In this era of globalization, Jewish diversity is marked more than ever by transnational expansion of competing movements and local influences on specific conditions. One factor that still makes Jewish communities one is the common reference to Israel. Today, however, differentiations and discrepancies in identification and behavior generate plurality and ambiguities about Israel-Diaspora relationships. Moreover the Judeophobia now rife in Europe and beyond as well as the spread of the Palestinian cause as a civil religion make Israel the world's "Jew among nations." This weighs heavily on community relations - despite Israel's active presence in the diaspora. In this context, the contributions to this volume focus on Jewish peoplehood, religiosity and ethnicity, gender and generation, Israelophobia and world Jewry, and debate the perspectives that are most pertinent to confront the question: how far is the Jewish Commonwealth (Klal Yisrael) still an important code of Jewry today?

Holy Women Icons wouldn't be a book without first being a series of paintings. So, I am grateful for those galleries that have hosted them: Shell Ridge, Karma, Blue Lotus/Woven Soul, and Barnhills. I'm also tremendously grateful for all the people who have supported my art by purchasing or commissioning an original icon or buying a print. It means a great deal for someone to find enough value in my paintings to actually hang them in their home. The fact that these Holy Women are scattered all over the world, providing inspiration for friends, family, colleagues, and strangers is a gift. And these paintings would have never been written about had Xochitl Alvizo not invited me to become a regular writer on Feminism and Religion, featuring one icon each month and expounding upon her story. Xochitl would not have discovered these paintings if Kittredge Cherry had not interviewed me about my beloved queer saints on Jesus in Love. So, I am grateful to these two women who have helped my icons find voices in the wider public. And I am grateful to the Feminism in Religion community for offering encouragement, constructive feedback, and inspiration along the way.

Israel Celebrates is about the intersection where Israeli inventiveness and Jewish tradition meet: the holidays. It employs the anthropological history of four Jewish holidays as celebrated in Israel in order to track the naturalization of Jewish rituals, myths, and symbols in Israeli culture throughout "the long twentieth century" of Zionism and on to the present, and to demonstrate how a new strand of Judaism developed in Israel from the grassroots. But could this grassroots Israeli culture develop into a shared symbolic space for both Jews and Arabs? By probing the political implications of the minutiae of life, the book argues that this popular culture might come to define Jewish identity in Israel of the 21st century.

Celebrated sex expert and bestselling author Dr. Ruth Westheimer bridges the gap between sex and religion in this provocative exploration of intimacy in the Jewish faith In this light-hearted, lively tour of Jewish sexuality, Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer and Jonathan Mark team up to reveal how the Jewish tradition is much more progressive than popular wisdom might lead one to believe. Applying Dr. Ruth's acclaimed brand of couples therapy to such Biblical relationships as Abraham and Sarah, and Joseph and Potiphar's wife, the authors enlist Biblical lore to explore such topics as surrogacy, incest, and arranged marriages. They offer a clearer understanding of the intertwining relationships between sexuality and spirituality through incisive investigations of the Song of Songs, Ruth, Proverbs, Psalms, and some of the bawdier tales of the Prophets. One chapter provides a provocative new perspective on the Sabbath as a weekly revival, highlighting not only its spiritual nature, but also its marital and sexual aspects. Focusing specifically on Orthodox forms of Judaism and offering Dr. Ruth's singular interpretations, the book answers such questions as: What night of the week is best for making love? How often should couples have sex? Can traditional Jewish notions of sex and sexuality be reconciled with contemporary beliefs? What roles can and do dreams and fantasy play? In Heavenly Sex, America's favorite sex therapist takes readers on a frank and fascinating journey to the heart of Jewish sexuality as she fits twenty-first century sexual mores into an ancient-and lusty-spiritual tradition.

Fifty-Two Weeks with God is composed of fifty-two meditations on God, God's creation, and men and women who gave their lives for others. The book begins with New Year, the time we think of what we have done before and repent and resolve to correct ourselves. We sit in awe at God's magnificent creation and what He has done for us. We meditate on the lives of others who felt the call to follow Christ and care for those in need. We meditate on the innocent children whose characters and beliefs we mold as we care for them by word and deed. We meditate on the spirit of God, the spirit of love and truth. We meditate on God's promise for us to be with him in the warmth of his love for eternity if we follow His example and teaching.

"Whatever is true, whatever is good, whatever is honorable, whatever is of good report. Whatever is lovely, whatever is pure; think on these things (Philippians 4:8)."

How do contemporary teenagers experience and understand religious, spiritual, gender and sexual diversity? How are their experiences mediated by where they go to school, their faith and their geographic location? Are their outlooks materialist, religious, spiritual, or do they have hybrid identities? Freedoms, Faiths and Futures: Teenage Australians on Religion, Sexuality and Diversity offers powerful insight into how teenagers make sense of the world around them. Drawing on rich data from a major national study, this book creates new ways of understanding the complexity of young people's lives and how school education covering diversity best addresses their world. This book argues that school education focused on worldviews is founded on ways of thinking about young people that do not reflect the complexities of Generation Z's everyday experiences of diversity and their interactions with each other. It argues that certain kinds of education in schools can play a significant role in developing religious literacy, tolerance and positive attitudes to diversity.