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

Vincent BrA1/4mmer's classic book on prayer from 1984 provides a comprehensive philosophical analysis of central issues regarding the nature and practice of prayer. What do we do when we ask things of other people, when we thank them or praise them, when we express penitence for what we have done to them and ask their forgiveness? And how does doing these things in relation to God differ from when we do them in relation to other people? And what does this entail for the existence and nature of the God to whom we pray? This new edition has been substantially revised and updated. Three new chapters have been added which develop in detail a hint by G.K. Chesterton that faith 'is not a thing like a theory but a thing like a love affair.' Since prayer is the expression of this 'love affair' it is also the clue to understanding the nature of faith. These chapters contribute significantly to the current academic interest in spirituality by showing how BrA1/4mmer's analysis of prayer helps us to understand the nature of spirituality, of faith and religious belief, and of theology. Spirituality is not aimed at achieving religious 'experiences' or mystical 'knowledge' about God; it is primarily aimed at attaining the religious form of life and at coming to see the world in the light of faith. Religious belief is not merely a cognitive enterprise like science; it cannot be divorced from spirituality and the life of faith, and is therefore fundamentally existential and not merely intellectual. Serving as a valuable core text for students, this book also contributes to a number of current debates in theology and philosophy of religion: the debates on realism and religious belief, on the rationality of faith and the nature of theology, on the relation between religious belief and morality, on the relation between science and religion and the lively debate among evangelical Christians in America on the 'openness of God.'

In this study of the Ndembu of Zambia, ritual is examined under two aspects: as a regulator of social relations over time and as a system of symbols. Social life is thereby given direction and meaning. An extended case-study of a series of ritual performances in the life of a single village community is analysed in order to estimate the effects of participation in these symbolic events on its component groups and personalities.

A disciplined study that reveals the many contributions of Jews throughout the history of rock 'n' roll.

In this book, Dana Robinson examines the role that food played in the Christianization of daily life in the fourth century CE. Early Christians used the food culture of the Hellenized Mediterranean world to create and debate compelling models of Christian virtue, and to project Christian ideology onto common domestic practices. Combining theoretical approaches from cognitive linguistics and space/place theory, Robinson shows how metaphors for piety, such as health, fruit, and sacrifice, relied on food-related domains of common knowledge (medicine, agriculture, votive ritual), which in turn generated sophisticated and accessible models of lay discipline and moral formation. She also demonstrates that Christian places and landscapes of piety were socially constructed through meals and food production networks that extended far beyond the Eucharist. Food culture, thus, provided a network of metaphorical concepts and spatial practices that allowed the lay faithful to participate in important debates over Christian living and community formation.

E. M. Bounds, one of the most prolific and powerful writers on prayer said, "Men and women are needed whose prayers will give to the world the utmost power of God; who will make His promises to blossom with rich and full results. God is waiting to hear us and challenges us to bring Him to do this thing by our praying." A Treasury of Prayer is the best of seven books on prayer by E. M. Bounds in a single volume. Pursue prayer "with an energy that never tires, a persistency which will not be denied, and a courage that never fails."

We're updating and revising our bestselling LifeGuides to make them even more effective for small group Bible study

New features of the revised LifeGuides include special options for group activities, additional questions for personal reflection, a "Now or Later" section with practical follow-up activities for use after the study or between sessions, expanded and improved leaders' notes and an attractive, redesigned format for easier reading.

Beginning with the new guides Miracles and Pleasing God (released in February 1999), all new LifeGuides will be presented in the new format. In addition more existing volumes will be revised every year to ensure that all our LifeGuides continue to be effective Bible study resources for the twenty-first century.

The Psalms show us how to relate to God as we pray our doubt, fears and anger. They show us how to respond to God in praise. Here we find the best place to explore who we are and what God means to us.

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The Myth and Ritual Theory" provides the first sourcebook for one of the most influential theories of myth, the theory which connects myth to rituals. Both classic and contemporary readings are brought together in this unique volume. The selections cover the theory from the origin in biblical and classical studies to its spread to the study of religions worldwide and to its extension to literature and the social sciences. Critics as well as exponents of the theory are well represented. In his lucid introduction, Robert A. Segal, a leading authority on the theories of myth, systematically charts the history of the theory from its beginnings to the present.

The sacred and the revered, the divine and the musealised, relics have long been integral to Islamic practice. Wahhabisation has cast a modernist spectre over celebrated traditions such as the visiting of shrines and pilgrimages to the birthplaces of beloved religious figures, yet these rituals continue to thrive. In this issue of Critical Muslim, we look at footprints ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad, to Adam and to Jesus. We pay our respects to Sufi saints, who may or may not be Islamicised versions of the Buddha, and we ask whether tradition is nothing more than a relic of times gone by. About Critical Muslim: A quarterly publication of ideas and issues showcasing groundbreaking thinking on Islam and what it means to be a Muslim in a rapidly changing, interconnected world. Each edition centers on a discrete theme, and contributions include reportage, academic analysis, cultural commentary, photography, poetry, and book reviews.

A new English translation of the most influential legal text in medieval India. A Treatise on Dharma, written in the fourth or fifth century, is the finest example of the genre of dharmasastra-texts on religious, civil, and criminal law and the duties of rulers-that informed Indian life for a thousand years. It illuminates major cultural innovations, such as the prominence of documents in commercial and legal proceedings, the use of ordeals in resolving disputes, and the growing importance of yoga in spiritual practices. Composed by an anonymous author during the reign of the imperial Guptas, the Treatise is ascribed to the Upanishadic philosopher Yajnavalkya, whose instruction of a group of sages serves as the frame narrative for the work. It became the most influential legal text in medieval India, and a twelfth-century interpretation came to be considered "the law of the land" under British rule. This translation of A Treatise on Dharma, based on a new critical edition and presented alongside the Sanskrit original in the Devanagari script, opens the classical age of ancient Indian law to modern readers.

Different forms of religious worship and ritual are present throughout the development of human beings, from early stone-age ritual, nature religion and ancestor worship, to faiths from which Christianity and the Eucharist emerge. In this book, Bastiaan Baan traces the origins and metamorphosis of human religion in historical, theological and humanistic terms, examining its significance for human life on earth and in the spiritual world.

'Ethics' was not developed as a separate branch of philosophy in Buddhist traditions until the modern period, though Buddhist philosophers have always been concerned with the moral significance of thoughts, emotions, intentions, actions, virtues, and precepts. Their most penetrating forms of moral reflection have been developed within disciplines of practice aimed at achieving freedom and peace. This Element first offers a brief overview of Buddhist thought and modern scholarly approaches to its diverse forms of moral reflection. It then explores two of the most prominent philosophers from the main strands of the Indian Buddhist tradition - Buddhaghosa and Santideva - in a comparative fashion.

This book offers a fresh perspective on religious culture in the medieval Middle East. It investigates how Muslims thought about and practised at sacred spaces and in sacred times through two detailed case studies: the shrines in honour of the head of al-Husayn (the martyred grandson of the Prophet); and the (arguably) holy month of Rajab. Author Daniella Talmon-Heller explores the diverse expressions of the veneration of the shrine and the month from the formative period of Islam until the late Mamluk period. She pays particular attention to changing political and sectarian affiliations and to the development of new genres of religious literature. And she juxtaposes the sanctification of space and time in individual and communal Sunni, Ithna'ashari and Isma'ili piety.

Lorna Byrne says we all see angels when we are young children, but are gradually conditioned to screen them out. Here for the first time she has written stories, based on real life, of six children whose lives were transformed and made better by their interaction with angels. There is a story of a little girl called Megan, paralysed from birth and unable to play with other children. Angels play with her and bring her great happiness. In a another story a little girl called Emma is mean to her classmates and gets her little brothers into trouble at home. Her guardian angel gradually prompts her towards a more harmonious and happy life. Tommy feels he is an outsider because he is no good at football. Then with his guardian angel's loving help and attention, Tommy scores a brilliant goal! Lorna began telling stories to her daughter Aideen at an age when, like all children, she was beginning to focus far more on the material world and less on spiritual influences. These stories are written to show children the ways in which they can ask for a help they can rely on and how perhaps they may even see their guardian angels.

The northern Chinese mountain range of Mount Wutai has been a preeminent site of international pilgrimage for over a millennium. Home to more than one hundred temples, the entire range is considered a Buddhist paradise on earth, and has received visitors ranging from emperors to monastic and lay devotees. Mount Wutai explores how Qing Buddhist rulers and clerics from Inner Asia, including Manchus, Tibetans, and Mongols, reimagined the mountain as their own during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Wen-Shing Chou examines a wealth of original source materials in multiple languages and media--many never before published or translated-such as temple replicas, pilgrimage guides, hagiographic representations, and panoramic maps. She shows how literary, artistic, and architectural depictions of the mountain permanently transformed the site's religious landscape and redefined Inner Asia's relations with China. Chou addresses the pivotal but previously unacknowledged history of artistic and intellectual exchange between the varying religious, linguistic, and cultural traditions of the region. The reimagining of Mount Wutai was a fluid endeavor that proved central to the cosmopolitanism of the Qing Empire, and the mountain range became a unique site of shared diplomacy, trade, and religious devotion between different constituents, as well as a spiritual bridge between China and Tibet. A compelling exploration of the changing meaning and significance of one of the world's great religious sites, Mount Wutai offers an important new framework for understanding Buddhist sacred geography.