This volume focuses on today's kibbutz and the metamorphosis which it has undergone. Starting with theoretical considerations and clarifications, it discusses the far-reaching changes recently experienced by this setting. It investigates how those changes re-shaped it from a setting widely viewed as synonymous to utopia, but which has gone in recent years through a genuine transformation. This work questions the stability of that "renewing kibbutz". It consists of a collective effort of a group of specialized researchers who met for a one-year seminar prolonged by research and writing work. These scholars benefitted from resource field-people who shared with them their knowledge in major aspects of the kibbutz' transformation. This volume throws a new light on developmental communalism and the transformation of gemeinschaft-like communities to more gesellschaft-like associations. Contributors are: Havatselet Ariel, Eliezer Ben-Rafael, Miriam Ben-Rafael, Sigal Ben-Rafael Galanti, Yechezkel Dar, Orit Degani Dinisman, Yuval Dror, Sylvie Fogiel-Bijaoui, Alon Gal, Rinat Galily, Shlomo Gans, Sybil Heilbrunn, Michal Hisherik, Meirav Niv, Michal Palgi, Alon Pauker, Abigail Paz-Yeshayahu, Yona Prital, Moshe Schwartz, Orna Shemer, Michael Sofer, Menahem Topel, and Ury Weber.

While we live in this challenging world, God reaches out to all whose hearts are full of fear, hurt, anger, discouragement, and hopelessness. It is God's desire to take these hurtful emotions and replace them with His love, peace, joy hope, faith, and strength. Just as a full glass cannot contain one more drop of water without overflowing, so it is with our hearts. They are so full of the negative that there is no room for God's positive.

Follow me on the journey of heart healing as we learn to pour out our hearts to God and allow Him to refill them. Receive simple encouragement and instruction from His Word as we continue on the path of discovering the depths of His Love. It is possible to find peace while living in this world of care.

"Why am I going through so much hell on the job?"A victory was secured for you over two thousand years ago with three nails and a tree. When you trust the Lord to navigate your career, you will triumph over every weapon wielded against you in the workplace.For believers, acquiring a job is more than merely a means to meet financial obligations, fulfi l career aspirations, or display one's talent. For it also provides an avenue for the Holy Spirit to refine our spiritual weapons and perfect the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.Providing biblical guidance, practical wisdom, and hope for managing challenging issues and relationships at work, 3 Nails and a Tree is the answer to the constant cycle of conflict and dissention at work.As you read this book, I pray that the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of your heart to recognize Him as The Invisible behind the Visible in the Workplace.
"Biblically sound, practically helpful, wise and encouraging."-Marc D. Baldwin, PhD, Founder & President, Edit911, Inc. "For those seeking encouragement in the workplace, 3 Nails and a Tree willremind you that aft er the storm, there will be a rainbow.'"-Dwan Abrams, Bestselling author, editor, publisher

Victor Hugo once said There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come. For 55 years, it had not even dawned on me that I was a writer. My first clue should have been when I realized that there absolutely wasn't anything about which I didn't have an opinion. For five years I published a weekly newsletter for my church. No one else seemed to want to do it, and it was something that I loved doing. The fourteen years that I worked as an Insurance Agent should also have given me a nudge. I often gave group presentations that included stories about so many of my life experiences. Many clients encouraged me to write them down and share them with others. But it took a life-changing crisis that made me take a look within and find why God had placed me here. I have written a collection of insights that I gained during the first half of my life. Each chapter begins with a joke, a thought or a scripture that I believe God laid on my heart. The body of each chapter consists of a relating experience, insight or lesson that I gained. And each chapter is completed with a prayer. I have noticed how people are enjoying inspirational books that are also a Quick read such as mine. I submitted Chapter Five to the Indianapolis Star and it was published in the Faith and Values section of that newspaper. I think that one sign that a book could be good is when the reader wants more. Each person who has read these chapters did exactly that and asked if they can pass on to others what they have enjoyed or gained from my book. I would like to thank you in advance for taking the time to read some of what I believe God has shown me in my life. Come Share The Cookies. Lord, bless this reader, Amen.

During the early medieval Islamicate period (800-1400 CE), discourses concerned with music and musicians were wide-ranging and contentious, and expressed in works on music theory and philosophy as well as literature and poetry. But in spite of attempts by influential scholars and political leaders to limit or control musical expression, music and sound permeated all layers of the social structure. Lisa Nielson here presents a rich social history of music, musicianship and the role of musicians in the early Islamicate era. Focusing primarily on Damascus, Baghdad and Jerusalem, Lisa Nielson draws on a wide variety of textual sources written for and about musicians and their professional/private environments - including chronicles, literary sources, memoirs and musical treatises - as well as the disciplinary approaches of musicology to offer insights into musical performances and the lives of musicians. In the process, the book sheds light onto the dynamics of medieval Islamicate courts, as well as how slavery, gender, status and religion intersected with music in courtly life. It will appeal to scholars of the Islamicate world and historical musicologists.