Law Books

A Code of Jewish Ethics: Volume 1: You Shall Be Holy

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A Code of Jewish Ethics, Volume 1: You Shall Be Holy is the initial volume of the first major code of Jewish ethics to be written in the English language. It is a monumental work on the vital topic of personal character and integrity by one of the premier Jewish scholars and thinkers of our time.

With the stated purpose of restoring ethics to its central role in Judaism, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin offers hundreds of examples from the Torah, the Talmud, rabbinic commentaries, and contemporary stories to illustrate how ethical teachings can affect our daily behavior. The subjects dealt with are ones we all encounter. They include judging other people fairly; knowing when forgiveness is obligatory, optional, or forbidden; balancing humility and self-esteem; avoiding speech that shames others; restraining our impulses of envy, hatred, and revenge; valuing truth but knowing when lying is permitted; understanding why God is the ultimate basis of morality; and appreciating the great benefits of Torah study. Telushkin has arranged the book in the traditional style of Jewish codes, with topical chapters and numbered paragraphs. Statements of law are almost invariably followed by anecdotes illustrating how these principles have been, or can be, practiced in daily life. The book can be read straight through to provide a solid grounding in Jewish values, consulted as a reference when facing ethical dilemmas, or studied in a group.

Vast in scope, this volume distills more than three thousand years of Jewish laws and suggestions on how to improve one’s character and become more honest, decent, and just. It is a landmark work of scholarship that is sure to influence the lives of Jews for generations to come, rich with questions to ponder and discuss, but primarily a book to live by.

Biblical Literacy: The Most Important People, Events, and Ideas of the Hebrew Bible

Joseph Telushkin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

As he did so brilliantly in his bestselling book, jewish literacy,Joseph Teluslikin once again mines a subject of, Jewish history and religion so richly that his book becomes an inspiring companion and a fundamental reference. In Biblical Lileracy, Telushkin turns his attention to the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Old Testament), the most iniluential series of books in human history. Along with the Ten Commandments, the Bible's most famous document, no piece of legislation ever enacted has influenced human behavior as much as the biblical injunction to "Love your neighbor as yourself." No political tract has motivated human beings in so many diverse societies to fight for political freedom as the Exodus story of God's liberation of the Israelite slaves--which shows that God intends that, ultimately, people be free.

The Bible's influence, however, has conveyed as much through its narratives as its laws. Its timeless and moving tales about the human condition and man's relationship to God have long shaped Jewish and Christian notions of morality, and continue to stir the conscience and imagination of believers and skeptics alike.

There is a universality in biblical stories:

The murder of Abel by his brother Cain is a profound tragedy of sibling jealousy and family love gone awry (see pages 11-14).

Abraham',s challenge to God to save the lives of the evil people of Sodom is a fierce drama of man in confrontation with God, suggesting the human right to contend with the Almighty when it is feared He is acting unjustly (see pages 32-34).

Jacob's, deception of his blind father, Isaac raises the timeless question: Do the ends justify the means when the fate of the world is at stake (see pages 46-55).

Encyclopedia in scope, but dynamic and original in its observations and organization, Biblical Lileracy makes available in one volume the Bible's timeless stories of love, deceit, and the human condition; its most important laws and ideas; and an annotated listing of all 613 laws of the Torah for both layman and professional, there is no other reference work or interpretation of the Bible quite like this Stunning volume.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Kabbalah (Complete Idiot's Guide to)

Ph.D., Rav. Michael Laitman, Collin Canright

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Simply put this Book is AMAZING! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Like the title says this book is Amazing! It offers an un-paralleled view on the what true Kabbalah is. Laitman gives you insights into the deepest mysteries in a way that even a complete Idiot could understand ha ha. This book is for anyone who needs answers to their unanswered questions, here you will find your answers.

Best, No Brainer guide To Authentic Kabbalah - No red strings or holy water here! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Rav Laitman and BB are the only real source for Kabbalah. If you want to know the truth about Kabbalah and why we exist, this is the choice for you. I have read many of Rav Laitman's books and they are all great. Good luck on your journey, but if you choose this book, you are light years ahead of everyone else.

Editorial Review:

What the Kabbalah can do for you …

According to the authors of this comprehensive guide, the Kabbalah that Madonna popularized is far from authentic. In fact, the Kabbalah is much bigger—and better. Here, readers will discover how it can deliver money, love, health, and many other things.
—An international authority on authentic Kabbalah was a consultant for this book
—Blends religion/spirituality with New Age mysticism

Torah Yoga: Experiencing Jewish Wisdom Through Classic Postures (Arthur Kurzweil Books)

Diane Bloomfield

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

A beautifully written and interesting book... 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 9 people found this review helpful.

Raised as a Presbyterian, a competitive swimmer, and a mathematician (order not important), I am not naturally drawn either to spiritual mysticism or yoga. This beautifully written and interesting book, however, has helped me to understand how one could be drawn to those things. My thanks to the author, who obviously cares very deeply about her subject.

Editorial Review:

This highly original book introduces a fascinating new approach to yoga and Torah by combining the practice of classic yoga postures with traditional and mystical Jewish wisdom. Each chapter begins by presenting a central Jewish spiritual concept that engages readers of all faiths on a personal level. It offers an in-depth exploration of the concept, quoting and commenting on sacred Jewish texts from the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses) and other sources. It then guides its readers with mastery and clarity through a meditation and a set of fundamental yoga postures--clearly illustrated by beautiful photographs--for both beginning and advanced yoga students. The Torah concept is actualized and experienced through the practice of these postures. Torah Yoga helps to heighten awareness of body, mind, and spiritit illuminates the heart of Jewish wisdom.

Women and Jewish Law: The Essential Texts, Their History, and Their Relevance for Today

Rachel Biale

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Seeing Women's Issues from all sides 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 16 people found this review helpful.

Ms. Biale's book, not only explains relevent laws and how they effect Jewish women (marriage, divorce, abortion, niddah)... she also takes the time to cite the teachings of the great Rabbis, allowing all sides- from right to middle to left- to be heard. This presentation is a fascinating read and allows you to consider all of the evidence and create your own, informed opinions.

Well researched 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

I much enjoyed this book. It is well-researched and argues its case equally well. The author points out how so many of the halakhic decisions were originally made to protect women from aggressive males within the patriarchal system of those times. It ends, however, with the cry for those rulings to be reconsidered in light of the "fact" that women no longer need or want to be protected.

Legal Revision and Religious Renewal in Ancient Israel

Bernard M. Levinson

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Editorial Review:

This book examines the doctrine of transgenerational punishment found in the Decalogue-that is, the idea that God punishes sinners vicariously and extends the punishment due them to three or four generations of their progeny. Though it was "God-given" law, the unfairness of punishing innocent people merely for being the children or grandchildren of wrongdoers was clearly recognized in ancient Israel. A series of inner-biblical and post-biblical responses to the rule demonstrates that later writers were able to criticize, reject, and replace this problematic doctrine with the alternative notion of individual retribution. From this perspective, the formative canon is the source of its own renewal: it fosters critical reflection upon the textual tradition and sponsors intellectual freedom. To support further study, this book includes a valuable bibliographical essay on the distinctive approach of inner-biblical exegesis showing the contributions of European, Israeli, and North American scholars. An earlier version of the volume appeared in French as L′Herméneutique de l′innovation: Canon et exégèse dans l′Israël biblique. This new Cambridge release represents a major revision and expansion of the French edition, nearly doubling its length with extensive new content. Legal Revision and Religious Renewal in Ancient Israel opens new perspectives on current debates within the humanities about canonicity, textual authority, and authorship. Bernard M. Levinson holds the Berman Family Chair of Jewish Studies and Hebrew Bible at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on biblical and cuneiform law, textual reinterpretation in the Second Temple period, and the relation of the Bible to Western intellectual history. His book Deuteronomy and the Hermeneutics of Legal Innovation (1997) won the 1999 Salo W. Baron Award for Best First Book in Literature and Thought from the American Academy for Jewish Research. He is also the author of "The Right Chorale" : Studies in Biblical Law and Interpretation (2008), and editor or coeditor of four volumes, most recently, The Pentateuch as Torah: New Models for Understanding Its Promulgation and Acceptance (2007). The interdisciplinary significance of his work has been recognized with appointments to both the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton) and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin/Berlin Institute for Advanced Study.

An Introduction to Jewish Ethics

Louis E. Newman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent Overview 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Although this book was written as a textbook, the author's clarity and obvious mastery of the subject make it an intellectually exciting journey for all readers interested in Judaism and ethics.

Editorial Review:

Introduction to Jewish Ethics offers a concise overview of the Jewish ethical tradition as it has evolved from biblical times to the present. The volume provides a broad conceptual overview of the central beliefs of classical Judaism and the ways in which these frame traditional Jewish approaches to issues in ethics, both theoretical and practical and it familiarizes readers with the distinctive ways in which contemporary Jewish ethics draw upon this rich tradition of religious-ethical reflection as they address key ethical issue of our day. The volume examines religion, ethics and religious ethics, Judaism and Jewish Ethics, sources of Jewish ethics, contours of Jewish moral life, foundations of moral obligation in Judaism and Jewish ethics in modern times. For those interested in religion and ethics.

Coming Home: A Woman's Story Of Conversion To Judaism

Linda Shires

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

She grew up in an upper-middle-class Protestant family in New England. She can trace her father's family back to the Mayflower. Yet, "Judaism was to be my bashert, my destiny," maintains Linda Shires - wife, mother, professor, and author. For almost twenty years, she lived the life of a Jewish wife, passing as a Jew when she participated in Jewish holiday rituals with her husband and her three step-children. When she wanted, she thought of herself as a Christian. But after deciding to ground her child in one religious tradition, Shires discovered her own. Coming Home tells the story of why a former WASP Debutante opted for a position at the margins: a Jew-by-Choice and why she became committed to a life of religious observance and questioning. Her narrative is quietly passionate, spiritual, and learned as it moves from the halls of Princeton to the Holocaust camps of Germany and back again. This richly felt story of conversion to Judaism expands our idea of what constitutes a spiritual journey and a religious practice.

Total Immersion: A Mikvah Anthology

Rivkah Slonim

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Total Immersion in the beauty of Judaism 5 out of 5 stars.
26 of 31 people found this review helpful.

I read this book with an open, but skeptical heart. I am a recent convert to Judaism, single, and searching for where I am comfotrable in the plethora of traditions and decisions, and the question of niddah and mikvah observances arose. I have always been interested in the tradition, but it wasn't until I stepped into a mikvah myself that I felt the embracing arms of Judaism so completely. Ms. Slonim et al., have put together a wonderful collection of facts and personal stories. I cried when I realized there were other women out there who felt the same way I did, though it is never discussed. While reading this I felt a sisterhood, in a way, that I've never felt. I no longer have to feel ashamed, scared of being the only one. Thank you Ms. Slonim, thank you. Todah. Shalom

Editorial Review:

In this best-selling collection of almost fifty essays and stories about the mikvah (the Jewish ritual bath), women and men contribute their thoughts on this ancient Jewish tradition. The issues of mikvah and Jewish family purity are addressed from philosophic, psychological, mystical, legal, practical, historical and personal points of view.

Overcoming Life's Disappointments

Harold S. Kushner

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Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From Harold S. Kushner, the author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People, a book that shows us how to be our best selves even when things don’t turn out as we had hoped—that is, how we can overcome life’s disappointments.

Kushner turns to the experience of Moses to find the requisite lessons of strength and faith. Moses towers over all others in the Old Testament: he is the man on the mountaintop to whom God speaks with unparalleled intimacy, and he leads his people out of bondage. But he is also deeply human, someone whose soaring triumphs are offset by frustration and longing: his people ignore his teachings, he is denied entrance to the Promised Land, his family suffers. But he overcomes.

From the life of Moses, Kushner gleans principles that can help us deal with the problems we encounter. Through the example of Moses’ remarkable resilience, we learn how to weather the disillusionment of dreams unfulfilled, the pain of a lost job or promotion, a child’s failures, divorce or abandonment, and illness. We learn how to meet all disappointments with faith in ourselves and the future, and how to respond to heartbreak with understanding rather than bitterness and despair.

This is a book of spiritual wisdom—as practical as it is inspiring.