A companion to The Way Into Jewish Prayer, an accessible introduction to the reasons for and the ways of Jewish prayer. This guide helps you explore with a group the reasons for and the ways of Jewish prayer. It opens the door to 3,000 years of Jewish prayer, making available all you need to feel
The question isn¿t whether grace¿ God¿s love freely given¿is there for you in Judaism. The question is, do you have the courage to accept it? Ask almost any Jew whether grace is a central concept in Judaism and an essential element in living Jewishly, and, chances are, their answer will be ¿no.¿ But that¿s the wrong answer. This fascinating foray into God¿s love freely given offers the reader a way to answer that question in the affirmative. Drawing from ancient and contemporary, traditional and non-traditional Jewish wisdom, this book reclaims the idea of grace in Judaism in three ways: ¿ It offers a view of God that helps the reader understand what grace is, why grace is, and how grace manifests in the world. ¿ It sets forth a reading of Judaism that is grace-filled: an understanding of creation, Shabbat and other Jewish practices from a grace-filled perspective. ¿ It challenges the reader to be embraced and transformed by grace, and to live life as a vehicle for God¿s grace, thereby fulfilling the promise of being created in God¿s image and likeness.
The inside story and practical lessons from one of the most exciting developments in contemporary Judaism. Part description and part prescription, Empowered Judaism is a manifesto for transforming the way Jews pray andmore broadlyfor building vibrant Jewish communities. [It] represents the latest chapter in [an] uplifting history of religious creativity. This is a book that every Jewish leader will want to read and every serious Jew will want to contemplate. from the Foreword by Prof. Jonathan D. Sarna Why have thousands of young Jews, otherwise unengaged with formal Jewish life, started more than sixty innovative prayer communities across the United States? What crucial insights can these grassroots communities provide for all of us? Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, one of the leaders of this revolutionary phenomenon, offers refreshingly new analyses of the age-old question of how to build strong Jewish community. He explores the independent minyan movement and the lessons it has to teach about prayer, community organizing and volunteer leadership, and its implications for contemporary struggles in American Judaism. Along with describing the growth of independent minyanim across the country, he examines: The roles of liturgy, space, music and youth in this new approach to prayer Lessons to be learned from the concept of immersive, intensive Jewish learning in an egalitarian context Jewish values in which we must invest to achieve a vibrant, robust American Jewish landscape for the twenty-first century
Who were the Sephardic Jews of the Ottoman Empire? What lasting lessons does their spiritual life provide for future generations? “How did the Judeo-Spanish-speaking Jews of the Ottoman Empire manage to achieve spiritual triumph? To answer this question, we need to have a firm understanding of their historical experience.... We need to be aware of the dark, unpleasant elements in their environments; but we also need to see the spiritual, cultural light in their dwellings that imbued their lives with meaning and honor.” —from Chapter 1, “The Inner Life of the Sephardim” In this groundbreaking work, Rabbi Marc Angel explores the teachings, values, attitudes, and cultural patterns that characterized Judeo-Spanish life over the generations and how the Sephardim maintained a strong sense of pride and dignity, even when they lived in difficult political, economic, and social conditions. Along with presenting the historical framework and folklore of Jewish life in the Ottoman Empire, Rabbi Angel focuses on what you can learn from the Sephardic sages and from their folk wisdom that can help you live a stronger, deeper spiritual life.
Meditation empowers us to transcend our material mind-set and touch the Infinite and Eternal. “True meditation transforms the way we see reality.... It touches the place inside us where a spark of the Eternal dwells. Meditation unites us with our true Self.” —from the Introduction The life of meditation is much more than the act of sitting for half an hour or forty-five minutes and looking inward. It is a whole way of life. Through meditation we learn to live in a heightened awareness and walk at all times in the presence of God. Rabbi Yoel Glick brings wisdom from personal experience and Eastern traditions to illuminate and vitalize familiar Jewish rituals, vocabulary and imagery. He provides specific guidelines and practical techniques grounded in Judaism for each stage of the life of meditation, outlining the inner processes we encounter and the questions we face: How does meditation help us connect with the Collective Jewish Soul?What happens in our mind, body and soul when we meditate? How do we resist the pull of a material mind-set and live in expanded consciousness? What does it feel like to reach union with our spiritual source? • How do we remain aware of God’s living presence in our everyday life?
Indiana Jones meets The Da Vinci Code in an old Egyptian synagogue--the amazing story of one of the most important discoveries in modern religious scholarship. In 1896, Rabbi Solomon Schechter of Cambridge University stepped into the attic of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, Egypt, and there found the largest treasure trove of medieval and early manuscripts ever discovered. He had entered the synagogue's genizah--its repository for damaged and destroyed Jewish texts--which held nearly 300,000 individual documents, many of which were over 1,000 years old. Considered among the most important discoveries in modern religious history, its contents contained early copies of some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, early manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, and other sacred literature. The importance of the genizah's contents rivals that of the Rosetta Stone, and by virtue of its sheer mass alone, it will continue to command our attention indefinitely. This is the first accessible, comprehensive account of this astounding discovery. It will delight you with its fascinating adventure story--why this enormous collection was amassed, how it was discovered and the many lessons to be found in its contents. And it will show you how Schechter's find, though still being "unpacked" today, forever transformed our knowledge of the Jewish past, Muslim history and much more.
In time for Pope Francis’s new initiatives. We now have the potential to end two thousand years of hostility—will we succeed? New in paperback! With keen wisdom and a masterful understanding of history, Rabbi James Rudin, an acclaimed authority in the field of Jewish-Christian relations, provides the context necessary for Christians and Jews to recognize the critical challenges posed by the past—and the future—of their two religions. Spanning twenty centuries of controversy, horror and promise, Rudin’s narrative examines: The sources of both conflict and commonality between the two religions The need to address and redress past wrongs The agenda required to create a shared future free of bigotry It includes proven approaches for successful interreligious dialogues, including tips on session organization, project ideas and a discussion guide to enhance Christians’ and Jews’ knowledge of each other.
The God of Abraham The God of Isaac The God of Jacob The God of Sarah The God of Rebecca The God of Rachel The God of Leah ... the God of Me There is no easy prescription for how to know God, yet everyone can pursue a personal relationship with God, just as our patriarchs and matriarchs did in their lives. How we come to know God, however, is unique to each of us, influenced by our study of Torah, the insights of the Rabbis of antiquity, as well as our own experiences throughout our lifetime. To open the way for you to find God's presence in your life, Rabbi David Lyon uses the central prayer in Jewish worship, the Amidah, as a starting point, and guides you compellingly through classic Torah texts and midrash. He helps you clear away preconceived images of God from your childhood or dogmas that restrict your experience of God in personal and meaningful ways today. Combining profound teachings from Jewish sources with insights and experiences from real life, he shows how you can enjoy a unique relationship with God—the God of you, your God of me.
Find inspiration for a satisfying spiritual life of practice through the combination of contemporary mindfulness meditation and classical Hasidic spirituality. The soul yearns to feel connected to something greater and to know happiness despite personal suffering and seemingly endless need. Surprisingly, the perspectives of the late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Hasidic spiritual teachers offer a radically different Jewish theology that speaks directly to today’s spiritual seekers whose faith has been shattered by both modernity and the Holocaust. These masters taught of interdependence, interconnectedness, selflessness, service and joy, anticipating the insights of contemporary science and twenty-first-century spirituality. Bringing together the teachings of beloved Hasidic master Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev (1740–1809) and the practice of mindfulness meditation, Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater reveals a new entrance into Jewish spiritual life. Covering the Five Books of Moses, these two volumes present accessible translations of selections from Kedushat Levi, R. Levi Yitzhak’s Hasidic Torah commentary, which emphasizes our spiritual capacity to transform consciousness and so our life experience. The selections are paired with Rabbi Slater’s commentaries to illuminate their message. “The lessons in Kedushat Levi were not originally intended as intellectual curiosities or as demonstrations of R. Levi Yitzhak’s brilliance. They were meant to inspire religious passion and deeper spiritual practice. I believe that these teachings will come to life in us when we bring them into our lives in practice.” —from the Introduction
Reconnect with Judaism’s most important contribution to humanity—and redeem our world. “The gift of Judaism is an understanding of what it means to be a human being—what we can do, what we can hope for, how we can live with purpose, what is expected of us. It is a celebration of human freedom, human possibility and human responsibility. Judaism is a way to live a heroic life, to construct a life devoted to values that are eternal, values of ultimate significance. The reward of a Jewish life is walking the world with a profound faith that you matter, your life matters, your dreams matter. I call this chutzpah.” —from the Introduction In this clarion call for a new way to “do Judaism,” award-winning spiritual leader Rabbi Edward Feinstein urges us to recover this message of Jewish self-empowerment—or chutzpah—to reshape our world. He walks us through the history of chutzpah—from the early chapters of Genesis, Jewish biblical law and the Rabbis of the Talmud to the mystics of medieval Spain and the European Hasidic tradition, Zionism and post-Holocaust thought. By showing us the ever-presence of chutzpah in Judaism he reveals the inner story of the Jewish People’s soul as well as the meaning that Judaism’s deepest purpose and most precious treasure has for us today.
Who are the ancient role models for the sacred relationship between Jews and non-Jews today? Now more than ever, gentiles are an integral part of the Jewish community. But they are not new to the Jewish story. In fact, righteous gentiles go back to Abraham. The story of the Jewish people can’t be told without them. Noted author and educator Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin provides an informative and inspiring look at the sympathetic non-Israelite characters of the Hebrew Bible and the redemptive relationships they had with the Jewish people. Relying on biblical and extra-biblical sources, he introduces each character, drawing lessons from the life of each that will be relevant to you, whatever your faith tradition. They include the ... First gentile to bless a Jew First woman to hear the Divine voice and save a Jewish baby First teacher of morality to the Jews First gentile mother of Jewish children Gentile midwives who invented civil disobedience Mother of Moses and nurturer of the Jewish people Father-in-law and teacher of Moses First “gentile Zionist” Gentile warrior who fought for the Israelites Gentile contractor for Solomon’s Temple Gentiles who acknowledged God and repented Creator of the Second Jewish Commonwealth
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