Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Searching for Oneness

Throughout the ages and across religious traditions, people have yearned to personally experience God and deeply connect with the Creator. In Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ori Z. Soltes traces the sweep of mysticism-this search for oneness with God-throughout the three Abrahamic traditions. This unique comparative overview begins with a definition of mysticism and a discussion of its place within religion as a whole. Soltes then explores the history of mysticism from Biblical times through the present day, highlighting the emergence of mysticism within the three traditions and how beliefs and practices converge and diverge over time. The final chapters discuss the growing interest in mysticism today through practices such as Kabbalah and how people publicly express their private encounters with God through art, literature, and other modern media.

History

Soltes, Ori Z.

World

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam traces the sweep of mysticism-the search for oneness with God-throughout the three Abrahamic traditions. Beginning with a definition of mysticism and a discussion of its place within religion as a whole, Ori Z. Soltes explores the history of mysticism from the Biblical times through the present day.

National Treasures of Georgia

Philip Wilson

The complexities of the Middle East made a little more understandable

Untangling the Web: A Thinking Person's Guide to Why the Middle East is a Mess and Always has Been

Middle East

Bartleby Press

The Ashen Rainbow plays on the paradox of the Holocaust: that the darkest hour of human depravity influenced an unprecedented array of human creativity's rainbow tinged with ash. The juxtaposition of the terms "arts" and "Holocaust" seems illogical: one pertaining to creation and the other to destruction. Yet Soltes's insightful interpretations embrace this disconnect, as he interweaves multiple disciplines ranging from literature, music, and theater, to visual art and film. The Ashen Rainbow focuses on the diversity of Holocaust art, claiming that the most successful pieces recognize "the essential inaccessible ineffability of such an event." Each of Professor Soltes's essays stand on its own. However, together they offer a comprehensive, multifaceted examination of an event that captures humanity in its brightest and darkest moments

The Ashen Rainbow: Essays on the Arts and the Holocaust

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Eshel Books

Ori Soltes delivers a concise and extensive review of the history of Christian-Jewish relations that examines that relationship from a legal and quasi-legal perspective.

Jews on Trial: Judges, Juries, Prosecutors and Defendants from the Era of Jesus to Our Own Time

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Crossing the goal line, with the football tucked safely in his arms, the NFL star falls on one knee, bows his head, crosses himself and utters a prayer of thanksgiving to God, giving one more example of the ever expanding connection between sports and religion. At least it seems to be expanding. The question is: was there truly a notable surge in that relationship between sports and religion. And if there has been a surge, is it unique in history, or merely part of an ongoing ebb and flow? This book offers a concise yet detailed account of this multifaceted association —and its implications for the ongoing game (the ultimate sport!) of trying to understand what we humans are as a species. Sports is one among many areas where religion and its concerns have played a role, and the interweave between sports and religion is as old as sports and as continuous as religion. Contemporary instances are different from what one finds in Greek and Latin literature where gods are actively on the “playing field,” and directly leads to the first athletic competitions The discussion of biblical “athletes” offers a different religious connotation: the stories of Samson are religious in part simply because they are biblical. The question of Islam and sports, or of Jewish success in the Olympics, or of how both Jews and Muslims manage to maintain aspects of their faiths when the athletic competitions in which they engage don’t leave space for that—or of the attitude of Judaism or Islam or Christianity to sports and physical accomplishment in general—is diverse. The discussion of Native American sports with origins in religious ritual is different still. Moreover, “sports and religion” keeps intersecting—from different angles—sports and warfare, sports and politics, religion and politics, religion and warfare; and all these combinations intertwine aspects of art. Reading God and the Goalposts, it becomes clear that sport, in combination with religion is a major theme thoughout the history of mankind.

God and the Goalposts: A Brief History of Sports, Religion, Politics, War, and Art

Crossing the goal line, with the football tucked safely in his arms, the NFL star falls on one knee, bows his head, crosses himself and utters a prayer of thanksgiving to God, giving one more example of the ever expanding connection between sports and religion.At least it seems to be expanding. The question is: was there truly a notable surge in that relationship between sports and religion? And if there has been a surge, is it unique in history, or merely part of an ongoing ebb and flow?This book, now in a revised edition, offers a concise yet detailed account of this multifaceted association --and its implications for the ongoing game (the ultimate sport!) of trying to understand what we humans are as a species. Sports is one among many areas where religion and its concerns have played a role, and the interweave between sports and religion is as old as sports and as continuous as religion.Contemporary instances are different from what one finds in Greek and Latin literature where gods are actively on the "playing field," and directly leads to the first athletic competitions. The discussion of biblical "athletes" offers a different religious connotation: the stories of Samson are religious in part simply because they are biblical.The question of Islam and sports, or of Jewish success in the Olympics, or of how both Jews and Muslims manage to maintain aspects of their faiths when the athletic competitions in which they engage don't leave space for that--or of the attitude of Judaism or Islam or Christianity to sports and physical accomplishment in general--is diverse. The discussion of Native American sports with origins in religious ritual is different still.Moreover, "sports and religion" keeps intersecting--from different angles--sports and warfare, sports and politics, religion and politics, religion and warfare; and all these combinations intertwine aspects of art. Reading God and the Goalposts, it becomes clear that sport, in combination with religion is a major theme throughout the history of mankind.

God and the Goalposts: A Brief History of Sports, Religion, Politics, War and Art

Ancient Civilizations

This highly ambitious volume addresses the idea of "Jewish art and architecture" by posing and responding to a series of questions.First is the unresolved conceptual definition of "Jewish," not just as applied to art, but to literature, music, dance, or thought as well.Then there is the complex matter of historical designation : Abraham was called a Hebrew; Moses and David were Israelites; Ezra was a Judaean. How are these terms related to and different from the terms "Jew" and "Jewish" and where, accordingly, must one place Israelite and Judaean art and architecture within the understanding of Jewish art and architecture?Soltes' narrative further asks: when one uses the phrase "Jewish art and architecture," is it a description of the work of art or the identity of the artist? If the former, is the criterion the subject, style, symbol, or purpose? If the latter, is it the artist's convictions that are being labeled "Jewish"--does he or she need to be consciously trying to make "Jewish" art? Is the artist-based definition affected by birth or conversion: does an artist who converts into or out of Judaism suddenly begin to make Jewish art or cease to make Jewish art?Against the background of these questions, Tradition and Transformation follows a long and wide trajectory that moves from the Israelite period to the present day, and carries us from the Middle East to Europe, Asia, North Africa, South and North America and back to the Middle East, as it searches for answers. But it is the journey, not the arrival that is important. Through the presentation and analysis of over a thousand works of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, collage, architecture, and mixed media--more than 700 of which are depicted--the author continuously addresses the ways in which various works and their makers do and/or do not fit comfortably into the rubric "Jewish art" or "Jewish architecture."We arrive at a necessarily aporetic conclusion: the very criteria of definition continue to shift across time and space, and we embrace the idea that there is no absolute set of terms that will apply comfortably across a vast and lush realm of artistic creativity. Perhaps this is the point. For asking questions without easy answers or without answers at all, in the end, proves to be the consummate Jewish art.

Tradition and Transformation: A Comprehensive Exploration of Three Millenia of Jewish Art and Architecture

This big, handsome book presents the work of American artist George Wardlaw (b.1927) in over 180 full-color plates and illustrations.The critical essays in this book characterize Wardlaw’s work, placing it in context with the significant art movements of his time, beginning in1947 with non-objective painting and tracing his journey through six decades of art making.Never confined by categories, Wardlaw explores medium, form, scale, and color on his quest for creative and spiritual resolution. From his Baptist and Native American roots to Judaism, from the rural south to the urban northeast, from painting to sculpture and back again, Wardlaw produced series after series of profound artworks―an exploration across geographical, physical,intellectual, philosophical, and spiritual boundaries.Wardlaw was a member of the avant-garde art scene in New York City during the 1950s and 1960s and went on to become an important figure in American art, driven by his passion and desires rather than popular trends. His significant and impressive body of work reveals a unique story, both personal and universal, weaving one man’s perspective into the larger canon of twentieth-century art.

George Wardlaw: Crossing Borders

Gruber, Richard J.

McAvoy, Suzette

Individual Artists

Marshall Wilkes Books

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

Books by Soltes, Ori Z.

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

Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Searching for Oneness

Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Searching for Oneness

National Treasures of Georgia

Untangling the Web: A Thinking Person's Guide to Why the Middle East is a Mess and Always has Been

The Ashen Rainbow: Essays on the Arts and the Holocaust

Jews on Trial: Judges, Juries, Prosecutors and Defendants from the Era of Jesus to Our Own Time

God and the Goalposts: A Brief History of Sports, Religion, Politics, War, and Art

God and the Goalposts: A Brief History of Sports, Religion, Politics, War and Art

Tradition and Transformation: A Comprehensive Exploration of Three Millenia of Jewish Art and Architecture

George Wardlaw: Crossing Borders