Download or read book Empowered Judaism written by Elie Kaunfer and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why have thousands of young Jews, otherwise unengaged with formal Jewish life, started more than sixty innovative prayer communities across the United States? What crucial insights can these grassroots communities provide for all of us?
Download or read book Empowered Judaism written by Rabbi Elie Kaunfer and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2012-12-16 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inside story and practical lessons from one of the most exciting developments in contemporary Judaism. Part description and part prescription, Empowered Judaism is a manifesto for transforming the way Jews pray andmore broadlyfor building vibrant Jewish communities. [It] represents the latest chapter in [an] uplifting history of religious creativity. This is a book that every Jewish leader will want to read and every serious Jew will want to contemplate. from the Foreword by Prof. Jonathan D. Sarna Why have thousands of young Jews, otherwise unengaged with formal Jewish life, started more than sixty innovative prayer communities across the United States? What crucial insights can these grassroots communities provide for all of us? Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, one of the leaders of this revolutionary phenomenon, offers refreshingly new analyses of the age-old question of how to build strong Jewish community. He explores the independent minyan movement and the lessons it has to teach about prayer, community organizing and volunteer leadership, and its implications for contemporary struggles in American Judaism. Along with describing the growth of independent minyanim across the country, he examines: The roles of liturgy, space, music and youth in this new approach to prayer Lessons to be learned from the concept of immersive, intensive Jewish learning in an egalitarian context Jewish values in which we must invest to achieve a vibrant, robust American Jewish landscape for the twenty-first century
Download or read book The Chutzpah Imperative written by Rabbi Edward Feinstein and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2014-09-24 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reconnect with Judaism’s most important contribution to humanity—and redeem our world. “The gift of Judaism is an understanding of what it means to be a human being—what we can do, what we can hope for, how we can live with purpose, what is expected of us. It is a celebration of human freedom, human possibility and human responsibility. Judaism is a way to live a heroic life, to construct a life devoted to values that are eternal, values of ultimate significance. The reward of a Jewish life is walking the world with a profound faith that you matter, your life matters, your dreams matter. I call this chutzpah.” —from the Introduction In this clarion call for a new way to “do Judaism,” award-winning spiritual leader Rabbi Edward Feinstein urges us to recover this message of Jewish self-empowerment—or chutzpah—to reshape our world. He walks us through the history of chutzpah—from the early chapters of Genesis, Jewish biblical law and the Rabbis of the Talmud to the mystics of medieval Spain and the European Hasidic tradition, Zionism and post-Holocaust thought. By showing us the ever-presence of chutzpah in Judaism he reveals the inner story of the Jewish People’s soul as well as the meaning that Judaism’s deepest purpose and most precious treasure has for us today.
Download or read book The Four Elements of an Empowered Life written by Rabbi Shlomo Buxbaum and published by Mosaica Press. This book was released on 2021-05-27 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all live with a deeply rooted desire to understand our unique purpose in this world. That discovery is the key to making every moment meaningful and living a truly empowered life. But are we searching in the right places? The Four Elements of an Empowered Life takes you on a journey inward — to understand your unique purpose and to discover your inner worlds, represented by the four elements of fire, wind, water, and earth. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including classic Torah texts, Kabbalistic works, psychology, and modern-day thinkers, as well as the author’s own personal experiences in Jewish education and outreach, Rabbi Buxbaum presents a close-up look at the constant struggles that are taking place within each of these inner worlds. These pages are filled with practical tools and habits that will help you master the elements and become the greatest possible version of yourself — empowering you to accomplish the mission that only you can achieve in this world.
Download or read book The Chutzpah Imperative written by Rabbi Edward Feinstein and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2014-09-24 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reconnect with Judaism's most important contribution to humanity—and redeem our world. "The gift of Judaism is an understanding of what it means to be a human being—what we can do, what we can hope for, how we can live with purpose, what is expected of us. It is a celebration of human freedom, human possibility and human responsibility. Judaism is a way to live a heroic life, to construct a life devoted to values that are eternal, values of ultimate significance. The reward of a Jewish life is walking the world with a profound faith that you matter, your life matters, your dreams matter. I call this chutzpah." —from the Introduction In this clarion call for a new way to “do Judaism,” award-winning spiritual leader Rabbi Edward Feinstein urges us to recover this message of Jewish self-empowerment—or chutzpah—to reshape our world. He walks us through the history of chutzpah—from the early chapters of Genesis, Jewish biblical law and the Rabbis of the Talmud to the mystics of medieval Spain and the European Hasidic tradition, Zionism and post-Holocaust thought. By showing us the ever-presence of chutzpah in Judaism he reveals the inner story of the Jewish People’s soul as well as the meaning that Judaism’s deepest purpose and most precious treasure has for us today.
Download or read book Masculinity and the Making of American Judaism written by Sarah Imhoff and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-13 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of how early twentieth-century American Jewish men experienced manhood and presented their masculinity to others. How did American Jewish men experience manhood, and how did they present their masculinity to others? In this distinctive book, Sarah Imhoff shows that the project of shaping American Jewish manhood was not just one of assimilation or exclusion. Jewish manhood was neither a mirror of normative American manhood nor its negative, effeminate opposite. Imhoff demonstrates how early twentieth-century Jews constructed a gentler, less aggressive manhood, drawn partly from the American pioneer spirit and immigration experience, but also from Hollywood and the YMCA, which required intense cultivation of a muscled male physique. She contends that these models helped Jews articulate the value of an acculturated American Judaism. Tapping into a rich historical literature to reveal how Jews looked at masculinity differently than Protestants or other religious groups, Imhoff illuminates the particular experience of American Jewish men. “There is so much literature—and very good scholarship—on Judaism and gender, but the majority of that literature reflects an interest in women. A hearty thank you to Sarah Imhoff for writing the other half of the story and for doing it so elegantly.” —Claire Elise Katz, author of Levinas and the Crisis of Humanism “Invariably lucid and engaging, Sarah Imhoff provides a secure foundation for how religion shaped American masculinity and how masculinity shaped American Judaism in the early twentieth century.” —Judith Gerson, author of By Thanksgiving We Were Americans: German Jewish Refugees and Holocaust Memory
Download or read book The Future of Judaism in America written by Jerome A. Chanes and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-04-19 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the state of the American Jewish world in the early 21st century, after decades of accelerating change that has transformed it and all other religious groups in the United States. It reveals a community in an unparalleled state of flux grappling with a society in which religious identity is more and more considered an individual choice, rather than an inheritance, and where fewer adults feel impelled to identify with any religious tradition at all. In chapters written by leading experts, the book examines the community’s evolving demographics, the direction of the principal denominational movements, contemporary religious trends, interactions with other American religious communities and engagements in the country’s secular politics. This text uniquely covers all these aspects of Judaism in America making it appealing to students and researchers in such fields as the sociology of religion, Judaism, and American history.
Download or read book The New Jewish Canon written by Yehuda Kurtzer and published by Academic Studies PRess. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Extraordinarily rich, lively and illuminating. ... [The editors] have succeeded magnificently in achieving their goal.” —Jewish Journal The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have been a period of mass production and proliferation of Jewish ideas, and have witnessed major changes in Jewish life and stimulated major debates. The New Jewish Canon offers a conceptual roadmap to make sense of such rapid change. With over eighty excerpts from key primary source texts and insightful corresponding essays by leading scholars, on topics of history and memory, Jewish politics and the public square, religion and religiosity, and identities and communities, The New Jewish Canon promises to start conversations from the seminar room to the dinner table. The New Jewish Canon is both text and textbook of the Jewish intellectual and communal zeitgeist for the contemporary period and the recent past, canonizing our most important ideas and debates of the past two generations; and just as importantly, stimulating debate and scholarship about what is yet to come.
Download or read book Living a Joyous Life written by Rabbi David Aaron and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2008-12-02 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Secular and religious Jews alike will find wisdom and inspiration in this new book in which Rabbi David Aaron reveals the joy that living a Jewish life can bring. With his characteristic humor, enthusiasm, and insight, Rabbi Aaron looks at key, and often misunderstood, aspects of Jewish practice—our relationship with God, Torah study, prayer, living the commandments, celebrating the Sabbath, and keeping kosher—and shows us how they enable us to access and express the godliness within us. Celebrating Shabbat, for example, reminds us that we are created in the image of God, empowered with free choice and intention; studying the Torah releases our chen, or inner beauty and grace; and observing kosher laws helps keep us in touch with our human sensitivity. Rabbi Aaron clarifies why many Jews today feel disconnected from their heritage. He invites readers who have lost touch with their Jewish roots to "unpack their spiritual baggage" and discover the true spirit of Judaism. Rabbi Aaron is one of the most dynamic and accessible teachers of Kabbalah and Jewish wisdom today, and this book is a warm invitation to anyone struggling to find fresh meaning in Jewish practice.
Download or read book Jews of Conscience written by Marc H. Ellis and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-07-20 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Influenced by the Jewish ethical tradition and the dissonance of Jewish life after the Holocaust, Professor Marc H. Ellis has sought to revive the Jewish ethical tradition in the face of the demands of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In his early career, he examined the ways Holocaust Theology and Liberation Theology facilitated Jewish and Christian ethical engagements with the violent political and economic crises emerging alongside international markets and forms of government. Over the course of his career, Professor Ellis has translated this broad engagement into his own understanding of the Jewish ethical tradition as tethered to and endangered by the increasing identification of Jewishness with politics in the United States and Israel. Within this trajectory, Professor Ellis has developed further insight into the complex ways Jews, Christians, and Muslim relate in the contemporary period. Since then, he has used his position, influence, and writings to further examine these issues, and been welcomed by a wide variety of audiences, from university forums to faith-based groups seeking justice and peace in interfaith settings. He has given endowed and keynote lectures in the United States, Israel, Canada, Taiwan, Korea and the Philippines.
Download or read book Jews of Conscience written by Marc H. Ellis and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-07-20 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Influenced by the Jewish ethical tradition and the dissonance of Jewish life after the Holocaust, Professor Marc H. Ellis has sought to revive the Jewish ethical tradition in the face of the demands of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In his early career, he examined the ways Holocaust Theology and Liberation Theology facilitated Jewish and Christian ethical engagements with the violent political and economic crises emerging alongside international markets and forms of government. Over the course of his career, Professor Ellis has translated this broad engagement into his own understanding of the Jewish ethical tradition as tethered to and endangered by the increasing identification of Jewishness with politics in the United States and Israel. Within this trajectory, Professor Ellis has developed further insight into the complex ways Jews, Christians, and Muslim relate in the contemporary period. Since then, he has used his position, influence, and writings to further examine these issues, and been welcomed by a wide variety of audiences, from university forums to faith-based groups seeking justice and peace in interfaith settings. He has given endowed and keynote lectures in the United States, Israel, Canada, Taiwan, Korea and the Philippines.
Download or read book Synagogues in a Time of Change written by Zachary I. Heller and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2009-06-22 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The synagogue remains a central institution in Jewish life as a place of study, worship, and assembly, but each day brings word of a new challenging development within each of the larger movements to which synagogues belong—Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist. Jewish religious communities today share a number of challenges, from the increase in secular or unaffiliated Jews to emerging Jewish spiritual communities forming outside the synagogue. There has never been a more compelling need for a wide-ranging discussion of the diverse issues facing American Judaism. Brought together by Zachary I. Heller, associate director of the National Center for Jewish Policy Studies, and an editorial team which included Rabbis David Gordis, Hayim Herring, and Sanford Seltzer, twenty of the leading Jewish thinkers—rabbis, scholars, authors, professors, activists, and experts in the study of the American synagogue—have contributed to this comprehensive collection of essays. Each writer brings unique expertise and perspective in describing the development of contemporary religious movements (denominations) in American Judaism, their interrelationships and tensions, and their prospects for the future. Their combined voices create a timely discussion of the many urgent issues bearing down on American synagogues. Contributors to Synagogues in a Time of Change take on the changing dynamics of synagogue life, its organization into movements, and the organic changes taking place that are causing those movements to lose their coherence and strength, both internally and as an attractive force for seekers of Jewish religious tradition and expression. They address the current fiscal issues that face the movement organizations and the broader questions of their future stability as well as their significance and continued relevance to individual congregations. Ultimately, the book is a catalyst for personal reflection and public discussion on the past, present and future of the American synagogue. The issues faced by Judaism in America are not unique to Jewish religious movements. Many of the issues facing synagogues will be familiar to those of all faiths. Indeed, the book includes an essay by Rodney L. Petersen of the Boston Theological Institute on denominationalism, nondenominationalism, and postdenominationalism in American Christian communities that helps us see these parallels. Religious groups of all kinds will find reflections of common struggles that can provide a vehicle for constructive conversations about their own pressing issues.
Download or read book Warm and Welcoming written by Warren Hoffman and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-11-15 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Warm and Welcoming: How the Jewish Community Can Become Truly Diverse and Inclusive in the 21st Century is the first book to tackle institutionalized biases and barriers to inclusion, offering not only stories and context about the issues facing Jews of all backgrounds, but more importantly offering practical and concrete advice that Jewish institutions can implement right away to change how they engage with diverse populations. The book features 17 chapters written by some of the most knowledgeable individuals in the Jewish community around the areas of diversity and inclusion. From senior leaders in the field to young innovators who are helping to change the ways that Jewish institutions create community, Warm and Welcoming offers fresh perspectives, best practices, and new ideas to transform Jewish institutions regardless of their size, resources, or number of years in existence.
Download or read book Digital Judaism written by Heidi A. Campbell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-04-10 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume, contributors consider the ways that Jewish communities and users of new media negotiate their uses of digital technologies in light of issues related to religious identity, community and authority. Digital Judaism presents a broad analysis of how and why various Jewish groups negotiate with digital culture in particular ways, situating such observations within a wider discourse of how Jewish groups throughout history have utilized communication technologies to maintain their Jewish identities across time and space. Chapters address issues related to the negotiation of authority between online users and offline religious leaders and institutions not only within ultra-Orthodox communities, but also within the broader Jewish religious culture, taking into account how Jewish engagement with media in Israel and the diaspora raises a number of important issues related to Jewish community and identity. Featuring recent scholarship by leading and emerging scholars of Judaism and media, Digital Judaism is an invaluable resource for researchers in new media, religion and digital culture.
Download or read book Relational Judaism written by Ron Wolfson and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2013 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Noted educator and community revitalization pioneer Dr. Ron Wolfson presents practical strategies and case studies to guide Jewish leaders in turning institutions into engaging communities that connect members to Judaism in meaningful and lasting ways.
Download or read book American Post Judaism written by Shaul Magid and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2013-04-09 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Articulates a new, post-ethnic American Jewishness
Download or read book Revolution of the Jewish Spirit written by Rabbi Baruch HaLevi, DMin and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2012-09-26 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prepare to revive your Jewish community with the transformative power of the Divine spirit. "Rabbi Baruch HaLevi and Ellen Frankel have correctly identified Ruakh as a key missing ingredient in Jewish institutional life, especially in the synagogue. Their call is for a revolution of spirit, a rejuvenation of our purpose, our worship, even our sacred spaces. It is recognition that the craving for community can bring people back to our institutions, if we welcome, engage and inspire them." —from the Foreword by Dr. Ron Wolfson In this practical and engaging guide to reinvigorating Jewish life, Rabbi Baruch HaLevi and Ellen Frankel identify the difference between a living synagogue and a dying one, and offer methods for reviving the Jewish spiritual centers—federations, community centers, institutions and synagogues—that serve as the heart of Jewish tradition and your life. They offer practical strategies for sustaining and expanding transformation, including tips for providing impassioned leadership, inspired programming and inviting sacred spaces. Whether you are clergy, congregant or community member, this guide will help you awaken your spirit and enliven your journey to a Ruakh-filled life.
