A unique memoir that interweaves poetry, narrative, meditation, and social history, A Spiritual Life explores the complex facets of a Jewish woman's spiritual coming-of-age, capturing the emotional and spiritual reality of contemporary Jews as well as religious seekers of all types. From the experiences of early childhood, to the spiritual awakening of a secular adolescent encountering Jewish tradition, to the alternately funny and searing tales of new-found independence, early married life, young motherhood, and midlife, Feld comments with remarkable honesty and clarity on the many stages of spiritual and artistic exploration and growth. Overarching all these accounts is the picture of how the cycle of the Jewish calendar year comes to provide an ever-renewing source of sustenance for the author's deepening spiritual expression.

The work emphasizes recent decades, and includes prayers, poems, ethical wills, sermons, sisterhood minutes, excerpts from women's organizational handbooks, and speeches to Jewish women's organizations.

In all the command positions that he held, General Elazar Stern knew that the role of the Israel Defense Forces was not limited solely to achieving victory on the battlefield. Many of the tasks that he undertook in over three decades of service to his country required moral courage whether it was initiating conversion courses in the IDF, laying down a hard line against disobeying orders during the evacuation of Gush Katif, or taking a stand against draft dodgers and Stern was well aware that public courage has its price. In Struggling Over Israel's Soul, General Stern tells the story of his personal battles the battles for the character and future of the IDF as the army of the people and for the character and future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. He candidly describes the challenges and difficulties of a being a religious soldier in a unit of non-religious soldiers, yet he openly opposes the continued service of religious soldiers in separate units. He explains why he was required to rewrite the IDF s ethical code and reveals his revolutionary plan to solve the problem of ultra-Orthodox army exemptions. This honest and frank insider s look at the Israel Defense Forces will inspire you and show you a glimpse of the true face of Israel and why Israel is worth fighting for.

A fresh account of the medieval mystic, traveling pilgrim, and pioneering memoirist Margery Kempe. This is a new account of the medieval mystic and pilgrim Margery Kempe. Kempe, who had fourteen children, traveled all over Europe and recorded a series of unusual events and religious visions in her work The Book of Margery Kempe, which is often called the first autobiography in the English language. Anthony Bale charts Kempe's life and tells her story through the places, relationships, objects, and experiences that influenced her. Extensive quotations from Kempe's Book accompany generous illustrations, giving a fascinating insight into the life of a medieval woman. Margery Kempe is situated within the religious controversies of her time, and her religious visions and later years put in context. And lastly, Bale tells the extraordinary story of the rediscovery, in the 1930s, of the unique manuscript of her autobiography.