Download or read book The Way Into Encountering God In Judaism written by Rabbi Neil Gillman, PhD and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2004-02-01 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An accessible introduction to the Jewish understanding of God throughout history―and today. The Way Into Encountering God in Judaism is an accessible introduction to the Jewish understanding of God throughout history―and today.
Download or read book The Way Into Encountering God in Judaism written by Neil Gillman and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2004-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An accessible introduction to the Jewish understanding of God through history and today.
Download or read book Believing and Its Tensions written by Neil Gillman and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2013 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An intimate and candid examination of the changing nature of belief and where it can lead us--from the life experience of one of Judaism's leading thinkers. For over five decades, Rabbi Neil Gillman has helped people think through the most challenging questions at the heart of being a believing religious person. In this intimate rethinking of his own theological journey he explores the changing nature of belief and the complexities of reconciling the intellectual, emotional and moral questions of his own searching mind and soul. If what we have in recognizing, speaking of and experiencing God is a wide-ranging treasury of humanly crafted metaphors, what, then, is the ultimate reality, the ultimate nature of God? What lies beyond the metaphors? If humanity was an active partner in revelation--if the human community participated in what was revealed and gave it meaning--what then should be the authority of Jewish law? How do we cope--intellectually, emotionally and morally--with suffering, the greatest challenge to our faith commitment, relationship with God and sense of a fundamentally ordered world? Death is inevitable but why is it built in as part of the total life experience?
Download or read book Doing Jewish Theology written by Neil Gillman and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: God -- Torah -- Israel
Download or read book The Way Into Encountering God in Judaism written by Neil Gillman and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2000 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of "The Death of Death", a "Publishers Weekly" "Best Book of the Year", explains how Jews have encountered God throughout Jewish history--and today--by exploring the many metaphors for God in the Jewish tradition, how they originated, and what they mean.
Download or read book Traces of God written by Neil Gillman and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2008-09 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Probing and Powerful Look at the Role You Play in Shaping Your Relationship with God "No matter how hard we look, the God of Israel cannot be seen. Looking is not seeing, and seeing God is not like seeing an apple. It is much more like making a medical diagnosis on the basis of looking at a complex set of symptoms. Each of the symptoms is a dot. We can look at the dots and still miss the pattern." --from Part I The Torah is replete with references to hearing God but precious few references to seeing God. Seeing is complicated. What we look for and see are traces of God's presence in the world and in history, but not God. In order to identify those traces as reflections of divine presence, we need to re-examine how we see, what we see, and how we interpret that information. In this challenging and inspiring look at the dynamics of the religious experience, award-winning author and theologian Neil Gillman guides you into a new way of seeing the complex patterns in the Bible, history, and everyday experiences and helps you interpret what those patterns mean to you and your relationship with God. Examining faith and doubt, revelation and law, suffering and redemption, Gillman candidly deconstructs familiar biblical moments in order to help you develop and refine your own spiritual vision, so that you are able to discern the presence of God in unanticipated ways.
Download or read book The Way Into Jewish Prayer written by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2011-12-01 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An accessible introduction to the reasons for and the ways of Jewish prayer. The Way Into Jewish Prayer helps us to explore the reasons for and the ways of Jewish prayer. It opens the door to 3,000 years of Jewish prayer, making available all you need to feel at home in the Jewish way of communicating with God.
Download or read book The Way Into Torah written by Dr. Norman J. Cohen and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2012-01-09 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An accessible introduction to how to read, study, and understand Torah—the Bible and related sacred texts that have grown up around it. For everyone who wants to understand Torah, this book shows the way into an essential aspect of Judaism, and allows you to interact directly with the sacred texts of the Jewish tradition. Guided by Dr. Norman J. Cohen, rabbi and professor of midrash at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, The Way Into Torah helps us explore the origins and development of Torah, why it should be studied, and how to do it. What Torah is. The texts, and beyond: Not simply the Five Books of Moses, Torah refers to much more than written words. The different approaches to studying Torah. The many ways Jews have interacted with Torah through the ages and how, by learning to read Torah ourselves,we can connect it to our lives today. The levels of understanding Torah. How Torah can come alive in different ways, at different times; and how new meanings of Torah are discovered by its readers. Why Torah study is a part of the Jewish experience. How it allows us to experience God’s presence—and why the Rabbis called Torah study more important even than belief in God. This guide offers an entrance into the world of Torah, and to its meaning for our lives. The Way Into Torah shows us why reading Torah is not the same as reading anything else—and enables us to become a part of a chain of Jewish tradition that began millennia ago, and remains unbroken today.
Download or read book The Way Into Judaism and the Environment written by Jeremy Benstein and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An accessible introduction to the Jewish understanding of the natural world and the key concepts central to Jewish environmentalism. At a time of growing concern about environmental issues, this book explores the relationship Jews have with the natural world and the ways in which Judaism contributes to contemporary social/environmental issues. It also shows readers the extent to which Judaism is part of the problem and how it can be part of the solution. Offering both an environmental interpretation of Judaism and a Jewish approach to environmentalism, this book examines: What environmentalism is. What the creation stories can teach us about who we are and what nature is. The relevance of Torah and traditional sources.
Download or read book The Death of Death written by Rabbi Neil Gillman, PhD and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2011-11-16 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does death end life, or is it the passage from one stage of life to another? In The Death of Death, noted theologian Neil Gillman offers readers an original and compelling argument that Judaism, a religion often thought to pay little attention to the afterlife, not only presents us with rich ideas on this subject—but delivers a deathblow to death itself. Combining astute scholarship with keen historical, theological and liturgical insights, Gillman outlines the evolution of Jewish thought about bodily resurrection and spiritual immortality. Beginning with the near-silence of the Bible on the afterlife, he traces the development of these two doctrines through Jewish history. He also describes why today, somewhat surprisingly, more contemporary Jewish scholars—including Gillman—have unabashedly reaffirmed the notion of bodily resurrection. In this innovative and personal synthesis, Gillman creates a strikingly modern statement on resurrection and immortality. The Death of Death gives new and fascinating life to an ancient debate. This new work is an intellectual and spiritual milestone for all of us interested in the meaning of life, as well as the meaning of death.
Download or read book A Wild Faith written by Mike Comins and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 242 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 The Jewish Approach to God written by Neil Gillman and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2003 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A window into the Jewish understanding of God throughout history and today written especially for Christians. In Jewish Scripture Christianity's foundation God's presence is everywhere: in nature, in history, and in the range of human experience. Yet the Torah, Maimonides, and 4,000 years of Jewish tradition all agree on one thing: that God is beyond any form of human comprehension. How, then can Judaism be so crowded with descriptions and images of God? And what can they mean to the ways Christians understand their own faith? In this special book, Rabbi Neil Gillman guides you through these questions and the countless different ways the Jewish people have related to God, how each originated and what each may mean for you. Whether you are Christian, Muslim, or even Jewish, this nuts-and-bolts introduction will both answer your questions and stimulate new ones. A theologian who writes as a great teacher, Gillman addresses the key concepts at the heart of Judaism s approach to God. From Ein Sof (Infinity) to Shekhinah (Presence), Gillman helps you understand what the search for knowing God itself says about Jewish tradition and how you can use the fundamentals of Judaism to strengthen, explore, and deepen your own spiritual foundations. God Is Echad (Unique) God Is Power God Is Person God Is Nice Sometimes God Is Not Nice Sometimes God Can Change God Creates God Reveals God Redeems
Download or read book The Way Into the Varieties of Jewishness written by Sylvia Barack Fishman and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fifth volume in The Way Into... series examines the many ways that the Jewish tradition has approached differences in religious and cultural orientation and practices among Jewish people, from ancient times to the present controversy over "Who is a Jew?"The Way Into Varieties of Jewishness explores some of the major questions that have challenged individual Jews and Jewish communities to examine what it means to be a Jew. If Jewishness is a faith, what does it mean to be a secular Jew? If it is an ethnicity, what does it mean to convert into it -- or out of it?The struggles and compromises between different movements of Judaism in earlier centuries -- such as the schools of Hillel and Shammai two millennia ago, or the mystics and the rationalists of medieval Europe -- may shed light on the complicated relationships among today's traditional and liberal Jewish movements.
Download or read book The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition written by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2011-10-29 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An accessible introduction to the concepts of Jewish mysticism, their religious and spiritual significance, and how they relate to our lives. The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition allows us to experience and understand mysticism's inexpressible reverence before the awe and mystery of creation, and celebrate this rich tradition's quest to transform our ordinary reality into holiness.
Download or read book Breath of Life written by Rabbi Rachel Timoner and published by Paraclete Press. This book was released on 2011-10-01 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This essential introduction to Judaism’s notions of spirit as they relate to God is designed to inform both Jews and Christians who are studying what it means when we say that God is spirit. Exploring the Hebrew Bible, Midrash, and other rabbinic writings, Rabbi Timoner uncovers surprising insights about how God as spirit influences Jewish ideas of creation, revelation, and redemption. Written with an accessible and engaging voice, full of stories and relevant teachings, Breath of Life speaks to lay readers and scholars alike, as it pursues a new perspective on Judaism’s sacred texts. This book promises Christian readers meaningful insights on their own notions of God as Holy Spirit while giving Jewish readers a new look at their own tradition. "In easy but deceptively profound language, Rachel Timoner deftly savors the essential unknowability of God, the ubiquity of Torah and the mystery of redemption. She’s given us an immensely literate and serious, contemporary Jewish theology. Breath of Life is a spiritual tour de force.” -Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, Scholar in residence at Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco, and author of many books including Kabbalah: A Love Story "Any reader keen to cultivate a robust spirituality should read this little book. Jews and Christians may discover here something to talk about—scriptures we share and a quality of God we have in common.” -John R. (Jack) Levison, author of Filled with the Spirit; Professor of New Testament, Seattle Pacific University
Download or read book The Jewish Body written by Melvin Konner and published by Schocken. This book was released on 2009-01-13 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the Jewish people from bris to burial, from “muscle Jews” to nose jobs. Melvin Konner, a renowned doctor and anthropologist, takes the measure of the “Jewish body,” considering sex, circumcision, menstruation, and even those most elusive and controversial of microscopic markers–Jewish genes. But this is not only a book that examines the human body through the prism of Jewish culture. Konner looks as well at the views of Jewish physiology held by non-Jews, and the way those views seeped into Jewish thought. He describes in detail the origins of the first nose job, and he writes about the Nazi ideology that categorized Jews as a public health menace on par with rats or germs. A work of grand historical and philosophical sweep, The Jewish Body discusses the subtle relationship between the Jewish conception of the physical body and the Jewish conception of a bodiless God. It is a book about the relationship between a land–Israel–and the bodily sense not merely of individuals but of a people. As Konner describes, a renewed focus on the value of physical strength helped generate the creation of a Jewish homeland, and continued in the wake of it. With deep insight and great originality, Konner gives us nothing less than an anatomical history of the Jewish people. Part of the Jewish Encounter series
Download or read book The Way Into Tikkun Olam Repairing the World written by Elliot N. Dorff and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An accessible introduction to the Jewish concept of our responsibility to care for others and repair the world. For everyone who wants to understand the meaning and significance of tikkun olam (repairing the world) in Jewish spiritual life, this book shows the way into an essential aspect of Judaism and allows you to interact directly with the sacred texts of the Jewish tradition. Guided by Dr. Elliot N. Dorff, Rector and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Judaism, this comprehensive introduction explores the roots of the beliefs and laws that are the basis of the Jewish commitment to improve the world. It looks at the various motivations that the sacred texts provide for caring for others, the ways the Jewish tradition seeks to foster such concerns in our social and family relationships, and the kind of society that Jews should strive to create as partners with God. What tikkun olam is. Ancient idea? New concept? The underlying theory has developed over time and branched into related terms and concepts that Judaism has used over thousands of years to describe the duties we now identify as acts of tikkun loam. Why we engage in acts of tikkun loam. Reasons include, but go far beyond, a general humanitarian feeling that we might have or the hope that if we help others, others will be there to help us. How we repair the world. The concrete expressions of tikkun olam in our families, our communities, the wider Jewish community, and the world at large help shape one of the most important aspects of the Jewish tradition. By illuminating Judaism's understanding of the components of an ideal world, and the importance of justice, compassion, education, piety, social and familial harmony and enrichment, and physical flourishing for both the individual and society, we see how this ancient quest for a world with all these elements helps us define Jewish identity and mission today.
