrote this to persaude Jews to be better Jews - but I'm not sure he would persuade anyone who isn't already converted, especially in view of recent events.
On the positive side, this book is very well written and easy to read. I started it at 4:30 Shabbos afternoon and was 2/3 done with it five hours later. And when Rabbi Sacks writes as a rabbi, he does quite well - that is to say, I found his analysis of difficult Torah passages (e.g. the almost-sacrifice of Isaac) quite enlightening.
Much of his writing is a historical attempt to show Judaism's contributions to the world and how Judaism differed from paganism; I don't really know enough about paganism to agree or disagree with all of his points. (I generally find his analysis persuasive, but as a Jew who doesn't have a lot of pagan friends, I'm kind of biased).
The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is that because of the recent outbreak of anti-Semitism around the world, it is totally outdated. Sacks writes that Jews have no reason to be ambivalent about their identity or scared to be Jews, because "neither now nor in the foreseeable future can [anti-Semitism] hold center stage in the political arena" (p. 221) - words that made sense in the late 1990s when he wrote them. Yet now a worldwide terrorist army, incited by al-Jazeera and other state-supported media in Islamic states, has announced its plan to destroy all of the world's Jews, and is only a few nuclear weapons away from making substantial "progress" in that direction. And Israel is being hammered at by terrorist aggression, and most of the world sympathizes with the terrorists. If Rabbi Sacks writes a second edition (and I hope he does) it will have to be substantially modified to address these unpleasant realities.
An excellent Jewish philosophy book.......2001-04-16
Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of England, writes fluidly and lyrically. While this is a general, basic Jewish philosophy text, it is appropriate not only for beginners but also for those with a more advanced knowledge of Judaism. Rabbi Sacks explores a variety of ideas within Judaism including: the egalitarian nature of each Jewish person's relationship with G-d, the Hebrew Bible as the first way to understand the world and how it works without resort to myth, the covenantal relationship between the Jewish people and G-d and the covenantal relationships within Jewish families, Judaism as a rejection of both tribalism and universalism, the synagogue as a revolutionary institution, etc.
The only piece of the book that troubled me was Rabbi Sacks' treatment of the destruction of the Second Temple. While he regards it as political disaster in which the Jewish people lost their national independence, he also feels that it brought about "the flowering of its religious vision." Sacks further states, "[n]ow that the Temple lay in ruins, every Jew became a holy person, offering prayer instead of sacrifice, and achieving atonement through repentance. At long last the ideal of Sinai had become a reality. Israel really was a 'kingdom of priests.'" This fits in nicely with other ideas earlier expressed, affirming the dignity of every individual, particularly in their relationship with G-d. However, Sacks does not deal with the desire to rebuild the Temple (together with its attendant priests and sacrifices) as an important strain within Jewish thought and liturgy.
Overall, this was a pleasure to read and I recommend it highly.
Book Description
This is the only complete English translation of the classic Jewish text known as Ein Yaakov. Ein Yaakov is a collection of all the agaddah (the non-legal) material of the Talmud, compiled by Rabbi Yaakov ibn Chaviv, the fifteenth century talmudist. Scattered among the more than 2,700 pages of the Talmud, aggadah focuses on the ethical and inspirational aspects of the Torah way of life. Through a wealth of homilies, anecdotes, allegories, pithy sayings, and interpretations of biblical verses, it has been said that the aggadah brings you closer to God and his Torah.
Customer Reviews:
Great addition to any quest for Talmudic Knowledge.......2007-04-11
To be honest, when one quotes Talmud, the stories and ideas are the things people want to hear. The old adage of having to know the entire Talmud before being able to quote it can not really be seen as reality in todays busy world. But a great alternative can be found in this delightful volume - all the parables, stories and comments of our Great Rabbis being captured together. It makes for great bed-time reading, or something to sit in the park with for hours - contemplating deeply on why the Rabbis would even mentioned that Lilith was the first wife of Adam and had her reproductive organs on the outside...
There are some great translations and there are some decent ones. This one is decent.
Unfortunately, the Aramaic is not to be found side by side with the English, unlike the 1929 translation, which makes it hard to look up meanings and halachic locations in the Artscroll or the older commentaries found in the original Aramaic/Hebrew text.
All in all - a must for every home.
Translating the Ein Yaakov.......2001-07-06
Jason Aronson Inc. and Avraham Finkel are to be commended for publishing this translation of Ibn Haviv's classic compendium of aggadot from the Babylonian Talmud. The translations are, for the most part, extremely accurate. Finkel generally differentiates the translation of the text from his explanatory comments by placing square brackets around the comments, which he frequently takes from the medieval commentaries. This is crucial to Talmudic translation, as many Talmudic passages are very terse and elliptical. By clearly indicating the commentary, Finkel leaves open to the reader to explain the source in a different way, or at least to appreciate how much has been supplied to make sense of the text.
One caveat: I have noticed that Finkel omits certain stories from the translation, generally stories that present unflattering portrayals of sages. For example, there are several stories of sages seeing attractive women and almost committing a sexual transgression in Qiddushin 81a-b. The stories of Rav Amram and R. Hiyya b. Abba are not translated. Similarly, there is a graphic description of the bodies of several sages in the midst of a long aggadic compilation in Bava Metsia 84a. Those sentences are simply skipped by Finkel (p. 534). In his introduction Finkel states that he omits repetitions of material that appears several times in the Ein Yaakov (p. xxix). But he makes no mention of these omissions. So the translation has been slightly censored by excluding these negative passages. My impression is that the omissions are few and far between, but I have not been over the translation with a fine-toothed comb. One occasionally finds this slight apologetic tendency in the translations themselves. That is, Finkel translates in such a way as to portray the sages in a more favorable light.
It is interesting to note that there actually was an earlier translation of the EinYaakov, by S.H. Glick (4 vols; Brooklyn, 1916-1922). Glick omits some of the same passages as Finkel. Glick also translates the introduction to aggadot of Rabbi Avrham, son of the Rambam, that Finkel provides, pp. xxix-xxvi.
In sum, this is an excellent translation for a popular audience. Scholars should use it only with caution due to its apologetic tendencies.
Dr. Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University
A Gateway to the Talmud in English.......2000-05-11
This book is truly a treasure trove, and I am delighted to see it steeply discounted here so that I can recommend it to friends. Rabbi Yaakov ibn Chaviv, who lived about the same time as Columbus, extracted from the Jerusalem Talmud all the portions that were not discussions of the intricacies of the law. What is left is about a quarter of the Talmud known as the aggodot: the ethical and inspirational teachings. For those of us who are not ready to follow the intricacies of debates about legal matters, this is the core of the Talmud we always wished we could dig into.
This is the first complete translation of "The Eye of Jacob," and Avraham Finkel has done more than translate. He has added descriptive titles of each selection, which are listed as a table of contents and then indexed, making the book accessible both for reference and browsing. He has also incorporated several rabbinic commentaries (Rashi, Maharsha and others) into the text, marking them with square brackets. He also provides two introductions to the material, one that he has written and one written three hundred years before Ein Yaakov was compiled by the son of Rambam. Both are instructive, and the older one gives a great deal of insight into interpretation of this kind of text. The whole book is very readable.
The result is a delightful 800 page, small print book, containing more than a quarter of the Talmud, that makes good bed-side reading as well as being a scholarly reference tool. It is expensive, but compared to the bilingual Talmud at about $800, this is a great buy.
Books:
- A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature
- A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900
- A House for Mr. Biswas
- A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life
- A-Z of Staffordshire Dogs
- All the President's Men
- American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials 2006-2007 Edition (American Government and Politics Today)
- Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America
- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
- Carved in Sand: When Attention Fails and Memory Fades in Midlife
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