New Book Release: Shulchan Aruch Vol. 8: Hilchot Pesach #2

Shulchan Aruch Vol. 8: Hilchot Pesach #2 by Eliyahu Touger, ed.

The Laws of Passover: Baking Matzah, Conducting the Seder, Matzah and Marror, and the Pesach Prayers

New Book Release: Hidden History

Hidden History: Ancient Aliens and the Suppressed Origins of Civilization by Jim Willis

Do we, the human species, really know who we are or where we came from or how we originated or our place in the cosmos? Or is much of what we have been taught wrong or misguided or possibly even blatant lies intended to keep people in power and everyone else in line?

Exploring alternative theories on the establishment of society and civilization, Hidden History: Ancient Aliens and the Suppressed Origins of Civilization looks at a variety of dissenting, suppressed, and forbidden accounts of history and the origins of humanity. It takes a broad and inclusive survey of historical documents, various theories, and a wide array of perspectives to explore what conventional wisdom might have gotten right and wrong.

The book serves as a useful introduction into the suppressed accounts of the origins of modern civilization. It combines cutting-edge science with metaphysical, spiritual, and even paranormal views, daring to ask whether there might be a better explanation for humanity’s existence and the origins of civilization than the current scientific consensus.

Hidden History looks at the multiverse and parallel dimensions, the ancient alien theory, metaphysics, and hypotheses beyond physical perception, the eleven dimensions of string theory, radio telescopes that penetrate to the event horizon of our universe, mathematical equations that take us where no one has gone before, and the world-wide sharing of experiences old and new that speak of long forgotten ancient mythologies that reveal historical truths.

With more than 120 photos and graphics, this tome is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography provides sources for further exploration, and an extensive index adds to its usefulness. This fascinating book is a thorough investigation and examination of the mysteries surrounding early civilizations, their myths, legends, histories, monuments―and lasting legacies.

New Book Release: Assassinations

Assassinations: The Plots, Politics, and Powers behind History-Changing Murders by Nick Redfern

A deep dive into high stakes killings, conspiracies and crimes!

Ruthless killers and murderers for hire: they are here, there, and everywhere. They lurk in the shadows, ready to pounce. They terminate on command. And, in the process, they change the course of the world. They are among the world’s most cold-hearted, deadly, and emotionless figures. They are assassins, and they have a long history of grievous deeds.

From the cunning, calculating, government-trained warriors to the psychopathic, homegrown freelancers, you can find them all in Assassinations: The Plots, Politics, and Powers behind History-changing Murders. Exposed are the hidden agendas as well as the open warfare. The cynical preparations and devastating aftermaths are laid bare. You will quickly find yourself immersed in a world that is filled with killings made to seem like suicides, murders that were designed to look like heart attacks or overdoses, and accidents that, in reality, were carefully orchestrated deaths.

Did Lee Harvey Oswald really kill JFK? Or was Oswald the patsy he claimed to be?

Was Jack the Ripper, who terrified London in 1888, a madman or a ruthless secret agent of the British government?

Did the United States’ first secretary of defense, James Forrestal, kill himself, or was he thrown out of a window to his death in May 1949?

Did Marilyn Monroe take her own life in August 1962? Was a contract put out on her?

What led to the demise of Danny Casolaro, an investigative journalist who, at the time of his death in 1991, was investigating a powerful cabal known as “The Octopus”?

Was Diana, Princess of Wales, the victim of a car accident or of a carefully orchestrated plot?

Can sound waves and microwaves kill people at the flick of a switch?

Was John Lennon’s murder not at all what it appeared to be?

These questions and many more are answered in Assassinations, and with more than 120 photos and graphics, this tome is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness. It's a fascinating read that looks into how and why so many famous and influential figures just had to go!

New Book Release: Sources of Holocaust Insight

Sources of Holocaust Insight: Learning and Teaching about the Genocide by John K. Roth

Sources of Holocaust Insight maps the odyssey of an American Christian philosopher who has studied, written, and taught about the Holocaust for more than fifty years. What findings result from John Roth’s journey; what moods pervade it? How have events and experiences, scholars and students, texts and testimonies—especially the questions they raise—affected Roth’s Holocaust studies and guided his efforts to heed the biblical proverb: “Whatever else you get, get insight”?

More sources than Roth can acknowledge have informed his encounters with the Holocaust. But particular persons—among them Elie Wiesel, Raul Hilberg, Primo Levi, and Albert Camus—loom especially large. Revisiting Roth’s sources of Holocaust insight, this book does so not only to pay tribute to them but also to show how the ethical, philosophical, and religious reverberations of the Holocaust confer and encourage responsibility for human well-being in the twenty-first century. Seeing differently, seeing better—sound learning and teaching about the Holocaust aim for what may be the most important Holocaust insight of all: Take nothing good for granted.

New Book Release: Rabbi Naftali HaKohen Katz

Rabbi Naftali HaKohen Katz: His Life, Legacy and Ethical Will by R. Raphael Benchimol

Presenting for the first time to an English-speaking audience a vivid biography of the holy and action-filled life, and the ethical will, of one of the greatest sages and kabbalists, Rabbi Naftali HaKohen Katz (c. 5409 (c. 1648) – 5479 (1719)), of righteous memory. 

Rabbi Naftali served as av bet din and reish metivta of Ostroh (Ukraine), Posen (Poland) and Frankfurt am Main (Germany), and was accepted to serve as nasi in Israel in the congregation of Safed. He was also appointed as head of the Va’ad Arba Aratzot (the Council of the Four Lands).

The work is embodied in two volumes enclosed by an elegant slipcase.

Rabbi Naftali’s biography (in volume 1) provides the reader with a sense of European Jewish life in the late 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, and its interaction with the non-Jewish world.   Among the material covered is Rav Naftali’s kidnapping by the Tatars; the great fire of Frankfurt in 1711, for which Rabbi Naftali was imprisoned; his battle against the charlatan Neḥemiah Ḥiyya Ḥayyon that had ripple effects throughout the Jewish world; and many other fascinating stories about Rabbi Naftali that indicate his greatness and ability to perform miracles.

Rabbi Naftali’s ethical will for his children and family members is a classic.  It is filled with essential moral and ethical teachings.  Over the centuries, his will has endeared itself to Jewish communities throughout the world and has been reprinted many times in Hebrew and (partially) translated into Yiddish. Volume 2 of the work contains the first translation into English of the entire will, accompanied by extensive annotation.  In addition, for the first time the original Hebrew is presented with full vowelization. 

Rabbi Naftali’s grandson, Rabbi Shimshon Katz, wrote: “This will is a way of life, reproving discipline, words that break the heart of man and arouse him to repentance” and “whoever fulfills [the words of this will] is assured that he will be destined for the World to Come.”

New Book Release: Dark Thread

Dark Thread by Crymsyn Hart

Darria tries to take a long deserved break from undertaking, but nothing ever goes as planned. She's just about had it with her handsy assistant, Omar. He still thinks his mummified fingers will rock her world. Corpses are rising from their ashes and trying to kill her. Not to mention her love life is in shambles. With everything heading six feet under, she's tasked with the impossible: finding the undertakers slotted to fill the empty places of their murdered predecessors and bringing them to safety. Some unknown evil is hunting them down and she’s also on the list. If she doesn't find out what this evil is, the universe will unravel and chaos will reign. However, no one is what they seem. Fate brings Darria to her knees, and she must choose what she'll sacrifice. Her life or her love.

New Book Release: American Women's Almanac

The American Women's Almanac: 500 Years of Making History by Deborah G. Felder

Celebrate the vital roles and vibrant experiences of women in America!

The most complete and affordable single-volume reference on women’s history available today, The American Women’s Almanac: 500 Years of Vitality, Triumph and Excellence is a unique and valuable resource devoted to illustrating the moving and often lost history of women in America. It is a fascinating mix of biographies, little-known or misunderstood historical facts, enlightening essays on significant legislation and movements, and numerous photographs and illustrations. Honoring and celebrating achievements from the First Nations women and the French Huguenot Women of Fort Caroline to the unprecedented number of ethnically diverse women running for modern office, it provides insights on the long-ignored influence, inspiration, and impact of women on U.S. society and culture.

From the first indigenous women in North America and the dangers and hardships of the 15th, 16th, and 17th century journeys to the New World to the continual push against patriarchal political, military, corporate, and societal systems and expectations, this essential book illustrates the important events and figures surrounding the suffrage movement; literature, art, and music; business leaders and breakthroughs; political history and office holders; advances in science and medicine; and other vital topics. Learn about the Nineteenth Amendment; Title IX; the legalization of birth control in 1966; the dramatic increase in women attending colleges and universities in the United States; the limitations of 19th-century women’s fashion on athletes; and so much more.

The most illustrious figures, as well as less-known stars, are revealed in The American Women’s Almanac, including Abigail Adams, Louisa May Alcott, Maya Angelou, Susan B. Anthony, Ruth Asawa, Clara Barton, Sara Blakely, Nellie Bly, Tarana Burke, Annie Jump Cannon, Hattie Wyatt Caraway, Carrie Chapman Catt, Bessie Coleman, Rebecca Harding Davis, Maya Deren, Amelia Earhart, Sarah Emma Edmonds, Carly Fiorina, Dian Fossey, Helen Frankenthaler, Aretha Franklin, Temple Grandin, Mia Hamm, Anna Mae Hays, Grace Hopper, Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, Barbara Jordan, Helen Keller, Julie Krone, Juliette Gordon Low, Dolley Madison, Maria Montoya Martinez, Lucretia Mott, Sara Nelson, Lynn Nottage, Sandra Day O’Connor, Pocahontas, Letty Cotton Pogrebin, E. Annie Proulx, Sally Ride, Sacagawea, Bernice Sandler, Margaret Sanger, Elizabeth Ann Seton, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Gloria Steinem, Lucy Stone, Pat Summitt, Amy Tan, Martha Washington, Randi Weingarten, Gladys West, Susan Wojcicki, Kristi Yamaguchi, and approximately 350 others.

This important reference also has a helpful bibliography, an extensive index, a timeline, and 550 photos, adding to its usefulness. Commemorating and honoring the achievements, people, and essential influence of women in American history, The American Women’s Almanac brings to light all there is to admire and discover about these incredible women.