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Saving Alex: When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That's When My Nightmare Began
By Alex Cooper, Joanna Brooks. 2016
When Alex Cooper was fifteen years old, life was pretty ordinary in her sleepy suburban town and nice Mormon family.…
At church and at home, Alex was taught that God had a plan for everyone. But something was gnawing at her that made her feel different. These feelings exploded when she met Yvette, a girl who made Alex feel alive in a new way, and with whom Alex would quickly fall in love.Alex knew she was holding a secret that could shatter her family, her church community, and her life. Yet when this secret couldn’t be hidden any longer, she told her parents that she was gay, and the nightmare began. She was driven from her home in Southern California to Utah, where, against her will, her parents handed her over to fellow Mormons who promised to save Alex from her homosexuality.For eight harrowing months, Alex was held captive in an unlicensed “residential treatment program” modeled on the many “therapeutic” boot camps scattered across Utah. Alex was physically and verbally abused, and many days she was forced to stand facing a wall wearing a heavy backpack full of rocks. Her captors used faith to punish and terrorize her. With the help of a dedicated legal team in Salt Lake City, Alex eventually escaped and made legal history in Utah by winning the right to live under the law’s protection as an openly gay teenager.Alex is not alone; the headlines continue to splash stories about gay conversion therapy and rehabilitation centers that promise to “save” teenagers from their sexuality. Saving Alex is a courageous memoir that tells Alex’s story in the hopes that it will bring awareness and justice to this important issue. A bold, inspiring story of one girl’s fight for freedom, acceptance, and truth.That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist: On Being A Faithful Jew and a Passionate
By Sylvia Boorstein. 1997
In this landmark book, esteemed Buddhist teacher Sylvia Boorstein addresses this incisive question in a warm, delightful and personal way.…
With the same down-to-earth charm and wit that have endeared her to her many students and readers, Boorstein shows how one can be both an observant Jew and a passionately committed Buddhist.The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance For Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity
By James C. Vanderkam, Peter Flint. 2002
The Dead Sea Scrolls, found in caves near the Dead Sea fifteen miles east of Jerusalem from 1947 to 1956,…
include the oldest existing biblical manuscripts and the remarkable texts of the purist Jewish community at Qumran. The discovery of the scrolls has added dramatically to our understanding of the varieties of Judaism at the time of Jesus and the rise of Christianity, but has also prompted heated debate about the nature of these religions. As the monumental task of transcribing and translating the Dead Sea Scrolls is finally completed, people around the world are taking stock of the significance of these ancient documents. In this book, two of the world's leading experts on the scrolls reveal the complete and fascinating story in all its detail: the amazing discovery, the intense controversies, and the significant revelations.Drawing together all the evidence, this timely book explores: The discovery and dating of the scrolls Their relationship to the Hebrew Bible, Apocrypha, and New Testament Their messianic and apocalyptic messages The identity, nature, and theology of the Qumran community The nonbiblical scrolls Controversies surrounding the scrollsThis comprehensive, up-to-date guide is the definitive introduction to all aspects of the scrolls, including their teachings, the community that created them, the world of Judaism, the origins of Christianity, our understanding of Jesus and the New Testament. Featuring photos of the original texts, the sites, and the scholars who deciphered them, and including illustrative passages from the scrolls, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls presents the most complete and accurate scholarship on the Dead Sea Scrolls available today.Jews and Muslims in German Print Media: Integration and Multiculturalism Versus Antisemitism and Islamophobia
By Jolanda van der Noll, Katharina F. Gallant. 2024
This book uses a comparative research design to analyze the reporting on the Jewish minority and the Muslim minority in German…
newspapers from 2010-2019, asking whether minorities are truly treated as equals in the reporting of the mainstream German media. After providing historical and socio-political context for both groups as minority populations in Germany, the authors make use of qualitative and quantitative methods to examine sentiment and determine whether the media demonstrates a unifying or a well-differentiated portrayal of the two groups. The findings show that reporting on these groups is not as unbiased as many in Germany believe. Drawing on frameworks including the needs-based model of reconciliation, the revised integrated threat theory, and the model of acculturation strategies, the book then discusses the implications for both journalistic reporting and broader social policies in support of a constructive encounter of dominant andnon-dominant groups in a diverse society. This book will be of interest to scholars and students in the field of migration, integration and intergroup relations, as well as those in communication, media studies, and discourse analysis.Torah Anthology: Joseph in Egypt (Torah Anthology (Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez) #Book 3 (2))
By Rabbi Yaakov Culi. 1991
Portions of Mikketz, Vayigash and Vayechi. Here we witness Jacob's marriage to Rachel and Leah, as well as the birth…
of his sons, who would be destined to give rise to the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Rabbi Yaacov Culi weaves the Talmudic and Midrashic traditions into the story itself. Anthology of the major classical commentaries is presented not as a dry textual analysis, but as living drama. Here we accompany Abraham on his historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land, following nothing but the Divine call. We partake in the excitement of his great battle against the Four Kings and feel the emotions at the sacrifice of Isaac. The beginnings of the conflict between the two rival brothers, Jacob and Esau, are presented in such living detail, it is almost as if we are eavesdropping. The Torah Anthology is a clear, modern translation of Me'am Lo'ez, hailed as "the outstanding work of Ladino literature" Written by Rabbi Yaakov Culi, one of the greatest Sepharadie sages of his time, the book was first published in 1730. It changed the spiritual climate of the entire Mediterranean region. Eastern Jews esteemed Me'am Lo'ez as a major classic, affording it virtually the same status as the Talmud and Midrash. Many count Me'am Lo'ez among the best commentaries ever written on the Torah-in any language. The book is a veritable encyclopedia of Jewish knowledge. (translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan)Torah Anthology: (the Patriarchs) From Abraham Until Jacob (Torah Anthology - Me'am Lo'ez #2)
By Rabbi Yaakov Culi. 1989
The Torah Anthology here brings to life the story of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, vividly describing their role…
in the birth of the Jewish people. Rabbi Yaacov Culi weaves the Talmudic and Midrashic traditions into the story itself. Anthology of the major classical commentaries is presented, not as a dry textual analysis, but as living drama. Here we accompany Abraham on his historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land, following nothing but the Divine call. We partake in the excitement of his great battle against the Four Kings, and literally feel the emotions at the sacrifice of Isaac. The beginnings of the conflict between the two rival brothers, Jacob and Esau, are presented in such living detail, it is almost as if we are eavesdropping. The Torah Anthology is a clear, modern translation of Me'am Lo'ez, hailed as "the outstanding work of Ladino literature" Written by Rabbi Yaakov Culi, one of the greatest Sepharadie sages of his time, the book was first published in 1730. It changed the spiritual climate of the entire Mediterranean region. Eastern Jews esteemed Me'am Lo'ez as a major classic, affording it virtually the same status as the Talmud and Midrash. Many count Me'am Lo'ez among the best commentaries ever written on the Torah-in any language. The book is a veritable encyclopedia of Jewish knowledge. (Translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan)From Buchenwald to Carnegie Hall (Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography)
By Marian Filar, Charles Patterson. 2002
Before the Nazis sent members of the Filar family to Treblinka, these were the last words Marian Filar's mother said…
to him: “I bless you. You'll survive this horror. You'll become a great pianist, and I'll be very proud of you.” Born in 1917 into a musical Jewish family in Warsaw, Filar began playing the piano when he was four. He performed his first public concert at the age of six. At twelve he played with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and went on to study with the great Polish pianist and teacher Zbigniew Drzewiecki at the State Conservatory of Music. After the German invasion, Filar fled to Lemberg (Lvov), where he continued his music studies until 1941, when he returned to his family in the Warsaw Ghetto. The Nazis killed his parents, a sister, and a brother, but he and his brother Joel survived as workers on the German railroad. After taking part in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Marian and Joel were captured and sent to Majdanek, Buchenwald, and other concentration camps. After liberation Filar was able to resume his career by studying with the renowned German pianist Walter Gieseking. In 1950 he immigrated to the United States and soon after was performing concerts with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He made his Carnegie Hall debut on New Year's Day, 1952. He became head of the piano department at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia and later a professor of music at Temple University, while continuing to perform in Europe, South America, Israel, and the United States. Filar does not end his story with liberation but with the fulfillment of his mother's blessing. Without rancor or bitterness, his memoir comes full circle, ending where it began—in Warsaw. In 1992 Filar traveled to Poland to visit the school next to what had once been the Umschlagplatz, the place from which Jews had been sent to Treblinka and where he said farewell to the mother who blessed him.The Peddler's Grandson: Growing Up Jewish in Mississippi
By Edward Cohen. 1999
Edward Cohen grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, the heart of the Bible Belt, thousands of miles from the northern centers…
of Jewish culture. As a child he sang "Dixie" in his segregated school, said the "sh'ma" at temple. While the civil rights struggle exploded all around, he worked at the family clothing store that catered to blacks.His grandfather Moise had left Romania and all his family for a very different world, the Deep South. Peddling on foot from farm to farm, sleeping in haylofts, he was the first Jew many Mississippians had ever seen. Moise's brother joined him and they married two sisters, raising their children under one roof, an island of Judaism in a sea of southern Christianity.In the 1950s, insulated by the extended family of double-cousins, Edward believed the world was populated totally by Jews--until the first day of school when he had the disquieting realization that he was the only Jew in his class. At times he felt southern, almost, but his sense of being an outsider slowly crystallized, as he listened to daily Christian school prayers tried to explain his annual absences to classmates who had never heard of Rosh Hashanah. At Christmas his parents' house was the only one without lights. In the seventh grade, he was the only child not invited to dance class.In a compelling work that is nonfiction throughout, but conveyed with a fiction writer's skill and technique, Cohen recounts how he left Mississippi for college to seek his own tribe. Instead, he found that among northern Jews he was again an outsider, marked by his southernness. They knew holidays like Simchas Torah; he knew Confederate Memorial Day.He tells a story of displacement, of living on the margin of two already marginal groups, and of coming to terms with his dual loyalties, to region and religion. In this unsparingly honest and often humorous portrait of cultural contradiction, Cohen's themes--the separateness of the artist, the tug of assimilation, the elusiveness of identity--resonate far beyond the South.An Introduction to Early Judaism
By James C. Vanderkam. 2001
One of today's most respected scholars of biblical history and the Dead Sea Scrolls, James C. VanderKam here offers a…
superb new introduction to early Judaism.Based on the best, most recent archaeological research, this illustrated volume explores the history of Judaism during the Second Temple period (516 B.C.E. - 70 C.E.), describing the body of Jewish literature written during these centuries and the most important groups, institutions, and practices of the time. Particularly interesting are VanderKam's depiction of events associated with Masada and the Kokhba revolt, and his commentary on texts unearthed in places like Elephantine, Egypt, and Qumran.Written in the same accessible style as VanderKam's widely praised Dead Sea Scrolls Today, this volume provides the finest classroom introduction to early Judaism available.Judentum in Bewegung: Die Entstehung gleichgeschlechtlicher Elternschaft in Israel
By Sibylle Lustenberger. 2024
In Israel, wo das orthodoxe Rabbinat historisch sanktionierten Einfluss auf die rechtlichen Definitionen von Ehe und Elternschaft hat, wirft gleichgeschlechtliche…
Elternschaft elementare Fragen auf, wie zum Beispiel, was Zugehörigkeit zum nationalen Kollektiv schafft, wer die Autorität hat, die Normen der Reproduktion zu definieren, und wo das orthodoxe Judentum beginnt und endet. Judentum in Bewegung behandelt diese Fragen aus einer transgenerationalen Perspektive, die darauf achtet, wie religiös informierte Regeln, Normen und Praktiken der Weitergabe von materiellem Besitz, Namen und gesellschaftlicher Zugehörigkeit angewendet und verändert werden. Lustenberger präsentiert eine detaillierte ethnographische Beschreibung des dynamischen Zusammenspiels zwischen Verwandtschaft, Religion und Staat und hinterfragt damit die allgemein verbreitete Annahme, dass gleichgeschlechtliche Elternschaft in einer radikal säkularen Sphäre existiert, die im krassen Gegensatz zum orthodoxen Judentumsteht. Sie nimmt gleichgeschlechtliche Elternschaft als Prisma, durch die sich die Gesellschaft als Ganzes widerspiegelt, um zu untersuchen wie sich gesellschaftliche Strukturen verändern und welche Flexibilität und Spielraum organisierte Religionen dabei aufweisen.Babylonian Jews and Sasanian Imperialism in Late Antiquity
By Null Simcha Gross. 2024
From the image offered by the Babylonian Talmud, Jewish elites were deeply embedded within the Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE). The…
Talmud is replete with stories and discussions that feature Sasanian kings, Zoroastrian magi, fire temples, imperial administrators, Sasanian laws, Persian customs, and more quotidian details of Jewish life. Yet, in the scholarly literature on the Babylonian Talmud and the Jews of Babylonia , the Sasanian Empire has served as a backdrop to a decidedly parochial Jewish story, having little if any direct impact on Babylonian Jewish life and especially the rabbis. Babylonian Jews and Sasanian Imperialism in Late Antiquity advances a radically different understanding of Babylonian Jewish history and Sasanian rule. Building upon recent scholarship, Simcha Gross portrays a more immanent model of Sasanian rule, within and against which Jews invariably positioned and defined themselves. Babylonian Jews realized their traditions, teachings, and social position within the political, social, religious, and cultural conditions generated by Sasanian rule.The Jewish Holidays: A Guide & Commentary
By Michael Strassfeld. 2011
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 . . . with a greater devotion and joy."--Rabbi Alexander M. SchindlerAncient Judaism
By Max Weber. 1952
Weber’s classic study which deals specifically with: Types of Asceticism and the Significance of Ancient Judaism, History and Social Organization…
of Ancient Palestine, Political Organization and Religious Ideas in the Time of the Confederacy and the Early Kings, Political Decline, Religious Conflict and Biblical Prophecy.The Bible Doesn't Say That: 40 Biblical Mistranslations, Misconceptions, and Other Misunderstandings
By Joel M. Hoffman. 2016
The Bible Doesn't Say That explores what the Bible meant before it was misinterpreted over the past 2,000 years. Acclaimed…
translator and biblical scholar Dr. Joel M. Hoffman walks the reader through dozens of mistranslations, misconceptions, and other misunderstandings about the Bible. In forty short, straightforward chapters, he covers morality, life-style, theology, and biblical imagery, including: *The Bible doesn't call homosexuality a sin, and it doesn't advocate for the one-man-one-woman model of the family that has been dubbed "biblical." *The Bible's famous "beat their swords into plowshares" is matched by the militaristic, "beat your plowshares into swords." *The often-cited New Testament quotation "God so loved the world" is a mistranslation, as are the titles "Son of Man" and "Son of God." *The Ten Commandments don't prohibit killing or coveting. What does the Bible say about violence? About the Rapture? About keeping kosher? About marriage and divorce? Hoffman provides answers to all of these and more, succinctly explaining how so many pivotal biblical answers came to be misunderstood.For This We Left Egypt?: A Passover Haggadah for Jews and Those Who Love Them
By Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel, Adam Mansbach. 2017
The book you hold before you is no ordinary Haggadah. If you’ve ever suffered through a Seder, you’re well aware…
of the fact that the entire evening can last as long as the exodus from Egypt itself. There are countless stories, dozens of blessings, and far too many handwashings while the meal turns cold. Now prepare to be entertained by another version of the book that’s responsible for this interminable tradition.With this hilarious parody Haggadah from the comedic minds of Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel, and Adam Mansbach, good Jews everywhere will no longer have to sit (and sleep) through a lengthy and boring Seder. In For This We Left Egypt?, the authors will be take you through every step of the Seder, from getting rid of all the chametz in your home by setting it on fire with a kosher blowtorch to a retelling of the Passover story starring Pharaoh Schmuck and a burning bush that sounds kind of like Morgan Freeman, set against the backdrop of the Promised Land—which turned out not to be a land of milk and honey but rather one of rocks and venomous scorpions the size of Yorkshire terriers. You then eat a celebratory brisket and wrap up the whole evening by taking at least forty-five minutes to say good-bye to everyone.So gather all the Jews in your life (even the few who don’t appear to be long-suffering) and settle in for a fun way to pass the time while waiting for Elijah to show up.The Big Redhead Book: Inside the Secret Society of Red Hair
By Erin La Rosa. 2017
The Big Redhead Book: Inside the Secret Society of Red Hair is an inside look into one of the most…
elite societies in the world—the real two percent. Well, you know, the two percent of the world's population that are natural redheads, at least. This book has equal parts pop culture, ginger facts, and humorous stories about what it's like to actually have red hair. It's loaded with everything you'd ever want to know about us reds; how we're scientifically different from the norms (non-redheads), how we've been stereotyped in pop culture, and the do's and don'ts of having a red in your life, among other things!Whether you are a redhead, know a redhead, or are just an enthusiast, this book explores the realities, the myths, and where red hair actually originates (it’s not Ireland). Author Erin La Rosa not only delivers the facts, statistics, and undeniable realities of being a ginger, but she also weaves in her own personal and hilarious stories about being red. Being a redhead is not just a hair color, it’s a lifestyle—and this book is your own exclusive peek into that fabulous world.Some surprising facts about redheads that you will discover include:- The association between redheads and humor came from redheaded slaves in ancient Greece- There are over 30 leading or recurring redhead characters in Disney and Pixar films... that's a lot when you remember we're only two percent of the world's population!- Redhead women allegedly have more sex, more threesomes, and more orgasms than other women... or do they? Let's find out!- Some Egyptian rulers dyed their hair red to assert their power (looking at you, Cleopatra)- And redheads need more anesthesia at the dentist, because they're not going down without a fightUpon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary, 1939–1944
By Aranka Siegal. 1981
The classic true story of one child's experiences during the holocaust.Nine-year-old Piri describes the bewilderment of being a Jewish child…
during the 1939-1944 German occupation of her hometown (then in Hungary and now in the Ukraine) and relates the ordeal of trying to survive in the ghetto. Upon the Head of the Goat is the winner of the 1982 Boston Globe - Horn Book Award for Nonfiction and a 1982 Newbery Honor Book.“This is a book that should be read by all those interested in the Holocaust and what it did to young and old.” —Isaac Bashevis SingerThe Meaning of Yiddish
By Benjamin Harshav. 2024
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out…
and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1990.Civil Religion in Israel: Traditional Judaism and Political Culture in the Jewish State
By Charles S. Liebman, Eliezer Don-Yehiya. 2024
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out…
and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1983.The Collected Works of Spinoza, Volume II: One-volume Digital Edition
By Benedictus De Spinoza. 2016
The second and final volume of the most authoritative English-language edition of Spinoza's writingsThe Collected Works of Spinoza provides, for…
the first time in English, a truly satisfactory edition of all of Spinoza's writings, with accurate and readable translations, based on the best critical editions of the original-language texts, done by a scholar who has published extensively on the philosopher's work.The centerpiece of this second volume is Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise, a landmark work in the history of biblical scholarship, the first argument for democracy by a major philosopher, and a forceful defense of freedom of thought and expression. This work is accompanied by Spinoza’s later correspondence, much of which responds to criticism of the Theological-Political Treatise. The volume also includes his last work, the unfinished Political Treatise, which builds on the foundations of the Theological-Political Treatise to offer plans for the organization of nontyrannical monarchies and aristocracies.The elaborate editorial apparatus—including prefaces, notes, glossary, and indexes—assists the reader in understanding one of the world’s most fascinating, but also most difficult, philosophers. Of particular interest is the glossary-index, which provides extensive commentary on Spinoza’s technical vocabulary.A milestone of scholarship more than forty-five years in the making, The Collected Works of Spinoza is an essential edition for anyone with a serious interest in Spinoza or the history of philosophy.