Best Jewish Sacred Writings

Regarded throughout the English-speaking world as the standard English translation of the Holy Scriptures, the JPS TANAKH has been acclaimed by scholars, rabbis, lay leaders, Jews, and Christians alike. ( Time Magazine ) "Turns Holy Writ into fresh, understandable, contemporary language.

As a Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus gives the Christian a new perspective on the Bible and Jewish history. The Works of Josephus include the following: THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, his autobiography written shortly before he died. This collection includes the Complete Works of Josephus: Life of Flavius Josephus, War of the Jew, Antiquities of the Jews, Against Apion, and Discourse to the Greeks in easy to use eBook.

Matt Chandler helps navigate these issues for both singles and marrieds by revealing the process Solomon himself followed: Attraction, Courtship, Marriage ... even Arguing. Matt Chandler pastors The Village Church, a multi-campus church attended by more than 10,000 people. Matt Chandler pastors The Village Church, a multi-campus church attended by more than 10,000 people.

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day is inspired by one of the most obscure yet courageous acts recorded in Scripture, a blessed and audacious act that left no regrets: “Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit. What if the life you really want, and the future God wants for you, is hiding right now in your biggest problem, your worst failure…your greatest fear? Look in the rearview mirror long enough and you’ll see that God has purposely positioned you everywhere you’ve been—even when it seemed you’d taken a wrong turn.”. —Mark Batterson. Praise for In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: “A thoughtful and energetic leader, Mark Batterson presses us to consider how we live out our faith in the world around us. Mark’s genuine warmth and sincerity spill over into his communication, combining an intense love for his community with a passionate desire to see them living the life God dreams for them. In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day helps us make sense of this beautiful mess we call life.” -Lindy Lowry, Editor, Outreach magazine “Mark Batterson is down-to-earth and humble—yet constantly pushes me to grow.

The Zohar and Kabbalah have traditionally been known as the world’s most esoteric sources of spiritual knowledge, but Rav Berg has dedicated his life to making this concentrated distillation of infinite wisdom available to people of all faiths so that we may use its principles to live each day in harmony with the divine. The Zohar's biblical commentaries and rabbinical stories of apparently "surprise happenings, sudden insights, and full-blown epiphanies" are intended to help readers open themselves to similar revelations. --Michael Joseph Gross Berg, the dean and director of the Kabbalah Centre, writes accessibly about the Zohar, a free-flowing mystical commentary on the Bible, as a way people can tap into cosmic energies that are available for personal and universal salvation. Berg admits that people may be uncomfortable with the notion that we can use "whatever means... necessary to create the spiritual circuitry of our universe," especially if that explains such misdeeds as King David murdering Uriah so he could take Batsheva as his wife.

**2018 Natan Book Award Finalist**. **Finalist for the 2017 National Jewish Book Award in Women's Studies ** The Wall Street Journal: "There is humor and heartbreak in these pages...Ms. Kurshan immerses herself in the demands of daily Talmud study and allows the words of ancient scholars to transform the patterns of her own life." At the age of 27, alone in Jerusalem in the wake of a painful divorce, Ilana Kurshan joined the world’s largest book club, learning daf yomi, Hebrew for “daily page" of the Talmud, a book of rabbinic teachings spanning about 600 years and the basis for all codes of Jewish law. Both religious and secular readers will find themselves immensely moved by her personal story and the raw courage of the journey she has undertaken.” – Elaine Margolin, The Jerusalem Post. "From the moment I picked up If All the Seas Were Ink , I was not able to put it down...Highly recommended...No background in Talmud is needed to appreciate Kurshan’s intriguing story. "There is humor and heartbreak in these pages...Ms. Kurshan immerses herself in the demands of daily Talmud study and allows the words of ancient scholars to transform the patterns of her own life." … Kurshan’s memoir gives us insightful contemporary readings of talmudic passages while demonstrating how life can accrue added richness when set against the backdrop of the Talmud.” ―Sarah Rindner, Jewish Review of Books. “Clever and witty… Kurshan is a fabulous writer; her clarity and simplicity propel you along almost unaware that you’re reading…So engrossing I hardly could put it down.” ―Neal Gendler, American Jewish World. "Delightful...The most enjoyable feature of the book is the brilliant and creative integration of the daily Talmudic folio Kurshan studies with experiences of her life." ― Kirkus Reviews "The splendidly written book is made all the more compelling by Kurshan’s willingness to share her vulnerabilities. " Kurshan committed herself to the Daf Yomi...she reports on how this daily discipline brought humor and wisdom and insight into her life." ―Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won't Go Away"If All the Seas Were Ink is such a moving memoir. Kurshan's portrait of everyday life in Jerusalem enriches her recounting of connecting to centuries of intellectual curiosity and conversing with bygone generations. ―Susan Isaacs, author of Long Time No See" In this deeply personal and often hilarious story, Kurshan shows us how the Talmud’s thousands of strange and demanding pages become a conversation about how best to live one's life in an imperfect world. "When a woman as incredibly well-read as Ilana Kurshan commits herself to studying the Talmud daily for seven-and-a-half years, the results are mind-expanding, both for her and for readers of If All the Seas Were Ink. "An intimate and eloquent portrait of a young woman’s passionate loves and fears… Kurshan writes as a woman of (as she puts it) ‘Dickensonian sensibilities:’ clinging to her privacy while exposing her vulnerability, seeking the resonances between her mind, soul and body, and revealing an acutely sensitive intelligence, a wry self-awareness, and an active sense of the absurd. ". She has worked in literary publishing both in New York and in Jerusalem, as a translator and foreign rights agent and as the books editor of Lilith magazine.

The instant New York Times bestselling memoir of a young Jewish woman’s escape from a religious sect, in the tradition of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel and Carolyn Jessop’s Escape , featuring a new epilogue by the author. Deborah Feldman was raised in the Satmar Hasidic community in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York.

Judaism, he argues, is a religion of time: it finds meaning not in space and the materials things that fill it but in time and the eternity that imbues it, so that 'the Sabbaths are our greatcatherdrals.'. Elegant, passionate, and filled with the love of God?s creation, Abraham Hoshua Heschel?s The Sabbath has been hailed as a classic of Jewish spirituality ever since its original publication in 1951?and has been read by thousands of people of many faiths seeking meaning in modern life. Judaism, he argues, is the religion of time: it finds meaning not in space and the material things that fill it but in time and the eternity that imbues it, so that ?the Sabbaths are our great cathedrals.

From Grammy-winning musical icon and legendary bassist Victor L. Wooten comes The Music Lesson, the story of a struggling young musician who wanted music to be his life, and who wanted his life to be great. "As music lessons go, this one is unique and can be enjoyed by both musicians and general listeners, especially those interested in the arts and creativity."

Including services for Shabbat, weekdays and festivals, as well as other occasions of public worship, and texts for more than a hundred songs, Mishkan T'filah reflects the full diversity of our Movement.

The coeditor of the enormously popular Jewish Catalog "help[s] readers understand more fully the meaning of our holidays and thereby to observe these festivals . The name Passover is taken from the Exodus story: During the tenth and ultimate plague inflicted on Pharaoh to break his will, God passed over the Israelites and struck down only the Egyptian firstborn. Following the bleakness of winter when everything is covered with the shrouds of snow, spring marks the rebirth of the earth with the bursting forth of green life. Similarly, a people enshackled in oppressive slavery, doomed to a slow process of degradation or even extinction, bursts forth out of Egypt into a new life's journey leading to a land flowing with milk and honey. Thus, the spirit of renewed optimism aroused by the sights and smells of spring are reinforced in a Jewish context by Passover with its trumpeting of the possibilities of liberation. The matzah evokes images of that night when the Israelites ate the sacrificial lamb in fearful and eager anticipation of the future. Matzah as a symbol of liberation is meant to trigger in our minds the whole story, which began in slavery and ended in freedom. It also reminds us of God's role in the Exodus, for it recalls the simple faith of the Israelites, who were willing to leave the home they knew and go off into the desert. Because it is the crucial event that marks the beginning of our sacred history, the Exodus is referred to repeatedly in Jewish liturgy and thought. This commandment, unique to this holiday, leads us not simply to remember the Exodus but to expand upon the tale, to explore its complexities and develop its meaning. As the Torah states: "Remember this day, on which you went free from Egypt, the house of bondage, how the Lord freed you from it with a...

In My Grandfather's Blessings , Rachel Naomi Remen , a cancer physician and master storyteller, uses her luminous stories to remind us of the power of our kindness and the joy of being alive. When doctor and author Rachel Naomi Remen ( Kitchen Table Wisdom ) was young, she was caught between two different views of life: that of her rabbi grandfather and that of her highly academic, research-oriented parents, who believed religion was the opiate of the masses. Through a series of unpretentious, affecting vignettes, the author of the bestseller Kitchen Table Wisdom encourages readers to recognize and celebrate the unexpected blessings in their own lives. Many of her recollections are linked to her experiences as a medical student and a physician working with cancer patients, but the most memorable ones relate to Remen's deep engagement with her grandfather, who died when she was seven.