This collection of commentaries, written during the recent Gaza war as it unfolded, represents an attempt of one Jew on behalf of Jews of Conscience everywhere, to come to grips with the state of Israel as it is rather than what it purports to be. Though written from a geographic distance, one feels the pain Palestinians experienced as a challenge to Jewish history. Have Jews survived the Holocaust only to recreate scenes of horror Israel now visits upon the Palestinian people? Or is there a way forward for Jews and Palestinians beyond mutual recrimination, displacement and war? Using the burning children of the Holocaust as the core of Jewish ethical post-Holocaust life, these commentaries ask Jews, the state of Israel and all those in solidarity with Jews and Jewish history to hold Israel accountable for its assault on Gaza and provide a vehicle for a future where Jews and Palestinians live together in justice and peace.

In Peter Maurin: Prophet in the Twentieth Century , Marc H. Ellis traces Maurin's life from his early years--as peasant, brother, and Catholic activist--through his meeting with Dorothy Day. Ellis' Chronicle focuses on the consequences of that meeting: the founding of the Catholic Worker movement and newspaper, the founding of hospitality, the farming communes. Peter Maurin: Prophet in the Twentieth Century is the first biography to really examine Maurin's thought. A commitment to non-violent reform and to a life of poverty were chief tenets of Maurin's philosophy; it was Maurin's notion that farmers and scholars would labor and learn together in the ideal world. Ellis discusses these and other ideas of Maurin, their development and their particular importance today.

In volume one of this multi-volume series, Marc Ellis explores the essence of the prophetic by intertwining the context of ordinary life and the explosive reality of Jewish identity, the Holocaust and Israel-Palestine. But Ellis's prophetic challenge extends to people of all faiths and backgrounds. For Jews, Christians and Muslims, where does the prophetic come from and how do we define it? Is the heartbeat of the prophetic, God or our own commitment? In our time where belief in God is more difficult does the prophetic suggest only the possibility of God? With or without God is the prophetic worth the suffering that comes the exile's way? Ellis's unfolding narration of the prophetic is unique and probing for those who take life, justice and faith seriously. ""Marc Ellis has demonstrated great courage, integrity, and insight in the very important work he has been doing for years. It has been an inspiration for all of us."" Noam Chomsky ""Marc Ellis is a brilliant writer, a deeply thoughtful and courageous mind, an intellectual who has broken the death-hold of mindless tradition and unreflective cliche to produce a superb account of post-Holocaust understanding with particular reference to the Palestinian people and the moral obligation of Israeli and diaspora Jews. He is a man to be listened to with respect and admiration."" Edward Said ""Anytime I think of my brother Marc Ellis, I think of quiet dignity, spiritual integrity, moral consistency, fierce fortitude, and an unstoppable determination to tell the truth, expose lies, and bear witness."" Cornel West Marc H. Ellis is retired University Professor of Jewish Studies and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Baylor University. He is the author and editor of more than twenty books including Toward a Jewish Theology of Liberation, Unholy Alliance: Religion and Atrocity in Our Time a, Future of the Prophetic: Israel's Ancient Wisdom Re-Presented and, Burning Children: A Jewish View of the War in Gaza. Professor Ellis's writings have been translated into more than a dozen languages and he has lectured around the world. Currently he is writing an almost daily commentary series, Exile and the Prophetic, which can be found at mondoweiss.net.

This book of photographs, accompanied by poetic insights, shed light on our search for meaning in the contemporary world. The backdrop is exile, that ancient and modern reality that afflicts many in our search for justice and compassion. Whether our leave-taking is geographic, political, cultural or religious, exile is our plight. The prophetic, our difficult guide, is also our companion. Those in exile find hope in what the author calls the New Diaspora, the community whose exiles gather and find new life. The New Diaspora seeks a vision of beauty amid the ruins, hope among despair. Walking the beach of Cape Canaveral and traveling to troubled spots around the world, the author's images of the New Diaspora are startling. We are encouraged to reflect on our own journey and join our prophetic exile with others around the world.