Kategoria BISAC: Religion >> Judaism - Rituals & Practice

Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? How do we get there?...

Searching for happiness in our modern world of stress and struggle is common; finding it is more unusual. This guide explores and explains how to find joy through a time-honored, creative and surprisingly practical approach based on Kabbalah and the teachings of Jewish mystics.

The very core of the Jewish mystical tradition is centered on the belief that if our focus is spiritual, then true appreciation of our lives, and true joy, are possible. Step by step, Finding Joy describes the basis of happiness in the context of Jewish mystical tradition and shows, in an...

Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in spirituality and religious texts, as well as an exciting expansion of women's participation and leadership in Jewish life. This unique three-volume collaboration brings together women writers, rabbis and scholars to create the first comprehensive work on Jewish lifecycle that fully includes women's perspectives.

Lifecycles, V. 2 explores the impact that biblical texts have on our lives and the impact our lives have on those texts. It delves into the human themes found both in the first five books of the Bible, and in women s...

"According to the Hebrew Bible, God made the world with words. God just spoke and the world became reality. (The Aramaic for 'I create as I speak' is avara k'davara, or in magician s language, abracadabra.) ... This does not protect words from the numbing effects of overuse in any religious tradition.... We need to dust off the words, shake away the accretions, wonder again about what they originally might have meant and enable ourselves to live in the word."
from the Introduction

With creativity and poetry (and occasional heresy) Kushner dusts off thirty...

"Life makes warriors of us all.
To emerge the victors, we must arm
ourselves with the most potent of weapons.
That weapon is prayer."
--Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

The "gentle weapon" of prayer can ease the soul and strengthen the heart, while bringing us closer to God and to a deeper understanding of ourselves.

Two hundred years after he lived, the warm insights and generous wisdom of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) continue to be a source of comfort for those in search of an uplifting perspective on life.

"When you pray, hold...

Techniques explained by the masters--for today's spiritual seeker

Meditation is designed to give you direct access to the spiritual. Whether it's through deep breathing during a busy day, listening to the quiet after turning off the car radio, chanting in prayer or ten minutes of visualization exercises each morning, meditation takes many forms. But it is always a personal method of centering our spiritual self.

Meditation has long been practiced in the Jewish community as a powerful tool to transcend words, personality and ego and to directly experience the divine....

"The old must be made new, and the new must be made sacred." --Rav Avraham Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Israel From the author of the best-selling Living Judaism, here is an introduction to Judaism that is easy to read and easy to use as a guide to embracing the spiritual practices that make everyday life sacred within the Jewish tradition. Rabbi Wayne Dosick deftly and sweetly shows us how to rediscover and renew authentic Jewish spiritual beliefs and practices--prayer and meditation, rituals and observances, songs, stories and dance. This is a bold and visionary conception of Judaism's...

"Why me?" Why do we suffer? How can we heal?

"Spiritual suffering must be differentiated from physical pain, although the two are intertwined in such a way that it is nearly impossible to distinguish one from the other. We suffer spiritually when we do not grow from our illness, when we do not learn from the experience of physical and emotional pain."
--from the Introduction

Too many of us faced with bodily illness, whether our own or that of a loved one, feel lost as to what to do or how to handle it.

Grounded in the spiritual traditions of Judaism, this...

You spend one-third of your life sleeping. Is spirituality a part of that time? This book shows you how it can be.

This inspiring, informative guide shows us how we can use the often overlooked time at the end of each day to enhance our spiritual, physical and psychological well-being.

Each chapter takes a new look at traditional Jewish prayers and what they have to teach us about the spiritual aspects of preparing for the end of the day, and about sleep itself. Drawing on Kabbalistic teachings, prayer, the Bible and midrash, the authors enrich our understanding of...

What is nature's place in our spiritual lives?

In today's modern culture, we've become separated from the sacredness of the natural world. This book offers a different, eye- and soul-opening way of viewing our religion: A perspective grounded in nature, and rich in insights for seekers of all faiths.

Respect for the holiness of Creation, our duty to protect the natural world, reverence for the land ... a focus on nature is part of the fabric of Jewish thought. Here, innovative contributors bring us a richer understanding of the long-neglected themes of nature that are...

An indispensable "how-to" guide for creating lasting memories and special ceremonies as you welcome your new Jewish daughter.

When a son is born, every Jewish parent knows what ceremony will welcome him into the community and signal his part in the Jewish people--the brit milah. What to do when a girl is born? How can you welcome your new daughter in a truly Jewish way, and celebrate your joy with family and friends? In the past, parents who wanted a simchat bat (celebration of a daughter) ceremony for their new daughter often had to start from scratch....

What is "Jewish Spirituality"? How do I make it part of my life? Today's foremost spiritual leaders share their ideas and experience.

Whether you are just curious, intently searching for greater personal meaning, or actively seeking ideas, information, practices and inspiration to enrich your spiritual life, The Jewish Lights Spirituality Handbook is the ideal companion for your journey as it explores:

• Awakening the Possibilities: What Is Jewish Spirituality?
• The Worlds of Your Life: Where Is Spirituality Found?
• The...

The quest for spirituality is universal, but with so many paths of spiritual nourishment to explore, how do we begin to find the one that is right for us?

Our tradition provides us with appropriate vehicles to express our spirituality within the framework of Judaism. Jewish sages, taking into account the need and makeup of the individual Jew, have been very generous in outlining for us various alternatives . As you become aware of your emotional and intellectual needs, and search for an appropriate path to meet them with integrity, you will soon realize that you have a...

To nourish your spiritual self you need "rest" from your hectic life. This book shows you how to do it.

"Renew the soul and your perspective of daily life will completely change. It is simply a matter of taking time, slowing down, shifting mundane consciousness into realms of higher insight and giving yourself the gift of reflection and contemplation."
--from the Introduction

While broad interest in Jewish meditation is a relatively new phenomenon, meditative practices have been deeply rooted in Judaism for thousands of years. Here, Rabbi David A. Cooper shows...

A handbook of Jewish ethical values and literature. Life as an art form--an invitation to Jewish ethical living.

"It is the human task to complete God's unfinished artistic masterpiece--the human person."
--from the Introduction

The classic texts of Jewish ethical literature--works little-known to most of us--are now readily available for personal study. This one-of-a-kind book brings the genre of Jewish ethical literature from its origins in the ancient and medieval worlds, straight into our 21st-century lives.

An invitation into a history rich with...

A powerful and empowering gathering of women s voices transmitting
Judaism s Passover legacy to the next generation.

The Women s Passover Companion offers an in-depth examination of women s relationships to Passover as well as the roots and meanings of women s seders. This groundbreaking collection captures the voices of Jewish women rabbis, scholars, activists, political leaders and artists who engage in a provocative conversation about the themes of the Exodus and exile, oppression and liberation, history and memory, as they relate to contemporary women s...

Deepen connections with the people you love. Build relationships with the people you meet.

"We can go through each day--or a lifetime--as sleepwalkers while awake, tossing and turning on pillows that are as hard as appointment books, wandering a paved spiritual wilderness from bank window to house of worship to hospital bedside. But if we are fortunate enough to happen upon a vision of the Divine--in a chance chat with a semi-stranger or a lingering conversation with a good friend--we can awaken to the spirituality between people that Martin Buber called I-Thou."