Rabbi Ralph D. Mecklenberger's Books

Our Religious Brains

What Cognitive Science Reveals about Belief, Morality, Community and Our Relationship with God

By: Rabbi Ralph D. Mecklenberger

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Our Religious Brains

What Cognitive Science Reveals about Belief, Morality, Community and Our Relationship with God

By: Rabbi Ralph D. Mecklenberger

A Revolution in Human Self-Understanding Is Underway What Does It Mean for Religion and Our Belief in God? The brain and consciousness are themselves awe-inspiring. So learning about them no more undermines religion than learning about how symphonies and paintings are crafted takes away from our appreciation of music and art. Science alone does not provide the ultimate answers or firmly rooted values for which we yearn. But religion alone does not have all the answers either. We are blessed, as moderns, with both. from the Introduction This is a groundbreaking, accessible look at the implications of cognitive science for religion and theology, intended for laypeople. Avoiding neurological jargon and respectful to all faiths, it examines: Current theory on how our brains construct our world in order to guide us safely through life, creating and appreciating meaning as we go. What religious experience is as it plays out in our brains. How modern science challenges historic ideas about free will and undermines the religious concept of the soul as a meta-physical entity separable from the body. What cognitive science reveals about our need for community. Why we should be loyal to one faith if, in fact, all major religious traditions deal effectively with universal human needs.

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217

Publisher

Turner Publishing Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

1580236138

ISBN 13

9781580236133

Amazing Chesed

Living a Grace-Filled Judaism

By: Rabbi Rami Shapiro,Rami M. Shapiro

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Amazing Chesed

Living a Grace-Filled Judaism

By: Rabbi Rami Shapiro,Rami M. Shapiro

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.

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178

Publisher

Jewish Lights Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1580236243

ISBN 13

9781580236249

Believing and Its Tensions

A Personal Conversation about God, Torah, Suffering and Death in Jewish Thought

By: Rabbi Neil Gillman, PhD

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Believing and Its Tensions

A Personal Conversation about God, Torah, Suffering and Death in Jewish Thought

By: Rabbi Neil Gillman, PhD

An intimate and candid examination of the changing nature of belief and where it can lead us—from the life experience of one of Judaism's leading thinkers. For over five decades, Rabbi Neil Gillman has helped people think through the most challenging questions at the heart of being a believing religious person. In this intimate rethinking of his own theological journey he explores the changing nature of belief and the complexities of reconciling the intellectual, emotional and moral questions of his own searching mind and soul. If what we have in recognizing, speaking of and experiencing God is a wide-ranging treasury of humanly crafted metaphors, what, then, is the ultimate reality, the ultimate nature of God? What lies beyond the metaphors? If humanity was an active partner in revelation—if the human community participated in what was revealed and gave it meaning—what then should be the authority of Jewish law? How do we cope—intellectually, emotionally and morally—with suffering, the greatest challenge to our faith commitment, relationship with God and sense of a fundamentally ordered world? Death is inevitable but why is it built in as part of the total life experience?

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Turner Publishing Company

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ISBN 10

1580237746

ISBN 13

9781580237741

Successful Synagogue Fundraising Today

Overcoming the Fear of Asking for Money

By: Rabbi David A. Mersky,Abigail Harmon

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Successful Synagogue Fundraising Today

Overcoming the Fear of Asking for Money

By: Rabbi David A. Mersky,Abigail Harmon

A practical, step-by-step approach to fundraising programs and systems that can help your synagogue achieve growth and sustainability. Outlines ways to create excitement about new models of fundraising, set up a comprehensive development program, train volunteers and staff, and find and engage current and prospective donors.

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208

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Jewish Lights Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1580238564

ISBN 13

9781580238564

God of Becoming and Relationship

The Dynamic Nature of Process Theology

By: Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, DHL

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God of Becoming and Relationship

The Dynamic Nature of Process Theology

By: Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, DHL

You no longer have to choose between what you know and what you believe—an accessible introduction to a theological game-changer. “I wrote this book for you if you want to be able to locate your life in a single, encompassing story, one that includes everything from the first moment the universe began until yesterday, a narrative that embraces deepest personal meaning, a yearning to love and be loved, a quest for social justice and compassion.” —from the Introduction Much of what you were told you should believe when you were younger forces you to choose between your spirit and your intellect, between science and religion, between morality and dogma: unchanging laws of nature vs. miracles that sound magical; a good God vs. the tragedies that strike all living creatures; a God who knows the future absolutely vs. an open future that you help to shape through your choices. This fascinating introduction to Process Theology from a Jewish perspective shows that these are false choices. Inspiring speaker, spiritual leader and philosopher Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson presents an overview of what Process Theology is and what it can mean for your spiritual life. He explains how Process Theology can break you free from the strictures of ancient Greek and medieval European philosophy, allowing you to see all creation not as this or that, us or them, but as related patterns of energy through which we connect to everything. Armed with Process insights and tools, you can break free from outdated religious dichotomies and affirm that your religiosity, your spirit, your mind and your ethics all strengthen and refine each other.

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208

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Jewish Lights Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1580237134

ISBN 13

9781580237130

Living the Life of Jewish Meditation

A Comprehensive Guide to Practice and Experience

By: Rabbi Yoel Glick

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Living the Life of Jewish Meditation

A Comprehensive Guide to Practice and Experience

By: Rabbi Yoel Glick

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?

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272

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Jewish Lights Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1580238025

ISBN 13

9781580238021

A Partner in Holiness

Deepening Mindfulness, Practicing Compassion and Enriching Our Lives through the Wisdom of R. Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev's Kedushat Levi—Volume 1

By: Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater, DMin

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A Partner in Holiness

Deepening Mindfulness, Practicing Compassion and Enriching Our Lives through the Wisdom of R. Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev's Kedushat Levi—Volume 1

By: Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater, DMin

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

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336

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Jewish Lights Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1580237940

ISBN 13

9781580237949

The Chutzpah Imperative

Empowering Today's Jews for a Life that Matters

By: Rabbi Edward Feinstein

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The Chutzpah Imperative

Empowering Today's Jews for a Life that Matters

By: Rabbi Edward Feinstein

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.

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193

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Jewish Lights Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1580237924

ISBN 13

9781580237925

Our Religious Brains

What Cognitive Science Reveals about Belief, Morality, Community and Our Relationship with God

By: Rabbi Ralph D. Mecklenberger

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Our Religious Brains

What Cognitive Science Reveals about Belief, Morality, Community and Our Relationship with God

By: Rabbi Ralph D. Mecklenberger

Average ratings

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Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

217

Publisher

Turner Publishing Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

1580236138

ISBN 13

9781580236133

Book's by Rabbi Ralph D. Mecklenberger

Our Religious Brains

Our Religious Brains

Amazing Chesed

Amazing Chesed

Believing and Its Tensions

Believing and Its Tensions

Successful Synagogue Fundraising Today

Successful Synagogue Fundraising Today

God of Becoming and Relationship

God of Becoming and Relationship

Living the Life of Jewish Meditation

Living the Life of Jewish Meditation

A Partner in Holiness

A Partner in Holiness

The Chutzpah Imperative

The Chutzpah Imperative

Our Religious Brains

Our Religious Brains

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