The title of political theorist Alan L. Mittleman's captivating new book is drawn from the patriarch Jacob's blessing to his children and grandchildren. The blessing contains the promise that Judah will become a royal house, perhaps forever. Kings, of course, ceased in Israel, but politics did not. Regime replaced regime. National independence was compromised and lost, regained and lost again. Yet the attention to things political was never lost. Old texts were applied to new political realities. Political awareness and thought, constantly transformed and adapted to new historical exigencies, persisted among the Jews. In The Scepter Shall Not Depart from Judah , Mittleman looks at some of the central problems of political philosophy-such as fundamental rights and the common good-from the point of view of rabbinic Judaism. At the same time, he considers conceptual issues in Judaism-such as covenant and tradition-from the perspective of political philosophy. Mittleman's sources range from the ancient rabbis to contemporary political theorists, making this volume an important one for courses and research in both Jewish studies and political theory.

This groundbreaking book, developed with a grant from the Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Institute for Interreligious Understanding of the American Jewish Committee, is a stepping stone to dialogue. Descended from a common ancestor, Jews and Muslims share a special relationship and practice religions that exhibit remarkable moral and theological resemblance. But most Muslims know little about Judaism. In his volume, Rabbi Firestone presents Judaism with a Muslim sensibility in mind, and thus establishes unprecedented intimacy between Jewish and Muslim consciousness and worldviews. His work is the first of its kind to offer a comprehensive introduction to Judaism with a special emphasis on issues of particular concern to Muslims. A publication of the Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding of the American Jewish Committee.

"Suppose there is something going on in the universe which is to ordinary, everyday reality as our unconcious is to our daily lives? Softly, but unmistakably guiding it. Most of the time, we are unaware of it. Yet, every now and then, on account of some 'fluke, ' we are startled by the results of its presence. We realize we have been part of something with neither consciousness nor consent. It is so sweet--and then it is gone. You say, 'But I don't believe in God.' And I ask, 'What makes you think it matters to God?"' --from Lawrence Kushner, whose previous books have opened up new spiritual possibilities, now tells us stories in a new literary form. Through his everyday encounters with family, friends, colleagues and strangers, Kushner takes us deeply into our lives, finding flashes of spiritual insight in the process. Such otherwise ordinary moments as fighting with his children, shopping for bargain basement clothes, or just watching a movie are revealed to be touchstones for the sacred. This is a book where literature meets spirituality, where the sacred meets the ordinary, and, above all, where people of all faiths, all backgrounds can meet one another and themselves. Kushner ties together the stories of our lives into a roadmap showing how everything "ordinary" is supercharged with meaning--if we can just see it.

In recent years, the high rate of intermarriage and other demographic factors have created a challenge for American Jewry: How can rabbis, policy planners, educators, and parents transmit most effectively Jewish religion, culture, and values to their children? Prior research shows that Jewish education is the one area in which communal leaders and lay people can act to make a positive difference in the future cultural transmission of Judaism. Family Matters offers groundbreaking essays on Jewish education by scholars drawn from anthropology, education, history, and sociology. Essays by Steven M. Cohen, Sylvia Barack Fishman, Shaul Kelner, Jeffrey S. Kress, Alex Pomson, Riv-Ellen Prell, and Jack Wertheimer range from interviews about educational decisions with families, teenagers, and Jewish educators to sweeping new statistical data about the actual state of Jewish education in American cities. Making new links among parents, community, and Jewish schools, Family Matters is a vital study in the sociology of the contemporaryAmerican Jewish community.

Presents brief stories of fourteen women who are mentioned in the Old Testament, including Eve, Ruth, Hagar, and Deborah.

A window into the Jewish idea of responsibility to care for the world--written especially for Christians. The concept of repairing the world (tikkun olam) is an integral part of Jewish life. It helps shape Jewish social and family relationships, and even mandates how Jews should speak to others. But why is it important for Christians to understand this Jewish approach to life? And what kind of impact can understanding this fundamental aspect of Judaism have on Christians seeking to develop a deeper understanding of their own faith? With insight and wisdom, award-winning author Rabbi Elliot Dorff provides an accessible, honest and thorough exploration of this important Jewish concept. With easy-to-understand explanations of Jewish terms, practices and history, each chapter explores a different facet touched by the tradition of tikkun olam. Rabbi Dorff also addresses parallel themes and practices in the Christian tradition, helping you better understand the roots of Christianity and how the fundamentals of Judaism relate and reflect your own aspirations to repair the world. Caring for the Poor The Power of Words The Ministry of Presence Duties of Spouses to Each Other Children's Duties to Their Parents Parent's Duties to Their Children The Traditional Jewish Vision of the Ideal World

Mention 1492 and most people conjure up images of three stout ships making their way west. But 1492 was the year in which the vibrant Jewish community of Spain came to an abrupt and tragic end. This book details the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal and their early immigration to the New World. European anti-Semitism followed the Jews but the newcomers persevered and made a home for themselves in the New World. Starred Review and Editor’s Choice, Booklist, NCCS/CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book and American Bookseller Pick of the Lists, 1990.

A classic tale adopted to a modern setting. We all, children and adults alike, have different inner voices telling us what to do. In this episode, David, 8, is tasked with babysitting his baby sister while Mommy goes to the store. (Daddy is in the other room.) David hears his friends playing ball outdoors. David's Bad King tells him to join them. His Good King says no! He is torn even more when his friends call him out to join them! What will David do?! What would you do? Based on an ancient parable of "the wisest man who ever lived."

Now in paperback! Taking Hold of Torah Jewish Commitment and Community in America Arnold M. Eisen A personal meditation on the meaning of Judaism today and a vision for revitalizing Jewish community and tradition in America. "Arnold M. Eisen offers a personal plea for—and a vision of—the revitalizing of American Judaism through a renewed relationship to Jewish tradition and the strengthening of Jewish communities." —Jewish Book News "...required reading for Jewish communal professionals, [Taking Hold of Torah] spells out the discontents and dreams of the baby boomers and their children who are reinventing Jewish communal life for the modern world." —Jewish Exponent "Melding autobiography with biblical exegesis, philosophical speculation and a program for Jewish educational reform, the book is an unbuttoned riff on what's ailing modern Jews." —Forward "...a personal story of a modern Jew trying to make sense of Judaism in a time when Jews can choose whether and how to be Jewish...." —The Jewish Advocate Jews, like other Americans, have both benefitted and suffered from the fraying of traditional loyalties that has come to characterize modern American culture. In each of the five chapters, Arnold M. Eisen examines a major issue or theme related to his vision for the renewal of Jewish communities—in terms of one of the five books of the Torah. What is the meaning and purpose of Jewish tradition? What is the significance of faith and covenant? What are the contemporary uses of ritual? What should a new agenda for politics in American Jewish life include? What legacy is to be left to future generations? This encouraging work is essential reading for anyone concerned with questions of Jewish faith and the future of Judaism in America. Arnold M. Eisen is Professor and Chair of Religious Studies at Stanford University, a frequent speaker on issues related to contemporary Jewish life before lay and scholarly audiences throughout North America, and an active participant in communal discussions concerning the future of American Judaism. His publications include The Chosen People in America (Indiana University Press) and Rethinking Modern Judaism: Ritual, Commandment, Community, winner of a Koret Jewish Book Award. The Helen and Martin Schwartz Lectures in Jewish Studies Contents: Introduction 1. Genesis: Taking on Tradition 2. Exodus: History, Faith, and Covenant 3. Leviticus: Ritual and Community 4. Numbers: Politics in the Wilderness 5. Deuteronomy: Legacies

"Haggadah means "the telling." The escape from Egypt is the defining legend, the central drama of the Jews. Every nation coalesces around such an epic; its people project themselves into the story, aspire to the virtues of its heroes, and through periodic retelling or dramatization, transmit their values to the next generation. The traditional Haggadah offers a set of instructions for conducting the Passover service, interspersed with readings from the Bible, rabbinical commentaries, legends, prayers, hymns and children's songs. Written by men and addressing men, the traditional text has not historically offered much space for women to see themselves as fully involved in or spoken to by the powerful drama of human freedom articulated by the Haggadah. In Haggadah: A Celebration of Freedom, Martha Shelley brings a new vision to the traditional text."--Jacket.

A collection of stories celebrating the Jewish tradition in many different places and different times, some reconstructed from actual events, some based on tradition, and some fictional in form.

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.

Our Challenge, published in April 1974, offers a plan to infuse Jewish youth with an iron-clad sense of identity to make them impervious to modern Western influences and strong enough to overcome the weariness of an interminable struggle with the Arabs. Rabbi Kahane maintains that the State of Israel's foreign policy should include its role as the guardian of all Jews throughout the world. The government must realize that there are no permanent allies for Israel among the other nations. Jewish interests come first, no matter what the world may say. He wrote: The great tasks of our day are ... to define clearly and precisely the purpose and destiny of the Jewish people.... Our State must not seek merely to be like all the rest, but a distinctively Jewish one. The Jewish people stands or falls on the knowledge that it is NOT like other people... A review of the book by Rabbi Isaac L. Swift states that it shows "a serious mind grappling with problems of serious magnitude." 19 Professor Arnold Ages noted that Rabbi Kahane's "candor on the question of the Arabs in Israel is refreshing.... Kahane feels that Israel's future depends ultimately on the spiritual regeneration of the Israelis.... If this return to mitzvah Judaism is not accomplished, there is a danger that Israel's people will slip into the quagmire of leftist ideology which inevitably saps the life of a nation." The evaluation in Kirkus Reviews began: "When it comes to righteous wrath, Moses has nothing on Rabbi Kahane. The militant leader of the Jewish Defense League damns the "assimilationist rot" contaminating both young Israeli leftists and the children of Jews in the Diaspora. Strident and uncompromising, he hammers away at his fundamentalist precepts: divine ordinance guides Jewish destiny.... The Arabs are bent on the destruction of Israel; not an inch of the territory conquered in 1967 must be surrendered: only armed might can insure the political survival of the Jewish state." Ever since reading Ha'etgar, I've been amazed as events have proven, over and over, the extent of your foresight. You have a lot to contribute to the Israeli scene, if only as a catalyst.... It may take a while to get used to the Israeli mentality, but you have definitely touched a responsive chord. ... Besides the general need for spreading Jewish values, I think the most important problem you could tackle now is, once more, the problem of "Who is NOT a Jew" - the question of Arab residents of the State of Israel and your program for its solution.... The best thing is to take one issue and get people first to think about it.... Stepping on toes, even intellectual ones, gets action - You've already proven that. Choice, a journal for librarians, stated simply: ... This slim volume presents Kahane's views in their bluntest expression. He believes the Emancipation to have been a failure, trusts only Jewish self-defense, and predicts a coming wave of anti-Semitism in the U.S. Repudiated by the government of Israel and by large sectors of American Jewry, Kahane yet deals with real problems and issues.

This collection of tales offers an accessible and engaging introduction to Jewish history. With stories ranging from biblical times to modern day, Moss crafts an immersive narrative that highlights the struggles and triumphs of Jewish communities throughout the ages. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

When King Philip VI expelled the Jews in 1306, some 100,000 men, women, and children were driven from royal France into the neighboring lands of Spain, Provence, Italy, and North Africa. The great expulsion of 1306 was arguably one of the most traumatic moments of medieval Jewish history and would prove to be the harbinger of a series of recalls and expulsions, local and general, culminating in King Charles VI's expulsion decree of 1394. Despite the upheavals of the fourteenth century, the literary productivity of Jews was astonishing. Yet there are few direct references to the catastrophic events of 1306, even in Jewish liturgical and historiographic texts, where one would expect to find them. In No Place of Rest , Susan Einbinder coaxes out the literary traces of this traumatic expulsion. Why did the memory of this proud and vibrant Jewish community fade from historical memory? Where do its remnants reside among later communities and readers? From the lyrics of the supposed "Jewish troubadour" Isaac HaGorni to medical texts and astronomical charts, Einbinder studies a range of writings she reveals to be commemorative. Her careful readings uncover the ways in which medieval Jews asserted their identity in exile and, perhaps more important, helped to preserve or efface their history.

The Gospel of John presents its readers, listeners, and interpreters with a serious problem: how can we reconcile the Gospel's exalted spirituality and deep knowledge of Judaism with its portrayal of the Jews as the children of the devil (John 8:44) who persecuted Christ and his followers? One widespread solution to this problem is the so-called "expulsion hypothesis." According to this view, the Fourth Gospel was addressed to a Jewish group of believers in Christ that had been expelled from the synagogue due to their faith. The anti-Jewish elements express their natural resentment of how they had been treated; the Jewish elements of the Gospel, on the other hand, reflect the Jewishness of this group and also soften the force of the Gospel's anti-Jewish comments. In Cast out of the Covenant, this book, Adele Reinhartz presents a detailed critique of the expulsion hypothesis on literary and historical grounds. She argues that, far from softening the Gospel's anti-Jewishness, the Gospel's Jewish elements in fact contribute to it. Focusing on the Gospel's persuasive language and intentions, Reinhartz shows that the Gospel's anti-Jewishness is evident not only in the Gospel's hostile comments about the Jews but also in its appropriation of Torah, Temple, and Covenant that were so central to first-century Jewish identity. Through its skillful use of rhetoric, the Gospel attempts to convince its audience that God's favor had turned away from the Jews to the Gentiles; that there is a deep rift between the synagogue and those who confess Christ as Messiah; and that, in the Gospel's view, this rift was initiated in Jesus' own lifetime. The Fourth Gospel, Reinhartz argues, appropriates Jewishness at the same time as it repudiates Jews. In doing so, it also promotes a "parting of the ways" between those who believe that Jesus is the messiah, the Son of God, and those who do not, that is, the Jews. This rhetorical program, she suggests, may have been used to promote outreach or even an organized mission to the Gentiles, following in the footsteps of Paul and his mid-first-century contemporaries.

According to the account in the Book of Exodus, God addresses the children of Israel as they stand before Mt. Sinai with the words, "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (19:6). The sentence, Martha Himmelfarb observes, is paradoxical, for priests are by definition a minority, yet the meaning in context is clear: the entire people is holy. The words also point to some significant tensions in the biblical understanding of the people of Israel. If the entire people is holy, why does it need priests? If membership in both people and priesthood is a matter not of merit but of birth, how can either the people or its priests hope to be holy? How can one reconcile the distance between the honor due the priest and the actual behavior of some who filled the role? What can the people do to make itself truly a kingdom of priests? Himmelfarb argues that these questions become central in Second Temple Judaism. She considers a range of texts from this period, including the Book of Watchers , the Book of Jubilees , legal documents from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the writings of Philo of Alexandria, and the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and goes on to explore rabbinic Judaism's emphasis on descent as the primary criterion for inclusion among the chosen people of Israel—a position, she contends, that took on new force in reaction to early Christian disparagement of the idea that mere descent from Abraham was sufficient for salvation.

Throughout history the heritage of faith has been conveyed within the family and the congregation. In the New Covenant, the primary expression of spiritual life is the congregation, under godly elders, teaching, exhortation, and discipline. However, the first institution in the Bible is the family and only the family can raise children with an adequate appreciation of our faith and heritage. This guide exists to help families learn how to pass on the heritage of spiritual Messianic Jewish life. It is not an exhaustive or fully adequate guide, but is one that each family should complement with their own creativity.

A collection of sixteen poems, by twelve contemporary authors, celebrating Jewish holidays such as Yom Kippur and Purim.

"Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is Shabbos..." (Exodus 20;9-10) The sages explain that each and every day's labor has a special connection to the upcoming Shabbos. My Jewish Days of the Week is a fun-filled journey toward the best day of all. It begins with a family Sunday spent in the garden, a busy Monday spent at school, and ends with Thursday grocery shopping and Friday cooking and cleaning. All week long, the characters prepare for the experience of ushering in and observing Shabbos. The catchy rhymes and old-world illustrations portray everyday life as a joyous adventure for toddlers. Naturally, Shabbos itself is given top billing as: a go-to-shul and walking day a story-telling, talking day a friend and neighbor meeting day a yummy challah-eating day! The text is set in a large clear font, and a glossary explains any words that may be unfamiliar to some of the readers. As an added bonus, a beautiful chart at the end of the book reviews all the days of the week in both English and Hebrew.