It is hard to work through one s grief when there are so many cover-ups and so many different kinds of denial at work within the culture. And that is why this book is of so much importance. Anne Brener has crafted a walkway through the valley of the shadow of death. The walkway has thorns and bramble bushes on it but it leads to the other side, beyond grief, for those who are willing to stay the course.

Keep this book for time of need and do the grief-work in which it instructs us and you will see that this long and wise heritage of ours still has the power to speak, to heal and to comfort even in our time. from the Foreword by Rabbi Jack Riemer

For those who mourn a death, for those who would help them and for those who face a loss of any kind, "Mourning & Mitzvah" teaches you the power and strength available to you in the fully experienced mourning process.

When the temple stood in the ancient city of Jerusalem, mourners walked through the gates and into the courtyard along a specifically designated mourner s path.

As they walked, they came face to face with all the other members of the community, who greeted them with the ancestor of the blessing, May God comfort you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. In this way, the community embraced those suffering bereavement, yet allowed for unique experiences of grief.

In this new and expanded edition of a modern classic, Anne Brener brings us an innovative integration of Jewish tradition and modern professional resources. It gives spiritual insight and healing wisdom to those in our own time who mourn a death, to those who would help them and to those who face a loss of any kind.

Out of ancient Jewish sources comes a novel of love and self-discovery in the heart of the ancient Parthian empire. The year is 259 A.D. and the three daughters of Rabbi Samuel, the greatest Jewish scholar of his day, are taken captive during the fall of Nehardea, a thriving merchant-city on the Euphrates River. Two of the daughters quickly return from captivity and are restored to their family; the third daughter, Rachel, vanishes - only to reappear as the wife of a convert to Judaism and the mother of a noted rabbi. On the basis of these briefest of references from the Babylonian Talmud, first-time novelist and Hebraic scholar Ann Brener creates the portrait of a young woman caught between the demands of two cultures, and a moving love story that crosses the boundaries of lands and religions.