When Harold Kushner’s three-year-old son was diagnosed with a degenerative disease and that he would only live until his early teens, he was faced with one of life’s most difficult questions: Why, God? Years later, Rabbi Kushner wrote this straightforward, elegant contemplation of the doubts and fears that arise when tragedy strikes. Kushner shares his wisdom as a rabbi, a parent, a reader, and a human being. Often imitated but never superseded, When Bad Things Happen to Good People is a classic that offers clear thinking and consolation in times of sorrow. Since its original publication in 1981, When Bad Things Happen to Good People has brought solace and hope to millions of readers and its author has become a nationally known spiritual leader.

It is one of the curiosities of history that the most remarkable novel about Jews and Judaism, predicting the establishment of the Jewish state, should have been written in 1876 by a non-Jew - a Victorian woman and a formidable intellectual, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest of English novelists. And it is still more curious that Daniel Deronda , George Eliot's last novel, should have been dismissed, by many of her admirers at the time and by some critics since, as something of an anomaly, an inexplicable and unfortunate turn in her life and work. Yet Eliot herself was passionately committed to that novel, having prepared herself for it by an extraordinary feat of scholarly research in five languages (including Hebrew), exploring the ancient, medieval, and modern sources of Jewish history. Three years later, to reenforce that commitment, she wrote an essay, the very last of her writing, reaffirming the heritage of the Jewish "nation" and the desirability of a Jewish state - this well before the founders of Zionism had conceived of that mission. Why did this Victorian novelist, born a Christian and an early convert to agnosticism, write a book so respectful of Judaism and so prescient about Zionism? And why at a time when there were no pogroms or persecutions to provoke her? What was the general conception of the "Jewish question," and how did Eliot reinterpret that "question," for her time as well as ours? Gertrude Himmelfarb, a leading Victorian scholar, has undertaken to unravel the mysteries of Daniel Deronda . And the mysteries of Eliot herself: a novelist who deliberately wrote a book she knew would bewilder many of her readers, a distinguished woman who opposed the enfranchisement of women, a moralist who flouted the most venerable of marital conventions - above all, the author of a novel that is still an inspiration or provocation to readers and critics alike.

The guiding theme of psychotherapist Karlfried Dürckheim’s work is that one can become "transparent to transcendence.” An early Western authority on Zen, he was one of the first to bring its methods to Europe. Incorporating Zen and depth psychology into his practice, Dürckheim was also one of the earliest transpersonal psychologists. His spiritual practice of combining Jung, Meister Eckhart, and Zazen proved to lead to moments of higher consciousness, which he described as "privileged moments.” In The Way of Transformation, one of his most concise and profound works, Dürckheim shows that once readers scrape away personal barriers and free the divine spark within, these radiant, life-altering occasions can occur at any time. His meditative approach to daily activities turns simple tasks such as making tea, posting a letter, or washing dishes into moments of new awareness: everyday life as a spiritual practice.

In this concluding volume of James the Brother of Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls II: The Damascus Code, the Tent of David, the New Covenant, and the Blood of Christ, renowned biblical scholar Robert Eisenman compresses in a more reader-friendly format the results of previous work, creating a more comprehensive picture of Jesus' brother James as "the pivotal Opposition Leader" of the time leading up to the War against Rome (66-70 CE). Is there an interconnecting code between the New Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls? Eisenman - who broke the Scrolls monopoly and was the first to identify the so-called "James Ossuary" as fraudulent - shows that there is. Moreover, in this newly-revised volume, he 'decodes' many beloved and famous sayings of the Gospels, such as "Every plant which My Heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted," "A man shall not be known by what goes into his mouth but by what comes out of it," "Do not throw Holy Things to dogs," etc. including chapters like "The Dogs who Licked Poor Lazarus' Sores" or "Rabbi Eliezer's Bad Breath and Lazarus' Stinking Body." In identifying the Scrolls as the literature of "the Messianic Movement in Palestine"; he not only connects "James the Brother of Jesus" to the Leadership of 'Early Christianity' in Palestine, but also to "the Righteous Teacher" in the Scrolls. Offering a point-by-point analysis of James' relationship to the Habakkuk Commentary, The Damascus Document, The War Scroll, etc., he also illumines the subjects "the Pella Flight and raising the Fallen Tent of David," "Paul as an Herodian," "the Wilderness Camps," and "Peter"'s role as "a prototypical Essene" but in Acts as a mouthpiece for anti-Semitism. In doing so he, not only clarifies the true history of Palestine in the First Century, but deciphers the way 'the picture' of "Jesus" was put together in the Gospels and, as a consequence, what can be known about the real "Jesus." He also covers subjects like "the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus" and Paul's attack on James on the Temple steps, extending it to the competition between Paul and "the Party of James" over "Circumcision" in Antioch and the conversion of Queen Helen Adiabene and her sons in Northern Syria, who led the "famine relief" effort ascribed to Paul in Acts. Moreover, he will show the figure of James to have been so influential and highly-regarded in the Jerusalem of his day that his death was the capstone event leading up to the Jewish Revolt against Rome. In making these arguments and exposing actual 'overwrites', a crucial new point that emerges is his identification of the Qumran document called by scholars "MMT" as a 'Jamesian' Letter to "the Great King of the Peoples beyond the Euphrates." At the same time, he unravels the real "code" behind the pivotal New Testament allusion: "This is the Cup of the New Covenant in My Blood," connecting it to "the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus" and "giving the Cup of the Right Hand of the Lord ( "the Cup of Divine Wrath") to drink" in both the Damascus Document and Habakkuk Pesher in the Scrolls. Did Paul know the meaning of the famous Damascus Document (discovered in Cairo in the Nineteenth Century) "to set the Holy Things up according to their precise specifications" - or the reverse of it, as Peter is presented as being made to understand by "a Voice out of Heaven" and "a Tablecloth" descending out of it - "to make no distinctions between Holy and profane" - on a rooftop in Gaza? In this series, Eisenman's revelations will extend far beyond these examples. James the Brother of Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, both I and II, will complete the task of rescuing James from the oblivion into which he was cast, either intentionally or via benign neglect. His conclusion will, therefore, definitively bear on the problem of "the Historical Jesus" "Who and whatever James was, so was Jesus." Eisenman's many readers will not be disappointed.

Note to readers: The New Testament Code Companion only contains the newly revised endnotes; original pictures, genealogical charts, and maps from Robert Eisenman's classic work. This text is designed for those who wish a side-by-side comparative experience with the end materials as they read the original text. The New Testament Code Companion is only available in print. The material in this text is contained within the eBook edition of The New Testament Code. In The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant, and the Blood of Christ world-renowned scholar and bestselling author Robert Eisenman uncovers the Truth and unravels the real code behind New Testament allusions like "this is the Cup of the New Covenant in my blood" and connects them to "the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus" and "drinking the Cup of the Wrath of God" in the Dead Sea Scrolls. In doing so, Eisenman demonstrates the integral relationship of James the Brother of Jesus to the Righteous Teacher of the Dead Sea Scrolls, deciphers the way the picture of "Jesus" was put together in the Gospels, and clarifies the real history of Palestine in the first century and, as a consequence, what can be known about the real "Jesus." In paring away the traces of Greco-Roman anti-Semitism-which were deliberately introduced into "this picture" thereby tainting Western history ever since-The New Testament Code shows what happened in Palestine in that time, not what the enemies of those making war against Rome wanted people to think happened. In making these arguments and exposing these revisions, overwrites, and falsifications that were introduced into the New Testament, Eisenman also explains the esoteric meaning of many of the usages with which we are all so familiar in the Western World. In doing so, he identifies the Scrolls as the literature of 'the Messianic Movement in Palestine' and 'decodes' many well-known and beloved sayings in the Gospels such as, "Every Plant which My Heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted," "Do not throw Holy Things to dogs," "A man shall not be known by what goes into his mouth but, rather, by what comes out of it," and "These are the signs that the Lord did in Cana of Galilee." Offering a thorough and in-depth, point-by-point analysis of James' relationship to the Dead Sea Scrolls, he illumines such subjects as the "Pella Flight," "the Wilderness Camps," and Paul as an "Herodian," exposing Peter's true historical role as "a prototypical Essene," who was used in the Gospels and the Book of Acts as a mouthpiece for Anti-Semitism, and demonstrating how, once we have found the Historical James, we have found the Historical Jesus. He covers new archaeological discoveries along the Dead Sea, AMS radiocarbon dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the controversial almost miraculous appearance of the "James Ossuary" (which he considers having been based on his book on James) and the reasons for its being considered a fraud. A crucial new point that emerges in The New Testament Code is the identification of the document known as the MMT as a Letter from James to someone early Church Fathers call the "Great King of the Peoples beyond the Euphrates." Readers will not be disappointed.

"In his study of Philo Mr. Bentwich has done good service by demonstrating this characteristically Jewish combination of qualities in the spirit of the great Alexandrine, and by vindicating the claim of Philo to rank among the great teachers of Judaism." -The Jewish Review "Philo, the chief light of Hellenistic Judaism, by a strange fate was rejected and forgotten by his own people, while he was taken up by the Christians and almost adopted as one of their own. This difference of attitude towards him on the part of Jews and Christians is easily explained. Philo was alien in spirit to the narrow rabbinical Judaism which became universal among the Jews in the second century after Christ, and hence was suspected as unorthodox and put under the ban. On the other hand, his philosophy and exegetical method appealed to the early Fathers, especially those of the Alexandrian school, and even much of his religious teaching was more in sympathy with Christian than with later Jewish thought. In modern times, however, Jewish sentiment towards this illustrious coreligionist has undergone considerable change. In the volume before us Mr. Norman Bentwich has undertaken to make him better known among his own people, and to remove any prejudice that might still exist against him by showing that, after all, he was a true Jew. Though the work is written for Jews, and, as the author frankly tells us, from a Jewish standpoint, by reason of its subject it is likely to attract also some Gentile readers." -America "Having specialized in Jewish history and literature, Mr. Bentwich was eminently fitted to undertake the work on Hellenism. It is this movement in Judaism which Mr. Bentwich has set himself to describe. During the last two or three centuries before the common era the Jewish people came in close contact with the Greek-speaking world, and naturally, could not entirely escape its influence. Greek thought prevailed throughout the Eastern world, and Hellenism, or the culture of Greece, for which Hellas is the older name, dominated the intellectual activity of men. Although the Jews were always opposed to foreign influences which conflicted with their mode of thinking, the Greek culture nevertheless penetrated Jewish life in one way or another....The struggle of Judaism with Hellenistic culture marks one of the most fundamental conflicts in the march of civilization, and as a result, Hellenistic Judaism is one of the most remarkable contributions to Jewish genius to the world's thought....The author treats this subject from the Jewish point of view. Others are chiefly interested in the relation of Hellenism to Christianity. The school of writers contrast the broad universalism of Hellenistic Judaism with the supposed narrow legalism of the Pharisees which eventually prevailed in Palestine. Mr. Bentwich combats this attitude. The present volume is popular in character and the author has not refrained from pointing out parallels in modern Jewish life....Mr. Bentwich apart from giving historical descriptions of the various phases of Hellenism in Palestine and in the Diaspora, fully describes the literature produced by the Jews during that period. He graphically and minutely describes the life and works of Philo, Josephus and other important Jewish writers. He gives a fine resume of the wisdom of Ben Sira and also, deals with the influence of the Septuagint and the attitude of the Jewish Rabbis toward it. The book will appeal to the cultured layman who wishes to be informed on the various movements of Judaism." -The Advocate: America's Jewish Journal