Download or read book The Hebrew Priestess written by Jill Hammer and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It has been barely 40 years since rabbinical seminaries began ordaining women as rabbis. But women have played a role in Jewish religious leadership from the days of the Bible and even before. Miriam the Prophetess and Deborah the Judge are just the two most prominent of these women, most of whose names are lost to history. The Hebrew Priestess tells the stories of these women, often reading between the lines of the Bible and Talmud to rediscover the women that rabbinic editors tried to erase. The authors bring a unique vantage point: They are founders of the Kohenet Institute, which trains Jewish women as religious leaders - as Hebrew priestesses. They believe the spiritual gifts of Jewish women cannot be incorporated into Judaism unless women explore the Divine through their own lens. The Kohenet Institute offers an embodied, ecstatic earth-based approach to Jewish spiritual practice and leadership. The Hebrew Priestess weaves together a careful examination of historical antecedents of these new priestesses, along with the personal experiences of women who embarked on this new path of Jewish priestesshood. The Hebrew Priestess delineates 13 models of spiritual leadership - among them prophetess, weaver, drummer, shrinekeeper, midwife, mother, maiden, witch, and fool - and shows how each model was manifest in ancient times, its continuation through Jewish history, and how women in our day are following that path. Finally, it shows how you can incorporate part of that path into your own life. Ambitious, erudite, practical, and deeply personal, the Hebrew Priestsess offers a deep connection to Jewish history and to profound holy experiences today. "A very readable and much-needed book " --Starhawk "An extraordinary and amazing work." -Alicia Ostriker "A book to savor." --Max Dashu "The articulation of my dreams and longings." -Rabbi Shefa Gold "Read this book, but don't stop there-live it as well " -Rabbi Rami Shapiro

Download or read book The Jewish Book of Days written by Jill Hammer and published by Jewish Publication Society. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the ages, Jews have connected legends to particular days of the Hebrew calendar. Abraham's birth, the death of Rachel, and the creation of light are all tales that are linked to a specific day and season. The Jewish Book of Days invites readers to experience the connection between sacred story and nature's rhythms, through readings designed for each and every day of the year. These daily readings offer an opportunity to live in tune with the wisdom of the past while learning new truths about the times we live in today. Using the tree as its central metaphor, The Jewish Book of Days is divided into eight chapters of approximately forty-five days each. These sections represent the tree's stages of growth--seed, root, shoot, sap, bud, leaf, flower, and fruit--and also echo the natural cadences of each season. Each entry has three components: a biblical quote for the day; a midrash on the biblical quote or a Jewish tradition related to that day; and commentary relating the text to the cycles of the year. The author includes an introduction that analyzes the different months and seasons of the Hebrew calendar and explains the textual sources used throughout. Appendixes provide additional material for leap years, equinoxes, and solstices. A section on seasonal meditations offers a new way to approach the divine every day.

Download or read book Sisters at Sinai written by Jill Hammer and published by Jewish Publication Society. This book was released on 2004-07-15 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an exceptional anthology of 24 stories about the women in the Bible. Drawing from the ancient tradition of midrash, the author brings to life the inner world and the experiences of these women, weaving rabbinic legends and her own imagination into the biblical texts. Readers will discover Lilith -- not as the night demon alluded to in Isaiah, but as another aspect of Eve herself. Sarah is a moon priestess and as great a prophet as Abraham. Miriam is not merely a figure of song and dance, but also one of revelation, a source of Torah. These stories were written to give biblical women the honor they deserve –due to them as prophets, rulers, and teachers. The Introduction to Sisters at Sinai offers the rationale and the need for midrash – the writing in the margins – expressing how it can be liberating as well as deeply comforting. Perfect for women's studies courses, adult study groups, confirmation classes and book groups.

Download or read book Seyder Tkhines written by Devra Kay and published by Jewish Publication Society. This book was released on 2004-09-01 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Seyder Tkhines, translated from its original Yiddish by noted tkhines scholar, Devra Kay, and centerpiece of this groundbreaking work, was a standard Yiddish prayer book for women. It first appeared in Amsterdam in 1648, and continued to be published for the next three generations, usually inside the Hebrew synagogue prayer book. A product of an age when mysticism pervaded mainstream Judaism, the Seyder Tkhines provided women with newly composed, alternative daily prayers that were more specific to their needs. Included in this volume is a unique Yiddish manuscript dating from the 17th century ? a collection of prayers written specifically for a rich, pregnant woman, which Kay discovered among the rare books of the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England. Now, for the first time, these prayers have been skillfully translated and brought to public view. In addition to her translations, Kay presents her own extensive commentary, providing a deeper understanding of the historic, religious, and cultural background of this period in Jewish history. This unparalleled book will have special appeal to those interested in the social, literary, and religious history of women, as well as the history of the Yiddish language and literature. The interest in these forgotten prayers and their significance to the lives of women has now been revived, and these tkhines are ready to be rediscovered by a modern readership.

Download or read book written by Jill Hammer and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2014 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Between Worlds written by J. H. Chajes and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2012-03-07 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After a nearly two-thousand-year interlude, and just as Christian Europe was in the throes of the great Witch Hunt and what historians have referred to as "The Age of the Demoniac," accounts of spirit possession began to proliferate in the Jewish world. Concentrated at first in the Near East but spreading rapidly westward, spirit possession, both benevolent and malevolent, emerged as perhaps the most characteristic form of religiosity in early modern Jewish society. Adopting a comparative historical approach, J. H. Chajes uncovers this strain of Jewish belief to which scant attention has been paid. Informed by recent research in historical anthropology, Between Worlds provides fascinating descriptions of the cases of possession as well as analysis of the magical techniques deployed by rabbinic exorcists to expel the ghostly intruders. Seeking to understand the phenomenon of spirit possession in its full complexity, Chajes delves into its ideational framework—chiefly the doctrine of reincarnation—while exploring its relation to contemporary Christian and Islamic analogues. Regarding spirit possession as a form of religious expression open to—and even dominated by—women, Chajes initiates a major reassessment of women in the history of Jewish mysticism. In a concluding section he examines the reception history of the great Hebrew accounts of spirit possession, focusing on the deployment of these "ghost stories" in the battle against incipient skepticism in the turbulent Jewish community of seventeenth-century Amsterdam. Exploring a phenomenon that bridged learned and ignorant, rich and poor, men and women, Jews and Gentiles, Between Worlds maps for the first time a prominent feature of the early modern Jewish religious landscape, as quotidian as it was portentous: the nexus of the living and the dead.

Download or read book Sarah the Priestess written by Savina J. Teubal and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Miriam s Well written by Penina Villenchik Adelman and published by Holmes & Meier Publishers. This book was released on 1990 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a year-long guide to women's groups celebration of Rosh hodesh, including new and traditional ritual, song, prayer, meditation, and Midrash for each month

Download or read book Return to the Place written by Jill Hammer and published by . This book was released on 2020-09-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rabbi Jill Hammer has taken ancient Jewish mystical text and transformed it into a contemporary guide for meditative practice. In Return to the Place, Rabbi Hammer guides the reader through the story of creation as the ancient text of the Sefer Yetzirah draws readers in and invites them to become participants in the book's vibrant incantations, bringing the Creator's sacred energy into the world. The Sefer Yetzirah is a creation story like none other, describing the creation of the world in cryptic, mystical, poetic text. Rabbi Jill Hammer has taken a fresh look at this text that scholars believe goes back to the sixth century CE, embracing this text with healing intention. Through guided meditations at each step along the way, Rabbi Hammer allows readers to dig deeply into the text to experience the potential power of these ancient writings. Hammer builds a thought-provoking bridge from the past to the present-translating the text and focusing on its key aspects to give readers a relevant focus for contemplation. Advance Praise "Sefer Yetzirah has been called the foundational text of Jewish mysticism, but despite many scholarly attempts to explain it, readers still find its language baffling and its message indecipherable. Now Rabbi Jill Hammer has clarified the text for us all. Without ruining its mystery, she reveals its cosmic vision of 'space, time, and body-soul.' Beyond this, she has created a new-ancient meditative practice based on this mystical masterpiece. Her superb achievement is a gift for all of us!" -Dr. Daniel Matt, author of The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism "A tour de force -at once scholarly, whimsical, deeply poetic, and eminently accessible. Hammer combines translation, commentary, and meditations with her uniquely seasoned sensibility, one that balances feminine and masculine, sensual and philosophical." -Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, author of The Receiving: Reclaiming Jewish Women's Wisdom "Rabbi Hammer, one of the most original religious guides of our time, opens up for us a text that has fascinated mystics and philosophers for more than a millennium - and yet has remained deeply mysterious. Return to the Place shows us that the Sefer Yetzirah is a 'doorway into the deep structure of creation'-with the power to transform the cosmos as well as each person's most intimate experience." -Dr. Nathaniel Berman, author of Divine and Demonic in the Poetic Mythology of the Zohar "Like its subject, the mysterious Book of Creation, Return to the Place brilliantly defies categorization. It is a detailed commentary, a bold spirit-guide, and a valuable work of scholarship. It is both audacious and perspicacious. And no one could have written it but Rabbi Dr. Jill Hammer." -Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson, author of Everything is God: The Radical Path of Non-Dual Judaism

Download or read book The Path of the Priestess written by Sharron Rose and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2003-01-08 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide for personal exploration of the path to the divine feminine and the spiritual power of women. • Reveals the essential role of women in creating and maintaining the psychic/energetic/emotional landscape of society. • Explores feminine roles and the archetypal model of the Great Goddess from both Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. • Includes exercises, meditations, and visualizations drawn from ancient techniques to assist women with their spiritual awakening and self-realization. The Path of the Priestess takes readers on a journey deep into the heart of the feminine experience. It describes the author's years of first-hand experience in the ancient arts of Tantra, Dzogchen, and Indian and Egyptian temple dance and healing, as well as her research into the feminine principle in the mystic teachings of the Alchemists, Hebrew Kabbalists, and Christian Gnostics. Beginning with an analysis of the basic issues and frustrations inherent in contemporary society's conditioning of and expectations for women, readers travel back in time to the age of the great temples, schools, and sacred societies in which women still held and transmitted the spiritual light that nourished all of civilization. Through its mythic and historic tales, descriptions of sacred ritual practices, and teachings on the Goddess traditions, The Path of the Priestess provides contemporary women with the means to enter this time-honored path. In keeping with the experientially based teaching methods of these traditions, it also offers exercises and visualizations designed to align women with the powerful, sensuous, and loving energies of the most profound feminine role model that shaped and preserved culture and society--the Great Goddess.

Download or read book Jewish Magic and Superstition written by Joshua Trachtenberg and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2012-10-08 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alongside the formal development of Judaism from the eleventh through the sixteenth centuries, a robust Jewish folk religion flourished—ideas and practices that never met with wholehearted approval by religious leaders yet enjoyed such wide popularity that they could not be altogether excluded from the religion. According to Joshua Trachtenberg, it is not possible truly to understand the experience and history of the Jewish people without attempting to recover their folklife and beliefs from centuries past. Jewish Magic and Superstition is a masterful and utterly fascinating exploration of religious forms that have all but disappeared yet persist in the imagination. The volume begins with legends of Jewish sorcery and proceeds to discuss beliefs about the evil eye, spirits of the dead, powers of good, the famous legend of the golem, procedures for casting spells, the use of gems and amulets, how to battle spirits, the ritual of circumcision, herbal folk remedies, fortune telling, astrology, and the interpretation of dreams. First published more than sixty years ago, Trachtenberg's study remains the foundational scholarship on magical practices in the Jewish world and offers an understanding of folk beliefs that expressed most eloquently the everyday religion of the Jewish people.

Download or read book Gender and Second Temple Judaism written by Kathy Ehrensperger and published by Fortress Academic. This book was released on 2022-05-15 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gender and Second Temple Judaism examines the myriad constructions of gender in Second Temple Judaism including early Christianity. The chapters examine the state of the field and methodology and hone in on specific texts.

Download or read book White Fire written by Malka Drucker and published by SkyLight Paths Publishing. This book was released on 2003 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Since the beginning of time, women have been sustainers of spiritual communities--now, they're strengthening them in leadership roles." -- inside cover.

Download or read book The Lost Gospel written by Simcha Jacobovici and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-11-12 with total page 754 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Waiting to be rediscovered in the British Library is an ancient manuscript of the early Church, copied by an anonymous monk. The manuscript is at least 1,450 years old, possibly dating to the first century. And now, The Lost Gospel provides the first ever translation from Syriac into English of this unique document that tells the inside story of Jesus’ social, family, and political life.The Lost Gospel takes the reader on an unparalleled historical adventure through a paradigm shifting manuscript. What the authors eventually discover is as astounding as it is surprising: the confirmation of Jesus’ marriage to Mary Magdalene; the names of their two children; the towering presence of Mary Magdalene; a previously unknown plot on Jesus’ life (thirteen years prior to the crucifixion); an assassination attempt against Mary Magdalene and their children; Jesus’ connection to political figures at the highest level of the Roman Empire; and a religious movement that antedates that of Paul—the Church of Mary Magdalene.Part historical detective story, part modern adventure, The Lost Gospel reveals secrets that have been hiding in plain sight for millennia.

Download or read book Kabbalistic Tarot written by Dovid Krafchow and published by Inner Traditions / Bear & Co. This book was released on 2005-07-11 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This guide reveals the intimate relationship of the tarot to the esoteric teachings of the Torah and the Kabbalah. Kabbalistic interpretations for all 78 traditional tarot cards are included as well as a detailed kabbalistic reading and interpretation of the Tree of Life spread.

Download or read book General Book of the Tarot written by A.E. Thierens and published by e-artnow. This book was released on 2021-11-14 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This exciting book unveils the principles and history of the ancient art_x000D_ of Tarot, shares some practical tips. In addition, it showcases how closely the mystery teachings of_x000D_ the Tarot are interconnected with astrology. In this work, the correspondence between the two_x000D_ sciences was raised for the first time. Here, a reader finds a clear and concise explanation of the_x000D_ Tarot, including both Arcanas. The book is interesting both as a historical edition and a reference_x000D_ for those interested in Tarot and astrology.

Download or read book The Gifts of the Jews written by Thomas Cahill and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2010-04-28 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The author of the runaway bestseller How the Irish Saved Civilization takes us on another "captivating...persuasive as well as entertaining" journey into history (The New York Times), recreating a time when the actions of a small band of people had repercussions that are still felt today. The Gifts of the Jews reveals the critical change that made western civilization possible. Within the matrix of ancient religions and philosophies, life was seen as part of an endless cycle of birth and death; time was like a wheel, spinning ceaselessly. Yet somehow, the ancient Jews began to see time differently. For them, time had a beginning and an end; it was a narrative, whose triumphant conclusion would come in the future. From this insight came a new conception of men and women as individuals with unique destinies--a conception that would inform the Declaration of Independence--and our hopeful belief in progress and the sense that tomorrow can be better than today. As Thomas Cahill narrates this momentous shift, he also explains the real significance of such Biblical figures as Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the Pharaoh, Joshua, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Full of compelling stories, insights and humor, The Gifts of the Jews is an irresistible exploration of history as fascinating and fun as How the Irish Saved Civilization.