An easy-to-understand introduction to Judaism's most sacred text

The foundation of Hebrew and Jewish religion, thought, law, and society is the Torah-the parchment scroll containing the text of the Five Books of Moses that is located in every synagogue. This accessible guide explains the Torah in clear language, even to those who were not raised in the Jewish religious tradition. Christians who want to know more about the Jewish roots of Christianity need to understand the Torah, as do followers of Islamic tradition and those interested in the roots of Abrahamic faiths. The Torah For Dummies explains the history of the Torah, its structure and major principles, and how the Torah affects the daily lives of people who follow the Jewish way of life.

Since it was first published in 1980, "From Generation to Generation" has inspired thousands to pursue the unique challenges and rewards of Jewish genealogy. Far more engaging than a mere how-to reference guide, this landmark book is also part detective story and part spiritual quest. As Arthur Kurzweil takes you along on his own fascinating journey through his family's past, you'll learn about the tools, techniques, and the step-by-step process of Jewish genealogical research - including the most current information on using the Internet and the newly accessible archives of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. But even more, after reading this fully updated, revised, and beloved classic, you will undoubtedly be inspired to embark on a genealogical quest of your own!

Spiritual Kneading Through The Jewish Months is an evocative collection of challah recipes, Jewish spiritual insights, and Torah study as it relates to each Jewish month, called Rosh Chodesh.

Dahlia Abraham-Klein, pulls from Jewish texts a book that enhances women's spiritual growth via the tradition of challah baking while meditating upon the Jewish theme of the month. The book gives an extensive history of Rosh Chodesh and why it's traditionally been a woman's holiday. The book covers all twelve months of the Jewish year, with specific Torah text for each month as well as a specific challah that relates the Torah theme to that month. In essence Spiritual Kneading is palatable Torah.

Each Jewish month includes a meditation guided through the kneading of the challah dough. The kneading is an action meditation, best understood as the performance of commandments and rituals. The inner essence of the dough elucidates divines in the challah and becomes a springboard to reach God. This conversation in turn is kneaded into the dough and becomes part of the spiritual wisdom transmitted to your loved ones. When commandments are seen in this light, particularly baking challah, the challah takes on a greater spiritual significance. Each chapter then goes on to give sources, ideas, and questions to be discussed by the group while the challah dough is rising. The purpose of baking challah in this particular way is to develop ones own personal spiritual growth within the context of a Rosh Chodesh group.

This comprehensive and wonderfully accessible entree into the world of Kabbalah covers 1,600 years of Jewish mystical thought, and features a variety of thinkers--from the renowned to the obscure--unavailable in any other volume. It's a fresh and contemporary take on an ancient tradition compiled by a clinical psychologist who is also a respected scholar of Judaism, and who, by his selection, reveals how this supposedly esoteric material is completely relevant to a host of contemporary concerns, such as ethics, emotional health, and inner growth. The selections, arranged chronologically and including voices from the Muslim world, cover such concerns as dreams, meditation, intuition, emotional development, and the movement to higher states of consciousness.
Contributors include: Rabbi Moses Chaim Luzzatto, Rabbi Moses Cordovero, Rabbi Abraham Abulafia, and contemporary voices such as Abraham Joshua Heschel, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi, and Jonathan Sacks, the head rabbi of Britain, among many others.