This study, based on a careful examination of hundreds of authoritative rabbinic writings, offers a very different picture of the textual reality of, and the rabbinic beliefs about the Torah. B. Barry Levy explores exactly how perfect or imperfect these rabbis thought the text to be. He demonstrates conclusively that many of the same rabbinic figures whose teachings inform other contemporary Orthodox doctrines were quite open about the fact that their Bible texts, even their Torah scrolls, were not completely accurate. Moreover, though many of the variations are of little exegetical significance, these rabbis often acknowledged that, textually speaking, the situation was beyond repair.

All religions are experiencing rapid changes due to a confluence of social and economic global forces. The modern world threatens the foundations of the world's religions and the cohesive assurances of their societies. Factors such as the pervasive intrusion of globalizing political and economic developments; polarized and morally equivalent presentations seen in the media; the sense of surety demanded in and promised by a culture dominated by science are but some of the factors that have placed extreme pressure on all religious traditions. This has stimulated unprecedented responses by religious groups, ranging from fundamentalism to the syncretistic search for meaning. The totality of pressures and responses is pushing religious people into controversial forms. As religion takes on new forms, balances between individual and community are disrupted and reconfigured. Religions often lose the capacity to recall their ultimate purpose or to lead their adherents towards it. This is why we call this complex situation "the crisis of the holy." This crisis is a confluence of threats, challenges, and opportunities for all religions. The present volume explores the contours of pressures, changes, and transformations, and reflects on how all our religions are changing under the common pressures of recent decades. By identifying commonalities across religions as they respond to these pressures, it suggests how religious traditions might cope with these changes and how they might join forces in doing so.

This brilliant study shows the pivotal role the Quakers played in the origins and development of America's family ideology. Levy argues that the Quakers brought a new vision of family and social life to America--one that contrasted sharply with the harsh, formal world of the New England Puritans. The Quakers stressed affection, friendship and hospitality, the importance of women in the home, and the value of self-disciplined, non-coercive childrearing. This book explains how and why the Quakers have had such a profound cultural impact on America and what the Quakers' experience with their own radical family system tells us about American families.

Danny Rothbart is good-looking, bright, popular teenager living in Yeoville , Johannesburg, in the seventies. It seems he has the world at his feet - except for one little problem. He's having trouble losing his virginity, and the shame of the situation threatens his world. Unable to talk to his old-fashioned parents, Danny seeks guidance from the one adult in his life he can trust: charismatic, politically liberal Uncle Harold. But the suave, worldly Uncle Harold has another agenda. He is a serial child molester, and soon he draws Danny into a sickeningly manipulative abusive relationship.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, British colonists found the New World full of resources. With land readily available but workers in short supply, settlers developed coercive forms of labor-indentured servitude and chattel slavery-in order to produce staple export crops like rice, wheat, and tobacco. This brutal labor regime became common throughout most of the colonies. An important exception was New England, where settlers and their descendants did most work themselves. In Town Born, Barry Levy shows that New England's distinctive and far more egalitarian order was due neither to the colonists' peasant traditionalism nor to the region's inhospitable environment. Instead, New England's labor system and relative equality were every bit a consequence of its innovative system of governance, which placed nearly all land under the control of several hundred self-governing town meetings. As Levy shows, these town meetings were not simply sites of empty democratic rituals but were used to organize, force, and reconcile laborers, families, and entrepreneurs into profitable export economies. The town meetings protected the value of local labor by persistently excluding outsiders and privileging the town born. The town-centered political economy of New England created a large region in which labor earned respect, relative equity ruled, workers exercised political power despite doing the most arduous tasks, and the burdens of work were absorbed by citizens themselves. In a closely observed and well-researched narrative, Town Born reveals how this social order helped create the foundation for American society.

Climate change is causing, and will increasingly cause, a wide range of adverse health effects, including heat-related disorders, infectious diseases, respiratory and allergic disorders, malnutrition, mental health problems, and violence. The scientific bases for the associations between climate change and health problems are evolving as are the strategies for adapting to climate change and mitigating the greenhouse gases, which are its primary cause. Orchestrating and coordinating contributions from more than 75 selected public health specialists and environmental scientists, the editors have developed a concise and comprehensive book that represents a core curriculum on climate change and public health, including key strategies for adaptation and mitigation. Written primarily for students and mid-career professionals in public health and environmental sciences, the book clearly describes concepts and their application to the health impacts of climate change. Chapters are supplemented with case studies, graphs, tables and photographs. The book's organization in 15 chapters makes it an ideal textbook for graduate and undergraduate courses in public health, environmental sciences, public policy, and other fields.

With one out of eleven high school students in the past year experiencing some form of physical abuse -- being hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by a boyfriend or girlfriend -- young adults need to know where they can turn for help. Even more teens (as high as ninety-six percent) reported emotional and psychological abuse in their relationships.
This revised and updated edition for teenagers who have questions about abusive dating relationships helps them understand the causes and consequences of their situation, learn what they can do about it, find help from parents and other adults, and discover how to build healthier relationships. "In Love and in Danger" is one of the only books available on dating violence and abusive relationships that addresses young adults directly in a straightforward and non-condescending manner. Included are facts about dating violence, tips for how to tell if your relationship is abusive, information on why dating abuse happens, and what you can do if you are being abused by (or are abusing) someone you love. Packed with practical advice and compelling interviews with teens, this edition features updated information and statistics, an expanded resource section, and a new afterword by the author.

When women decide what to wear, where to go, how to get there, what time of day to be outdoors, and what affects their sense of security and safety, are they aware that they're afraid of being sexually assaulted? Violence against women is, on a global scale, so common that some experts consider it a "normal" aspect of women's experiences--and yet research on the issue is subjective and inconsistent.
"Women and Violence" is a comprehensive look at the issue of violence against women and its many appearances, causes, costs and consequences. Understanding that personal values, beliefs and environment affect an individual's response to--and acknowledgement of--violence against women, this book addresses topics such as global perspectives on violence, controversies and debates, and social change strategies and activism.