Rabbi Chananya Weissman is one of the most outspoken pioneers in trying to remedy the current shidduch crisis, and he has written extensively on how current sociological, psychological, and political factors have unfortunately undermined traditional Torah values. Tovim Ha-Shenayim takes a refreshingly candid look at the timeless wisdom in these primary Torah sources, about the fundamental differences between men and women, the different roles and natures that men and women possess, and, ultimately how these differences can be blended together to make a successful team.

Tovim Ha-Shenayim: A Study of the Role and Nature of Man and Woman

Religion & Spirituality

Weissman, Chananya

Tendler, Moshe

Judaism

Kodesh Press

The Colony of Georgia was founded in 1732 by General James Oglethorpe as a haven where the poorer citizens of Britain could find refuge and start their lives over. Oglethorpe landed at Yamacraw Bluff, home to the Yamacraw Indians, and their chief, Tomochichi, one of the great revolutionary figures of the native Americans. Tomochichi himself had been exiled from his own Creek tribe, as a result of controversy on how to relate to those arriving from the New World, so he started his own tribe, the Yamacraws. In 1733, the ship William and Sarah arrived in the new colony, carrying Benjamin and Perla Sheftall, founding members of Congregation Mickve Israel. The Sheftalls’ son, Mordecai, later became the highest ranking Jewish officer in Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The Rebel of Savannah is the fictional retelling, based on historical facts, of the growth of the colonial American south from 1732 to 1791, the intricate relations between Christians, Jews, and Native Americans, the struggle for American independence, and the unifying power of freedom.

The Rebel of Savannah

Literature & Fiction

Tawil, Hayim

Alouf-Mizrahi, Mazal

Genre Fiction

EndTheMadness is filled with sensible and insightful Torah analysis written in a down-to-earth style about what can be done to solve the difficulties on the Jewish dating scene. Rabbi Weissman's writing is humorous and imaginative (the first chapter is about how Chasidim would explain the Shidduch system to aliens), while offering some concrete steps everyone can take to ease the difficulty of finding love. He argues that most of the Shidduch crisis is self-inflicted, which is good news, because it means there is a cure. This work is an impassioned and persuasive argument how everyone-married people, matchmakers, and singles themselves-can take constructive and reasonable steps to bring Jews together in healthy and gratifying marriages.

EndTheMadness: Guide to the Shidduch World

In an age of great spiritual disconnection and alienation from the deepest aspects of our souls, Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel’s A Shepherd’s Song: Psalm 23 and the Shepherd Metaphor in Jewish Thought, takes us on a spiritual journey through the luminous imagery of the shepherd archetype. The transformative power and message intimated by the shepherd metaphor and its history serves to remind us that we are not alone in a universe that is bereft of God’s ethical Presence. Timeless and inspirational, the shepherd metaphor addresses the fundamental relationship between God and man, speaking directly to questions raised by centuries of persecution. What is the nature of suffering in a just universe? How does suffering alter our perceptions of God? How can we rediscover our faith in difficult and challenging times? Rabbi Samuel explores questions of faith that are as old as the story of Job and as modern as the Holocaust.

A Shepherd's Song: Psalm 23 and the Shepherd Metaphor in Jewish Thought

Samuel, Michael Leo

As an observant woman psychoanalyst—an anomaly to both my Orthodox friends and psychoanalyst colleagues—I have attempted to apply the fruits of my professional training in revealing the psycho-dynamic underpinnings of Biblical events and figures. The synagogue’s cycle of weekly Sabbath Torah readings provides a practical framework for the examination of the psychological issues experienced by Torah figures. Beginning with the book of Genesis, one finds fertile ground for psychoanalytic explication. Adam and Eve are portrayed as beset by unrestrained narcissistic desires typical of young children. Matters of good and evil are a foreign realm to them; they are being driven by the need for instant gratification. In succeeding chapters, from that of Cain and Abel, through the lives of the patriarchs and matriarchs in the book of Genesis, and through the life of Moses concluding with the book of Deuteronomy, we see a pattern of gradual development of human potential moving toward maturity.

The Biblical Path to Psychological Maturity: Psychological Insights into the Weekly Torah Readings

Skolnick Ph.D., Vivian B.

The secrets from the inner meaning of Torah form the soul of the Chasidic movement’s thought. They inspire, revive, and inflame Jewish souls with a passion to constantly increase observance and devotion. For more than two centuries it has inoculated millions against the ravages of secularism and preserved the spiritual life of the Jewish nation. Chasidus emerged as a protection from the storm winds of modernity. Today’s Jewish community might benefit from a new look at the Chasidic movement’s beginnings and reflections. Even those Jews who fulfill their religious obligations frequently perform rituals in a lifeless and superficial way. Were we to discover the depth and soulful vitality that fill Chasidic literature, a renewed passion might flame our faltering Jewish experience with the warmth of Torah. Unfortunately, for many of my contemporary American Jews, access to the gem-stones of the Chasidim has been denied. Chasidic works are overwhelmingly in Hebrew, and few good translations exist. This book provides an introduction to the basic terms and ideas of Chasidic texts. It is written for the interested lay reader who may be new to Torah study, as well as the yeshiva student who is knowledgeable about Biblical narratives and Talmudic law but may be new to the world of Chasidus.

Flames of Faith: An Introduction to Chasidic Thought

Reichman, Zev

Although peshat often is translated as the plain or simple sense of the text, there is nothing plain or simple about it when we take it seriously. Sifting through many centuries of scholarship and methodology coupled with pursuing contemporary approaches and research is a life-long endeavor, as we continue our attempts to refine truth and approach God’s word through our eternal sacred texts. In his fourth collection of essays on Tanakh, Rabbi Hayyim Angel presents eleven studies on developing a religious methodology that is rooted in Jewish tradition and in the principles of scholarship employed by our classical commentators. The contributions of great medieval figures such as Rambam, Abarbanel, and Sforno; coupled with the latest developments in the literary-theological school of the 20th and 21st centuries, are explained in an accessible manner. He follows those studies with ten essays on specific biblical texts, applying the methodological principles from the first section. By drawing from the best of traditional and academic scholarship, these essays serve to bridge people of all backgrounds and levels of religious observance in an active, engaged relationship with our most sacred text.

Peshat Isn't So Simple: Essays on Developing a Religious Methodology to Bible Study

Angel, Hayyim J.

The Ethics of Genesis raises ethical questions that emerge from the stories of the first Biblical book. Many people learn these stories when they are too young to ask about their ethical implications. When we revisit these questions in adulthood, we often find the conventional answers are insufficient or require elaboration. Rabbi Dr. Abba Engelberg presents original answers, based on traditional and modern sources, to some of the troubling ethical questions raised in Genesis, including: • Did innocent people drown in the flood? • Did Abraham sacrifice Sarah’s honor to save his own life? • Would Abraham slaughter his own son after lecturing against child-sacrifice? • Was Jacob devious with Esau, Laban and even his own father Isaac? • How could the brothers behave so brutally toward Joseph? • Was Joseph’s behavior as vindictive as it appears to be? • Why are only two women among the seventy who entered Egypt? • Did the brothers and Joseph ever really reconcile? The author also presents in-depth discussions of ethical issues such as: • The role of repentance in the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Joseph and his brothers. • The Biblical work ethic as reflected in Jacob's behavior. • The religious attitude toward physical beauty. • Decision making based on utility, benevolence, and justice. • When one is permitted to lie. • The Biblical attitude toward hunting.

The Ethics of Genesis (Ethics of the Bible)

Politics & Social Sciences

Engelberg, Abba

Philosophy

This booklet is designed to assist people observing traditional Jewish Law while undergoing medical treatment, especially in the complex and unfamiliar environment of a hospital. The strength of this work is its brevity, as it provides easy access to answers on numerous questions that can arise in a hospital—including proper observance of Shabbat, kashrut, festivals, and numerous other ritual observances—according to the Shulchan Aruch, and relies heavily on contemporary works such as Mishnah Berurah, Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah, and Nishmat Avraham. This collection is an indispensable resource for hospital chaplains (of any faith), and an essential guide for a rabbi involved in pastoral and communal affairs. Most of all, it is written with the layperson in mind, to quickly provide answers to many of the questions of observance that arise in a hospital.

Guide to Observance of Jewish Law in a Hospital

Weiner, Jason

In the Spirit

Elkins, Dov Peretz

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