The Challenge of Making Aliya to Aretz Israel Because It Was Never Really a Dull Moment


Book Description

This book is projected mainly about Israel, which I sincerely believe would greatly open your eyes with regard to anything you didnt know about this country. I decided to call it the challenge of Aliyah, or emigration, because of the number of challenges or developments that occurred during my seventeen years in the Middle East. There were many periods when the adventures were so pulsating that there was never really a dull or boring moment with little or nothing to do. Not only is this book designed to blow your brains to bits, but this is the novel of novels, which once you pick it up, then you wont be able to put it down until its finished. It should also be clearly stressed that just before I began writing this epic saga, as to the genuine and true spiritual meaning combined with religious/cultural values. My thoughts, in being the second generation from the Nazi Holocaust in Europe are genuine to the core. However, this is not emphasized in any way as being defined like a national or international hero. This situation, I sincerely hope will develop in a positive manner, way beyond into the future: Amen.




From a Foreign English Teacher’s Point of View in the People’s Republic of China


Book Description

The best way to summarize the main issues is fact-finding, and it should be inclusive of what people need to know about becoming professional in one of the more challenging environments. I took into consideration the paid and voluntary jobs I had in the United Kingdom, Israel, and Nepal before being invited to the Far East. Creating a career out of nearly nothing is nothing short of a miracle. The Chinese people have, in effect, allowed me to (1) create or establish a new home, (2) create a new career, (3) find a soul mate, and (4) finally publish what would be my sixth book. Almost no one helped me perform this duty because each foreign teacher has his or her strategies of teaching. I am, however, truly grateful for my loving wife, Yvonne Wu, for giving me all the assistance and guidance for making this happen. In view of the ever-challenging demands of Chinese students, parents, and bilingual schools, every effort is being made to modify methods to ensure that my classes are as interesting as possible. All my lessons include the use of the modernizing IT equipment, including electronic screens. Your enjoyment in reading is my most profound pleasure.




Letters to Josep


Book Description

This book is a collection of letters from a religious Jew in Israel to a Christian friend in Barcelona on life as an Orthodox Jew. Equal parts lighthearted and insightful, it's a thorough and entertaining introduction to the basic concepts of Judaism.




The Mortality and Morality of Nations


Book Description

Standing at the edge of life's abyss, we seek meaningful order. We commonly find this 'symbolic immortality' in religion, civilization, state and nation. What happens, however, when the nation itself appears mortal? The Mortality and Morality of Nations seeks to answer this question, theoretically and empirically. It argues that mortality makes morality, and right makes might; the nation's sense of a looming abyss informs its quest for a higher moral ground, which, if reached, can bolster its vitality. The book investigates nationalism's promise of moral immortality and its limitations via three case studies: French Canadians, Israeli Jews, and Afrikaners. All three have been insecure about the validity of their identity or the viability of their polity, or both. They have sought partial redress in existential self-legitimation: by the nation, of the nation and for the nation's very existence.




Land, Labor and the Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 1882-1914


Book Description

Gershon Shafir challenges the heroic myths about the foundation of the State of Israel by investigating the struggle to control land and labor during the early Zionist enterprise. He argues that it was not the imported Zionist ideas that were responsible for the character of the Israeli state, but the particular conditions of the local conflict between the European "settlers" and the Palestinian Arab population.




The Israelis


Book Description

Rosenthal explores a people who, while consciously living in a war zone, contribute to one of the most vibrant civic societies anywhere. It is the story of ordinary people living in an extraordinary place.




Survivors of the Holocaust


Book Description

This book deals with the integration of thousands of survivors of the Holocaust into Israeli society in the early years of the new State's existence. Among the issues discussed are: the ways in which the survivors were recruited into the defence forces and the role they played in the War of Independence, the settlement of the immigrants in towns and villages abandoned by Arabs during the war and the immigrant youth.




Ze’enah U-Re’enah


Book Description

This book is the first scholarly English translation of the Ze’enah U-Re’enah, a Jewish classic originally published in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and was the first significant anthological commentary on the Torah, Haftorot and five Megillot. The Ze’enah U-Re’enah is a major text that was talked about but has not adequately studied, although it has been published in two hundred and seventy-four editions, including the Yiddish text and partial translation into several languages. Many generations of Jewish men and women have studied the Torah through the Rabbinic and medieval commentaries that the author of the Ze’enah U-Re’enah collected and translated in his work. It shaped their understanding of Jewish traditions and the lives of Biblical heroes and heroines. The Ze’enah U-Re’enah can teach us much about the influence of biblical commentaries, popular Jewish theology, folkways, and religious practices. This translation is based on the earliest editions of the Ze’enah U-Re’enah, and the notes annotate the primary sources utilized by the author.




Bnei Avraham Ahuvecha


Book Description

This book will enthusiastically be sought after by Jews who were not born Jewish, and those on the path to becoming Jewish. It has received glowing approbations from the Sudilkover Rebbe, Bostoner Rebbe, Hornsteipler Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Morgenstern, Rabbi Dovid Meisels, and Rabbi Lazer Brody. Unlike numerous books already published in English on conversion to Judaism, this book is not a personal narrative, how-to manual, digest of relevant laws, or academic historical overview. This book presents the story behind the story - the mystical teachings found within Chassidic literature that illuminate the hidden inner world of the ger. Until now, these teachings were scattered in an unorganized manner throughout countless volumes and inaccessible to those unfamiliar with the Hebrew language. With this book, "Bnei Avraham Ahuvecha: Gerim in Chassidic Thought", relevant Chassidic teachings are collected, translated from Hebrew into English, organized topically, and further elucidated, when needed. Interspersed with these translated teachings, stories- both old and new - are included to help bring them to life. In addition, this book includes supplementary essays written by Rabbi Chaim Kramer, Rabbi Ozer Bergman, Rabbi Dovid Sears, Rabbi Avraham Chaim Bloomenstiel, and Mrs. Talya Lipshutz (based on conversations with Rav Elazar Mordechai Kenig of Tsfat). Excerpts from the book's approbations: - A jewel in any Jewish bookcase for generations to come, [this book] will greatly benefit all those who study it. -- Sudilkover Rebbe - I am delighted to recommend the book as a meaningful contribution to the growing body of Torah information available to the Chareidi world. Indeed, the project is intriguing both for its timeliness and for its superb scholarship. -- Hornsteipler Rebbe of Milwaukee - Well researched ... provides many novel ideas from primary sources that are not available to the general public. -- Bostoner Rebbe of Jerusalem - I have one blessing for my precious friend [the author]: may he see blessings from what he has accomplished and increase the honor of God in the world with his great book. -- Rabbi Dovid Meisels - This wonderful book is unique in the world of Torah literature. -- Rabbi Lazer Brody - It is my hope and prayer that learning and internalizing the teachings in this book will sensitize our community to the greatness of the mitzvah to love gerim. -- Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Morgenstern




The Invention of the Jewish People


Book Description

A historical tour de force, The Invention of the Jewish People offers a groundbreaking account of Jewish and Israeli history. Exploding the myth that there was a forced Jewish exile in the first century at the hands of the Romans, Israeli historian Shlomo Sand argues that most modern Jews descend from converts, whose native lands were scattered across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In this iconoclastic work, which spent nineteen weeks on the Israeli bestseller list and won the coveted Aujourd'hui Award in France, Sand provides the intellectual foundations for a new vision of Israel's future.




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