Bridging Traditions: Demystifying Differences Between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews

Bridging Traditions: Demystifying Differences Between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews PDF Author: Haim Jachter
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781592645749
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 544

Book Description
As the rabbi of a Sephardic synagogue for over twenty years who is himself of Ashkenazic descent and trained in Ashkenazic yeshivot, Rabbi Haim Jachter has a unique vantage point from which to observe the differences in customs and halachot between Ashkenazim and Sephardim. In Bridging Traditions, Rabbi Jachter applies his wide-ranging expertise to explicating an encyclopedic array of divergences between Ashkenazic and Sephardic halachic practice, while also capturing the diversity within different Sephardic communities. Bridging Traditions is essential reading for Jews of all origins who are interested in understanding their own practices and appreciating those of their brethren, and in seeing the kaleidoscope of halachic observance as a multi-faceted expression of an inner divine unity.

The Desert Encampments

The Desert Encampments PDF Author: Alexander Hool
Publisher: Mosaica Press
ISBN: 195237037X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 145

Book Description
What happened to the Jewish people in the forty years of wanderings, between the giving of the Torah and their entry into the Holy Land? Where did they go, and what was the purpose of these destinations? The Torah goes into very great detail about the travels and events that took place during these years, but the time, place, and specifics of many of the events have remained hidden between the profound words of the verses, leaving us with a blurred picture and understanding of this crucial period in Biblical and Jewish history. In yet another fascinating and eye-opening study, bestselling author Rabbi Alexander Hool, fortified with detailed mapping and satellite imagery, combines a meticulous study of the text with a plethora of detail, gleaned from diverse Rabbinic sources — in a fresh and exciting attempt to unlock the subtle and cryptic Scripture, and fathom the events, the journeys, and the significance of the desert encampments.

A Letter in the Scroll

A Letter in the Scroll PDF Author: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9780743267427
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Book Description
For too long, Jews have defined themselves in light of the bad things that have happened to them. And it is true that, many times in the course of history, they have been nearly decimated: when the First and Second Temples were destroyed, when the Jews were expelled from Spain, when Hitler proposed his Final Solution. Astoundingly, the Jewish people have survived catastrophe after catastrophe and remained a thriving and vibrant community. The question Rabbi Jonathan Sacks asks is, quite simply: How? How, in the face of such adversity, has Judaism remained and flourished, making a mark on human history out of all proportion to its numbers? Written originally as a wedding gift to his son and daughter-in-law, A Letter in the Scroll is Rabbi Sacks's personal answer to that question, a testimony to the enduring strength of his religion. Tracing the revolutionary series of philosophical and theological ideas that Judaism created -- from covenant to sabbath to formal education -- and showing us how they remain compellingly relevant in our time, Sacks portrays Jewish identity as an honor as well as a duty. The Ba'al Shem Tov, an eighteenth-century rabbi and founder of the Hasidic movement, famously noted that the Jewish people are like a living Torah scroll, and every individual Jew is a letter within it. If a single letter is damaged or missing or incorrectly drawn, a Torah scroll is considered invalid. So too, in Judaism, each individual is considered a crucial part of the people, without whom the entire religion would suffer. Rabbi Sacks uses this metaphor to make a passionate argument in favor of affiliation and practice in our secular times, and invites us to engage in our dynamic and inclusive tradition. Never has a book more eloquently expressed the joys of being a Jew. This is the story of one man's hope for the future -- a future in which the next generation, his children and ours, will happily embrace the beauty of the world's oldest religion.

The Seven Questions You're Asked in Heaven

The Seven Questions You're Asked in Heaven PDF Author: Dr. Ron Wolfson
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 1580234690
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 200

Book Description
How do you get to the heart of a life well lived? Its all about the questions. If you can hear the questions and apply them to the way you live your life on earth today, then when the time comes, your soul will be ready to take that stairway to heaven, prepared to answer the Seven Questions with a resounding Yes!, and take your rightful place among the angels. from the Prologue In this charming, inspiring and wise guide to a well-lived life, beloved teacher Ron Wolfson provides an advance copy of the Seven Questions youll be asked in heavenwhether youre a believer or a non-believer. The answers to these questions will help you shape a life of purpose and meaning on earth today. Supported by wisdom from the Jewish tradition, lifes experiences, and personal anecdotes, Wolfson tells you about these transformative questions and explores the values that are at the heart of a life that matters. He offers funny, insightful and poignant stories of how peopleancient and contemporaryhave answered the Seven Questions through their everyday actions. He encourages you to reflect on your own life goals and provides ideas both big and small for achieving them.

Cultural Disjunctions

Cultural Disjunctions PDF Author: Paul Mendes-Flohr
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022678486X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Book Description
"Contemporary Jews variously configure their identity, which is no longer necessarily defined by an observance of the Torah and God's commandments. Indeed, the Jews of modernity are no longer exclusively Jewish. They are affiliated with many communities-vocational, professional, political, and cultural-whose interests may not coincide with that of the community of their birth and inherited culture. In Cultural Disjunctions, Paul Mendes-Flohr explores the possibility of a spiritually and intellectually engaged cosmopolitan Jewish identity for our time. To ground this project, he draws on the sociology of knowledge and cultural hermeneutics to reflect on the need to participate in the life of a community so that it enables multiple relations beyond its borders and allows one to balance a commitment to the local and a genuine obligation to the universal. Over the course of six provocative chapters, Mendes-Flohr lays out what this delicate balance can look like for contemporary Jews, both in the Diaspora and in Israel. Mendes-Flohr takes us through the ghettos of twentieth-century Europe, the differences between the personal libraries of traditional and secular Jews, and the role of cultural memory. Ultimately, the author calls for Jews to remain discontent with themselves (as a check on hubris), but also discontent with the social and political order, and to fight for its betterment"--

Saturday People, Sunday People

Saturday People, Sunday People PDF Author: Lela Gilbert
Publisher: Encounter Books
ISBN: 159403639X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Book Description
Offers a look at Israel, its people, and its conflicts from the point of view of a Christian woman living in the country.

Sacred Trash

Sacred Trash PDF Author: Adina Hoffman
Publisher: Schocken
ISBN: 080521223X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FINALIST WINNER OF THE 2012 AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION’S SOPHIE BRODY AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN JEWISH LITERATURE Sacred Trash tells the remarkable story of the Cairo Geniza—a synagogue repository for worn-out texts that turned out to contain the most vital cache of Jewish manuscripts ever discovered. This tale of buried communal treasure weaves together unforgettable portraits of Solomon Schechter and the other modern heroes responsible for the collection’s rescue with explorations of the medieval documents themselves—letters and poems, wills and marriage contracts, Bibles, money orders, fiery dissenting religious tracts, fashion-conscious trousseaux lists, prescriptions, petitions, and mysterious magical charms. Presenting a pan­oramic view of almost a thousand years of vibrant Mediterranean Judaism, Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole bring contemporary readers into the heart of this little-known trove, whose contents have rightly been dubbed “the Living Sea Scrolls.” Part biography, part meditation on the supreme value the Jewish people has long placed in the written word, Sacred Trash is above all a gripping tale of adventure and redemption. (With black-and-white illustrations throughout.)

Walking the Line

Walking the Line PDF Author: Rabbi Chaim Jachter
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 297

Book Description
Learning and mastering Hilchot Eruvin is a daunting challenge. Walking the Line: Hilchot Eruvin from the Sources to the Streets sets forth a practical path to conquer this challenge by bringing Hilchot Eruvin to life. The product of over thirty years of experience helping communities design and maintain their eruvin, Rabbi Chaim Jachter demonstrates how the concepts of Hilchot Eruvin are applied in the field. This work is an indispensable guide for anyone interested in eruvin, whether they are learning the masechet, the Halachah, or are simply interested in helping their community create, expand, or maintain its eruv. This volume discusses: The Laws of Creating an Eruv Defining the Four Domains A List of Major Cities Highways, Railroads, & Overpasses Constructing the Tzurot Hapetach The Maximum Size of an Eruv Islands and Waterfronts Introduction to Karpeif, Eruv Chatzeirot, & Sechirat Reshut Karpeif and Bodies of Water Eruv Chatzeirot Considerations Demistifying Atu Rabim Eruvin Infrastructure A Lechi on Every Utility Pole? A Tree as a Lechi Lechi Strength Gud Achit Mechitzta and Lavud A Defense of the "Top-side" Wire The Use of Tachuv in Contemporary Community Eruvin Pitcha B'keren Zavit Case Studies Sagging Wire in the Yeshiva University Eruv Mei'achorei Hakotel in Long Island The Boardwalk Railing in Long Branch, New Jersey The Stringency of the Tevu'ot Shor & the Yale New Haven Eruv The 'All-American' Eruv in Champaign-Urbana The Lechi Under the Cabin Eaves at Camp Ramah Darom The Delatot of Canarsie, London, Mattersdorf, & Oakland Diversity in Eruvin Sephardic Standards for Defining a Reshut Harabim Eruv Standards According to Sephardic Measurements Chabad and Community Eruvin The Modi'in Eruv & Eruvin Standards in the Jewish State The Machmir & the Meikel Making Allowances for Each Other Fighting Price Gouging by Adopting a Lenient Opinion Eruv Maintenance A Community Model for Eruvin Maintenance in Sharon, MA Managing an Eruv Emergency in Cambridge, MA The Friday Afternoon the Rabbi Discovered the Eruv Was Broken Eruv Through the Storm The Proper Way to Challenge Authority During Eruv Inspection Eruv Inspections for Yom Tov Guidelines for Eruvin Maintenance Standards for Competent Inspection of Community Eruvin

Women of Valor

Women of Valor PDF Author: Sheila F. Segal
Publisher: Behrman House, Inc
ISBN: 9780874416121
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Book Description
Biographies of eight women who made unique contributions to Jewish life, including union organizer Rose Schneiderman, founder of Hadassah Henrietta Szold, and Israel's first Olympic medalist Yael Arad.

From David to Destruction

From David to Destruction PDF Author: Rabbi Chaim Jachter
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781086413915
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 537

Book Description
In From David to Destruction, Rabbi Chaim Jachter offers new solutions to both classic and previously unaddressed issues in the study of Sefer Melachim and Tanach. Combining traditional commentaries with innovative interpretations, From David to Destruction provides key insights into the spiritual challenges faced by the Jewish leadership and nation during the First Temple period, and applies the narratives of Sefer Melachim to contemporary Hashkafic issues. From David to Destruction: Mining Essential Lessons from Sefer Melachim comprises an intensive study of Shlomo HaMelech, Yarav'am ben Nevat, Beit Achav, Eliyahu HaNavi, Elisha, Yeshayahu HaNavi, Achaz, Chizkiyahu, Menashe, Yoshiyahu, Yirmiyahu HaNavi, and more.ELIZABETH KRATZ, THE JEWISH LINK OF NEW JERSEY: "Learning Tanach is a pleasure at any phase of life; gleaning the layered lessons of our great books and interpreting the struggles, challenges and decisions of our Nevi'im and Melachim seemingly becomes more relevant to our own lives as we age. However, if at the age of 16 or 17 I had had the opportunity to learn Tanach with Rabbi Chaim Jachter, his teachings would certainly have carried me through these many years... How fortunate we are to now have the opportunity to both learn Tanach as adults, with all our varied life experiences in hand, and also sit, albeit vicariously, in Rabbi Jachter's class at TABC.... The book goes through Sefer Melachim chapter by chapter, combining both the main ideas of the Perakim with various questions, material points, commentaries and problems that came up during classroom discourse. In addition to quoting Chazal's explanations, it includes his students' thoughts and interpretations, as Rabbi Jachter has done in previous books. This book goes the extra step of adding Rabbi Jachter's own classroom thoughts and vignettes, often including modern examples of leadership choices and challenges similar to the ones faced by the protagonists of the Sefer."