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

An accessible introduction to the Jewish concept of our responsibility to care for others and repair the world. For everyone who wants to understand the meaning and significance of tikkun olam (repairing the world) in Jewish spiritual life, this book shows the way into an essential aspect of Judaism and allows you to interact directly with the sacred texts of the Jewish tradition. Guided by Dr. Elliot N. Dorff, Rector and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Judaism, this comprehensive introduction explores the roots of the beliefs and laws that are the basis of the Jewish commitment to improve the world. It looks at the various motivations that the sacred texts provide for caring for others, the ways the Jewish tradition seeks to foster such concerns in our social and family relationships, and the kind of society that Jews should strive to create as partners with God. What tikkun olam is. Ancient idea? New concept? The underlying theory has developed over time and branched into related terms and concepts that Judaism has used over thousands of years to describe the duties we now identify as acts of tikkun loam. Why we engage in acts of tikkun loam. Reasons include, but go far beyond, a general humanitarian feeling that we might have or the hope that if we help others, others will be there to help us. How we repair the world. The concrete expressions of tikkun olam in our families, our communities, the wider Jewish community, and the world at large help shape one of the most important aspects of the Jewish tradition. By illuminating Judaism's understanding of the components of an ideal world, and the importance of justice, compassion, education, piety, social and familial harmony and enrichment, and physical flourishing for both the individual and society, we see how this ancient quest for a world with all these elements helps us define Jewish identity and mission today.

This study explores the real - as against the ideal - social, political, and religious status of women in Palestinian Judaism of Hellenistic and Roman periods. This investigation concludes that extreme religious groups in Judaism of the period influences other groups, classes, and factions to tighten their control of women. They also encouraged an understanding of ideal relationships between men and women, represented in the literature and the legal codes of the time that required increasing chastity. Despite this, the lives of real women and their relationships to men continued to be varied and nuances. This book integrates both Jewish and Early Christian sources together with a feminist critique. It is the most comprehensive work of this sort published thus far and offers a vast repository of relevant material, as well as a fresh interpretation.

Even before its original publication in 1860, the Mei HaShiloach was attacked by Hasidic groups in Poland; attempts were even made to sabotage the press on which it was being printed. Izbicy is sometimes referred to as 'New Age Hasidism', a tribute to its radical modernity. Rabbi Mordechai Yosef stressed personal responsibility in attaining true spiritual growth and self-knowledge. Throughout the Mei HaShiloach one finds strong currents compelling us to focus on our selfhood, individuation, truth, identity, and transcendence, and inviting us to re-examine our sin, failure, and despair in the light of his unique and radical philosophy. In his reading of the personalities in the Biblical narratives, the Izbicy explores their choices, doubts, and compulsions in a way that seems startling modern, and was extraordinary for its time - and even for ours. He devoted uncommon attention to emotions, human relationships, and intimacy.Rabbi Worch’s meticulously annotated translation opens up all the nuances of Rabbi Mordechai Yosef’s elusive world, providing full access to his weltanschauung. This translation empowers the reader to enter the Mei HaShiloach on its many different levels - intellectual, emotional, and psychological.

"A history of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) from its founding in 1936 through 2016. Among the topics covered are the WJC's role during World War II; the WJC's contribution to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg; post-WWII attitudes to and relationships with Jews living in Germany; the WJC's relationship and interaction with the State of Israel; the WJc's role and impact at the United Nations; the WJC's diplomatic efforts on behalf of North African Jewry during the 1950's and 1960's; materialization of the Holocaust at Auschwitz-Birkenau; the WJC's role in launching the Jewish-Vatican dialogue; advocacy on behalf of Soviet Jewry; the WJC's role in the campaign to repeal the UN's "Zionism is Racism" resolution; forcing Swiss banks to disgorge Holocaust-era assets belonging to Jews; the Kurt Walheim Affair; the WJC's interaction with communist countries; the WJC's role regarding terrorist attacks on Jewish institutions in Buenos Aires; the World Jewish Congress today; and WJC President Ronald S. Lauder's vision of the Jewish future"--