Discover Humans of Judaism, a heartwarming collection of beautiful portraits and moving stories filled with joy, bravery, survival, community, perseverance, and unyielding hope—curated by the editor and founder of the popular social media brand @humansofjudaism.

Nikki Schreiber created Humans of Judaism as an online space where Jews around the world could gather and share positive and uplifting stories. She launched it six months after her father’s death as a way to find comfort in her mourning and to honor his memory. A mitzvah. Today, millions of visitors and followers find inspiration in its beautiful and moving profiles—two hundred of which are captured, in all their humanity, in this treasure of a book.

Here you’ll meet Dr. Howard Tucker, who at 101 years old was recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest practicing physician. Lily Brasch, model and motivational speaker and the first person with muscular dystrophy to walk down the runway at New York Fashion Week unassisted. Josh Russ Tupper and Niki Russ Federman, the great-grandchildren of Joel Russ, who founded the iconic Jewish food mainstay Russ & Daughters. Ephraim Hertzano, creator of Rummikub. Ágnes Keleti, Holocaust survivor and, at age 103, the world’s oldest living Olympic champion. Nissim Black, a Hasidic recording artist. Sam Salz, a running back for Texas A&M and the only known Orthodox Jew in NCAA Division I football. Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie. Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor, writer, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and human rights activist.

There are inventors, writers, lawyers, artists, activists, survivors, comedians, the Righteous Among the Nations, and so many more. These are our stories.

Welcome to the family.

American church-related liberal arts colleges are dedicated to two traditions: Christian thought and liberal learning. According to Haynes, the moral continuity of these traditions was severed by the Holocaust. Because so many representations of these traditions contributed to the Nazis' ideological and physical efforts to annihilate millions of men, women, and children, it is unclear whether these traditions can any longer be said to facilitate human flourishing. Haynes presents a convincing argument that the post-Holocaust church-related college can participate in the restoration of these ruptured traditions through a commitment to Holocaust Education. This book provides valuable information for teachers who already offer a Holocaust course or for those who are considering doing so. In addition, the author presents an accurate picture of Holocaust Education at church-related colleges through an analysis of his nationwide survey. This book will be an important resource for scholars, teachers, and administrators.

A study of the growth of Joshua and Judges illustrates how the theme of divine anger has been used differently, according to different historical and social settings. In the deuteronomistic texts the main reason for God's anger is idolatry, which symbolizes a totally negative attitude to everything that God has done or given to the Israelites. This theology of anger is deeply bound to experiences of national catastrophes or threats of crises, and reflects the theological enigma of the exile. A century later, post-deuteronomistic theology gives a wholly different view: the anger of God becomes an instrument of the power struggles between the Israelite parties, or is used for protecting existing leadership.

New Testament scholar Marius Reiser demonstrates that the theme of judgment lies close to the heart of Jesus' teachings. Reiser shows that the certainty of the coming of judgment is the presupposition of the ultimate coming of the reign of God.

Comprehensive overview of the entire Near East, including Egypt and ancient Israel, allowing students to work comparatively across cultures. New edition incorporates new insights from recent technological advances, and recent interest in subject territories and imperialism in the Near East. Incorporates archaeological and art historical evidence, encouraging students to engage with material culture as important evidence of the past. "Debating the evidence" section discusses controversial issues in Near Eastern studies, allowing students to engage with these important topics.

Here is an accessible introduction to the life and wisdom of the famous twelfth-century philosopher-physician Moses Maimonides, whose prolific writings on medical and religious issues, commentaries on Jewish texts, and writings on Jewish ethics and law profoundly influenced Judaism.
The Wisdom of Maimonides includes a biography; a section of selected teachings drawn from Maimonides' major works "The Guide for the Perplexed" and the "Mishneh Torah," as well as his other writings; and tales about Maimonides' colorful life as a court physician and rabbinic leader.

Judaic Sources and Western Thought: Jerusalem's Enduring Presence explores the significance and enduring relevance of Judaic roots and sources of important European and Western moral and political ideas and ideals. The volume focuses on the distinct character of Judaic thought concerning moral value, the individual human being, the nature of political order, relations between human beings, and between human beings and God. In doing so, it shows how Judaic thought contains crucial resources for engaging some of the most important issues of moral and political life.
The currents of thought that have shaped the so-called 'Judeo-Christian' tradition involve diverse perspectives and emphases. The essays in this volume bring into relief the distinctly Judaic origins of many of them and explicate how they remain valuable resources for moral and political thought. These are not essays in Jewish intellectual history; rather, their purpose is to clarify the conceptual resources, insights, and perspectives grounded in Judaic texts and thought. To realize that purpose the essays address important topics in philosophical anthropology, exploring the normative dimensions of human nature and fundamental features of the human condition.
The essays speak to scholars and students in several disciplines and areas of study. These include moral philosophy, religion, philosophy of religion, ethics, Jewish intellectual history, comparative religion, theology, and other areas.The volume draws the work of ten scholars into a coherent whole, reflecting the connections between fundamental insights and commitments of Judaic thought and ideals.

This book contains a compelling discussion of transformations within British Jewry in recent times. The first study of contemporary British Jewry since the 1970s, "Turbulent Times: The British Jewish Community Today" examines the changing nature of the British Jewish community and its leadership since 1990. Keith Kahn-Harris and Ben Gidley contend that there has been a shift within Jewish communal discourse from a strategy of security, which emphasized Anglo-Jewry's secure British belonging and citizenship, to a strategy of insecurity, which emphasizes the dangers and threats Jews face individually and communally.

Vibrant full-color photos show students lighting the menorah, playing dreidel, and telling the story of Judah Maccabee when they invite their grandparents to a Hanukkah party. Kids will love seeing children their own age in the pictures.

An essential volume of 12th to 17th century papers on the Jewish mysticism of Kabbalah As recently as 1915, when the legendary scholar of Jewish mysticism Gershom Scholem sought to find someone-anyone-to teach him Kabbalah, the study of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah was largely neglected and treated with disdain. Today, this field has ripened to the point that it occupies a central place in the agenda of contemporary Judaic studies. While there are many definitions of Kabbalah, this volume focuses on the discrete body of literature which developed between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries. The basis for most of this kabbalistic literature is the concept of the ten sefirot, the complex schema depicting the divine persona, and speculation about the inner life of God. It maintains the conviction that all human action reverberates in the world of the sefirot, and thus influences the life of divinity. Proper action helps to restore harmony and unity to the world of God, while improper action reinforces the breach within God brought about originally through human transgression. Collected here in one volume are some of the most central essays published on the subject. The selections provide the reader with a sense of the historical range of Kabbalah, as well as examples of various kinds of approaches, including those of intellectual and social history, history and phenomenology of religions, motif studies, ritual studies, and women's studies. Sections discuss mystical motifs and theological ideas, mystical leadership and personalities, and devotional practices and mystical experiences.

Two hundred years since Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav's demise, his philosophical writings and literary creation remain lively and provocative materials in both Jewish culture and the New-Age movement. Key elements of Rabbi Nachman's magic and magnetic force are illuminated in this research, which presents Bratslavian mysticism as a unique link in the history of Jewish mysticism. The mystical worldview is the axis of this book, but its branches stretch out to key issues in the Bratslavian world such as belief and imagination, dreams and the land of Israel, melodies and song.

The main contribution of this book is that it tries to determine how the Jews answered the challenges of Roman society. Thus, the book presents a refreshing approach to the nature of the Roman attitude toward Judaism and the Jews. In addition, it provides the first detailed examination of the demography and geography of the Jewish communities in Roman Italy. The book also offers a new look at the legal standing of the Jewish communitarian organization. Last but not least, this study also addresses the various facets of the culture of the Jews living in Roman Italy.

This study deals with physiognomic and astrological texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls that represent one of the earliest examples of ancient Jewish science. For the first time the Hebrew physiognomic-astrological list 4Q186 (4QZodiacal Physiognomy) and the Aramaic physiognomic list 4Q561 (4QPhysiognomy ar) are comprehensively studied in relation to both physiognomic and astrological writings from Babylonian and Greco-Roman traditions. New reconstructions and interpretations of these learned lists are offered that result in a fresh view of their sense, function, and status within both the Qumran community and Second Temple Judaism at large, showing that Jewish culture in Palestine participated in the cultural exchange of learned knowledge between Babylonian and Greco-Roman cultures.

The solution to the growing problem of stress and burnout in rabbis Written by a practicing clinical psychologist who spent 10 years as a congregational rabbi, The Rabbi As Symbolic Exemplar: By the Power Vested in Me presents positive solutions to the inevitable negative effects of symbolic exemplarhood, coaching rabbis through dilemmas of the "inner soul." Being a rabbi means serving as a Symbolic Exemplar of the best that is in humankind, being experienced and treated and expected to act as a stand-in for God, and a walking, talking symbol of all that Jewish tradition represents. The burden of being a symbolic exemplar of God is extraordinary, and the struggle to live up to its "requirements" can be one of loneliness, frustration, and despair, alienating rabbis who tire of living in a glass house.The Rabbi As Symbolic Exemplar examines how the symbolic role that serves as the source of the rabbi's authority and power can lead to disillusionment and disenchantment. Author Jack H Bloom draws on his own experience as a rabbi who watched the successful career he enjoyed turn into one he desperately wanted to forsake and how he was inspired to become an "athletic coach" for rabbis. This unique book details how symbolic exemplarhood is created, what its downside is, what power it offers, how it can be used effectively, how rabbis can deal with their inner lives, and what can be done to help rabbis stay "human" while maintaining their leadership.The Rabbi As Symbolic Exemplar is equally effective as a complete text or as a source of stand-alone chapters on specific topics, including: special tensions of being a rabbi effects of symbolic exemplarhood on the rabbi's family educating rabbis on their power training suggestions curing and healing and The Ten Commandments for rabbisThe Rabbi As Symbolic Exemplar is essential reading for rabbis, rabbinical students, congregants, Christian clergy, seminarians and anyone interested in what it is to be a clergy person and how they can support the work clergy do. The book educates both clergy and laity on the humanity of clergy.Visit the author's website at http: //jackhbloom.com

These 20 stories about the founder of the Hasidic faith, Israel ben Eliezer, called the Baal-Shem or Master of God's Name, provide an account of the genesis of Hasidism, still Judaism's most important religious movement. Prefaced by an explanation of the life and principles of the Hasidim, tales such as "The Werewolf", and "The Heavenly Journey" tell of the Baal-Shem's life in early 18th-century Podolia and Wolhynia, and of the birth of his revelatory faith, founded on active love, joy and private longing for God. Initially scorned by the Rabbinical establishment, the Baal-Shem's intense piety and fierce spiritual honesty ultimately made him a figure of devotion amongst commoners, peasants and visionaries. As a delicate and moving portrayal not only of the power of the Baal-Shem's mystical faith, but also of Eastern European Jewish daily life, "The Legend of the Baal-Shem" is a useful introduction to Hasidic religious thought, and to Martin Buber's own influential philosophy of love and mutual human understanding.

This book investigates the mappings of ideas about sexual and ethnic difference in Galilee during the centuries following the last Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire-- centuries that saw major socioeconomic changes in the region, as well as the development of that small community of Jewish authors/authorities known as the rabbis.
It examines aspects of Jewish identity as these were constructed both in the earliest rabbinic texts and " on the ground, " through practices that created (or contested) topographies of self vs. other, male vs. female, and insider vs. outsider. Three sociospatial sites, which the author explores through texts and archaeology, ground this study: house, marketplace, and courtyard/alleyway.
The book questions long-standing historical narratives that have cast ancient Jewish women as " private, " housebound creatures and Jewish men as " public, " social, mobile agents. Offering useful strategies for working with, and combining, literary and nonliterary material remains, it fleshes out a richer narrative of Jewish antiquity.