Conservative Books

The Everyday Torah

Bradley Shavit Artson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

“Like any classic, the Torah appears in different guises with each rereading. Its infinite layers of meaning and depth offer the opportunity to harvest anew, without any fear of exhausting its supply of wisdom, counsel, and kedushah (holiness). To encounter Torah is to encounter God.”
--from the Introduction

In this inspiring collection, Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson illuminates the sacred text at the heart of Jewish spirituality. Enlightening and original, The Everyday Torah brings the ancient text to life with poignant reflections that will guide to you to a deeper understanding of the Torah, of Judaism, of yourself.

"Torah goes its weekly way, and we go ours, and do the two paths ever cross? They cross often in many minds and hearts, but when it is Bradley Shavit Artson who provides their point of intersection, the crossroads widens into a town square."
--Jack Miles, author of God: A Biography

"Every page is a joy to read. Many, many readers will treasure this book."
--Richard Elliott Friedman, author of Commentary on the Torah and Who Wrote the Bible?

"Rabbi Bradley Artson remains one of the most inviting of modern day teachers of Torah. This book will offer needed guidance and inspiration to all who turn its pages."
--Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D., president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

Conservative Judaism: The New Century

Neil Gillman

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The best popular history of Conservative Judaism 5 out of 5 stars.
22 of 22 people found this review helpful.

This book answers every question you wanted to know about how Conservative Judaism developed, what its theological and legal principles are, and how it differs from the other Jewish movements (Reform, Orthodox and Reconstructionist). More importantly, it starts off with a summary of how all how the Jewish movements we know today developed. Many readers will be surprised to learn that Orthodox Judaism isn't the oldest movement - Reform Judaism is! Reform Judaism developed in the early 1800s in reaction to the Enlightment movement and Emancipation. Due to the radical positions taken by its founders, a reaction took place in the rest of the Jewish community. One reaction led to Samson Rapahel Hirsch developing Neo-Orthodoxy, the progenitor of Modern Orthodox Judaism. Another led to Agudah Yisrael and Haredism (Ultra-Orthodox). And most importantly (for this reader), the next step was the most vital. In response to the extremes taken by both the Reformers and Orthodox, Positive-Historical Judaism was then developed by Zechariah Frankel (Germany). This was the progentor of Conservative Judaism. Indeed, the Conservative movement is still sometimes called the Positive-Historical school of Judaism. This book is written by an insider, a professor of philosophy at the movement's primary seminary, and it is surprisingly frank and objective. The movements inherent tensions, strengths and weaknesses are all analyzed and discussed. Issues such as Zionism, women as rabbis, homosexuality, and the observance of the laity are discussed in an open fashion. For those who enjoy this book, or are interested in Conservative Judaism, I would also strongly suggest these two books: "A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice" by Rabbi Issac Klein, and, "Conservative Judaism: Our ancestors to our descendents", published by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), by Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff

Greek in Jewish Palestine/Hellenism in Jewish Palestine

Saul Lieberman

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Editorial Review:

In these two books, now reprinted in one volume, master Talmudist and scholar of the Greco-Roman world, the late Professor Saul Lieberman, elucidates words, texts, customs and practices in either rabbinic or classical literature, often buy reference to passages in the other. In Greek in Jewish Palestine, he demonstrates that "almost ever foreign word and phrase have their raison d'etre in rabbinic literature" and that "all Greek phrases in rabbinic literature are quotations." Hellenism in Jewish Palestine is "an inquiry into the spirit of many rabbinic observations and investigations of the facts, insicents, opinions, notions and beliefs to which the Rabbis allude in their statements."

The Unfolding Tradition: Jewish Law After Sinai

Elliot N. Dorff

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First guide to understanding a systematic view of Jewish law 5 out of 5 stars.
26 of 26 people found this review helpful.

What is halakha (loosely translated as "Jewish law".) This book systematically discusses questions such as: Where does it come from? Are Jews obligated to obey it? If so, why? What does it mean to be obligated? How does one decide questions of Jewish law?

Unfortunately, most Orthodox authors do not study philosophy, and make no attempt to systematically describe their approach of halakha. On the other extreme, Reform authors do not view halakha as authoritative in any way. They have produced no systematic view of Jewish law, and wildly disagree themselves over whether any part of should be normative at all.

In contrast, it is Jews affiliated with Conservative, Traditional and Masorti Judaism who have thus produced the most intelligble and systematic writings on this subject. Not only does Rabbi Dorff systematically present his own philosophy in regards to the above questions, but he presents the views of many other Jewish thinkers, both inside Conservative Judaism, as well as Reform and Orthodoxy.

Dorff presents a serious philosophical critique of every theory of law discussed: What are the strengths of each position, and what are the weaknesses. No partisan polemicist, he is equally critical of his own theory of law as he is of other people's theories. Why should anyone care about this subject? Rabbi Dorff writes:

"A theory of law describes how the author understands the nature of human beings and human society, the role of law for people and societies construed in that way, the sources of authority of the law, the ways in which the law can retain authority and yet change over time to remain relevant to current circumstances, and the relationship between law and morality, religion, and custom. The reason why one should care about such matters is because the way you understand such matters has a critical effect on how you understand yourself and your community, the role of law in your life and that of your community, and the ways in which law can and should remain the same or change over time."

This book includes readings by Zachariah Frankel, Solomon Schechter, Mordecai Kaplan, Robert Gordis, Jacob Agus, Abraham Joshua Heschel, David M. Gordis, Louis Jacobs, Joel Roth, Neil Gillman, Edward Feld, Alana Suskin, Raymond Scheindlin and Gordon Tucker, as well as theorists on the right and the left of the Conservative movement. The book also compares Jewish and American law, and asks questions about the nature of legal systems, the relationship between law and religion, and the evolution of law.

Editorial Review:

This volume analyzes the biblical and rabbinic roots of Jewish law, as interpreted by leading rabbis of the Conservative movement and beyond. This long-awaited work is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the roots, development and interpretation of Jewish law in general, and for those who wish to know how Conservative Judaism evolved and what it represents.

300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions

Murray Spiegel and Rickey Stein

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Amazing! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

After cooking and cleaning all week, I stayed up late the night before the first seder to read this book. I just couldn't put it down! I brought it to our friends' house for seder, and we spent more than an hour passing the book around, taking turns reading the questions in every language we had even a passing acquaintance with, and many we didn't! We couldn't stop laughing, but it also sparked some interesting discussions of past seders we'd attended and Jewish customs we'd experienced in other countries. I plan to buy several copies for family and friends before next Pesach!

Review 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Infused with the great joy the authors take in their subject, 300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions celebrates the universal, liberating message of Passover in unique and wonderful ways. Through 300 languages, plus the puzzles and games, and especially their own absorbing quests into identifying, preserving and enjoying languages and the people who produced the translations, Spiegel and Stein bring us a far greater appreciation of the importance and significance of Passover and its meaning to all the world's peoples.

A Student's Obligation: Advice from the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto

Micha Odenheimer

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

GREAT BOOK 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This book is great for children and adults, it teaches you morals and you learn a lot of interesting information about god, the warshaw ghetto, and about life. I love reading it, i think that everyone should read this book. This book has taught me so much about feelings, thoughts, and life. I would reccomend this book to everyone!

Essential insights to traditional Jewish teaching 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The author offers us heart-felt life advice, and clear-cut guidance, which is conveyed to us through the vehicle of a one sided dialogue from student to teacher, and father to son. The type of work that stokes the coals of the fire within us all.

Editorial Review:

The last hasidic rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto explores many facets of spiritual growth and character development.

On the Essence of Chasidus: A Chasidic Discourse by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of Chabad-Lubavitch

Menachem M. Schneerson

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This is a seminal work in Chabad Chasidus 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 24 people found this review helpful.

This was actually the first book I read from Lubavitch even before I read the whole Tanya. It codifies the levels of the soul (Naranchay - nefesh, ruach, neshama, chaya and yechida) and goes into topics I've forgotten about as I currently don't have a copy of this book. In other words, this book gives the Chabad Lubavitch world view or the construction of the soul and the creation of the universe. I read this book in Jerusalem in the home of some prominent people in the Carlebach movement.
I've found the Rebbe of Lubavitch, and the movement that created his cult of personality, to be a problematic. It was he who authorized (upon my father's asking for help) Rabbi Shea Hecht to work with me to leave the Ben Yishai cult. The Rebbe was alive when the "Confessions of a Jewish Cultbuster" book was written with all of it's hype and lies about me which were full known to the Rebbe. Furthermore, my family was back to Chabad several times after the Confessions story about me "Hank and the Hebrew-Christians" was written and we never had good results from Chabad's intervention. Whatever knowledge of psychology the Rebbe had, I'm unsure of as I personally seemed beyond his ability to help. With the plethora of Kabbalistic material being translated and written by institutions like the Kabbalah Center (an opponent of Chabad) it's my belief that these doctrines belong on the scrap heap and are not really the way the world works.

Editorial Review:

In this landmark discourse, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, explores the contribution of chasidus to a far deeper and expanded understanding of Torah. The Rebbe analyzes the relationship chasidus has with Kabbalah, the various dimensions of the soul, the concept of Moshiach and the Divine attributes.

Now part of the Chasidic Heritage Series, this newly revised edition includes a vowelized Hebrew text, a clear English translation, appendix, comprehensive footnotes and annotation.

Saul Lieberman: The Man and His Work

Elijah J. Schochet, Solomon Spiro

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Editorial Review:

Over twenty years have passed since Professor Saul Lieberman died on his way to Israel. Yet despite his prodigious intellectual attainments and seminal scholarly publications, no full-scale biography of Lieberman has appeared. For many, his life story is simply described by noting his early education in Lithuania's traditional yeshivot, his introduction to the tools of modern scholarship in Palestine, where he commenced some of his most influential work, and the flourishing of his scholarship in America, where he taught for over forty years. In this volume, we have sought to present a broader and deeper portrait of Lieberman the academic as well as Lieberman the man - a book that we hope will prove to be of interest to the scholar and layperson alike. - From the authors' Introducation

Common Ground: The Weekly Torah Portion Through the Eyes of a Conservative, Orthodox, and Reform Rabbi

Shammai Englemayer

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Editorial Review:

Journalist Steve Lipman brings together three rabbis who respond to questions concerning each of the weekly Torah portions.

The Halakhic Process: A Systematic Analysis (Moreshet Series, Vol 13)

Joel Roth

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Editorial Review:

In his enlightening discussion of one of the most important topics in Jewish thought today, Prof. Roth presents and analyzes the primary Talmudic and rabbinic sources relating to the legal and extralegal factors that go into the process of halakhic decision-making. He leads the reader through the entire process, step by step. The concepts of Biblical versus rabinnic legislation, the role of precedent and custom, extra legal factors (science, technology, medicine, sociology, economics, ethics and psychology) the scope of rabbinic authority, the qualifications for halakhic decision-making authority-all these are taken up and placed in context of the question of legitimacy and illegitimacy, authenticity and in authenticity. All the pressing and controversial questions of our time-women's rights and obligations: the ordination of women, their inclusion into a minyan, prenuptial agreements regarding divorce, the abolition of the second day of the festivals-are bound up with the issues discussed in this book. Anyone concerned with these and similar matters will gain a far broader and deeper appreciation for the real issues involved.