An eminent anthropologist examines the foundings of the first celibate Buddhist monasteries among the Sherpas of Nepal in the early twentieth century--a religious development that was a major departure from "folk" or "popular" Buddhism. Sherry Ortner is the first to integrate social scientific and historical modes of analysis in a study of the Sherpa monasteries and one of the very few to attempt such an account for Buddhist monasteries anywhere. Combining ethnographic and oral historical methods, she scrutinizes the interplay of political and cultural factors in the events culminating in the foundings. Her work constitutes a major advance both in our knowledge of Sherpa Buddhism and in the integration of anthropological and historical modes of analysis. At the theoretical level, the book contributes to an emerging theory of "practice", an explanation of the relationship between human intentions and actions on the one hand, and the structures of society and culture that emerge from and feed back upon those intentions and actions on the other. It will appeal not only to the increasing number of anthropologists working on similar problems but also to historians anxious to discover what anthropology has to offer to historical analysis. In addition, it will be essential reading for those interested in Nepal, Tibet, the Sherpa, or Buddhism in general.

The pioneering anthropologist Sherry B. Ortner combines her trademark ethnographic expertise with critical film interpretation to explore the independent film scene in New York and Los Angeles since the late 1980s. Not Hollywood is both a study of the lived experience of that scene and a critical examination of America as seen through the lenses of independent filmmakers. Based on interviews with scores of directors and producers, Ortner reveals the culture and practices of indie filmmaking, including the conviction of those involved that their films, unlike Hollywood movies, are "telling the truth" about American life. These films often illuminate the dark side of American society through narratives about the family, the economy, and politics in today's neoliberal era. Offering insightful interpretations of many of these films, Ortner argues that during the past three decades independent American cinema has functioned as a vital form of cultural critique

Clifford Geertz is one of the foremost figures in the reconfiguration of the boundary between the social sciences and the humanities in the second half of the twentieth century. Expanding the power and complexity of the anthropological concept of culture, his work is both foundational to, and in critical counterpoint with, that vast interdisciplinary spectrum of scholarship known today as "cultural studies." This book brings together seven leading scholars from four disciplines to take a fresh look at Geertz's work, and to consider the continuing implications of his work in the contemporary context. Framed by an important introduction by anthropologist Sherry B. Ortner, the articles cover such topics as seventeenth-century English ghosts, Jewish merchants in early capitalism, Egyptian women in the age of television, and the role of Sherpas in Himalayan mountaineering, as well as such methodological issues as the place of emotional empathy and "complicity" in ethnographic fieldwork, and the mutual illumination of culture and history. Clifford Geertz is one of the foremost figures in the reconfiguration of the boundary between the social sciences and the humanities in the second half of the twentieth century. Expanding the power and complexity of the anthropological concept of culture, his work is both foundational to, and in critical counterpoint with, that vast interdisciplinary spectrum of scholarship known today as "cultural studies." This book brings together seven leading scholars from four disciplines to take a fresh look at Geertz's work, and to consider the continuing implications of his work in the contemporary context. Framed by an important introduction by anthropologist Sherry B. Ortner, the articles cover such topics as seventeenth-century English ghosts, Jewish merchants in early capitalism, Egyptian women in the age of television, and the role of Sherpas in Himalayan mountaineering, as well as such methodological issues as the place of emotional empathy and "complicity" in ethnographic fieldwork, and the mutual illumination of culture and history.

Humanistisches Judentum

A facsimile edition of the celebrated 1954 history of the Senators Shirley Povich's history of the Washington Senators originally appeared in 1954 as part of the popular series of major league team histories published by G. P. Putnam. With their colorful prose and delightful narratives, the Putnam books have been described as the Cadillac of the genre and have become prized collectibles for baseball readers and historians. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1901 as the Washington Senators. In 1905 the team changed its name to the Washington Nationals. However, fans and newspapers persisted in using the "Senators" nickname, and over time the use of "Nationals" faded and "Senators" reemerged as the team's official name. In their first nine seasons the Senators finished last four times and didn't climb above sixth place until 1912. The major catalysts in their rise were the ascendance to greatness of Walter Johnson, who emerged in 1910 as the American League's best pitcher, and the hiring of Clark Griffith as manager in 1912. Griffith pioneered in the use of relief pitchers and in signing Caribbean talent. Although the team's new respectability faded, the 1924 hiring of twenty seven-year-old Bucky Harris as player-manager brought instant results, with a surprise World Series Championship in Harris's first season at the helm. The club repeated as AL champions in 1925 and its best season came in 1933, when it captured the AL title with a team record 99-53 mark. The Senators had only four more winning seasons over the next twenty six years. Povich's unique insight as a Washington Post sportswriter led to thoughtful advice and comfort for the long-suffering Senators fans. Legends like Walter Johnson, Gabby Street, Bucky Harris, Roger Peckinpaugh, Sam Rice, Firpo Marberry, Joe Cronin, and Leon "Goose" Goslin fill these pages, and their colorful exploits are woven into the fabric of each season's story. Sure to be treasured by baseball lovers everywhere, The Washington Senators is another enjoyable addition to the Writing Sports Series.

This study in English of Hegel's political philosophy presents an overall view of the development of Hegel's political thinking. The author has drawn on Hegel's philosophical works, his political tracts and his personal correspondence. Professor Avineri shows that although Hegel is primarily thought of as a philosopher of the state, he was much concerned with social problems and his concept of the state must be understood in this context.

"The acclaimed and controversial historian turns his critical gaze on the writing of history today. Drawing on his four decades as a professional historian, Shlomo Sand interrogates the academic discipline of history, whose origin lay in the need for a national ideology. In the last few decades, traditional history has begun to fragment, yet only to give rise to a new role of historians as priests of official memory. Working in Israel has sharpened Sand's perspective, since the role of history as national myth is particularly salient in a country where the Bible is treated as a history book. He asks such questions as: Is every historical narrative ideologically marked? Do political requirements and state power weigh down inordinately on historical research and teaching? And, in such conditions, can there be a morally neutral and 'scientific' truth? Despite his trenchant criticism of academic history, Sand would still like to believe that the past can be understood without myth, and sees pointers for this in the work of Weber and Sorel."--Publisher's description

Israeli Nobel Laureate S.Y. Agnon's famous masterpiece, his novel Only Yesterday, here appears in English translation for the first time. Published in 1945, the book tells a seemingly simple tale about a man who immigrates to Palestine with the Second Aliya--the several hundred idealists who returned between 1904 and 1914 to work the Hebrew soil as in Biblical times and revive Hebrew culture. Only Yesterday quickly became recognized as a monumental work of world literature, but not only for its vivid historical reconstruction of Israel's founding society. This epic novel also engages the reader in a fascinating network of meanings, contradictions, and paradoxes all leading to the question, what, if anything, controls human existence? Seduced by Zionist slogans, young Isaac Kumer imagines the Land of Israel filled with the financial, social, and erotic opportunities that were denied him, the son of an impoverished shopkeeper, in Poland. Once there, he cannot find the agricultural work he anticipated. Instead Isaac happens upon house-painting jobs as he moves from secular, Zionist Jaffa, where the ideological fervor and sexual freedom are alien to him, to ultra-orthodox, anti-Zionist Jerusalem. While some of his Zionist friends turn capitalist, becoming successful merchants, his own life remains adrift and impoverished in a land torn between idealism and practicality, a place that is at once homeland and diaspora. Eventually he marries a religious woman in Jerusalem, after his worldly girlfriend in Jaffa rejects him. Led astray by circumstances, Isaac always ends up in the place opposite of where he wants to be, but why? The text soars to Surrealist-Kafkaesque dimensions when, in a playful mode, Isaac drips paint on a stray dog, writing "Crazy Dog" on his back. Causing panic wherever he roams, the dog takes over the story, until, after enduring persecution for so long without "understanding" why, he really does go mad and bites Isaac. The dog has been interpreted as everything from the embodiment of Exile to a daemonic force, and becomes an unforgettable character in a book about the death of God, the deception of discourse, the power of suppressed eroticism, and the destiny of a people depicted in all its darkness and promise.

Where was the hand of G-d on 9/11?Was G-d absent from Poland in the 1940s?Does pain make us into more sensitive people?Is a person who questions G-d still righteous?Rabbi Shmuley Boteach tackles the ultimate, timeless questions that go to the heart of the human condition and arrives at some surprising answers.Drawing on numerous confrontations with God from the Bible, and using examples of appalling suffering from todays headlines, Rabbi Shmuley argues forcibly against Rabbi Harold Kushner s best-selling Why Bad Things Happen to Good People and boldly guides us to the conclusion that challenging God and His actions is not just our right but our foremost obligation as human beings. This revolutionary book turns millennia of mistaken belief on its head, providing a concrete action plan for emboldening ourselves against victimhood. If life has ever defeated you, or if you have ever felt let down by G-d, this is the book for you.

The stories in "Jewish Children" likely capture the joys, struggles, and everyday experiences of Jewish children growing up in the shtetls (Jewish villages) of Eastern Europe. Aleichem's writing often combines humor, warmth, and poignant observations about family, community, and tradition. The collection may include tales of mischief, friendship, and coming-of-age moments, as well as reflections on the unique cultural and religious heritage of Jewish communities. Aleichem's characters are typically colorful and memorable, offering readers insights into the rich tapestry of Jewish life and culture. Through "Jewish Children," Sholem Aleichem likely invites readers to immerse themselves in the world of Jewish childhood, where laughter and tears, dreams and aspirations, mingle against the backdrop of a changing world. The collection serves as a tribute to the resilience, humor, and enduring spirit of Jewish children throughout history.

Book by Aleichem, Sholem

B B C correspondent David Mazower (Sholem Asch's great-grandson) described THE GOD OF VENGEANCE as "admired, translated, parodied, panned, banned, prosecuted, withdrawn, forgotten, revived, celebrated." An international sensation after its 1907 world premiere in Berlin at Max Reinhard's Deutsches Theater, Asch's play quickly became the first Yiddish drama performed in translation across Europe and America. Notoriety was a key part of its success. Nearly every production sparked some level of controversy due to the script's conflicting themes of hypocrisy and religious faith, rebellion and tradition, its brothel setting, graphic domestic violence, "gutter poetry" reminiscent of Wedekind, and an unprecedented erotic scene of lesbian seduction. This pre-Holocaust drama is today circumscribed by a very different post-Holocaust world, but THE GOD OF VENGEANCE remains one of the great urban dramas of the Yiddish Theatre repertoire.

Who knew kosher sex could be so sexy? Esther is a rabbi's daughter, a rabbi's wife, a teacher, and the mother of three young children. She is also more than a little fascinated with the young couple who live in the apartment across from hers. When, late one night, she accidentally witnesses her neighbors having sex, Esther's life is turned upside down. Hit by a sudden and inescapable sexual awakening, Esther must navigate the chaos that pursues her marriage, her husband and, most of all, herself. Welcome to Shosha Pearl's world of Orthodox Jewish erotic romance, where the characters are religiously observant and the sexy parts conform with Jewish laws on love and relationships. But don't be fooled, that still leaves a lot of scope for the imagination. Want to read more Shosha Pearl? Just head over to www.shoshapearl.com for more.

This autobiographical analysis of the many difficult issues, dilemmas, choices, and adjustments involved in becoming a social scientist highlights the strengths and limitations of two principal research methods: survey research and participant observation. It emphasizes how these research methods are actually experienced, in contrast to how they are ideally described in texts.

Shulamith Hareven reflects on a life of political activism and cultural production in this volume of essays, The Vocabulary of Peace . In her soberly intelligent and staunchly human voice, Hareven looks at the Jewish society of her day and at its relations with Arabs inside and outside its borders. Critical of nationalistic ideology and its tendency to become national policy, she argues for an approach that respects both its past and its neighbors. Broaching topics from the nature of the Hebrew language to the dangers of mythologizing reality, while incorporating sketches of Israeli and Palestinian life, Hareven makes a case for changing the words we use to talk about peace. Shulamith Hareven (1930-2003) was born in Warsaw, Poland, and arrived in pre-state Israel in 1940, living in Jerusalem. She served in the Haganah underground, as a combat-medic during the siege of Jerusalem, and an officer in Operations in the Israeli Defense Forces. She reported from the front lines of the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War. During the First Intifada, she spent time in Palestinian refugee camps, publishing eyewitness reports in the Israeli press. She was the first woman member to be elected to the Academy of the Hebrew Language, and was a longtime member of Peace Now. She wrote in a variety of genres, and her work has been translated into twenty-one languages.

Organizing is a dynamic guide to uniting people for change and helping people work together to get things done. It describes how to influence power structures, how to become successful organizers and fundraisers, and how to effect social change through grassroots organization and mobilization. Special Features * Distinguishes practicality and theory * Presents step-by-step guidelines for change * Provides a framework for multiracial organizing Also available: Effectively Managing Nonprofit Organizations - ISBN 087101369X Changing Hats While Managing Change: From Social Work Practice to Administration - ISBN 0871013614 NASW Press NASW Press, a division of National Association of Social Workers (NASW), is a leading scholarly press in the social sciences. We serve faculty, practitioners, agencies, libraries, clinicians, and researchers throughout the United States and abroad. Known for attracting expert authors, the NASW Press delivers professional information to hundreds of thousands of readers through its scholarly journals, books, and reference works. Some of the areas we publish in include: -Social work in the field of aging -Models of social work -Social work with children and adolescents -Ethics in social work -Community organization -Professional development

The witty American comic offers a frank, personal view of the triumphs and tragedies of his entertainment career and private life, focusing, in particular, on his long and difficult recovery from alcoholism

Entries in McBroom's almanac include farm tips, how-to's, McProverbs, nature lore, cartoons, and McBroom's Calendar of Important Dates.