"For over four decades, Richard Schwartz has engaged with two ethically rich ways of living that, as he charts in this book, he came to appreciate in middle age: Judaism and veganism. Having been born into a secular Jewish family, it was his marriage and an increasing commitment to social justice that propelled him to study and rediscover the essence of his Jewish faith. That sense of social justice further raised his awareness of the environmental movement, and, ultimately, to animal rights and veganism. In Vegan Revolution: Saving Our World, Revitalizing Judaism, Schwartz shows how, now perhaps more than ever, veganism offers a pathway for all of us of whatever faith (or no faith) to reduce hunger, conserve the environment, save water, reinstitute justice, and care for animals and the Earth. It is no coincidence, as Schwartz demonstrates, that many of these ideas are mandates in Jewish scripture, and that reincorporating a care for the world (tikkun olam) can itself reinvigorate the spirit of a faith and galvanize its practitioners to act"--

"The Jewish community has been rocked by shocking stories about rabbis and other community leaders sexually abusing their congregants, their students, or their coworkers. And the question on everyone's mind is: How is this happening? With a portrait of high profile figures, including their personality types and tactics, Dr. Sztokman's analysis is grounded in interviews with 84 abuse victims/survivors, Jewish communal professionals, and volunteers. The book documents how communal settings are ripe for abuse, how abusers coopt Jewish values as a grooming tactic, how high-profile abusers often receive high-profile support, and how the search for support and accountability often doubly victimizes the abused. Dr. Sztokman concludes with sweeping recommendations for social and cultural change, reminding us that we are not free to desist from action, especially not now." --

"Beyond the Instant shows young adults how to enrich their lives through faith. It examines ten different areas of contemporary life, including friendship, family, dating, money, and career, to demonstrate how a return to spirituality can help people find happiness and satisfaction. It addresses many important questions along the way: What is the true role of sex in relationships? What is the significance of failure? How can people really make a difference in the world? In the book, Rabbi Mark Wildes draws upon Jewish tradition and wisdom to bring a sense of balance, stability, and purpose to the often frenzied and occasionally directionless twenty-first-century way of life. Each chapter examines what the Torah has to say about a particular concern of modern life and then shows how thousands of years of rabbinical teachings can be applied to the contemporary situation. Written in a relatable and engaging style, it shows how faith and religion can provide a practical guide to finding happiness that goes beyond the instant."--

From horned devils to greedy money lenders, images have been used as weapons against Jews for thousands of years. Even photojournalist social reformers of the early twentieth century reinforced derogatory stereotypes of Jews as wretched, immoral, and dirty. Little attention has focused, however, on the ways in which Jews themselves have attempted to counteract these views and to construct their own ethnic and political identities. In The Jewish Self-Image in the West , Michael Berkowitz examines dozens of visual renderings from the fin-de-siècle to the beginning of the Second World War to argue that Jews have exercised some control over representations of their own national communities and aspirations. In the decades before the Holocaust, organized segments of Jewry enthusiastically appropriated modern media in order to exert a greater influence over their public images. Presenting photographs and graphic images by Jews as attempts to disrupt or undermine prevailing perceptions, Berkowitz reconstructs the development of the Jewish self-image in the West over a crucial half-century.

Who are you? What defines you? What makes you, you? In the past an individual's identity was more predictable than it is today. Life's big questions were basically settled before you were born: where you'd live, what you'd do, the type of person you'd marry, your basic beliefs, and so on. Today personal identity is a do-it-yourself project. Constructing a stable and satisfying sense of self is hard amidst relationship breakdowns, the pace of modern life, the rise of social media, multiple careers, social mobility, and so on. Ours is a day of identity angst. Known by God is built on the observation that humans are inherently social beings; we know who we are in relation to others and by being known by them. If one of the universal desires of the self is to be known by others, being known by God as his children meets our deepest and lifelong need for recognition and gives us a secure identity. Rosner argues that rather than knowing ourselves, being known by God is the key to personal identity. He explores three biblical angles on the question of personal identity: being made in the image of God, being known by God and being in Christ. The notion of sonship is at the center - God gives us our identity as a parent who knows his child. Being known by him as his child gives our fleeting lives significance, provokes in us needed humility, supplies cheering comfort when things go wrong, and offers clear moral direction for living.