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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Judaism

The Original Torah - The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers (Paperback): S. David Sperling The Original Torah - The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers (Paperback)
S. David Sperling
R687 Discovery Miles 6 870 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

"Likely to be the standard work on this subject for years to come, and to contribute to one of the most important debates in the history of the Jewish people, on the very nature of Israel and the Covenant."
--James R. Russell, Harvard University

"The modern biblical interpreter...faces a daunting task in trying to unravel the intentions of the Torah's authors. S. does not retreat from the challenge."
--"Theological Studies"

"An excellent and provocative read . . . challenges the reader to rethink previously held suppositions concerning biblical texts."
--Carl S. Ehrlich, York University

Is the Torah true? Do the five books of Moses provide an accurate historical account of the people of ancient Israel's origins?

In The Original Torah, S. David Sperling argues that, while there is no archeological evidence to support much of the activity chronicled in the Torah, a historical reality exists there if we know how to seek it.

By noting the use of foreign words or mentions of technological innovations scholars can often pinpoint the date and place in which a text was written. Sperling examines the stories of the Torah against their historical and geographic backgrounds and arrives at a new conclusion: the tales of the Torah were originally composed as allegories whose purpose was distinctly and intentionally political.

The book illustrates how the authors of the Pentateuch advanced their political and religious agenda by attributing deeds of historical figures like Jeroboam and David to ancient allegorical characters like Abraham and Jacob. If "Abraham" had made peace with Philistines, for example, then David could rely on a precedent to do likewise. The OriginalTorah provides a new interpretive key to the foundational document of both Judaism and Christianity.

Messianic Judaism Is Not Christianity - A Loving Call To Unity (Paperback): Stan Telchin, Moishe Rosen Messianic Judaism Is Not Christianity - A Loving Call To Unity (Paperback)
Stan Telchin, Moishe Rosen
R401 R326 Discovery Miles 3 260 Save R75 (19%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

What's the problem with Messianic Judaism? Stan Telchin, a Messianic Jew and former pastor, explores in depth the heart and soul of Messianic Judaism. He exposes the motive behind its creation, its controversial doctrines, and its ineffectiveness in Jewish evangelism. Messianic Judaism has grown significantly in fewer than four decades. While intended originally to appeal to Jewish people, unexpectedly it appeals also to Gentiles. Telchin, in following the teaching of the apostle Paul, sees Messianic Judaism as divisive. With a firm and loving approach, he addresses the dangers of this movement, reiterates God's intention for his church to serve as "one new man" and, most importantly, advocates unity among the body of believers. Perhaps you're a pastor concerned with the enticing pull of Messianic Judaism on your congregation. Perhaps you've merely wondered about the validity of this movement. Or maybe you're a Gentile who has been made to feel less than worthy. Whatever the reason, if you believe that God sees a difference between Jews and Gentiles in the Body of Christ, then this book will help you think again. "It took courage for Stan to write so pointedly from his broad and insightful experiences within the Messianic movement. Forthright and comprehensive, these chapters deal with a problem all followers of Jesus face-the desire to be accepted by those who have yet to experience God's transforming love."-Arthur F. Glasser, Ph.D., dean emeritus, School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary "What Stan tells you in this book may come as a revelation. Certainly it will be controversial. Questions should arise, and much discussion should be the result."-Moishe Rosen, founder, Jews for Jesus "Whether you agree with everything he says or not, you will find the book interesting and enlightening."-D. James Kennedy, Ph.D., senior minister, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church

The Illustrated Pirkei Avot - A Graphic Novel of Jewish Ethics (Paperback): Jessica Tamar Deutsch The Illustrated Pirkei Avot - A Graphic Novel of Jewish Ethics (Paperback)
Jessica Tamar Deutsch
R703 Discovery Miles 7 030 Ships in 10 - 15 working days
Jewish Historiography Between Past and Future - 200 Years of Wissenschaft des Judentums (Hardcover): Paul Mendes-Flohr, Rachel... Jewish Historiography Between Past and Future - 200 Years of Wissenschaft des Judentums (Hardcover)
Paul Mendes-Flohr, Rachel Livneh-Freudenthal, Guy Miron
R3,271 Discovery Miles 32 710 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

From its modest beginnings in 1818 Berlin, Wissenschaft des Judentums has burgeoned into a scholarly discipline pursued by a vast cadre of scholars. Now constituting a global community, these scholars continue to draw their inspiration from the determined pioneers of Wissenschaft des Judentums in nineteenth and twentieth Germany. Beyond setting the highest standards of philological and historiographical research, German Wissenschaft des Judentums had a seminal role in creating modern Jewish discourse in which cultural memory supplemented traditional Jewish learning. The secular character of modern Jewish Studies, initially pursued largely in German and subsequently in other vernacular languages (e.g. French, Dutch, Italian, modern Hebrew, Russian), greatly facilitated an exchange with non-Jewish scholars, and thereby encouraging mutual understanding and respect. The present volume is based on papers delivered at a conference, sponsored by the Leo Baeck Institute in Jerusalem, by scholars from North American, Europe, and Israel. The papers and attendant deliberations explored ramified historical and methodological issues. Taken as a whole, the volume represents a tribute to the two hundred year legacy of Wissenschaft des Judentums and its singular contribution to not only modern Jewish self-understand but also to the unfolding of humanistic cultural discourse.

Reform Judaism and Darwin - How Engaging with Evolutionary Theory Shaped American Jewish Religion (Hardcover): Daniel Langton Reform Judaism and Darwin - How Engaging with Evolutionary Theory Shaped American Jewish Religion (Hardcover)
Daniel Langton
R2,709 Discovery Miles 27 090 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Darwin provoked Jewish as well as Christian thinkers so that many felt obliged to establish oppositional, alternative, synthetic, or complimentary models relating Jewish religion to his theory of natural selection. This book examines a range of leading nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American progressive Jewish thinkers, with the primary focus being rabbis Kohler, Wise, Hirsch, Krauskopf, and Hahn, although many others are covered. Key themes include the widespread commitment to universal evolutionism, that is, the application of biological evolutionary theory to other realms (e.g. history, religion, cosmic), and the particular fascination with the evolution of ethical systems within human societies, bearing in mind mankind's bestial origins and the new challenges for understanding religious authority and revelation. It is argued that Reform Jewish discussions about the nature of God have been more profoundly shaped by engagement with evolutionary theory than has been recognized before, and that evolutionary thought provides the key framework for understanding Reform Judaism itself. The precise nature of Jewish Reform engagement with Christian proponents of theistic evolution are important, as are their interest in alternative evolutionists to Darwin, such as Spencer and Haeckel.

On Wings of Prayer - Sources of Jewish Worship; Essays in Honor of Professor Stefan C. Reif on the Occasion of his... On Wings of Prayer - Sources of Jewish Worship; Essays in Honor of Professor Stefan C. Reif on the Occasion of his Seventy-fifth Birthday (Hardcover)
Nuria Calduch-Benages, Michael W Duggan, Dalia Marx
R3,600 Discovery Miles 36 000 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

The contributors and editors dedicate this volume of research to Professor Stefan C. Reif on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Together these twenty papers reflect our appreciation for his exemplary scholarship and lifelong commitment to acquaint our world with the theological and cultural riches of Jewish Studies. This collection reflects the breadth of Prof. Reif's interests insofar as it is a combination of Second Temple studies and Jewish studies on the roots of Jewish prayer and liturgy which is his main field of expertise. Contributions on biblical and second temple studies cover Amos, Ben Sira, Esther, 2 Maccabees, Judith, Wisdom, Qumran Psalms, and James. Contributions on Jewish studies cover nuptial and benedictions after meals, Adon Olam, Passover Seder, Amidah, the Medieval Palestinian Tefillat ha-Shir, and other aspects of rabbinic liturgy. Moreover, the regional diversity of scholars from Israel, continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America mirrors Stefan's travels as a lecturer and the reach of his publications. The volume includes a foreword of appreciation and a bibliographic list of Professor Reif's works.

The Chosen Few - How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492 (Paperback): Maristella Botticini, Zvi Eckstein The Chosen Few - How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492 (Paperback)
Maristella Botticini, Zvi Eckstein
R566 R516 Discovery Miles 5 160 Save R50 (9%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In 70 CE, the Jews were an agrarian and illiterate people living mostly in the Land of Israel and Mesopotamia. By 1492 the Jewish people had become a small group of literate urbanites specializing in crafts, trade, moneylending, and medicine in hundreds of places across the Old World, from Seville to Mangalore. What caused this radical change? "The Chosen Few "presents a new answer to this question by applying the lens of economic analysis to the key facts of fifteen formative centuries of Jewish history. Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein offer a powerful new explanation of one of the most significant transformations in Jewish history while also providing fresh insights into the growing debate about the social and economic impact of religion.

Verus Israel - Study of the Relations Between Christians and Jews in the Roman Empire, AD 135-425 (Paperback, New edition):... Verus Israel - Study of the Relations Between Christians and Jews in the Roman Empire, AD 135-425 (Paperback, New edition)
Marcel Simon
R1,008 Discovery Miles 10 080 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Marcel Simon's classic study examines Jewish-Christian relations in the Roman Empire from the second Jewish War (132-5 CE) to the end of the Jewish Patriarchate in 425 CE. First published in French in 1948, the book overturns the then commonly held view that the Jewish and Christian communities gradually ceased to interact and that the Jews gave up proselytizing among the gentiles. On the contrary, Simon maintains that Judaism continued to make its influence felt on the world at large and to be influenced by it in turn. He analyses both the antagonisms and the attractions between the two faiths, and concludes with a discussion of the eventual disappearance of Judaism as a missionary religion. The rival community triumphed with the help of a Christian imperial authority and a doctrine well adapted to the Graeco-Roman mentality.

Jewish Reform Movement in the US - The Evolution of the Non-Liturgical Parts of the Central Conference of American Rabbis... Jewish Reform Movement in the US - The Evolution of the Non-Liturgical Parts of the Central Conference of American Rabbis Haggadah (Paperback)
Mara W. Cohen Ioannides
R880 R722 Discovery Miles 7 220 Save R158 (18%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This volume examines the development of the non-liturgical parts of the Central Conference of American Rabbis' Haggadot. Through an understanding of the changes in American Jewish educational patterns and the CCAR's theology, it explores how the CCAR Haggadah was changed over time to address the needs of the constituency. While there have been many studies of the Haggadah and its development over the course of Jewish history, there has been no such study of the non-liturgical parts of the Haggadah that reflect the needs of the audience it reaches. How the CCAR, the first and largest of American-born Judaisms, addressed the changing needs of its members through its literature for the Passover Seder reveals much about the development of the movement. This in turn provides for the readers of this book an understanding of how American Judaism has developed.

Discourse on the State of the Jews - Bilingual Edition (Hardcover): Simone Luzzatto Discourse on the State of the Jews - Bilingual Edition (Hardcover)
Simone Luzzatto; Edited by Giuseppe Veltri, Anna Lissa
R4,123 Discovery Miles 41 230 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

In 1638, a small book of no more than 92 pages in octavo was published "appresso Gioanne Calleoni" under the title "Discourse on the State of the Jews and in particular those dwelling in the illustrious city of Venice." It was dedicated to the Doge of Venice and his counsellors, who are labelled "lovers of Truth." The author of the book was a certain Simone (Simha) Luzzatto, a native of Venice, where he lived and died, serving as rabbi for over fifty years during the course of the seventeenth century. Luzzatto's political thesis is simple and, at the same time, temerarious, if not revolutionary: Venice can put an end to its political decline, he argues, by offering the Jews a monopoly on overseas commercial activity. This plan is highly recommendable because the Jews are "wellsuited for trade," much more so than others (such as "foreigners," for example). The rabbi opens his argument by recalling that trade and usury are the only occupations permitted to Jews. Within the confines of their historical situation, the Venetian Jews became particularly skilled at trade with partners from the Eastern Mediterranean countries. Luzzatto's argument is that this talent could be put at the service of the Venetian government in order to maintain - or, more accurately, recover - its political importance as an intermediary between East and West. He was the first to define the role of the Jews on the basis of their economic and social functions, disregarding the classic categorisation of Judaism's alleged privileged religious status in world history. Nonetheless, going beyond the socio-economic arguments of the book, it is essential to point out Luzzatto's resort to sceptical strategies in order to plead in defence of the Venetian Jews. It is precisely his philosophical and political scepticism that makes Luzzatto's texts so unique. This edition aims to grant access to his works and thought to English-speaking readers and scholars. By approaching his texts from this point of view, the editors hope to open a new path in research into Jewish culture and philosophy that will enable other scholars to develop new directions and new perspectives, stressing the interpenetration between Jews and the surrounding Christian and secular cultures.

The Testament of Solomon (Hardcover): King Solomon The Testament of Solomon (Hardcover)
King Solomon; Translated by Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare
R532 Discovery Miles 5 320 Ships in 10 - 15 working days
The Origins of Yahwism (Paperback): Jurgen Van Oorschot, Markus Witte The Origins of Yahwism (Paperback)
Jurgen Van Oorschot, Markus Witte
R1,030 R833 Discovery Miles 8 330 Save R197 (19%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This compendium examines the origins of the God Yahweh, his place in the Syrian-Palestinian and Northern Arabian pantheon during the bronze and iron ages, and the beginnings of the cultic veneration of Yahweh. Contributors analyze the epigraphic and archeological evidence, apply fundamental considerations from the cultural and religious sciences, and analyze the relevant Old Testament texts.

Fraud - The World of Ona'ah (Paperback, New): Henri Atlan Fraud - The World of Ona'ah (Paperback, New)
Henri Atlan; Translated by Nils F. Schott
R906 R834 Discovery Miles 8 340 Save R72 (8%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

We can calculate financial fraud, but how do we measure bad faith? How can we evaluate the words of the pharmaceutical industry or of eco-scientific ideologies, or the subtle deception found in political scheming? Henri Atlan sheds light on these questions through the concept of "ona'ah," which in Hebrew refers to both fraud in financial transactions and the verbal injury inflicted by speech. The world of "ona'ah" is a world of an "in-between," where the impossible purity of absolute Platonic truth gives way to a more relative notion--the near-theft, the quasi-lie. Today it seems that no discourse is safe from fraudulent excesses, be they intentional or no. As both philosopher and biologist, Atlan works on several registers. He forges links between the Talmud, the Kabbalah, and the big questions of our time, multiplying the bridges between science, philosophy, and current ethical dilemmas. In a context of financial and moral crises that appear to be weakening our democracies, Henri Atlan's work allows us to rethink the status of fraud in the contemporary world.

Time in the Babylonian Talmud - Natural and Imagined Times in Jewish Law and Narrative (Hardcover): Lynn Kaye Time in the Babylonian Talmud - Natural and Imagined Times in Jewish Law and Narrative (Hardcover)
Lynn Kaye
R2,671 Discovery Miles 26 710 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In this book, Lynn Kaye examines how rabbis of late antiquity thought about time through their legal reasoning and storytelling, and what these insights mean for thinking about time today. Providing close readings of legal and narrative texts in the Babylonian Talmud, she compares temporal ideas with related concepts in ancient and modern philosophical texts and in religious traditions from late antique Mesopotamia. Kaye demonstrates that temporal flexibility in the Babylonian Talmud is a means of exploring and resolving legal uncertainties, as well as a tool to tell stories that convey ideas effectively and dramatically. Her book, the first on time in the Talmud, makes accessible complex legal texts and philosophical ideas. It also connects the literature of late antique Judaism with broader theological and philosophical debates about time.

Mixing Musics - Turkish Jewry and the Urban Landscape of a Sacred Song (Hardcover): Maureen Jackson Mixing Musics - Turkish Jewry and the Urban Landscape of a Sacred Song (Hardcover)
Maureen Jackson
R2,828 Discovery Miles 28 280 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This book traces the mixing of musical forms and practices in Istanbul to illuminate multiethnic music-making and its transformations across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It focuses on the Jewish religious repertoire known as the Maftirim, which developed in parallel with "secular" Ottoman court music. Through memoirs, personal interviews, and new archival sources, the book explores areas often left out of those histories of the region that focus primarily on Jewish communities in isolation, political events and actors, or nationalizing narratives. Maureen Jackson foregrounds artistic interactivity, detailing the life-stories of musicians and their musical activities. Her book amply demonstrates the integration of Jewish musicians into a larger art world and traces continuities and ruptures in a nation-building era. Among its richly researched themes, the book explores the synagogue as a multifunctional venue within broader urban space; girls, women, and gender issues in an all-male performance practice; new technologies and oral transmission; and Ottoman musical reconstructions within Jewish life and cultural politics in Turkey today.

Poetics and Narrative Function of Tobit 6 (Hardcover): Jose Lucas Brum Teixeira Poetics and Narrative Function of Tobit 6 (Hardcover)
Jose Lucas Brum Teixeira
R3,581 Discovery Miles 35 810 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Tobiah's travel with the angel in Tobit chapter six constitutes a singular moment in the book. It marks a before and after for Tobiah as a character. Considered attentively, Tobit six reveals a remarkable richness in content and form, and functions as a crucial turning point in the plot's development. This book is the first thorough study of Tobit six, examining the poetics and narrative function of this key chapter and revisiting arguments about its meaning. A better understanding of this central chapter deepens our comprehension of the book as a whole.

When God Wanted to Destroy the Chosen People - Biblical Traditions and Theology on the Move (Hardcover): Gili Kugler When God Wanted to Destroy the Chosen People - Biblical Traditions and Theology on the Move (Hardcover)
Gili Kugler
R3,545 Discovery Miles 35 450 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

According to narratives in the Bible the threats of the people's end come from various sources, but the most significant threat comes, as learned from the Pentateuch, from God himself. What is the theological meaning of this tradition? In what circumstances did it evolve? How did it stand alongside other theological and socio-political concepts known to the ancient authors and their diverse audience? The book employs a diachronic method that explores the stages of the tradition's formation and development, revealing the authors' exegetical purposes and ploys, and tracing the historical realities of their time. The book proposes that the motif of the threat of destruction existed in various forms prior to the creation of the stories recorded in the final text of the Pentateuch. The inclusion of the motif within specific literary contexts attenuated the concept of destruction by presenting it as a phenomenon of specific moments in the past. Nevertheless, the threat was resurrected repeatedly by various authors, for use as a precedent or a justification for present affliction.

Priests in Exile - The History of the Temple of Onias and Its Community in the Hellenistic Period (Hardcover): Meron M.... Priests in Exile - The History of the Temple of Onias and Its Community in the Hellenistic Period (Hardcover)
Meron M. Piotrkowski
R3,987 Discovery Miles 39 870 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Priests in Exile is the first comprehensive scholarly opus in English to reconstruct the history of the mysterious Temple of Onias, a Jewish temple built by a Jerusalemite high priest in his Egyptian exile that functioned in parallel with the Temple of Jerusalem. Piotrkowski's book addresses a topic that is mysterious, important and anomalous: a Jewish community of mercenary priests in the (Egyptian) Diaspora in which the priestly sacrificial ritual was carried out daily over a period of more than two hundred years until the first century CE, outlasting the Jerusalem Temple by about three years. Although the book focuses on the very circumscribed topic of the parallel Temple it casts a wide net, placing the story in the context of Jewish Diaspora life in ancient times. Ancient topics and texts are brought to bear, including papyri, epigraphy, archaeology, as well as the modern literature. Piotrkowski throws new light on a fascinating episode of ancient Jewish history that is usually left in the dark.

Jews in Medieval England - Teaching Representations of the Other (Paperback, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2017):... Jews in Medieval England - Teaching Representations of the Other (Paperback, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2017)
Miriamne Ara Krummel, Tison Pugh
R936 Discovery Miles 9 360 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This volume examines the teaching of Jewishness within the context of medieval England. It covers a wide array of academic disciplines and addresses a multitude of primary sources, including medieval English manuscripts, law codes, philosophy, art, and literature, in explicating how the Jew-as-Other was formed. Chapters are devoted to the teaching of the complexities of medieval Jewish experiences in the modern classroom. Jews in Medieval England: Teaching Representations of the Other also grounds medieval conceptions of the Other within the contemporary world where we continue to confront the problematic attitudes directed toward alleged social outcasts.

American Jewish Year Book 2017 - The Annual Record of the North American Jewish Communities (Paperback, Softcover reprint of... American Jewish Year Book 2017 - The Annual Record of the North American Jewish Communities (Paperback, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2018)
Arnold Dashefsky, Ira M Sheskin
R3,902 Discovery Miles 39 020 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

The American Jewish Year Book, now in its 117th year, is the annual record of the North American Jewish communities and provides insight into their major trends. The first chapter of Part I is an examination of how American Jews fit into the US religious landscape, based on Pew Research Center studies. The second chapter examines intermarriage. Chapters on "The Domestic Arena" and "The International Arena" analyze the year's events as they affect American Jewish communal and political affairs. Three chapters analyze the demography and geography of the US, Canada, and world Jewish populations. Part II provides lists of Jewish institutions, including federations, community centers, social service agencies, national organizations, synagogues, Hillels, day schools, camps, museums, and Israeli consulates. The final chapters present national and local Jewish periodicals and broadcast media; academic resources, including Jewish Studies programs, books, journals, articles, websites, and research libraries; and lists of major events in the past year, Jewish honorees, and obituaries.

Beyond Jewish Identity (Hardcover): Jon A. Levisohn, Ari Kelman Beyond Jewish Identity (Hardcover)
Jon A. Levisohn, Ari Kelman
R3,382 Discovery Miles 33 820 Ships in 10 - 15 working days
The Bride and Groom Handbook (Paperback): Behrman House The Bride and Groom Handbook (Paperback)
Behrman House
R232 Discovery Miles 2 320 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Everything the engaged couple needs to know about the Jewish marriage ceremony. Welcome new couples into Jewish life and your congregation. Selecting a date and location for the wedding What is a ketubah? A huppah? A step-by-step guide to a Jewish wedding Life as Jewish newlyweds The perfect gift for the soon-to-be-wed couple.

The Political Thought of Frederick Douglass - In Pursuit of American Liberty (Paperback): Nicholas Buccola The Political Thought of Frederick Douglass - In Pursuit of American Liberty (Paperback)
Nicholas Buccola
R741 Discovery Miles 7 410 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

2013 Finalist, 26th Annual Oregon Best Book Award Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} Frederick Douglass, one of the most prominent figures in African-American and United States history, was born a slave, but escaped to the North and became a well-known anti-slavery activist, orator, and author. In The Political Thought of Frederick Douglass, Nicholas Buccola provides an important and original argument about the ideas that animated this reformer-statesman. Beyond his role as an abolitionist, Buccola argues for the importance of understanding Douglass as a political thinker who provides deep insights into the immense challenge of achieving and maintaining the liberal promise of freedom. Douglass, Buccola contends, shows us that the language of rights must be coupled with a robust understanding of social responsibility in order for liberal ideals to be realized. Truly an original American thinker, this book highlights Douglass's rightful place among the great thinkers in the American liberal tradition. Podcast - Nicholas Buccola on Frederick Douglass and Liberty.

A Letter In The Scroll - Understanding Our Jewish Identity And Exploring The Legacy Of The World's Oldest Religion... A Letter In The Scroll - Understanding Our Jewish Identity And Exploring The Legacy Of The World's Oldest Religion (Paperback)
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
R547 R481 Discovery Miles 4 810 Save R66 (12%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

For too long, Jews have defined themselves in light of the bad things that have happened to them. And it is true that, many times in the course of history, they have been nearly decimated: when the First and Second Temples were destroyed, when the Jews were expelled from Spain, when Hitler proposed his Final Solution. Astoundingly, the Jewish people have survived catastrophe after catastrophe and remained a thriving and vibrant community. The question Rabbi Jonathan Sacks asks is, quite simply: How? How, in the face of such adversity, has Judaism remained and flourished, making a mark on human history out of all proportion to its numbers?

Written originally as a wedding gift to his son and daughter-in-law, "A Letter in the Scroll" is Rabbi Sacks's personal answer to that question, a testimony to the enduring strength of his religion. Tracing the revolutionary series of philosophical and theological ideas that Judaism created -- from covenant to sabbath to formal education -- and showing us how they remain compellingly relevant in our time, Sacks portrays Jewish identity as an honor as well as a duty.

The Ba'al Shem Tov, an eighteenth-century rabbi and founder of the Hasidic movement, famously noted that the Jewish people are like a living Torah scroll, and every individual Jew is a letter within it. If a single letter is damaged or missing or incorrectly drawn, a Torah scroll is considered invalid. So too, in Judaism, each individual is considered a crucial part of the people, without whom the entire religion would suffer. Rabbi Sacks uses this metaphor to make a passionate argument in favor of affiliation and practice in our secular times, and invites us to engage in our dynamic and inclusive tradition. Never has a book more eloquently expressed the joys of being a Jew.

This is the story of one man's hope for the future -- a future in which the next generation, his children and ours, will happily embrace the beauty of the world's oldest religion.

Jews - The Making of a Diaspora People (Hardcover, New): IM Zeitlin Jews - The Making of a Diaspora People (Hardcover, New)
IM Zeitlin
R1,632 Discovery Miles 16 320 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This book is a comprehensive account of how the Jews became a diaspora people. The term 'diaspora' was first applied exclusively to the early history of the Jews as they began settling in scattered colonies outside of Israel-Judea during the time of the Babylonian exile; it has come to express the characteristic uniqueness of the Jewish historical experience. Zeitlin retraces the history of the Jewish diaspora from the ancient world to the present, beginning with expulsion from their ancestral homeland and concluding with the Holocaust and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In mapping this process, Zeitlin argues that the Jews' religious self-understanding was crucial in enabling them to cope with the serious and recurring challenges they have had to face throughout their history. He analyses the varied reactions the Jews encountered from their so-called 'host peoples', paying special attention to the attitudes of famous thinkers such as Luther, Hegel, Nietzsche, Wagner, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, the Left Hegelians, Marx and others, who didn't shy away from making explicit their opinions of the Jews.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Jewish studies, diaspora studies, history and religion, as well as to general readers keen to learn more about the history of the Jewish experience.

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