People play two kinds of games. In finite zero-sum games, like football, the goal is to defeat your opponent within the fixed timeframe of the game. In infinite non-zero games, such as a loving friendship, the goal is to keep the game going by continually enhancing the status of all players so they will want to continue the game. In finite games, there are clear winners and losers; in infinite gamesthe most important games of life, relationshipseverybody wins. This book is for people who want to play more infinite games and it presents the Golden Rule as the ultimate strategy for playing well.

The question isn't whether grace is there for you in Judaism.The question is, do you have the courage to accept it?

"Chesed isn't a reward; it is reality. God s grace isn t limited to what we want to happen or might like to happen. God s grace is what is happening whether we like it or not. In short, God s grace is the giving of all to all." from the Introduction

Ask almost any Jew whether grace is a central concept in Judaism and an essential element in living Jewishly and, chances are, their answer will be no. But that s the wrong answer. This fascinating foray into God s love freely given offers you regardless of your level of Jewish involvement a way to answer that question in the affirmative.

Drawing from ancient and contemporary, traditional and non-traditional Jewish wisdom, this book reclaims the idea of grace in Judaism in three ways: It offers a view of God that helps you understand what grace is, why grace is, and how grace manifests in the world.It sets forth a reading of Judaism that is grace-filled: an understanding of creation, Shabbat and other Jewish practices from a grace-filled perspective.It challenges you to be embraced and transformed by grace, and to live life as a vehicle for God s grace, thereby fulfilling the promise of being created in God s image and likeness.

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Wise and practical prescriptions for how to live with an honest perception of realitycan become a companion for your own spiritual journey.

More than commonplace truisms, the biblical Book of Proverbs is an anthology of teachings designed to help you live with a sense of self-responsibility. Its wisdom, compiled in the seventh century BCE and credited to King Solomon, transcends nationality and politics, addressing instead the individual seeking the true satisfaction and tranquility that comes from living with an honest perception of reality.

In this fresh translation of an ancient "how-to," Rami Shapiro unpacks the proverbs, demonstrating how these complex poetic forms are actually straightforward instructions to live simply, without rationalizations and excuses. He shows how unlike almost anything else in the Hebrew Bible, the truths claimed in the Book of Proverbs are testable and verifiable. They force us to examine our lives and how we are living them without the benefit of psychological sophistry and New Age babble: We are either doing good or doing bad; we are either disciplined or lazy; we are either students of wisdom or puppets of desire.

Now you can experience the Book of Proverbs and understand Solomon's teachings with no previous knowledge of the Hebrew Bible. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents insightful commentary that shares these timeless principles and encourages us to put them into practice in ways that are uniquely our own.

Push your writing through the trite and the boring to something fresh, something transformative.

"Writing as spiritual practice has nothing to do with readers per se. You aren't writing to be read; you are writing to be freed. Writing as spiritual practice is conspiratorial rather than inspirational. It conspires to strip away everything you use to maintain the illusion of certainty, security and self-identity. Where spiritual writing seeks to bind you all the more tightly to the self you imagine yourself to be, writing as spiritual practice intends to free you from it." from Rami s Preface

This isn t about how to write spiritual books. It isn t about the romance of writing. It doesn t cover the ins and outs of publishing and building a brand. Instead, this fresh and unapologetic guide to writing as a spiritual practice approaches writing as a way to turn the spiral of body, heart, mind, soul and spirit that leads to spiritual awakening.

Lead by renowned spirituality teacher Rami Shapiro and award-winning writer and writing coach Aaron Shapiro and featuring over fifty unique, practical exercises it takes you beyond assigning inspirational words to the page. It shows you how to use your writing to unlock the joy of life and the infinite perspectives and possibilities that living provides."

Fulfill the reality that the glory of God is the human fully alive.

"Reverend Vennard is fearlessly awake to the wild dance of life. Rather than sleeping through life, she awakens to it. Rather than escaping from reality, she embraces it. Rather than distracting herself with a life to come, she dares to live the life that is. And she wants you to do all this as well. Read this book. Live this book. Wake up."

from the Foreword

In a culture enthralled with technology, striving and speed, people of many faith traditions and no faith tradition long to slow down, pay attention and wake up to the present moment. They want help in realizing their hope that they can become more truly alive.

This engaging and highly readable book offers you guidance for the journey. Sharing stories from her personal life as a spiritual seeker and from her professional career as a retreat leader, spiritual director and teacher, Reverend Jane Vennard illustrates the joys and frustrations of spiritual practice, offers insights from various religious traditions, and provides step-by-step exercises and meditations to practice:

Caring for the body Rest Silence Solitude Letting goCommunity Hospitality Service Living gratefully"

Koheleth's powerful guidebook for living without certainty and security in a world of constant change can become a companion for your own spiritual journey.

Twenty-three hundred years ago, an unnamed Hebrew sage known only as Koheleth, the Assembler of Wisdom, rocked the ancient Jewish world with a critique of society that shattered conventional notions of God, piety, politics, and power. Koheleth lived in a world of change and challenge not unlike our own. His teachings, known as the Book of Ecclesiastes, sought to empower people not unlike ourselves, which is why this book of the Hebrew Bible still speaks to us people of all faiths today.

In this contemporary and accurate translation, Rami Shapiro presents the Book of Ecclesiastes as neither revelation nor prophecy but as a rational and inspirational guide to living well in the midst of uncertainty. Beginning with its opening broadside, "Havel havalim " not futility or vanity as most translations would have it, but breath, vapor, and impermanence Shapiro opens up Koheleth s approach to living in a world where nothing lasts and justice is illusory; a world devoted to accumulating power, wealth, pleasure, and even knowledge that leaves you drowning in anxiety and needless suffering. He shows how Koheleth s God demands neither sacrifice nor adherence to commandments, offering instead a practical lifestyle rooted in moderation, meaningful work, and friendship.

Now you can experience the Book of Ecclesiastes and understand Koheleth s teachings with no previous knowledge of the Hebrew Bible. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents insightful commentary that restores this ancient text to its timeless place as a guide to living sanely in an often insane world."

The pure and penetrating message of the Divine Feminine Wisdom can become a companion for your own spiritual journey

The first of God s creations and God s endless delight, Wisdom (also known as Chochma and Sophia) is the Mother of all life, the guide to right living She is God manifest in the world you encounter moment to moment. Her teachings, embedded in the Holy Scriptures of Jews and Christians, are passionate, powerful calls to live in harmony, love with integrity and act joyously.

Through the Hebrew books of Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and Job, and the Wisdom literature books of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon, the Divine Femininespeaks to you directly, and Her only desire is to teach you to become wise. Rami Shapiro s contemporary translations and powerful commentaries clarify who Wisdom is, what She teaches, and how Her words can help you live justly, wisely and with compassion. This is not a book about Wisdom but the voice of Wisdom Herself, liberating, uplifting and compelling.

Now you can experience the Divine Feminine and understand Her teachings with no previous knowledge of Wisdom literature. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents insightful commentary that explains Sophia s way of wisdom and illustrates the countless opportunities to experience Her creative energy through which God fashions all things.

The wisdom of Jewish spirituality and mysticism can be a companion for your own spiritual journey.

Tanya, "It Was Taught," is one of the most powerful and potentially transformative books of Jewish wisdom. Written in 1797 by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Hasidism, Tanya sets forth the fundamentals of Jewish spirituality and mysticism. While a focus of daily study by tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews, Tanya is little known outside the world of Jewish mysticism. Until now, its kabbalistic terms and esoteric language have made this essential text of Jewish spirituality inaccessible to most readers.

In this engaging volume, Rabbi Rami Shapiro offers a contemporary English translation of key selections of Tanya coupled with commentary designed to clarify and amplify the wisdom it contains. He also outlines the philosophical and spiritual framework on which Tanya is based God's nonduality; the ve dimensions of reality and their corresponding intelligences (body, heart, mind, soul, and spirit); the purpose of mitzvot, the practices of Jewish life, as catalysts to God realization and the hallowing of all life through godliness to help you understand the selected Tanya translations in a way that enhances your own spiritual development.

Now you can benefit from the wisdom of Tanya even if you have no previous knowledge of Judaism or Hebrew terminology. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents the core teachings of Tanya, with insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that will deepen your understanding of the soul and how it relates to and manifests the Divine Source from which all life comes, in which all life lives and to which all life returns."

The spiritual teachings of many faith traditions can help you step beyond the limits of any one tradition to the reality that can't be named.

The fastest growing spiritual movement in the United States today is that of the religiously unaffiliated. These spiritual seekers make up 20 percent of the adult American population; they are the spiritual equivalent of political independents. Refusing to limit themselves to one religion or another, these seekers without borders are open to wisdom wherever it can be found.

This is a "bible" for this vast and growing social movement. It weaves sacred texts and teachings from the world s major religions Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and more into a coherent exploration of the five core questions at the heart of every religion s search:

Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? How shall I live? Why?

It couples these sacred teachings with modern commentary designed to help readers use these texts in their daily lives. It also provides the basics of spiritual mentor Eknath Easwaran s Passage Meditation to help you internalize the texts that articulate your deepest insights and values."

The Tales of the Hasidic Masters Can Become a Companion for Your Own Spiritual Journey.

"The wisdom of the Hasidim is earthy, realistic, rooted in the simplicity of the heart. It is alive with the awareness of the holiness of Creation and the boundlessness of God s mercy, and is utterly honest about the necessity of living such awareness in loving service to all beings. It is a wisdom that fuses the highest mystical initiations with the most down-home celebration of life and a rugged commitment to social and political justice in all its forms. In other words, it is a wisdom that is never, as my old prep school headmaster would put it, "too divine to be of any earthly use." from the Foreword by Andrew Harvey

Martin Buber, author of Tales of Hasidim, was the first to bring the Hasidic tales to life for modern readers in the middle of the twentieth century. His groundbreaking work was the first time that most readers had ever encountered the lives and teachings of these profound and enigmatic spiritual masters from Eastern Europe.

In "Hasidic Tales: Annotated & Explained, " Rabbi Rami Shapiro breathes new life into these classic stories of people who so marvelously combined the mystical and the ordinary. Each demonstrates the spiritual power of unabashed joy, offers lessons for leading a holy life, and reminds you that the Divine can be found in the everyday. Without an expert guide, the allegorical quality of Hasidic Tales can be perplexing. But Shapiro presents them as stories rather than parables, making them accessible and meaningful. Now you can experience the wisdom of Hasidism firsthand even if you have no previous knowledge of Jewish spirituality. This SkyLight Illuminations edition offers insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that explains theological concepts, introduces major characters, offers clarifying references unfamiliar to most readers, and reveals how you can use the Hasidic tales to further your own spiritual awakening.

Open your heart and mind and discover through the sacred art of lovingkindness the image and likeness of God in yourself and others.

"The question at the heart of this book is this: Will you engage this moment with kindness or with cruelty, with love or with fear, with generosity or scarcity, with a joyous heart or an embittered one? This is your choice and no one can make it for you . Heaven and hell are both inside of you. It is your choice that determines just where you reside. from the Introduction

We are all born in the image of God, but living out the likeness of God is a choice. This inspiring, practical guidebook provides you with the tools you need to realize the divinity within yourself, recognize the divinity within others, and act on the obligation to manifest God s infinite compassion in your own life.

Guided by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, you will explore Judaism s Thirteen Attributes of Lovingkindness as the framework for cultivating a life of goodness. Shapiro translates these attributes into practices drawn from the teachings of a variety of faith traditions that allow you to actualize God s glory through personal deeds of lovingkindness. You will enrich your own capacity for lovingkindness as you: Harvest kindness through compassionate honesty Make room in your heart for reality Recognize the manifestations of God Embrace the paradoxical truth of not-knowing Be present in the moment Do right by others

With candor, wit, and honesty, Shapiro shows you that by choosing to act out of love rather than fear, with kindness rather than anger, you can transform how you perceive the world and ultimately lead a more complete spiritual life.

The pure and penetrating message of the Divine Feminine - Wisdom - can become a companion for your own spiritual journey The first of God's creations and God's endless delight, Wisdom (also known as Chochma and Sophia) is the Mother of all life, the guide to right living - She is God manifest in the world you encounter moment to moment. Her teachings, embedded in the Holy Scriptures of Jews and Christians, are passionate, powerful calls to live in harmony, love with integrity and act joyously. Through the Hebrew books of Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and Job, and the Wisdom literature books of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon, the Divine Feminine speaks to you directly, and Her only desire is to teach you to become wise. Rami Shapiro's contemporary translations and powerful commentaries clarify who Wisdom is, what She teaches, and how Her words can help you live justly, wisely and with compassion. This is not a book about Wisdom but the voice of Wisdom Herself, liberating, uplifting and compelling. Now you can experience the Divine Feminine and understand Her teachings with no previous knowledge of Wisdom literature. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents insightful commentary that explains Sophia's way of wisdom and illustrates the countless opportunities to experience Her creative energy through which God fashions all things.