Download or read book Splendor of Creation A Biblical Ecology written by Ellen Bernstein and published by The Pilgrim Press. This book was released on 2019-05-15 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many people see the environmental crisis as a spiritual one. Author Ellen Bernstein sees the Book of Genesis as a guide to living peaceably with the Earth. The creation story, according to Bernstein, invites a deep appreciation of nature and may be the perfect muse for a world that is hungry for an integrated ecological vision. Written from a Jewish perspective, this book is both accessible and compelling to a broad audience, as it explores Genesis 1, verse by verse, reflecting on the language that contributes to a holistic ecological vision.
Download or read book Extinction and Religion written by Jeremy H. Kidwell and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2024-01-02 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human-caused extinctions have never been so prominent in our political and cultural landscape. Extinction and Religion is a collection of wide-ranging chapters that explore the implications for religious faith and experience as it relates to a "sixth mass extinction" in Earth's history. Further it seeks to answer the question as to how religious and spiritual practices are shaping responses to the crisis? Edited by Jeremy H. Kidwell and Stefan Skrimshire, this collection aims to set a new postsecular agenda, articulating the questions, challenges, and ways forward for thinking about religion in an age of mass extinction rather than provide responses from world religions in isolation. It covers subjects such as the multitude of challenges posed by mass extinction to beliefs about the future of humanity, death and the afterlife, the integrity of creation, and the relationship between human and nonhuman life. Wide ranging and incisive, Extinction and Religion amply demonstrates the many ways in which the threat of extinction profoundly affects our faith and religious life worlds.
Download or read book Let There Be Light written by Howard Smith, Ph.D. and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2010-10-04 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Let There Be Light, Howard Smith, a research astrophysicist and traditionally observant Jew, explores how modern scientific understandings of the cosmos complement Judaism's ancient mystical theology, the Kabbalah. He argues that science and religion are not only compatible, but that a healthy, productive dialogue between the two sheds light on ethics, free will, and the nature of life, while at the same time rejecting fundamentalist misinterpretation and the pseudoscience of creationism. Written for a general audience, yet supported by the most current and accurate scientific research, the book discusses topics such as modern quantum mechanics and mystical notions of awareness; how Kabbalah's ten sefirot mirror the developing phases of an inflationary universe; and the surprising parallels that exist between the Big Bang theory and Kabbalah's origin theory. Smith delves into complex ideas without resorting to jargon or mathematical equations, creating an intelligent, authoritative work accessible to all readers.
Download or read book Who Stole My Religion Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet written by Richard H. Schwartz and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the five decades since Richard Schwartz first became a religious Jew, he has watched the mainstream Jewish community shift more and more to the Right, often abandoning the very values that originally attracted him to Orthodox Judaism. In this soul-searching book, Schwartz examines the ways in which he believes his religion has been "stolen" by partisan politics, and offers practical suggestions for how to get Judaism back on track as a faith based on peace and compassion. Tackling such diverse issues as U.S. politics, Israeli peace issues, the misuse of the Holocaust, antisemitism, U.S. foreign policy, Islamophobia, socialism, vegetarianism, environmentalism, Schwartz goes where many Jews fear to go -- and challenges us to re-think current issues in the light of positive Jewish values. (With photos, notes, action ideas, resource lists, and annotated bibliography. Also includes appendix materials with Rabbi Yonassan Gershom.)
Download or read book Abundant Earth written by Eileen Crist and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-01-17 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Abundant Earth, Eileen Crist not only documents the rising tide of biodiversity loss, but also lays out the drivers of this wholesale destruction and how we can push past them. Looking beyond the familiar litany of causes—a large and growing human population, rising livestock numbers, expanding economies and international trade, and spreading infrastructures and incursions upon wildlands—she asks the key question: if we know human expansionism is to blame for this ecological crisis, why are we not taking the needed steps to halt our expansionism? Crist argues that to do so would require a two-pronged approach. Scaling down calls upon us to lower the global human population while working within a human-rights framework, to deindustrialize food production, and to localize economies and contract global trade. Pulling back calls upon us to free, restore, reconnect, and rewild vast terrestrial and marine ecosystems. However, the pervasive worldview of human supremacy—the conviction that humans are superior to all other life-forms and entitled to use these life-forms and their habitats—normalizes and promotes humanity’s ongoing expansion, undermining our ability to enact these linked strategies and preempt the mounting suffering and dislocation of both humans and nonhumans. Abundant Earth urges us to confront the reality that humanity will not advance by entrenching its domination over the biosphere. On the contrary, we will stagnate in the identity of nature-colonizer and decline into conflict as we vie for natural resources. Instead, we must chart another course, choosing to live in fellowship within the vibrant ecologies of our wild and domestic cohorts, and enfolding human inhabitation within the rich expanse of a biodiverse, living planet.
Download or read book Biodiversity Conservation Ethics in Major Religions written by H. S. A. Yahya and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2010-10 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covering three broader issues - biodiversity conservation, religious doctrine and environment - the book Biodiversity Conservation Ethics in Major Religions is the result of a unique approach. It attempts to initiate scientific discourse through the fabric of religions. Spread across 15 chapters, the book covers the essence of 10 religions on biodiversity, encompassing a wide range of issues related to conservation. The book promises to be a useful resource for biodiversity students, researchers and protected area managers and also for religious scholars who are invited to look at the broader themes of religions beyond theology.
Download or read book Landscapes of the Song of Songs written by Elaine T. James and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-06-01 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this masterful new study of the ancient poetry of the Song of Songs, Elaine T. James explores the Song's underlying interest in the natural world. Engaging with the fields of geography, landscape architecture, and literature, James critiques the tendency of scholars to reify a perceived dichotomy between "nature" and "culture" and instead argues that the poetic attention to landscape indicates an awareness of a viewer. Nature is here a poetic device that informs James's close-readings of agrarianism, gardens, cities, social control, and feminism and the gaze in the Song. With this two-fold emphasis on landscape and lyric, Landscape of the Song of Songs shows how the Song persistently envisions a world in which human lovers are embedded in the natural world, complexly enfolded in relationships of fragility and care.
Download or read book A Wild Faith written by Rabbi Mike Comins and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2011-04-04 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore the connections between God, wilderness and Judaism. This comprehensive how-to guide to the theory and practice of Jewish wilderness spirituality unravels the mystery of Judaism's connection to the natural world and offers ways for you to enliven and deepen your spiritual life through wilderness experience. Over forty practical exercises provide detailed instruction on spiritual practice in the natural world, including: Mindfulness exercises for the trail • Meditative walking • Four-Winds wisdom from Jewish tradition • Wilderness blessings • Soul-O Site solitude practice in wilderness • Wilderness retreat For wilderness lovers and nature novices alike, this inspiring and insightful book will lead you through experiences of awe and wonder in the natural world. It will show you the depth and relevance of Judaism to your spiritual awareness in wilderness and teach you new ways to energize your relationship with God and prayer.
Download or read book Spirituality Unveiled written by Stephen Wollaston and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2011-03-16 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirituality Unveiled puts forward a succinct and compelling synthesis of numerous spiritual traditions. While weaving together insights from contemporary and past masters of spirituality along with holistic and Earth centred wisdom it beautifully highlights teachings about the essentials of creative unfoldment. Spirituality Unveiled invites readers to join in the important search to find a healthy interaction with life. Key areas include the power of creativity the effects of positive and negative actions and harmonious living with the natural world.
Download or read book The y ology written by Max Yeshaye Brumberg-Kraus and published by punctum books. This book was released on 2023-05-30 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every body contains multitudes, but no body is immune to the ideology of oneness: one true self, one sexuality, one gender, one vision of the world, one true God. For many who identify (or who have been named by others) as transgender, queer, and nonbinary, the refusal to fit within the illusion of one set of sex and gender expectations has been met with violence and suppression. While the myth of oneness is a powerful story that shapes the contours of our societies and our selves, it is not the only myth. Performances, fictions, rituals, and theologies can transform current realities. The(y)ology: Mythopoetics for Queer/Trans Liberation is a manifesto for artists, teachers, theologians, clergy, and activists looking for ways to resist rigid paradigms of gender, sexuality, self, and the sacred. In these pages, we are called to tell new stories about who we are and how we relate to each other within our ecosystems. The myths discussed wrestle with and transform the complex mytho-histories that have birthed and, often, harmed us. No story comes from nothing, and, more radically, perhaps no story is fully irredeemable. In The(y)ology, feminist philosophies join with trans poetics, literary theory with liberation theologies, drag performance with kabbalah, ecologies with pornographies, and ancient theater with queer autobiographies. However ambitious its scope might be, The(y)ology is fundamentally about encouraging us all to think playfully and to play thoughtfully with the mythologies that define our lives. Max Yeshaye Brumberg-Kraus is a poet, playwright, drag artist, and independent scholar living in Saint Paul, Minnesota. They are the co-founder of the House of Larva Drag Co-operative, performing as drag ogress Çicada L'Amour, producing one acts, full-length shows, and cabarets since 2014. In and out of drag, Max has performed at the Guthrie Theatre, Pangea World Theatre, 20% Theatre, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, Rimon (The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council), the Rochester Arts Center, and have also directed a full length show (Circe: Twilight of a Goddess) with Siren Island in Point San Pablo, California. After majoring in classics and theatre at Beloit College, they received their MA in Theology and the Arts from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Max is former fellow and facilitator with Arts Religion Culture (ARC), and a member of the Green Sabbath Project. They are currently pursuing their MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College, with a focus on queerness and the medieval imagination.
Download or read book Feminist Theologies written by Rosemary Radford Ruether and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: * A brief and informed survey of women's studies in religion * Highlights the emergence of contextual feminist theologies * Contributors are the leading theologians in their field
Download or read book Finding Peace through Spiritual Practice written by Pastor Don Mackenzie, PhD and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If we want to heal our personal and planetary problems, we have to move beyond talking to spiritual practice. Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon and Imam Jamal Rahman, who have become known as the Interfaith Amigos, believe truly effective interfaith dialogue can inhibit the demonization of any religion. Their work together, which began with the horrors of 9/11, aims to help us see all authentic spiritual traditions as sacred avenues to a shared Universal Reality—when we achieve this, the healing of our shared personal and planetary problems begins. In this, their third book, the Interfaith Amigos look at the specific issues we face in a pluralistic society and the spiritual practices that can help us transcend those roadblocks to effective collaboration on the critical issues of our time. Focusing on the interconnection of spirituality and authentic interfaith dialogue, they examine: How Spiritual Awareness Can Heal Our Own Traditions Beyond Polarization: Confronting Our Most Personal Obstacle Spiritual Paths to Environmental Stewardship Spiritual Paths to Social Justice How to Make Spirituality a Way of Life This book helps awaken readers to the spiritual consciousness within each of us that provides the foundation for much-needed healing. Each chapter includes spiritual practices to aid us in reclaiming the deep spiritual truths of our own being.
Download or read book A Cultural History of Peace in the Modern Age written by Ronald Edsforth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-02-24 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Cultural History of Peace presents an authoritative survey from ancient times to the present. The set of six volumes covers over 2500 years of history, charting the evolving nature and role of peace throughout history. This volume, A Cultural History of Peace in the Modern Age, explores peace in the period from 1920 to the present. As with all the volumes in the illustrated Cultural History of Peace set, this volume presents essays on the meaning of peace, peace movements, maintaining peace, peace in relation to gender, religion and war and representations of peace. A Cultural History of Peace in the Modern Age is the most authoritative and comprehensive survey available on peace in the twentieth and twentieth century.
Download or read book New Jewish Feminism written by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2012-06-28 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jewish Feminism: What Have We Accomplished? What Is Still to Be Done? “When you are in the middle of the revolution you can’t really plan the next steps ahead. But now we can. The book is intended to open up a dialogue between the early Jewish feminist pioneers and the young women shaping Judaism today.... Read it, use it, debate it, ponder it.” —from the Introduction This empowering anthology looks at the growth and accomplishments of Jewish feminism and what that means for Jewish women today and tomorrow. It features the voices of women from every area of Jewish life—the Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Orthodox and Jewish Renewal movements; rabbis, congregational leaders, artists, writers, community service professionals, academics, and chaplains, from the United States, Canada, and Israel—addressing the important issues that concern Jewish women: Women and Theology Women, Ritual and Torah Women and the Synagogue Women in Israel Gender, Sexuality and Age Women and the Denominations Leadership and Social Justice
Download or read book Women and Judaism written by Malka Drucker and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-04-30 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributors to Women and Judaism describe the many ways in which women are claiming a place in and changing the face of this ancient religion. "Women and Judaism," the editor writes, "carries an intention to do more than bring the reader new ideas to ponder. For Jewish women, it's a charge to claim and re-claim their rightful place in their tradition ... For non-Jewish sisters, we hope that it encourages you to bring change in your traditions as you learn of our effort to be counted as full members of an ancient spiritual community." In this all-encompassing exploration of Judaism for the modern woman, readers attend the first the Bat Mitzvah 70 years ago, hear an imagined response of biblical mothers asked to give up their children, and learn how each holiday contains an ecological message. Readers explore the power of women within a patriarchal tradition, including the story of the first woman rabbi. Readers see demonstrations of how women keep body, mind, and spirit alive, read a new view of biblical women as heroic role models, and enter the memory of women Holocaust survivors. Some contributors write about sexuality, power, and vulnerability, while others present the newest women's rituals, including Rosh Hodesh and mikveh.
Download or read book Kapporos Then and Now Toward a More Compassionate Tradition written by Yonassan Gershom and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2015-06-03 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every year, right before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, there is a cultural war in certain Jewish neighborhoods over a ceremony called Kapporos, in which a chicken is slaughtered just before the holy day. The animal rights people show up claiming, "Meat is murder!" while the Orthodox and Hasidic Jews who practice this ceremony accuse the activists of antisemitism and violating their freedom of religion. Epithets fly and confrontations occur across the barricades, but nobody is really listening to each other. Rabbi Gershom seeks to build a bridge of understanding between these two warring camps. On the one hand, he opposes using live chickens as Kapporos, and, like many other religious Jews before him, advocates giving money to charity instead. But on the other hand, he is himself a Hasid who understands and believes in the kabbalistic principle of ""raising holy sparks"" so central to the ceremony. In fact, he says, it is that very mysticism that has led him not to use chickens for the ritual.
Download or read book Tin House written by Win McCormack and published by Tin House Books. This book was released on 2014-05-27 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our increasingly mediated society, where joy is self-conscious and tweeted about as it is happening, is it possible for the genuinely ecstatic experience? From religious to chemically induced, from biochemical analysis to attempts to capture the ineffable, our issue on the ecstatic will feature poetry, fiction, and essays addressing the ecstatic and its counterparts ? the comedown and ecstasy thwarted, whether by internal or external means. "Tin House" is a beautifully designed periodical that features the best writers of our time alongside a new generation of talent poised to become the most important voices of the future. Content includes short stories, profiles, author interviews, poetry, essays, and unique departments such as Lost and Found, in which writers review overlooked or underrated books, and Blithe Spirits and Readable Feast, which present tales and recipes for drinks and food in a literary way.
