Book Description

Book Description
Canadian Jewish Studies is a young field, often lost in the shadow of its American older sister. In The Canadian Jewish Studies Reader, editors Richard Menkis and Norman Ravvin demonstrate that what's going on in Canada, critically and artistically, is every bit as interesting as the work being done in the United States. Taking a cultural studies approach, the editors view the way that Canadian Jewish identity is examined in literature, visual arts, historical writing, feminist research and urban geography, among other fields. Included, too, is a preface that introduces the field and argues for the particular interest of Canadian Jewish Studies to readers and students in the international community. The articles are supplemented by a range of exciting visuals. The Canadian Jewish Studies Reader also features new work by both editors in their exploration of Canadian literature and history.

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This book illuminates two particularly fascinating aspects of Jewish history and culture in one definitive volume. Part one of The Diaspora and the Lost Tribes of Israel chronicles the vast historic migration of Jews throughout the world, starting in about 585 B.C. Exiled from their homeland or lured by the promise of safe havens, the Jews started the process of acculturation into their host countries while maintaining their Jewish identities.

This story, illustrated with stunning archival and contemporary photographs and exquisite examples of ceremonial art, goes from the heights of Jewish educational, religious, and cultural enlightenment, to the almost unimaginable depths in which many of their communities suffered or perished. Part two explores the complex question of the lost tribes of Israel. Thought to have been lost to the sands of time, there is increasing evidence that vestiges of these ancient tribes continue to exist in some of the most remote and unexpected corners of the world.

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We all know that our dreams mean something, but do you realize that your dreams can actually help you? In the Kabbalistic tradition, dreams are prized as the key that unlocks the spiritual door leading to a path of greater wisdom. In this rich and unique guide you will learn how simple and practical steps can help you use the messages in your dreams to unleash healing, creativity, and personal fulfillment.

Kabbalistic experts Jonathan Sharp and Dr. Edward Hoffman clearly explain how the Kabbalah works, along with its varied, mysterious, and fascinating components. These include the Tree of Life, the Tarot deck, the hundred most important symbols from Zohar (the ancient text on which the Kabbalah is based), and the numerology of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Following is a comprehensive list of more than eight hundred and fifty dream images with interpretations, evaluations, and unique prescriptions to help bring energy and inspiration to your spiritual journey.

Rich, comprehensive, and full of beauty and mystery, Divining Your Dreams will be a bedside companion for years to come.

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The Haggadah of choice for children and adults to use together. Just the right blend of text and commentary with transliteration of prayers and songs.

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The Tenth to the Thirteenth centuries in Europe saw the appearance of popular heresy and the establishment of the inquisition; expropriation and mass murder of Jews; the foundation of leper hospitals in large numbers and the propagation of elaborate measures to segregate lepers from the healthy. These have traditionally been seen as distinct and separate developments, and explained in terms of the problems which their victims presented to medieval society. In this stimulating book Robert Moore argues that the coincidences in the treatment of these and other minority groups cannot be explained independently, and that all are part of a pattern of persecution which now appeared for the first time to make Europe become, as it has remained, a persecuting society.

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One of the painfully riveting books of our time. A first hand account of the greatest mass murder in history as told by the active and passive participants in genocide. What is different about this book is that it contains carefully compiled letters, journal entries and voluminous correspondence that prove beyond doubt that more members of the German population than ever before admitted to knew about the Holocaust while it was happening.

With over 90 photographs

Book Description
Hannah Arendt (1906-­1975) was one of the most original and interesting political thinkers of the twentieth century. In this new interpretation of her career, philosopher Richard Bernstein situates Arendt historically as an engaged Jewish intellectual and explores the range of her thinking from the perspective of her continuing confrontation with "the Jewish question."

Bernstein argues that many themes that emerged in the course of Arendt's attempts to understand specifically Jewish issues shaped her thinking about politics in general and the life of the mind. By exploring pivotal events of her life story ­ her arrest and subsequent emigration from Germany in 1933, her precarious existence in Paris as a stateless Jew working for Zionist organizations, her internment at Gurs and her subsequent escape, and finally her flight from Europe in 1941 ­ he shows how personal experiences and her responses to them oriented her thinking.

Arendt's analysis of the Jews' lack of preparation for the vicious political antiSemitism that arose in the last decade of the nineteenth century, Bernstein argues, led her on a quest for the ultimate meaning of politics and political responsibility. Moreover, he points out that Arendt's deepest insights about politics emerged from her reflections on statelessness and totalitarian domination. Bernstein also examines Arendt's attraction to and break with Zionism, and the reasons for her critical stance toward a Jewish sovereign state. He then turns to the issue that, in Arendt's opinion, needed most to be confronted in the aftermath of World War II: the fundamental nature of evil. He traces the nuances of her thinking from "radical evil" to "the banality of evil" and, finally, reexamines Eichmann in Jerusalem, her meditation on evil that caused a storm of protest and led some to question her loyalty to the Jewish people.

Amazon.com
Hooray for Hanukkah--the festival of lights! This beautiful, color-drenched compendium offers a lovely, lively tribute to the Jewish holiday, as well as the history and tradition behind the celebration. Eric A. Kimmel, author of the Caldecott Honor-winning Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, has collected a rich wealth of Hanukkah stories, songs, poetry, recipes, legends, and cultural lore--information that will intrigue readers of any religion. Do you know how the first menorah earned a place at the White House? How many variations of the dreidel game can you play? Ever heard the story about Hanukkah in Alaska--complete with a latke-loving moose? Emily Lisker, illustrator of the vivid Sol a Sol: Bilingual Poems, provides the stunning visual accompaniment to this exciting exploration of history and tradition, with pictures that are folk art in style and exhilarating in movement and palette. Audiences of all ages and faiths will return to this treasury year after year as a source of culture and delight. (Ages 4 to 8) --Brangien Davis

Book Description
Hiding Edith is the true story of Edith Schwalb, a young Jewish girl sent to live in a safe house after the Nazi invasion of France. Edith's story is remarkable not only for her own bravery, but for the bravery of those that helped her: an entire village, including its mayor and citizenry, that heroically conspired to conceal the presence of hundreds of Jewish children who lived in the safe house. Intensively researched and sensitively written, this book both comforts and challenges a young reader's spirit, skillfully addressing both the horrors and the hope that children experienced during the Holocaust.

Signed by Kathy Kacer and Edith Schwalb Gelbard with dedication to Sarah Gelbard.

Book Description

American by birth, Israeli by association, and homeless by conscience, Joel Schalit is uniquely qualified to blast all stereotypes of Jewish identity. Moving effortlessly from philosophical complexity to outrageous humor, Schalit's writing, and his ability to critically interrogate everything from the religious right to punk rock to Middle Eastern politics provides a singular perspective on life in a post-everything age. This book signals the emergence of a new breed of public intellectual.

Joel Schalit is a political scientist living in San Francisco, where he works as an editor of Chicago's Punk Planet magazine and UC Berkeley's online politics and culture journal, Bad Subjects. He is a regular contributor to the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Schalit co-edited and contributed to Bad Subjects: Political Education for Everyday Life (NYU Press, 1998).

Book Description

Book Description

The notes for Volumes One and Two tell where legends appear and reappear, where versions differ and where they contradict each other. When legends have been the subject of learned interpretation or debate, Ginzberg provides guidance to the commentaries and disputants; when the legends are part of a larger controversy, he provides context.

Book Description
An essential volume for every Jewish couple on the path to marriage, Mazal Tov! Contains the standard liturgy used in Jewish wedding ceremonies throughout the world. It includes blessings and songs, printed in both Hebrew and English, and description of traditional wedding rituals, from exchanging the rings, circling the bride, and sharing the wine to the reading of the wedding contract and the breaking of a glass. Also included are descriptions of the variations in wedding customs practiced by different Jewish communities around the world.

The text is illustrated with wedding scenes and symbolic decoration taken from illuminated manuscripts and Jewish wedding contracts (ketubbah) from the British Library's collections.

Book Description
From a pioneering Israeli human rights activist, a stirring memoir on life in the troubled region.

Though brought up in a right-wing Israeli household as the daughter of a former member of the Stern Gang, Daphna Golan-Agnon has become one of Israel's most outspoken activists for the rights of Palestinians. In this moving memoir, she writes of the struggle of everyday life in a state edging ever closer to apartheid.

Through anecdotes, interviews, and letters, Next Year in Jerusalem provides an insider's view of the milestones of the Israeli peace movement, drawing on Golan-Agnon's experience as co-founder of the human rights organization B'Tselem and the feminist peace group Bat Shalom. From the efforts to draw attention to the Ansar III desert prison, where Palestinian political prisoners once languished without trial, to the 1999 Israeli High Court victory abolishing torture, to the many misunderstandings that arise even among like-minded Palestinian and Israeli activists, Golan-Agnon candidly portrays the challenges of being part of a growing movement of Israelis who refuse to participate in the persecution of Palestinians. Confronting the Palestinian-Israeli dilemma in all its complexity, Next Year in Jerusalem gives readers a unique, personal view of the joint struggle for peace.

Amazon.com
Topicality is never an issue where Israel and the Palestinians are concerned. The arguments--not to mention bloodshed--over Jewish and Muslim nationhood and land rights have been going on for centuries and, whatever the best intentions of the current peace process, they will probably go on for centuries to come. Both parties fanatically believe they have an inalienable historical right to statehood on the land in question and both regard Jerusalem as a holy city. As befits the disenfranchised, the Palestinians are slightly more open to a negotiated settlement, but the Israelis remain intransigent about handing over any but the most inhospitable of scrubland and the impasse remains. In the battle between the bullets and the ballot box, the bullets are winning hands-down.

Tom Segev is one of Israel's most notable historians and journalists--one of the few to strive for any sense of objectivity in his writings--so a new book by him is always worth waiting for. One Palestine, Complete is a detailed account of Palestine under British rule from 1917 to 1948, the critical period in the modern history of the region that led up to the creation of the state of Israel. Segev begins by carefully detailing Britain's well-known inconsistencies in dealing with both the Jews and the Arabs--to both of whom it had appeared to promise, if not the world, at least the country after independence was granted--and goes on to make a convincing case that because Palestine fell into the category of an emotional rather than self-interested colonial possession, the Brits hoped the situation would unwind to everyone's advantage.

Where Segev departs from the historical norm is in his assertions that whatever the British may have said to the Palestinians, their actions were uncompromisingly pro-Zionist from the start. This, he claims, was done out of the mistaken, anti-Semitic belief that the Jews controlled business and turned the wheels of history, rather than from a recognition of the rightness of their cause. Be this as it may, it is at best a partial explanation. Before World War II, Britain was on the verge of handing over Palestine to the Arabs, and Segev completely downplays the impact of Western war guilt over the Holocaust that led to a huge growth in support for an independent Israeli state at the expense of Palestinian rights.

Even so, One Palestine, Complete offers a thoughtful and dramatic account of the evolution of two nationalist movements that seem destined never to be reconciled. With a past like this, what hope is there for the future? --John Crace, Amazon.co.uk

Book Description
The best single account of Palestine under the British mandate....This book will doubtlessly become the authoritative text for the pre-state history of Israel. Omer Bartov, The New York Times Book Review

Book Description
Youve used it for years in synagoguenow take your own copy home. Popularly known as the Hertz Chumash, this classic Hebrew-English edition of the Five Books of Moses, with corresponding Haftorahs, is used in synagogues and classrooms throughout the English-speaking world. In this compact volume, the late Chief Rabbi of England, Rabbi Dr. Joseph Hertz, provides readers with a lucid exposition of the text and the spiritual and ethical teachings of the Torah, culled from a wide range of scholarly literature. It contains the full Hebrew text, line-by-line English translation, and the classic Hertz commentary. Complete with all the Haftorahs for holidays and special Sabbaths.

Book Description

"Yaffe provides a wide-ranging and probing reflection on the portrayal of Jews and Judaism in early modern thought. His innovative approach to the problem of Shakespeare's treatment of Shylock can stand for the originality of his book as a whole... Yaffe's interpretations are likely to prove controversial, but they are always thought-provoking." -- Virginia Quarterly Review

Much attention has been paid to the place of Shylock in the history of anti-Semitism. Most scholars have agreed with Harold Bloom that Shakespeare's famous villain is drawn with a "murderous anti-Semitism" and that Shakespeare uncritically mirrors the rife anti-Semitism of his times. While others see only gross caricature in The Merchant of Venice, however, Martin Yaffe finds a subtle analysis of the Jew's place in a largely Christian society. In Shylock and the Jewish Question, Yaffe challenges the widespread assumption that Shakespeare is, in the final analysis, unfriendly to Jews. He finds that Shakespeare's consideration of Judaism in The Merchant of Venice provides an important contrast to Marlowe's virulent The Jew of Malta. In many ways, he argues, Shakespeare's play is even more accepting than Francis Bacon's notably inclusive New Atlantis or the Jewish philosopher Benedict Spinoza's argument for tolerance in the Theologico-Political Treatise.

"Although Yaffe focuses on the Jewish question, his study is a lead-in to a study of the rise of liberal democracy, the development of religious toleration, the relation of church and state, and the inter-relation between politics, economics and religion -- all of these being vital in history's evolution towards modernity." -- Serge Liberman, Australian Jewish News

"In a critique that promises to refuel scholarly controversy over the portrait of Shylock... Yaffe's retro-prospective approach to its political philosophy suggests interesting possibilities for contrasting popular anti-Semitic culture and the more tolerant, enlightened statesmanship of the seventeenth-century." -- Frances Barasch, Shakespeare Bulletin

Book Description
Simple Kabbalah shows how to bring esoteric knowledge into everyday life. Scholar Kim Zetter presents a brief history of ancient kabbalistic beliefs, explaining key tenets and the main symbol, the Tree of Life. Meditations and exercises help listeners learn to use kabbalah to calm the mind, sharpen awareness, and improve relationships.

Book Description
Sites Unseen is a collection of six moving photography and public art projects from different European cities merging images of the Holocaust with present-day scenes and places by well-known photographer and installation artist Shimon Attie. The work documents, in photographs, Attie's series of installation art projects which were done in Europe from 1991-1996. Using a variety of media, from on-location slide projection in Berlin's former Jewish quarter to underwater light boxes in a Copenhagen canal, his hauntingly beautiful installations reanimate sites with images of their own lost histories of the Holocaust and World War II.

Book Description
There are over ten million freemasons in the world. The supposed power of their occult network is often feared, and yet freemasonry is not a closed doctrine. Richly illustrated, Symbols of Freemasonry provides a synthesis of one of mankind's oldest existing secular brotherhoods. It is designed both for the initiated and for newcomers interested in gaining a better understanding of this fascinating but often misrepresented society.

Book Description
"In 1944, I was aware of three youth groups committed to the compelling idea of an independent Jewish state: Hashomer Hatza'ir (The Young Guard), Young Judaea, and Habonim (The Builders).

Hashomer Hatza'ir was resolutely Marxist. According to intriguing reports I had heard, it was the custom, on their kibbutzim already established in Palestine, for boys and girls under the age of eighteen to shower together. Hashomer Hatza'ir members in Montreal included a boy I shall call Shloime Schneiderman, a high-school classmate of mine. In 1944, when we were still in eighth grade, Schloime enjoyed a brief celebrity after his photo appeared on the front page of the Montreal Herald. Following a two-cent rise in the price of chocolate bars, he had been a leader in a demonstration, holding high a placard that read: down with the 7cents chocolate bar. Hashomer Hatza'ir members wore uniforms at their meetings: blue shirts and neckerchiefs. "They had real court martials," wrote Marion Magid in a memoir about her days in Habonim in the Bronx in the early fifties, "group analysis, the girls were not allowed to wear lipstick." Whereas, in my experience, the sweetly scented girls who belonged to Young Judaea favored pearls and cashmere twinsets. They lived on leafy streets in the suburb of Outremont, in detached cottages that had heated towel racks, basement playrooms, and a plaque hanging on the wall behind the wet bar testifying to the number of trees their parents had paid to have planted in Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel.

I joined Habonim -- the youth group of a Zionist political party, rooted in socialist doctrine -- shortly after my bar mitzvah, during my first year at Baron Byng High School. I had been recruited by a Room 41 classmate whom I shall call Jerry Greenfeld..."

Book Description
As might be expected from this fiercely provocative writer, David Mamet’s interest in anti-Semitism is not limited to the modern face of an ancient hatred but encompasses as well the ways in which many Jews have themselves internalized that hatred. Using the metaphor of the Wicked Son at the Passover seder–the child who asks, “What does this story mean to you?”–Mamet confronts what he sees as an insidious predilection among some Jews to seek truth and meaning anywhere–in other religions, in political movements, in mindless entertainment–but in Judaism itself. At the same time, he explores the ways in which the Jewish tradition has long been and still remains the Wicked Son in the eyes of the world.

Written with the searing honesty and verbal brilliance that is the hallmark of Mamet’s work, The Wicked Son is a scathing look at one of the most destructive and tenacious forces in contemporary life, a powerfully thought-provoking and important book.