Five hundred years ago Michelangelo began work on a painting that became one of the most famous pieces of art in the world—the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Every year millions of people come to see Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, which is the largest fresco painting on earth in the holiest of Christianity's chapels; yet there is not one single Christian image in this vast, magnificent artwork.
The Sistine Secrets tells the fascinating story of how Michelangelo embedded messages of brotherhood, tolerance, and freethinking in his painting to encourage "fellow travelers" to challenge the repressive Roman Catholic Church of his time.
"Driven by the truths he had come to recognize during his years of study in private nontraditional schooling in Florence, truths rooted in his involvement with Judaic texts as well as Kabbalistic training that conflicted with approved Christian doctrine, Michelangelo needed to find a way to let viewers discern what he truly believed. He could not allow the Church to forever silence his soul. And what the Church would not permit him to communicate openly, he ingeniously found a way to convey to those diligent enough to learn his secret language."—from the Preface
Blech and Doliner reveal what Michelangelo meant in the angelic representations that brilliantly mocked his papal patron, how he managed to sneak unorthodox heresies into his ostensibly pious portrayals, and how he was able to fulfill his lifelong ambition to bridge the wisdom of science with the strictures of faith. The Sistine Secrets unearths secrets that have remained hidden in plain sight for centuries.

The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican

Arts & Photography

Blech, Benjamin

Doliner, Roy

Graphic Design

HarperOne

The Shocking Secrets of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Artwork
The recent cleaning of the Sistine Chapel frescoes removed layer after layer of centuries of accumulated tarnish and darkness. The Sistine Secrets endeavors to remove the centuries of prejudice, censorship, and ignorance that blind us to the truth about one of the world's most famous and beloved art treasures.

History & Criticism

Eyewitness to Jewish History

Come face-to-face with the major figures and events in Jewish history "It's been a long and glorious-and sometimes tragic-4,000-year run for the Jewish people. That magnificent panorama is on display in Eyewitness to Jewish History. This, however, is no ordinary history book. Instead of a historian telling the story, Rabbi Benjamin Blech . . . allows the actors in this long-running play to speak for themselves." -Washington Jewish Week Prepare to feel the joy and pain of the Jewish experience as you never have before. In Eyewitness to Jewish History, Rabbi Benjamin Blech takes you aboard a literary time machine in which you'll do more than read about major events in Jewish history-you'll witness them, take part in them, and feel their deep and lasting impact. Featuring hundreds of excerpts from diaries, journals, letters, newspaper accounts, public testimony, official communications, and ancient documents such as the Torah, this unique chronicle provides memorable snapshots of daily life from biblical times to the modern day. These vivid and passionately written accounts, arranged in chronological order, transport you across space and time to witness crucial events from the birth of the Jewish people and the building and destruction of the two Temples to the Golden Age of Spain, the horrors of the Holocaust, the founding of the modern State of Israel, and important steps in the ongoing effort to achieve peace in the Middle East.

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

John Wiley&Sons, Inc.

Over the course of many years writing for Aish.com, I commented on a wide range of topics – from movies to Bernie Madoff to Tiger Woods to the killing of Osama bin Laden – as well as a host of other major and minor noteworthy events.   What connects these essays is nothing less than Judaism. And that’s because for me Judaism means looking at the entire world through the lens of a divinely ordained perspective known as the Torah. Judaism isn’t just a religion that teaches us how to relate to God. It’s a way of life that is meant to make us wiser, more contented and better people. This collection of essays explores the how viewing the world from a spiritual perspective can uncover new avenues of understanding and elevate our daily lives.

The World from a Spiritual Perspective: A Collection of Insightful Essays from Aish.com

Religion & Spirituality

Judaism

Sinai Live Books

In these troubled times, people are asking very difficult questions about God and their faith: <ul>
<li>If I suffer, does that mean I deserve it?</li> <li>Why do innocent people, especially children, die tragically?</li> <li>How can God be so cruel?</li> <li>Does God ever intervene during times of trouble?</li> <li>Who really runs the world-God or man?</li> <li>Do my prayers do any good?</li> <li>Why does God allow sickness, torture and evil to exist?</li> </ul>
Benjamin Blech admits, the answers are not simple. There is no one-size-fits-all explanation. Indeed, not only are there many answers, but in different situations several explanations may apply. Blech wrote this book as an intellectual analysis of Jewish wisdom on the subject of suffering. His theories are the fruit of thousands of years of debate, examination and struggle. Jewish wisdom teaches that there are rich and inspiring answers to the ultimate question: If God is good, why is the world so bad? Take part in the most important spiritual journey of all-the quest for serenity in the face of adversity-and discover that in the accumulated wisdom of the ages lies a time-tested solution for turning despair into hope and sorrow into faith.

If God Is Good, Why Is the World So Bad?

Simcha Pr

The authors write: "Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, long ago realized that a person's name is far more than a means of identification. Although given at birth by parents, it carries within it Divine prophecy and providence. Indeed, after death, one of the first questions the Heavenly Court asks is if we lived up to the meanings–as well as responsibility–of our names. . . . "Your Name Is Your Blessing: Hebrew Names and Their Mystical Meanings is the first book of Hebrew names that offers not only a comprehensive list of ancient and modern names with their meanings, but also a mystical insight, by way of gematria (the numerical value of letters), into the personality, the soul, the prophetic destiny, and the blessing of every person based on his or her name. "In the kabbalistic system of gematria, wherein letters speak to us through their numerical meaning, the very word in Hebrew for name, shem, is the same in number as the word sefer, a book. A name has hidden in it the story of the book of one's life. To decode it is to have an almost Godly insight into oneself or another human being. "In Your Name Is Your Blessing, we provide the answers needed for this analysis. Every name has alongside of it not only its simple meaning but also its gematria–the all important total of its letter components. Connected to it is a biblical word that shares exactly the same total and therefore sheds light on its Torah-based significance. A name and a biblical message become profoundly linked–as if the Torah spoke directly to you. That is then followed by a phrase with a succinct message that also has exactly the same gematria–and hence summarizes in yet another way what one's name expresses. "When all of these–the name's meaning, gematria, biblical word, and equivalent phrase–are viewed together, they allow for an interpretation that may well predict one's future. That serves as the last entry for every name in this book: his or her blessing. "With all of this information, we believe this book is a "m

Your Name Is Your Blessing: Hebrew Names and Their Mystical Meanings

Blech, Elaine

Parenting & Relationships

Jason Aronson, Inc.

A keepsake compiling all the special traditions of the passover holiday. Insights into the festival and thought-provoking ideas that will prompt discussion at the Passover table are combined with recipes for favourite foods, explanations of ancient and modern customs and a host of trivia, quotations, games and decorating ideas. Rabbi Benjamin Blech shares his personal wisdom and suggests ways in which readers might add their own reflections and family traditions to Passover celebrations. Includes space to record hopes and prayers for the future.

The Book of Passover: A Celebration

Citadel Pr

The author shares details of his own flirtation with wealth to probe the spiritual dimension of money, revealing the role money plays in people's lives, the source of envy, the difference between "failure" and "failing," and the definitions of "success" and "happiness." Original.

Taking Stock: A Spiritual Guide to Rising Above Life's Financial Ups and Downs

Self-Help

Spiritual

Amacom Books

Just as in his previous volume, The Secrets of Hebrew Words, Rabbi Blech brings readers into the fascinating world of gematria (the reckoning of numbers) and acronyms to uncover the vast profundity hidden in everyday Hebrew language. Rabbi Blech demonstrates that the language through which God creates the world is not composed of a haphazard arrangement of Hebrew letters. The letters are also numbers that define the essence of things with the exactitude of mathematics.

More Secrets of Hebrew Words: Holy Days and Happy Days

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Ever since the earliest times, Jewish scholars have looked to the Hebrew language as a source of holiness and a wellspring of wisdom. Both letters and words, it has always been assumed, they have hidden messages and secrets to be sought after, as if we are opening a shell to extract the fruit. Rabbi Benjamin Blech has gathered many examples of the meanings hidden within Hebrew words and has explained them to the modern reader_even those who do not know any Hebrew. The result is both a fine illustration of this activity as well as a book rich with Jewish insight and teachings.

The Secrets of Hebrew Words

Reference

Foreign Language Study & Reference

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Blech, Benjamin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Blech, Benjamin

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Blech, Benjamin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican

The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican

Eyewitness to Jewish History

The World from a Spiritual Perspective: A Collection of Insightful Essays from Aish.com

If God Is Good, Why Is the World So Bad?

Your Name Is Your Blessing: Hebrew Names and Their Mystical Meanings

The Book of Passover: A Celebration

Taking Stock: A Spiritual Guide to Rising Above Life's Financial Ups and Downs

More Secrets of Hebrew Words: Holy Days and Happy Days

The Secrets of Hebrew Words