"O louvor que nos une: Cerimonia de oracoes matutina do Shabbat" (We Sing We Stay Together) e um livro de oracao extremamente acessivel para acompanhar os canticos da cerimonia matutina do Shabbat (sabado) na sinagoga, com TEXTO TRANSLITERADO EM PORTUGUES, traducao e explicacao da cerimonia. Seu principal objetivo e facilitar o aprendizado das oracoes enquanto se ouve e acompanha o conjunto homonimo de CD com 64 faixas. Mas, por si so, ele tambem serve como uma ferramenta para explicar o significado das palavras e da cerimonia. Nossas oracoes judaicas sao belas cancoes de amor, repletas de bondade, afeto, adoracao, esperanca, benevolencia e generosidade. Elas sao o nosso DNA, mesmo que nao as conhecamos, pois tais oracoes, nossa religiao, moldaram o povo judeu: elas moldaram nosso modo de pensar, nossa educacao, quem somos e o que representamos. O judaismo prega que devemos ser bons e positivos para nos mesmos, para a familia, para a comunidade e para o mundo em geral - tudo por respeito e amor a Hashem. Isso me enche de gratidao, humildade e orgulho. Nossa heranca e uma bencao intelectual, cultural, espiritual e religiosa. Precisamos, porem, de facil acesso. Eu nunca pude participar, muito menos desfrutar, de uma cerimonia matutina do Shabbat, mas adorava os momentos em que toda a comunidade se reunia e entoava alguns breves louvores com melodias emocionantes. Tais momentos simplesmente nao eram suficientes. Nos precisavamos cantar mais, muito mais! Comunidade tem a ver com familia e amigos, e todos nos somos amigos - isto esta, inclusive, escrito em uma de nossas oracoes. Nossas oracoes clamam por ser entoadas com grande alegria, clareza e harmonia. As oracoes coletivas dizem respeito a pertenca e partilha, e isso so e possivel se todos pudermos nos unir como semelhantes. Para isso, precisamos de palavras claramente articuladas, faceis de aprender e agradaveis de cantar. Eu dedico este projeto de melodizacao das oracoes da cerimonia matutina do Shabbat e a escrita de um livro de oracao com as respectivas letras a todos os que amam e se importam com a continuidade judaica, com o judaismo, com a Tora e com o Estado-nacao do povo judeu, Israel, bem como a todos os nossos maravilhosos amigos, os justos entre as nacoes. Lembrem-se de que, quando louvamos juntos, permanecemos juntos. AM ISRAEL CHAI - o povo de Israel vive. Com amor e esperanca para os nossos filhos, Richard Collis

We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service Prayers is a super user-friendly Sing-Along prayer book for the Shabbat (Saturday) Morning Synagogue Service with TRANSLITERATED ENGLISH TEXT, translation and explanation of the service. Its primary purpose is to make it beyond easy to learn the prayers when listening and singing along to the 64 track music CD album set of the same name; but it also stands, in its own right, as a learning tool explaining the meaning of the words and the service. Our Jewish prayers are beautiful love songs; full of goodness, affection, adoration, hope, kindness and generosity. They are our DNA, even if we do not know them, because these prayers, our religion, have moulded the Jewish people; our way of thinking, education, who we are, and what we represent. Judaism is all about being good and positive for oneself, family, community, the wider world - all out of respect and love for Hashem. It fills me with gratitude, humility, and pride. Our heritage is an intellectual, cultural, spiritual and religious blessing - but we need easy access. I was never able to participate in, let alone enjoy, the Shabbat Morning Service, but I loved those moments when the whole community comes together and sings a few short prayers with moving melodies. There just was not enough of it, we needed more singing, much more! Community is all about family and friends, and we are all friends, it is actually written in one of our prayers. Our prayers are crying out to be sung with great happiness, clearly and harmoniously. Communal prayers are all about belonging, sharing, and that is only possible if we can all join in as equals; and for that we need clearly articulated words that are easy to learn and enjoyable to sing. I dedicate this project of melodizing the Shabbat Morning Service prayers and writing a Sing-Along prayer book to all who love and care for Jewish Continuity, Judaism, Torah, and the Nation-State of the Jewish People, Israel; and so also to all our wonderful friends, the righteous among the nations. Remember to remember that when we sing together, we stay together. AM ISRAEL CHAI - the people of Israel live. With love, and hope for our children, Richard Collis

The book addresses the question of how postmonarchic society in ancient Judah remembered and imagined its monarchy, and kingship in general, as part of its past, present, and future. How did Judeans of the early Second Temple period conceive of the monarchy? By way of a thorough analysis of Judean discourse in this era, Kingship and Memory in Ancient Judah argues that ancient Judeans had no single way of remembering and imagining kingship. In fact, their memory and imaginary was thoroughly multivocal, and necessarily so. Judean historiographical literature evinces a mindset that was unsure of the monarchic past and how to understand it-multiple viewpoints were embraced and brought into conversation with one another. Similarly, prophetic literature, which drew on the discursive themes of the remembered past, envisions a variety of outcomes for kingship's future. Historiographical and prophetic literature thus existed in a kind of feedback loop, enabling, informing, and balancing each other's various understandings of kingship as part of Judean society and life. Through its investigation of kingship in Judean discourse, this monograph contributes to our knowledge of literature and literary culture in ancient Judah and also makes a significant contribution to questions of history and historiographical method in biblical studies.

Since the beginnings of this century western scholars have become familiar with Ignaz Goldziher's hypothesis concerning canonical hadith literature - that religious literary genre of Islam, second in holiness to the Qur'an, which allegedly comprises faithful accounts of what the Prophet of Islam said and did. Goldziher rejected this allegation and maintained that the Hadith rather reflects in the first instance the social, legal, moral and theological debates among the Muslims of the first two and a half centuries after the death of the Prophet. But Goldziher never systematically searched for the real originators of this literature. In this collection of articles, G. H. A. Juynboll deals with the uses Muslims have made of hadith through the ages but studies on chronology, provenance, as well as authorship of the prophetic traditions form the backbone of this anthology. For this purpose the author has developed new methods of analysing the chains of transmitters initially meant to authenticate the individual sayings. His overall position can be summed up as midway between the official Islamic point of view and the stance adopted by his Western predecessors

We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service Prayers is a super user-friendly Sing-Along prayer book for the Shabbat (Saturday) Morning Synagogue Service with TRANSLITERATED ENGLISH TEXT, translation and explanation of the service. Its primary purpose is to make it beyond easy to learn the prayers when listening and singing along to the 64 track music CD album set of the same name; but it also stands, in its own right, as a learning tool explaining the meaning of the words and the service. Our Jewish prayers are beautiful love songs; full of goodness, affection, adoration, hope, kindness and generosity. They are our DNA, even if we do not know them, because these prayers, our religion, have moulded the Jewish people; our way of thinking, education, who we are, and what we represent. Judaism is all about being good and positive for oneself, family, community, the wider world - all out of respect and love for Hashem. It fills me with gratitude, humility, and pride. Our heritage is an intellectual, cultural, spiritual and religious blessing - but we need easy access. I was never able to participate in, let alone enjoy, the Shabbat Morning Service, but I loved those moments when the whole community comes together and sings a few short prayers with moving melodies. There just was not enough of it, we needed more singing, much more! Community is all about family and friends, and we are all friends, it is actually written in one of our prayers. Our prayers are crying out to be sung with great happiness, clearly and harmoniously. Communal prayers are all about belonging, sharing, and that is only possible if we can all join in as equals; and for that we need clearly articulated words that are easy to learn and enjoyable to sing. I dedicate this project of melodizing the Shabbat Morning Service prayers and writing a Sing-Along prayer book to all who love and care for Jewish Continuity, Judaism, Torah, and the Nation-State of the Jewish People, Israel; and so also to all our wonderful friends, the righteous among the nations. Remember to remember that when we sing together, we stay together. AM ISRAEL CHAI - the people of Israel live. With love, and hope for our children, Richard Collis

Noted Indian writer and polymath Ram Swarup explores the meaning of Islam through the words of the Sahih Muslim, considered by Muslims to be one of the most authoritative of the collections of "traditions" (Arabic Hadith) about the life of the Prophet Muhammad. Like the Koran, these traditions are believed to be divinely revealed by Allah and they complement the verses of the Koran, in many cases expanding upon them and explaining the context of their revelation. As Swarup notes in his introduction, to Muslims the Hadith literature represents the Koran in action, stories of "revelation made concrete in the life of the Prophet." Among the orthodox they are considered as sacred as the Koran itself.
Swarup is plainly skeptical of the claim that the Hadith literature is divinely inspired. In the introduction he says, "The Prophet is caught as it were in the ordinary acts of his life - sleeping, eating, mating, praying, hating, dispensing justice, planning expeditions and revenge against his enemies. The picture that emerges is hardly flattering. . . . One is . . . left to wonder how the believers, generation after generation, could have found this story so inspiring. The answer is that the believers are conditioned to look at the whole thing through the eyes of faith. To them morality derives from the Prophet's actions. . . .his actions determine and define morality."
The Sahih Muslim, a massive work consisting of 7,190 traditions divided into 1,243 chapters, is hardly accessible to the average reader; so Swarup quotes representative selections that touch upon the main tenets of Islam: faith, purification, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, marriage and divorce, crime and punishment, religious wars (jihad), paradise, hell, repentance, and many other features of the religion.
To non-Muslims this work provides many insights into the mindset of the average Muslim who is raised on these traditions about Muhammad. It also underscores the gulf that exists between the sanctum of orthodox Islam and an increasingly secularized Westernized world.

"The Dignity of Man: An Islamic Perspective" provides the most detailed study to date on the subject of the dignity of man from the perspective of Islam. M H Kamali sets out the proclamations on human dignity found in the Qur'an and then discusses topics pertaining to or resulting from human dignity: the physical and spiritual nobility of man; God's love for humanity; the sanctity of life; and the necessity for freedom, equality and accountability. Finally, the author examines the measures that the "Shariah" has taken to protect human dignity and to promote it in social interaction. The discussion is here presented in the light of the debate on the universality of human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This book goes a long way towards exploring an alternative to Western concepts of human rights. "The Dignity of Man: An Islamic Perspective" is part of a series of studies on fundamental rights and liberties in Islam and should be read with its companion volumes of "Freedom,"" Equality and Justice in Islam," and "Freedom of Expression in Islam,"

This volume, the second in the series of Marie-Therese d'Alverny's selected articles to be published by Variorum, gathers the majority of her studies on the understanding of Islam in the West from the early Middle Ages until the mid-13th century; some related works will be included in a further selection. In the 12th century, as she shows, a serious effort was for the first time made to learn something of the reality behind the fabulous and scurrilous stories about Muhammad and Islam. A collection of translations from Arabic, including the Koran, was commissioned in 1140 by Peter the Venerable of Cluny, and d'Alverny found the manuscript in which his secretary wrote these out. This discovery led her to explore other translations into Latin of the Koran and other Islamic texts, to identify the work of the translators Hermann of Carinthia, Robert of Ketton and Mark of Toledo, and to depict the milieu in which this work was possible.

With the current turmoil in the Middle East, there is a growing interest about Islam--the world's second largest religion and one of the fastest growing--and its holy book, the Koran (or Qur'an). Now, with this easy-to-follow, plain-English guide, you can explore the history, structure, and basic tenets of Islam's sacred scripture.

"The Koran For Dummies" is for non-Muslims interested in the Koran as well as Muslims looking to deepen their understanding. Islamic scholar Sohaib Sultan provides a clear road map, revealing: The meaning of Koran and its basic messageThe Koran's place in history and in Islamic spiritual lifeExplanations of its language, structure, and narrative styleHow to live by the Koran's teachingsThe Koran's role in key global issues, such as Jihad vs. terrorismDifferent interpretations of the Koran

No other book provides such a straightforward look at what the Koran says, how it says it, and how believers live according to its guidance. From how the Koran was received by Mohammed and how it was compiled to how it's interpreted by Islam's two main branches, you'll see how to put the Islamic faith in perspective.

Plus, you'll discover: What the Koran really says about women and civil lawHow Islam relates to Judaism and ChristianityThe Koran's view of God, prophets, mankind, and the selfHow its teachings are lived and recited every day by devout MuslimsCommon misconceptions of the KoranHow to raise a family the Koranic way

Complete with lists of important passages, Koranic terminology, famous quotes, and further reading resources, "The Koran For Dummies" makes it easy and enjoyable for you to grasp the teachings and significance of Islam's holy book.

The melodious recitation of the Quran is a fundamental aesthetic experience for Muslims, and the start of a compelling journey of ideas. In this important new book, the prominent German writer and Islamic scholar Navid Kermani considers the manner in which the Quran has been perceived, apprehended and experienced by its recipients from the time of the Prophet to the present day. Drawing on a wide range of Muslim sources, from historians, theologians and philosophers to mystics and literary scholars, Kermani provides a close reading of the nature of this powerful text. He proceeds to analyze ancient and modern testimonies about the impact of Quranic language from a variety of angles. Although people have always reflected on the reception of texts, images and sounds that they find beautiful or moving, Kermani explains that Islam provides a particularly striking example of the close correlation, grounded in a common origin, between art and religion, revelation and poetry, and religious and aesthetic experience. This major new book will enhance the dialogue between Islam and the West and will appeal to students and scholars of Islam and comparative religion, as well as to a wider readership interested in Islam and the Quran.

This book examines the emergence of self-knowledge as a determining legal consideration among the rabbis of Late Antiquity, from the third to the seventh centuries CE. Based on close readings of rabbinic texts from Palestine and Babylonia, Ayelet Hoffmann Libson highlights a unique and surprising development in Talmudic jurisprudence, whereby legal decision-making incorporated personal and subjective information. She examines the central legal role accorded to individuals' knowledge of their bodies and mental states in areas of law as diverse as purity laws, family law and the laws of Sabbath. By focusing on subjectivity and self-reflection, the Babylonian rabbis transformed earlier legal practices in a way that cohered with the cultural concerns of other religious groups in Late Antiquity. They developed sophisticated ideas about the inner self and incorporated these notions into their distinctive discourse of law.

This is the most complete, up-to-date, one-volume, English-language edition of the renowned library of fourth-century Gnostic manuscripts discovered in Egypt in 1945, which rivaled the Dead Sea Scrolls find in significance. It includes the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, and the recently discovered Gospel of Judas, as well as other Gnostic gospels and sacred texts. This volume also includes introductory essays, notes, tables, glossary, index, etc. to help the reader understand the context and contemporary significance of these texts which have shed new light on early Christianity and ancient thought.

"Wir Singen Wir Bleiben Zusammen (We Sing We Stay Together) - Gebete zum Morgengottesdienst am Shabbat" ist ein besonders benutzerfreundliches Gebetsbuch zum Mitsingen fur den Morgengottesdienst am Shabbat (Samstag) in der Synagoge, mit TRANSKRIBIERTEM ENGLISCHEM TEXT und einer Transliteration des Gottesdienstes mit Erklarungen. Hauptsachlich will das Werk beim Hoeren und Mitsingen der 64 Titel des gleichnamigen CD-Musikalbums das Erlernen der Gebete ganz besonders erleichtern; doch auch fur sich genommen dient es als Hilfsmittel zum Erlernen der verwendeten Begriffe und der Ablaufe des Gottesdienstes. Unsere judischen Gebete sind wunderschoene Liebeslieder; voller Gute, Warmherzigkeit, Anbetung, Hoffnung, Freundlichkeit und Edelmut. Sie sind uns eingraviert, selbst wenn wir sie nicht kennen, denn diese Gebete, die gleich unserer Religion sind, haben das judische Volk, seine Denkweise und die Ausbildung gepragt und uns zu dem gemacht, was wir sind und fur was wir einstehen. Im Judentum geht es vor allem darum, zu sich selbst, der Familie, der Gemeinde und allen Mitmenschen gut und positiv zu sein - und das aus dem Respekt und der Liebe zu Hashem heraus. Das erfullt mich mit Dankbarkeit, Demut und Stolz. Unser Erbe ist ein intellektueller, kultureller, spiritueller und religioeser Segen - aber wir brauchen jemanden, der uns Zugang dazu gewahrt. Ich konnte nie am Shabbat-Morgengottesdienst teilnehmen, geschweige denn, ihn geniessen, doch ich liebte jene Momente, in denen die ganze Gemeinde zusammenkam und einige kurze Gebete in bewegenden Melodien singt. Man konnte einfach nicht genug davon bekommen, und deshalb brauchen wir mehr Lieder, noch viel mehr! Die Gemeinde sind die Familie und die Freunde, und wir alle sind Freunde - so heisst es sogar in einem unserer Gebete. Unsere Gebete verlangen danach, mit grosser Freude deutlich und harmonisch gesungen zu werden. Das gemeinsame Gebet bringt Zugehoerigkeit und Gemeinschaftsgeist, und das ist nur moeglich, wenn jeder von uns gleich ist. Dazu brauchen wir gut verstandliche Worte, die man leicht lernt und die zu singen Freude macht. Ich widme dieses Projekt der Vertonung von Gebeten zum Shabbat-Morgengottesdienst und der Niederschrift eines Gebetsbuchs zum Mitsingen all denjenigen, die den Fortbestand der Juden, das Judentum, die Thora, und den Nationalstaat des judischen Volks, Israel, lieben und schatzen, und ich widme das Werk unseren wunderbaren Freunden, den Gerechten unter den Voelkern. Denken Sie immer daran: Wenn wir zusammen singen, dann bleiben wir zusammen. AM ISRAEL CHAI- das Volk Israels lebt. Mit Liebe und Hoffnung fur unsere Kinder, Richard Collis

This volume offers a complete translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, "The Connected Discourses of the Buddha," the third of the four great collections in the Sutta Pitaka of the Pali Canon. The Samyutta Nikaya consists of fifty-six chapters, each governed by a unifying theme that binds together the Buddha's suttas or discourses. The chapters are organized into five major parts.
The first, The Book with Verses, is a compilation of suttas composed largely in verse. This book ranks as one of the most inspiring compilations in the Buddhist canon, showing the Buddha in his full grandeur as the peerless "teacher of gods and humans." The other four books deal in depth with the philosophical principles and meditative structures of early Buddhism. They combine into orderly chapters all the important short discourses of the Buddha on such major topics as dependent origination, the five aggregates, the six sense bases, the seven factors of enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Four Noble Truths.
Among the four large Nikayas belonging to the Pali Canon, the Samyutta Nikaya serves as the repository for the many shorter suttas of the Buddha where he discloses his radical insights into the nature of reality and his unique path to spiritual emancipation. This collection, it seems, was directed mainly at those disciples who were capable of grasping the deepest dimensions of wisdom and of clarifying them for others, and also provided guidance to meditators intent on consummating their efforts with the direct realization of the ultimate truth.
The present work begins with an insightful general introduction to the Samyutta Nikaya as a whole. Each of the five parts is also provided with its own introduction, intended to guide the reader through this vast, ocean-like collection of suttas.
To further assist the reader, the translator has provided an extensive body of notes clarifying various problems concerning both the language and the meaning of the texts.
Distinguished by its lucidity and technical precision, this new translation makes this ancient collection of the Buddha's discourses accessible and comprehensible to the thoughtful reader of today. Like its two predecessors in this series,
"The Connected Discourses of the Buddha" is sure to merit a place of honour in the library of every serious student of Buddhism.

The Ramayana is one of the great epics of the ancient world, with versions spanning the cultures, religions and languages of Asia. Its story of Rama's quest to recover his wife Sita from her abduction by Raavana, the Lord of the Underworld, has enchanted readers and audiences across the Eastern world for thousands of years. Daljit Nagra was captivated by his grandparents' Punjabi version as a child, and has chosen to rejuvenate the story for a new generation of multicultural, multi-faith readers. By drawing on scenes originating in versions such as those from Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, as well as the better-known Indian Ramayanas, and by incorporating elements of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and secular versions, Nagra creates a consciously multicultural Ramayana. This dazzling version is both accessible and engaging, written in Nagra's typically vibrant and eclectic language, and bursting with energy, pathos and humour.

With ANTHOLOGY OF WORLD SCRIPTURES, 9th Edition you will encounter the most notable and instructive sacred texts from major world religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. You'll also examine scriptures from new religious movements including Baha'i, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Christian Science Church, and the Unification Church. You'll study scriptural readings in context, see how each religion is actually practiced today, as well as be introduced to its history, teachings, organization, ethics, and rituals. To help you understand the readings, you'll find introductions, study questions, glossaries, extensive footnotes explaining more challenging parts of the readings, scriptural charts, and suggestions for further reading.