Showing titles in Judaism

Catch the Jew! recounts the adventures of gonzo journalist Tuvia Tenenbom, who wanders around Israel and the Palestinian Authority for seven months in search of the untold truths in today's Holy Land. With holy chutzpah, Tenenbom boldly goes where no Jew has gone before, at times risking his life as he assumes the identities of Tobi the German and even Abu Ali in order to probe into the many stories in this strange land and poke holes in all of them.

The book presents the Jewish leaders Judas, Jonathan, and Simon as devout people and has little sympathy for people who favor Hellenization, but nowhere does the text mentions divine intervention. Chapter one to two: The Hellenization of Judah and the non-violent resistance by Mattathias is covered; Chapter three to nine: Tells of the Military actions by Judas the Maccabaean ("battle hammer:): after 166 where the temple is purified.

Martin Buber, a Jewish philosopher, spoke directly to the most profound human concerns in all his works. Included in his discussions was Hasidism, a mystical-religious movement founded in Eastern Europe by Israel ben Eliezer, called the “Baal-Shem” (the Master of God's Name).

"Chi legge l'Antico Testamento con la mente disincantata e vi si avvicina con l'atteggiamento sereno che avrebbe verso qualsiasi libro scritto dall'umanità, non ha alcuna difficoltà a cogliere l'evidenza dei fatti."

In this new biography of Abraham, Judaism's foundational figure, Anthony Julius offers an account of the origins of a fundamental struggle within Judaism between skepticism and faith, critique and affirmation, thinking for oneself and thinking under the direction of another. Julius describes Abraham's life as two separate lives, and as a version of the collective life of the Jewish people.

They immigrated to America from Germany in the nineteenth century with names like Loeb, Sachs, Seligman, Lehman, Guggenheim, and Goldman. From tenements on the Lower East Side to Park Avenue mansions, this handful of Jewish families turned small businesses into imposing enterprises and amassed spectacular fortunes. But despite possessing breathtaking wealth that rivaled the Astors and Rockefellers, they were barred by the gentile establishment from the lofty realm of "the 400," a register of New York's most elite, because of their religion and humble backgrounds.

Bob Dylan arrived in New York one winter morning in 1961. His music and spirit would go on to capture the hearts and minds of a generation, but what no one knew then was that, like so many before him, Dylan was concealing his Jewish origins. For Harry Freedman, Dylan’s roots are the key to grasping how this complete unknown burst onto the scene and reinvented not only himself, but popular music. The instinct for escape and reinvention has defined Dylan’s long career.

Meditación Judía: Una Guía Práctica es una obra accesible y profunda que introduce al lector a la tradición espiritual de la meditación dentro del judaísmo, una tradición que fue una parte auténtica e integral de la vida religiosa judía hasta el siglo XVIII y que muchas personas desconocen hoy en día. En este libro, el rabino y erudito Aryeh Kaplan presenta paso a paso las principales formas de meditación judía —como la meditación con mantras, la contemplación y la visualización.

Vladimir Jabotinsky (1880–1940) was a man of huge paradoxes and contradictions and has been the most misunderstood of all Zionist politicians—a first-rate novelist, a celebrated Russian journalist, and the founder of the branch of Zionism now headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. This biography, the first in English in nearly two decades, undertakes to answer central questions about Jabotinsky as a writer, a political thinker, and a leader. Hillel Halkin sets aside the stereotypes to which Jabotinsky has been reduced by his would-be followers and detractors alike.

Early on the morning of September 1, 1996, the Israeli military began preparing for a war with Syria they were convinced was imminent. The Israelis had received top-secret intelligence from a Syrian general and informant code-named Red Falcon, recruited 23 years earlier by Mossad spy Yehuda Gil - himself known as "the man of a thousand faces." Gil had been the general's sole handler, the conduit of decades of critical intelligence. But now, on the brink of war, questions arose about who exactly was handling whom. What information was real and what was a lie?

Why are we so fascinated by the Dead Sea Scrolls? In the mid-20th century, several Bedouin shepherds happened upon ancient scrolls housed in a cave. These documents, called the Dead Sea Scrolls, are often considered the most important manuscript discovery of the modern era. A veil of mystery, however, shrouds these ancient scrolls.

JLE is proud to present ”Conversations with Rabbi Dr Akiva Tatz” presented by Rabbi Mena Reisner. Covering topics such as Relationships, Covid-19, Genetics, Origins of the universe all the way through to everyday current affairs. These 20 minute snippets are the perfect dose of Torah thoughts for the day. Be in touch via podcasts@jle.org.uk with your questions and feedback!

Although its origins are rooted from the time of ancient Babylon, the wisdom of Kabbalah has remained shrouded in mystery since it appeared more than 4,000 years ago. Warren Kenton explores Kabbalah from its roots in Judaism to its wider adaptation of theory and practice for today. In this program he explains the seven stages one must go through to reach final union with the Ultimate One.

Over the last four centuries, a small group of thinkers attempted to answer a series of remarkably challenging questions: In a world having a history of untold suffering-especially, it seemed, for Jews-was the existence of an all-powerful and comforting God still tenable? What were the purpose and meaning of Jewish practices and customs? Could Jews still justify the notion of a chosen people in a social climate in which Jewish integration and full participation with the rest of humanity had become the norm?

In a remote corner of the world, forgotten for nearly 3,000 years, lived an enclave of Kurdish Jews so isolated that they still spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus. Mostly illiterate, they were self-made mystics and gifted storytellers and humble peddlers who dwelt in harmony with their Muslim and Christian neighbors in the mountains of northern Iraq. To these descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, Yona Sabar was born.  

Walton and Walton offer in The Lost World of the Torah a restorative vision of the ancient genre of instruction for wisdom that makes up a significant portion of the Old Testament. In the ancient Near East, order was achieved through the wisdom of those who governed society. The objective of torah was to teach the Israelites to be wise about the kind of order needed to receive the blessings of God's favor and presence within the context of the covenant. Here listeners will find fresh insight on this fundamental genre of the Old Testament canon. 

‘Haunting.’ Jonathan Freedland ‘Powerful.’ Daniel Finkelstein The profoundly moving and deeply intimate story of one Jewish family’s fate in the Holocaust, following the thread from Germany to Latvia and to Britain. In November 1941, Peter Bradley's grandparents, Sally and Bertha...

Jewish mysticism is a powerful study within the Jewish tradition. Rooted in antiquity and veiled in mystery until quite recently, Jewish mysticism has burst into the modern world in guises both illuminating and bewildering. Throughout Jewish history, flashes of the light held within sacred texts have sparked the sages' inquisitive minds throughout the diaspora. Rising out of the ashes of the temples once standing in Jerusalem, the texts and theologies associated with Jewish mysticism have comforted and ecstatically raise those who have used their knowledge.

Hasidic Williamsburg is famous as one of the most separatist, intensely religious, and politically savvy communities. Less known is how the community survived in one of New York City's toughest neighborhoods during an era of steep decline, only to later oppose and also participate in the unprecedented gentrification of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Nathaniel Deutsch and Michael Casper unravel the fascinating history of how a community of determined Holocaust survivors encountered, shaped, and sometimes fiercely resisted the urban processes that transformed their gritty neighborhood.

Two thousand years ago, 967 Jewish men, women, and children reportedly took their own lives rather than surrender to the Roman army. This dramatic event, which took place on top of Masada, a barren and windswept mountain overlooking the Dead Sea, spawned a powerful story of Jewish resistance that came to symbolize the embattled modern State of Israel. Jodi Magness, an archaeologist who has excavated at Masada, explains what happened there, how we know it, and how recent developments might change understandings of the story.