Based on the best selling book It's a Mitzvah by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Making a Difference presents both ethical and ritual mitzvot, such as Rodef Shalom, Tzedakah, Kashrut, and Tefillah, as well as practical and creative suggestions on how to observe them. Students study the wisdom of Jewish sacred texts and examine through a Jewish lens who they are, the kind of adults they want to become, and how the mitzvot can help them achieve their goals. Each chapter presents a mitzvah and includes the following writing activities: Self-Portrait (exploring the mitzvah in personal terms) You Don't Say (finding meaning in the wisdom of ancient and modern sages) It's a Dilemma (responses to real-life situations) Mitzvah Journal (a record of each teen's experience of observing the mitzvah) In addition, the book presents the stories of Jewish teens who have made a difference in their communities through mitzvah projects, such as spending a month teaching in Cuba's Jewish community and creating a mural in a children's hospital. The book uses the same dynamic graphics and layout that teens respond to in popular magazines and on websites. More than 130 photographs illustrate and enrich the text. Contents: Getting Connected Taking Action Tzedakah: Giving Justly Rodef Shalom: Peacemaking Shabbat: An Extraordinary Day Ahavat Tziyon: For the Love of Israel Bal Tashhit: Every Day Is Earth Day Kashrut: You Are What You Eat Sh'mirat Habriyut: Be Your Best Friend Bikkur Holim: Reach Out and Touch Someone Kibbud Av Va'em: The Most Difficult Mitzvah? Sh'mirat Halashon: Weigh Your Words Tefillah: An Open Line Talmud Torah: Learning Matters Going Forward Resources

The British explorer Sir Richard F. Burton (1821 90) was a colourful and often controversial character. A talented linguist and keen ethnologist, he worked in India during the 1840s as an interpreter and intelligence officer for General Sir Charles Napier, and published several books about his experiences in 1851 2. He first gained celebrity, however, for his adventurous 1853 trip to Mecca, under the disguise of a pilgrim, which is described in this lively three-volume publication (1855 6). Few Europeans had ever visited the Muslim holy places; one of them was John Lewis Burckhardt, whose 1829 account is also reissued in this series. Volume 2 of Burton's book vividly describes the heat and dangers of the journey to Medina, the behaviour and conversation of the pilgrims from many different tribes and nations, and the mosques, tombs and other sights of the bustling city, complete with traders and beggars.

Narasimha is one of the least studied major deities of Hinduism. Furthermore, there are limited studies of the history, thought, and literature of middle India. Lavanya Vemsani redresses this by exploring a range of primary sources, including classical Sanskrit texts (puranas and epics), and regional accounts (sthalapuranas), which include texts, artistic compositions, and oral folk stories in the regional languages of Telugu, Oriya, and Kannada. She also examines the historical context as well as contemporary practice. Moving beyond the stereotypical classifications applied to sources of Hinduism, this unique study dedicates chapters to each region of middle India bringing together literary, religious, and cultural practices to comprehensively understand the religion of Middle India (Madhya Desha). Incorporating lived religion and textual data, this book offers a rich contribution to Hindu studies and Indian studies in general, and Vaishnava Studies and regional Hinduism in particular.

In some respects, the contrasts of Christmas are what make it the most delightful time of the year. It is a time of generosity, kindness and peace on earth, with broad permission to indulge in food, drink and gifts. On the other hand, Christmas has become a battleground for raging culture wars, marred by debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday. This text argues that much of the animosity is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the holiday's core character. By tracing Christmas' origins as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization, this history explains that the true "reason for the season" has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ. Chapters chronicle how Christmas's magic and misrule link to the nativity, and why the carnival side of the holiday appears so separated from traditional Christian beliefs.

Islam is more than a system of rigid doctrines and normative principles. It is a diverse mosaic of subjective, often contradictory interpretations and discrepant applications that prohibit a narrow, one-dimensional approach. This book argues that to uncover this complex reality and achieve a more accurate understanding of Islam as a lived religion, it is imperative to consider Islam from the point of view of human beings who practice their faith. Consequently, this book provides an important contribution through a detailed ethnographic study of two contemporary Sufi communities. Although both groups shared much in common, there was a fundamental, almost perplexing range of theological convictions and ritual implementations. This book explores the mechanism that accounts for such diversity, arguing for a direct correlation between Sufi multiformity and the agency of the spiritual leader, the Shaikh. Empirical research regarding the authority by which Shaikhs subjectively generate legitimate adaptations that shape the contours of religious belief are lacking. This study is significant, because it focuses on how leadership operates in Sufism, highlighting the primacy of the Shaikh in the selection and appropriation of inherited norms.

First paperback edition! In "Rosicrusians", McIntosh chronicles the obscure and elusive history of the secret order of the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross, with its mysterious founder Christian Rosenkreuz. A forerunner of the many "Secret Masters", Rosenkreuz had a profound influence on the course of Western esoteric tradition.

Using Kenneth Burke's concept of dramatism as a way of exploring multiple motivations in symbolic expression, Tibet on Fire examines the Tibetan self-immolation movement of 2011-2015. The volume asserts that the self-immolation act is an affirmation of Tibetan identity in the face of cultural genocide.

Food is central to daily religious practice and holiday celebrations the world over. For instance, Orthodox Jews keep kosher, Muslims feast after fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and Hindus leave food offerings in the temple for the dieties. For many, food is seen as nourishment for the body and soul. This cookbook illuminates the food practices of followers of the world's major religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Shintoism. The narrative and nearly 300 recipes give a flavor of what is often eaten for sacred occasions and why. This volume will be useful for a range of cooks and purposes. It is targeted to middle school age to adults. Those looking for more and different recipes for religion class assignments and International Week Food Festival or even for browsing will be richly rewarded with a one-stop resource. Each chapter covers a religion or two with similar food practices. A brief overview of the religion is followed by a discussion of any dietary restrictions. Then the recipes are organized by holiday or special occasion, featuring from appetizers to desserts. Recipes are culled from a variety of countries and cultures where the religion is practiced. The recipes are contextualized and have clear instructions for the novice cook. A final section in some chapters allows readers to recreate what the religion's founder or major figures might have eaten during their lifetime. A glossary defines what might be unfamiliar cooking terms and food and kitchen items. An introduction, list of recipes, conversion measurements, bibliography, index, and illustrations round out the cookbook.

The Shoshinge is a gatha of particular importance from The Kyogyoshinso by Shinran (1173-1262). Living in Nenbutsu is a translation of, and commentary on the Shoshinge, which means Hymn on the Right Faith in Nenbutsu. In the teaching of Pure Land Buddhism, the term is usually understood as a particular 'practice' by virtue of which we attain birth in the Pure Land and ultimately the 'realisation' of Supreme Enlightenment. The Shin Buddhist notion of Nenbutsu, however, is something entirely different. In Shin Buddhism the Nenbutsu is actually seen as the working of Amida Buddha's great love and compassion, his call to all of us sentient beings to come to him just as we are without any reservation. This new translation and commentary will explore the Shoshinge in all its depth and meaning.

Temples of Modernity uses ethnographic data to investigate the presence of religious ideas and practices in Indian science and engineering. Geraci shows 1) how the integration of religion, science and technology undergirds pre- and post-independence Indian nationalism, 2) that traditional icons and rituals remain relevant in elite scientific communities, and 3) that transhumanist ideas now percolate within Indian visions of science and technology. This work identifies the intersection of religion, science, and technology as a worldwide phenomenon and suggests that the study of such interactions should be enriched through attention to the real experiences of people across the globe.

Ritualistic Crime, Criminals, and the Organizations behind the Sheath: A Book of Readings features carefully selected articles that help students better understand the causes, functions, and similarities of sacred forms of violence across the spectrum. Students learn about crimes committed by individuals or groups against another based on an errant belief that their acts will bring about a greater good. This information equips readers with the knowledge they need to identify and understand the classic signs of group affiliation. The anthology is divided into eight parts. The first part presents readers with an introduction to the volume and a discussion of the sacred power of violence in popular cultural. Parts II through IV focus on cults, sects, and religious crimes; millennial religions; domestic and international terrorist religions. Students read articles about Satanism, vampirism and the Goth movement, and syncretistic religions, Wicca, and neo-paganism. The final part speaks to new religious movements, including fiction-based religions and Scientology. Throughout, students are encouraged to consider how groups grow, flourish, and prosper, as well as the elements that either render them benign or violent. Providing students with a unique view into group behavior, Ritualistic Crime, Criminals, and the Organizations behind the Sheath is an ideal resource for courses in criminal justice, criminology, or law enforcement.

1 Established editor with a fine reputation. 2 Comprehensive coverage of Islamic ritual and practice. 3 Includes a number of US contributors.

This is a major anthropological study of contemporary Tibetan Buddhist monasticism and tantric ritual in the Ladakh region of North-West India and of the role of tantric ritual in the formation and maintenance of traditional forms of state structure and political consciousness in Tibet.
Containing detailed descriptions and analyses of monastic ritual, the work builds up a picture of Tibetan tantric traditions as they interact with more localised understandings of bodily identity and territorial cosmology, to produce a substantial re-interpretation of the place of monks as ritual performers and peripheral householders in Ladakh. The work also examines the central and indispensable role of incarnate lamas, such as the Dalai Lama, in the religious life of Tibetan Buddhists.

C.R. Lama (1922-2002) was an important lama in the Khordong and Changter lineages of the Nyingmapa School of Tibetan Buddhism. A scholar and also a yogi, he combined these two streams in his work as Reader in Indo-Tibetan Studies at Visva Bharati University at Santiniketan, West Bengal, India. He was a family man who was actively engaged in the world around him. This book gathers together Rinpoche's writings on a wide range of topics including Nyingma Buddhist Philosophy, Tibetan cultural practices, his life in Khordong Monastery in Tibet and his advice for Dharma practitioners.

Blending the deep traditions of Jewish humanism with modern philosophical expressions, this book argues that Jewish values are not fixed propositions embedded in written form that can be easily handed off from one generation to the next.

A moving Passover experience using body and mind.This family-friendly traditional Haggadah engages all five senses and weaves in activities to promote a full-body connection to the Passover story and rituals. Through active participation, and using the traditional seder text, Seder in Motion invites families to connect personally to the story of the flight form slavery to freedom. Experience familiar rituals and songs in a new way. Create hand motions for the Ten Plagues. Act out the march toward freedom in Dayeinu by stomping your feet and drumming on the table. Explore traditions from around the world, such as the Morroccan custom of passing a platter of matzah overhead to symbolize the 'passing over." Engage in mindfulness moments: draw the light of Passover toward you during the candle lighting, swish the wine in your mouth for Kiddush, an wash away negative thoughts and feelings in the ritual handwashing. Includes tips for actively involving participants who are physically distant. Also includes: instructions for conducting a Search for Chametz A complete list of ritual items and foods you will need for your seder. Directions for creating your seder plate Blessings, prayers and the Four Questions provided in Hebrew, Hebrew transliteration, and English The beginning of the Counting of the Omer for the Second Night of Passover Songs included: Dayeinu Eliyahu Hanavi Echad Mi Yodea: Who Knows One? (Complete, in Hebrew transliteration and English) Chad Gadya: One Little Goat (Complete, in Hebrew transliteration and English)

Since Late Antiquity, relics have provided a privileged spiritual bond between life and death, between human beings and divinity. Royalty, nobility and clergy all tried to obtain the most prestigious remains of sacred bodies, since they granted influence and fame and allowed the cult around them to be used as a means of sacralization, power and propaganda. This volume traces the development of the veneration of relics in Europe and how these objects were often catalysts for the establishment of major pilgrimage sites that are still in use today. The book features an international panel of contributors taking a wide-ranging look at relic worship across Europe, from Late Antiquity until the present day. They begin with a focus on the role of relics in Jacobean pilgrimage, before looking at the link between relics and their shrines more generally. The book then focuses in on two major issues in the study of relics, the stealing of relics (Furta Sacra) and their modern-day scientific examination and authentication. These topics demonstrate not only symbolic importance of relics, but also their role as physical historical objects in material religious expression. This is a fascinating collection, featuring the latest scholarship on relics and pilgrimage across Europe. It will, therefore, be of great interested to academics working in Pilgrimage, Religious History, Material Religion and Religious Studies as well as Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Cultural Studies.

"Al-Ghazali on Conduct in Travel" is a translation of the seventeenth book of the "Revival of the Religious Sciences" (Ihya Ulum al-Din), which is widely regarded as the greatest work of Muslim spirituality. In "Al-Ghazali on Conduct in Travel", Abu Hamid al-Ghazali uncovers, as elsewhere in the "Revival", the mystical and religious dimension of one of humanity's most basic needs: in this instance, travel.---In Chapter One, Ghazali begins by providing the reader with the four reasons for travel, which include for the quest for knowledge and to flee from harm and danger. The advantages gained from travelling are also described by Ghazali-for example, the disciplining of the soul through exposure to the harsh conditions of travel as well as the acquisition of virtue and self-knowledge. Ghazali then explains what the seven proper conducts of travels-both outward conduct and inward conduct-consist of. In Chapter Two, Ghazali provides a practical chapter on the use of religious concessions while travelling, and concludes with a final chapter on how the traveller is to establish the proper direction and times for prayer. "Al-Ghazali on Conduct in Travel" will be of interest to all those wishing to explore the disciplining qualities of everyday activities applied here to the spiritual dimension of travelling.---In this new edition, the Islamic Texts Society has included the translation of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's own Introduction to the "Revival of the Religious Sciences" which gives the reasons that caused him to write the work, the structure of the whole of the Revival and places each of the chapters in the context of the others.

Recent years have seen an increased interest in Jewish life, its culture, and its celebrations. There are many new students of Judaism, often potential converts or members of interfaith families who are seeking to learn more about the religion and its rituals. Unfortunately, many of the existing texts that examine the Jewish holidays are written in a dry, unexciting way, making it difficult for the reader to retain much information. For those seeking to learn more about Jewish celebrations, Cantor Matt Axelrod has written Your Guide to the Jewish Holidays: From Shofar to Seder. Intended for the reader who has no prior knowledge about the Jewish holidays as well as the reader who knows the basics about the holidays but wants to understand the holidays on a deeper level, Axelrod's book takes a humorous, light-hearted look at the 11 most important Jewish holidays. Instead of simply explaining that Jews are obligated to observe in a certain way because of a biblical text, Axelrod shows where each holiday, along with its rituals, came from in a historical context. He provides a humorous retelling of the biblical passages relating to the holiday, explorations of rituals associated with each holiday, and descriptions of traditional foods. Your Guide to the Jewish Holidays also features special sections labeled "In Depth" or "Perfect for Families" that expand upon elements of each holiday in ways that provide greater understanding of traditions or that invite the reader to get the rest of the family involved.

Nomads on Pilgrimage: Mongols on Wutaishan (China), 1800-1940 is a social history of the Mongols' pilgrimages to Wutaishan in late imperial and Republican times. In this period of economic crisis and rise of nationalism and anticlericalism in Mongolia and China, this great Buddhist mountain of China became a unique place of intercultural exchanges, mutual borrowings, and competition between different ethnic groups. Based on a variety of written and visual sources, including a rich corpus of more than 340 Mongolian stone inscriptions, it documents why and how Wutaishan became one of the holiest sites for Mongols, who eventually reshaped its physical and spiritual landscape by their rites and strategies of appropriation.

The author discusses how religious groups, especially Jews, Mormons and Jesuits, were labeled as foreign and constructed as political, moral and national threats in Scandinavia in different periods between c. 1790 and 1960. Key questions are who articulated such opinions, how was the threat depicted, and to what extent did it influence state policies towards these groups. A special focus is given to Norway, because the Constitution of 1814 included a ban against Jews (repelled in 1851) and Jesuits (repelled in 1956), and because Mormons were denied the status of a legal religion until freedom of religion was codified in the Constitution in 1964. The author emphasizes how the construction of religious minorities as perils of society influenced the definition of national identities in all Scandinavia, from the late 18th Century until well after WWII. The argument is that Jews, Mormons and Jesuits all were constructed as "anti-citizens", as opposites of what it meant to be "good" citizens of the nation. The discourse that framed the need for national protection against foreign religious groups was transboundary. Consequently, transnational stereotypes contributed significantly in defining national identities.