Judaism Books

Focusing on the concepts of time and the life cycle, this collection of articles examines Jewish life in the Talmudic period through the lens of Jewish law and custom of the time. The essays are the work of Nissan Rubin (one of them written in...

This classic work by early-20th-century Jewish humanist and scholar Isaac Heinemann surveys the crucial phases of Jewish thought concerning correct conduct as codified in the commandments. Heinemann provides his own systematic insights about the...

The fundamental book of Eliezer Schweid is a modern interpretation of the Bible as narrative and law which can reopen the dialogue of contemporary Jews with the Bible, from which a dynamic Jewish culture can continue to draw its inspiration. The approach...

This book presents up-to-date information on the origins of the Ashkenazic Jewish people from central and eastern Europe based on genetic research on modern and pre-modern populations. It focuses on the 129 maternal haplogroups that the author confirmed...

This book tells the story of Holocaust survivor and prominent banker Marcel Goldman, born in Krakow in 1926. Goldman started his studies in economics in Krakow and completed them in Israel, where he became a respected banker. In telling his story, this...

Zvi Preigerzon wrote memoirs about his time in the Gulag in 1958, long before Solzhenitsyn and without any knowledge of the other publications on this subject. It was one of the first eyewitness accounts of the harsh reality of Soviet Gulags. Even after...

The Biblical narrative is usually very terse and cryptic. Over the millennia, Jewish scholars often painted a patriarchal picture with women "in their place." Yes, ancient Middle Eastern society was patriarchal, but matriarchs had power as well. Yes,...

A Centennial, writes Hebrew College President Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, "is an invitation to reflect on the last century of teaching and learning at Hebrew College, to ask ourselves what has changed and what has endured, to explore accomplishments and...

Inthis volume, Bible Studies scholar Yitzhak (Itzik) Peleg offers an educational,values-based approach to the cycle of Jewish holidays-festivals and holy days-asfound in the Jewish calendar. These special daysplay a dual role: they reflect a sense of...

Habsburg Sons describes Jewish participation in the Habsburg Army, 1788-1918, concentrating on World War I. Approximately 300,000-350,000 Jews fought in the Austro-Hungarian Armies on all fronts; of these, 30,00040,000 died of wounds or illness, and at...

This book explores three schools of fascinating, talented, and gifted scholars whose philosophies assimilated the Jewish and secular cultures of their respective homelands: they include halakhists from Rabbi Ettlinger to Rabbi Eliezer Berkowitz; Jewish...

Moses Maimonides-a proud heir to the Andalusian tradition of Aristotelian philosophy-crafted a bold and original philosophical interpretation of Torah and Judaism. His son Abraham Maimonides is a fascinating maverick whose Torah commentary mediates...

"Academically detailed yet esoterically fun."-KirkusCongress opens each session with a prayer offered by a chaplain or guest chaplain. Among the guest chaplains: Rabbis.This book is about the rabbis. It's an unprecedented examination of 160 years of...

"Richard Landes offers a sharply-drawn, no-holds-barred dissection of today's campus politics at its worst. As a case study of the damage done to academic integrity by the intrusion of anti-Zionism into college life, his book is a must-read."-Alvin H...

Tens of thousands of Jewish children were orphaned during World War I and in the subsequent years of conflict. In response, Jewish leaders in Poland established CENTOS, the Central Union of Associations for Jewish Orphan Care. Through CENTOS, social...

Jewish educational projects and programs are thriving, attracting philanthropic support for exciting and creative approaches in every sector and setting. But underneath that energy, we are not as clear as we ought to be about desired outcomes, the kinds...

Fundamentals of Jewish Conflict Resolution offers an in-depth presentation of traditional Jewish approaches to interpersonal conflict resolution. It examines the underlying principles, prescriptive rules, and guidelines that are found in the Jewish...

Holy Russia, Sacred Israel examines how Russian religious thinkers, both Jewish and Christian, conceived of Judaism, Jewry and the 'Old Testament' philosophically, theologically and personally at a time when the Messianic element in Russian consciousness...

In recent decades, there has been a resurgence of interest among both secular and religious Israelis in Talmudic stories. This growing fascination with Talmudic stories has been inspired by contemporary Israeli writers who have sought to make readers...

For some twenty years from the late 1960s, and thereafter following a brief pause, representatives of British Jewry's religious orientations held closed-door meetings at the Chief Rabbi's residence in attempts to bridge their communal and halachic...

Practice-oriented educational philosopher Elie Holzer invites readers to grow as teachers, students, or co-learners through "attuned learning," a new paradigm of mindfulness. Groundbreaking interpretations of classical rabbinic texts sharpen attention to...

This book describes the history of Jews in Kiev from the tenth century to the February 1917 Revolution. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Kiev Jewish community was one of the largest and wealthiest in the Russian Empire. This book illuminates the...

American Jewish identity has changed significantly over the course of the past half century.During this time, Irving Greenberg developed a unique theology that anticipated David Hollinger's notion of postethnicity and represents a compelling...

This work presents the issues of Modern Orthodox Judaism in America, from the decades of the twenties to the sixties, by looking at the activities of one of its leaders, Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung, pulpit rabbi, community leader and writer, whose career spanned...

After sixty years, Kristine Keese is finally able to share the memories of her years spent in the Warsaw Ghetto as a small child. She owes her survival, and that of her young uncle, to the striking resourcefulness of her mother. The story emerges as...

Born into a leading Lithuanian-Jewish rabbinic family, Moshe Aron Reguer initially followed the path of traditional yeshiva education. His adolescence coincided with World War I and its upheavals, pandemics, and pogroms, as well as with new ideas of...

The postmodernist experience is associated with a strong interest in the concepts of saints and religious genius. In this volume, Dov Schwartz considers the questions related to these ideas through his close analysis of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook...

Rabbinic tradition has it that 613 commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai, but it does not specify those included in the enumeration. Maimonides methodically and artfully crafts a list of 613 commandments in a work that serves as a prolegemenon...

No longer confined to traditional institutions devoted to Talmudic studies, havruta work, or the practice of students studying materials in pairs, has become a relatively widespread phenomenon across denominational and educational settings of Jewish...

Mystical Vertigo immerses readers in the experience of the contemporary kabbalistic Hebrew poet, serving as a gateway into the poet's quest for mystical union known as devekut. This journey oscillates across subtle degrees of devekut-causing an entranced...

The study of classical Jewish texts is flourishing in day schools and adult education, synagogues and summer camps, universities and yeshivot. But serious inquiry into the practices and purposes of such study is far rarer. In this book, a diverse...

The work of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, the Neziv, ranks amongst the most often read rabbinic literature of the nineteenth century. His breadth of learning, unabashed creativity, and penchant for walking against the stream of the rabbinic...

In the Jewish tradition, it is incumbent upon every generation to attempt to find meaning in its history. Meaning is co-created within the context of the inter-subjective field of a meeting of minds. Psychoanalysis, in some respects like the Jewish...

Prior to the latest Chief Rabbinical selection process, seven eminent rabbis were appointed to British Jewry's highest ecclesiastical post, although only six were installed and saw out their terms of office. The manner of their appointment was invariably...

"Engaging young Jewish adults in their 20s and 30s is challenging to say the least, but a new collection of personal essays and memoirs from young American Jews hopes to enlighten and possibly bridge the gap." -eJewishPhilanthropyIn the Jewish communal...

Ever since the first encounter between Judaism and the western world in the second century BCE, Jewish thinkers like Maimonides, Gersonides, R. Moses Hayyim Luzzatto, and Rabbi A. I. Kook have grappled with issues of Jewish faith and modernity. The works...

For centuries, fervently observant Jewish communities have produced thousands of works of Jewish law, thought, and spirituality. But in recent decades, the literature of America's Haredi [ultra-Orthodox] community has taken on brand-new forms: selfhelp...

How does a secular, non-practising Jew who has lived most of her life outside the Jewish communitysuddenly find herself in the front rows of a Nazi war crimes tribunal?In 2015, the award-winning writer Judith Kalman was invited to Lneburg to testify at...

A compelling appraisal of the state of our present-day world, and a bold, visionary, Spirit-filled blueprint for its transformation and evolution through radical loving and audacious holiness.For many of us, it feels as if our world is breaking apart...

'Wounds into Wisdom is for anyone who has suffered trauma, either directly or in a family whose generational trauma is buried. It helps readers uncover suffering and use it to help others-the final stage of healing...' - Gloria SteinemA...

A smart, hip and provocative book for anyone interested in the rich diversity of Jewish thought on contemporary questions.Should we edit our children's genes? Are there things that can't be forgiven? Are Jews still expecting a messiah? Is Judaism good...

The best-selling author of The Essential Kabbalah now offers readers the best introduction to the Zohar, a new title in the popular Skylight Illuminations series. The splendour and enigmatic appeal of the Zohar, the major text of the Jewish mystical...

Representing four centuries of collecting and a thousand years of Jewish history, this book brings together Hebrew manuscripts and rare books from the Bodleian Library and Oxford colleges. Highlights of the extraordinary collections include a fragment of...

Reclaiming the Wicked Son takes the ideas of six well-known secular Jewish philosophers from Karl Marx and Ludwig Wittgenstein to Noam Chomsky and Judith Butler and views them through a wide range of Jewish lenses from the Talmudic tradition and...

What does it mean to be a Bad Jew?Many Jews use the term 'Bad Jew' as a weapon against other members of the community or even against themselves. You can be called a Bad Jew if you don't keep kosher; if you only go to temple on Yom Kippur; if you don't...

A welcoming introduction to the most important ideas in Judaism.In an age of fluid identity, many people are honestly asking the question "Why be Jewish?" What in this religious and ethnic legacy is worth preserving? Does Judaism have something unique to...

The topic of "Neurotheology" has garnered increasing attention in the academic, religious, scientific, and popular worlds. However, there have been no attempts at exploring more specifically how Jewish religious thought and experience may intersect with...