Posts Along the Way by Gil Student
What is this blog thing you keep hearing about? Posts Along The Way is an adaptation of the Torah teachings on the popular Hirhurim-Musings blog. In this book, learn about the halachah and hashkafah of shuls in the quick and enlightening blog format. Take a guided tour of the sources and see how they are relevant to the Judaism you live and experience.
Topics include how prayer works, talking in shuls, who can be a rabbi - a ba'al teshuvah? a convert? a woman?, shuls and megachurches, women's prayer groups, mechitzah and much more.
Hirhurim-Musings is an award-winning blog that has been mentioned in The Wall Street Journal, The Jewish Press and other media outlets.
Showing posts with label Yashar Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yashar Books. Show all posts
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Sunday, November 23, 2008
New Book Release: In the Footsteps of the Kuzari
In the Footsteps of the Kuzari by Shalom Rosenberg
In the Footsteps of the Kuzari is an exciting work that guides readers through Judaism’s views on the most pressing philosophical issues of the day. Combining a keen sensitivity to the religious dilemmas of our day with the intellectual rigor of the university, this book serves as an introduction to Jewish philosophy, and unapologetically argues that Judaism presents a coherent and sophisticated religious worldview that is as relevant today as it has been for millennia. Building on the classic work of Jewish thought, The Kuzari, noted Orthodox thinker Prof. Shalom Rosenberg takes readers through the Jewish views that have been voiced throughout the ages and shows how they can be transformed into a compelling worldview in this postmodern age. Intellectually stimulating and philosophically creative, this important work made large waves when published in Hebrew and is now being offered to the Englishreading public. Take a tour through Jewish philosophy over the ages, from the Talmud to Maimonides to Rav Kook and beyond, and learn where the next stage of Jewish thought will take us.
The book addresses such pressing issues as:
* The sources of the individual’s religious experience,
* Religious truth in the context of changing intellectual trends and fads,
* Jewish uniqueness and the nations of the world,
* The relations between the individual and the collective,
* The challenges of educating toward a rich religious life.
Prof. Rosenberg has for decades been one of the leading intellectual forces in Israeli Modern Orthodoxy. In the Footsteps of the Kuzari will be an important resource for teachers and students of Jewish thought, as well as for English-speaking Jews in search of a rich, sophisticated, and coherent Jewish voice. Readers of Prof. Rosenberg’s work will discover his rare ability to use medieval texts to address contemporary issues, without sacrificing an awareness that these same texts are not themselves contemporary.
In the Footsteps of the Kuzari is an exciting work that guides readers through Judaism’s views on the most pressing philosophical issues of the day. Combining a keen sensitivity to the religious dilemmas of our day with the intellectual rigor of the university, this book serves as an introduction to Jewish philosophy, and unapologetically argues that Judaism presents a coherent and sophisticated religious worldview that is as relevant today as it has been for millennia. Building on the classic work of Jewish thought, The Kuzari, noted Orthodox thinker Prof. Shalom Rosenberg takes readers through the Jewish views that have been voiced throughout the ages and shows how they can be transformed into a compelling worldview in this postmodern age. Intellectually stimulating and philosophically creative, this important work made large waves when published in Hebrew and is now being offered to the Englishreading public. Take a tour through Jewish philosophy over the ages, from the Talmud to Maimonides to Rav Kook and beyond, and learn where the next stage of Jewish thought will take us.
The book addresses such pressing issues as:
* The sources of the individual’s religious experience,
* Religious truth in the context of changing intellectual trends and fads,
* Jewish uniqueness and the nations of the world,
* The relations between the individual and the collective,
* The challenges of educating toward a rich religious life.
Prof. Rosenberg has for decades been one of the leading intellectual forces in Israeli Modern Orthodoxy. In the Footsteps of the Kuzari will be an important resource for teachers and students of Jewish thought, as well as for English-speaking Jews in search of a rich, sophisticated, and coherent Jewish voice. Readers of Prof. Rosenberg’s work will discover his rare ability to use medieval texts to address contemporary issues, without sacrificing an awareness that these same texts are not themselves contemporary.
New Book Release: A Philosophy of Mitzvot
A Philosophy of Mitzvot by Gersion Appel
What divine purpose do the mitzvot, the Biblical commandments, serve? What moral and spiritual goals do the mitzvot envision? The Sefer ha-Hinnukh, one of the principal works in Jewish ethical and halakhic literature, is a primary source for ta’amei ha-mitzvot, the reasons and purpose of the divine commandments in the Torah. A Philosophy of Mitzvot by Rabbi Dr. Gersion Appel sets forth the Hinnukh’s objectives and his approach to revealing the religious and ethical meaning of the mitzvot. In his wide-ranging study, the author presents a comprehensive view of Jewish philosophy as developed by the Hinnukh and the classical Jewish philosophers. The Hinnukh emerges in this study as a great educator and moral and religious guide, and his classic work as a treasure-trove of Jewish knowledge, religious inspiration, and brilliant insight in the molding of human character.
What divine purpose do the mitzvot, the Biblical commandments, serve? What moral and spiritual goals do the mitzvot envision? The Sefer ha-Hinnukh, one of the principal works in Jewish ethical and halakhic literature, is a primary source for ta’amei ha-mitzvot, the reasons and purpose of the divine commandments in the Torah. A Philosophy of Mitzvot by Rabbi Dr. Gersion Appel sets forth the Hinnukh’s objectives and his approach to revealing the religious and ethical meaning of the mitzvot. In his wide-ranging study, the author presents a comprehensive view of Jewish philosophy as developed by the Hinnukh and the classical Jewish philosophers. The Hinnukh emerges in this study as a great educator and moral and religious guide, and his classic work as a treasure-trove of Jewish knowledge, religious inspiration, and brilliant insight in the molding of human character.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
New Book Release: Flipping Out
Flipping Out by Shalom Berger
Flipping Out?: Myth or Fact? The Impact of the “Year in Israel” by Shalom Z. Berger, Daniel Jacobson and Chaim I. Waxman takes a hard look at a phenomenon that has become a major source of both inspiration and consternation in the Jewish community.
The Jewish community has changed over the past four decades for many reasons, prominent among them the phenomenon of large numbers of students spending a year after high school studying Torah full time in Israel. The results of this “Year in Israel” can be felt in many synagogues and homes, with a good deal of increased ritual observance and dedication to Torah study - the much discussed “Shift to the Right.”
Many questions arise from these changes. Have these students been brainwashed? Has their primary education so failed them that a single year in Israel is more influential than over a decade of American schooling? Have they found an easy way to alleviate some hidden insecurity? Or are they merely inspired by a profoundly rich and spiritual lifestyle? And how long does this newfound religious devotion last? Is it really the start of a radically different life path or is it merely a short-term religious high that becomes more moderate over time? These are just a few of the questions that need to be asked.
This book gathers together insights from three talmidei chachamim who are top experts on the subject, each from a different perspective. Rabbi Shalom Berger, Ed.D., and Rabbi Daniel Jacobson, Psy.D., both performed statistical studies and wrote doctoral dissertations on the phenomenon of studying in Israel for a year. Rabbi Berger, drawing on his years of experience as a leading mechanech (Torah instructor) in the U.S. and Israel, approaches the subject from the perspective of an educator and addresses the “what” of the changes in students-what religious changes do we see in students from the time they leave to Israel to a year after they return. Rabbi Jacobson looks at the “Year in Israel” from the perspective of his psychological training and explores the “why” of the equation-what internal and external influences on these students cause the changes that happen.
Dr. Chaim Waxman, a distinguished sociologist, looks at the impact of this phenomenon on the broader community from the perspective of a sociologist. How does the “Year in Israel” fit in with the historical relationship between American and Israeli Jewry, and how has it changed the American Jewish community? His decades of profound study of the Jewish community have earned him a place as one of our leading social commentators. Finally and significantly, Richard M. Joel adds to this impressive mix with an introduction based on his experience as the president of the Hillel college campus organization and currently the president of Yeshiva University.
Flipping Out?: Myth or Fact? The Impact of the “Year in Israel” by Shalom Z. Berger, Daniel Jacobson and Chaim I. Waxman takes a hard look at a phenomenon that has become a major source of both inspiration and consternation in the Jewish community.
The Jewish community has changed over the past four decades for many reasons, prominent among them the phenomenon of large numbers of students spending a year after high school studying Torah full time in Israel. The results of this “Year in Israel” can be felt in many synagogues and homes, with a good deal of increased ritual observance and dedication to Torah study - the much discussed “Shift to the Right.”
Many questions arise from these changes. Have these students been brainwashed? Has their primary education so failed them that a single year in Israel is more influential than over a decade of American schooling? Have they found an easy way to alleviate some hidden insecurity? Or are they merely inspired by a profoundly rich and spiritual lifestyle? And how long does this newfound religious devotion last? Is it really the start of a radically different life path or is it merely a short-term religious high that becomes more moderate over time? These are just a few of the questions that need to be asked.
This book gathers together insights from three talmidei chachamim who are top experts on the subject, each from a different perspective. Rabbi Shalom Berger, Ed.D., and Rabbi Daniel Jacobson, Psy.D., both performed statistical studies and wrote doctoral dissertations on the phenomenon of studying in Israel for a year. Rabbi Berger, drawing on his years of experience as a leading mechanech (Torah instructor) in the U.S. and Israel, approaches the subject from the perspective of an educator and addresses the “what” of the changes in students-what religious changes do we see in students from the time they leave to Israel to a year after they return. Rabbi Jacobson looks at the “Year in Israel” from the perspective of his psychological training and explores the “why” of the equation-what internal and external influences on these students cause the changes that happen.
Dr. Chaim Waxman, a distinguished sociologist, looks at the impact of this phenomenon on the broader community from the perspective of a sociologist. How does the “Year in Israel” fit in with the historical relationship between American and Israeli Jewry, and how has it changed the American Jewish community? His decades of profound study of the Jewish community have earned him a place as one of our leading social commentators. Finally and significantly, Richard M. Joel adds to this impressive mix with an introduction based on his experience as the president of the Hillel college campus organization and currently the president of Yeshiva University.
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