Author: Morey Schwartz Publisher: Gefen Publishing House Ltd ISBN: 9652294845 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 524
Book Description
At one time or another every person of faith asks himself questions like these: What must I do to deserve some Divine intervention in my life? Is there anyone really listening to my prayers? When do miracles happen, and when do they not? Where s my miracle? Am I not worthy? Here is a fresh, new, thought-provoking approach to the eternal mystery of the miracle, based on the multiple texts found in Jewish tradition as well as lessons learned from experience. The Al Aksa Intifada and its bloody consequences serve as backdrop for the many important messages about belief contained in this book. The Intifada forced Jews and rabbinic leaders to actively confront the difficult philosophical questions that arose in the wake of continual, random acts of violence in Israel. Having made aliyah just weeks before the onset of the bloody violence, the author took note of the reactions of survivors and spiritual leaders throughout the years of violence and was struck with the pat, simplistic, and often not-well-thought-out reactions and explanations offered by Israeli spiritual leaders to give meaning and purpose to the violence. Rabbi Morey Schwartz, an only child, orphaned by age twenty, has spent more than twenty years searching for a satisfying answer to his personal misfortune. Searching traditional Jewish responses, he never found a response that addressed his need to believe in a benevolent, merciful and all-powerful divine being, while simultaneously honoring what he considers his right to understanding. To believe in a God that was less than all-powerful seemed pointless, and to accept that we just cannot understand seemed to be meaningless. The author, is a graduate of Yeshiva University and Bernard Revel Graduate School, and musmach of the Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan Theological Seminary. During his twelve years in the American rabbinate, helping others to deal with suffering and loss, the author found himself expressing a refreshing theological approach to this question, one which has helped countless individuals work through these difficult issues in their own lives. The book provides a look at the way the sages dealt with the suffering of the innocent throughout the centuries, providing the reader with easy to read rabbinic texts arranged in a text and counter-text format, for the purpose of presenting multiple Jewish approaches to some very difficult questions. In addition, the author provides a new, inspiring way of looking at the whole business of miracles. The age-old idea that miracles arise for those who deserve them is reconsidered, and a whole new perspective on the function and incidence of miracles is proposed. Any person of any faith will want to read these words and ponder the Divine s role in our lives, in the good times and the bad. This book will become a source of great comfort to Jews looking for alternative Jewish approaches to suffering and to God s role in suffering. This book is a must for those who counsel, for they above all need to be sympathetic to the deep sensitivities of those who seek consolation.
Author: Jim Fletcher Publisher: New Leaf Publishing Group ISBN: 1614584834 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 193
Book Description
Everyone is looking for a miracle. Families devastated by a faltering economy. A college student facing the horrific diagnosis of cancer. Corporately, whole nations are teetering on the brink of despair and chaos. The Miracle of Israel is a stunning examination of the millennia-old love that God has for His people that: Clearly conveys the promise God gave to Abraham Examines the ancient prophecies regarding Israel that have happened and are unfolding even today Provides an easy-to-read timeline of miracle after miracle related to the nation of Israel Tracing the history of the Jewish people to the present day, the authors look at prophecy after prophecy that clearly attest to the Lord’s miraculous promises. From historical records to personal, dramatic stories, the Miracle of Israel shows us that in keeping epic promises to the nation of Israel, God’s provision for each of us is sure, perfect, and on time, every time.
Author: Eric Eve Publisher: A&C Black ISBN: 1841273155 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 441
Book Description
Scholarly literature on Jesus has often attempted to relate his miracles to their Jewish context, but that context has not been surveyed in its own right. This volume fills that gap by examining both the ideas on miracle in Second Temple literature (including Josephus, Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha) and the evidence for contemporary Jewish miracle workers. The penultimate chapter explores insights from cultural anthropology to round out the picture obtained from the literary evidence, and the study concludes that Jesus is distinctive as a miracle-worker in his Jewish context while nevertheless fitting into it.
Author: Samuel Gregg Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1621579069 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 195
Book Description
"Gregg's book is the closet thing I've encountered in a long time to a one-volume user's manual for operating Western Civilization." —The Stream "Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization offers a concise intellectual history of the West through the prism of the relationship between faith and reason." —Free Beacon The genius of Western civilization is its unique synthesis of reason and faith. But today that synthesis is under attack—from the East by radical Islam (faith without reason) and from within the West itself by aggressive secularism (reason without faith). The stakes are incalculably high. The naïve and increasingly common assumption that reason and faith are incompatible is simply at odds with the facts of history. The revelation in the Hebrew Scriptures of a reasonable Creator imbued Judaism and Christianity with a conviction that the world is intelligible, leading to the flowering of reason and the invention of science in the West. It was no accident that the Enlightenment took place in the culture formed by the Jewish and Christian faiths. We can all see that faith without reason is benighted at best, fanatical and violent at worst. But too many forget that reason, stripped of faith, is subject to its own pathologies. A supposedly autonomous reason easily sinks into fanaticism, stifling dissent as bigoted and irrational and devouring the humane civilization fostered by the integration of reason and faith. The blood-soaked history of the twentieth century attests to the totalitarian forces unleashed by corrupted reason. But Samuel Gregg does more than lament the intellectual and spiritual ruin caused by the divorce of reason and faith. He shows that each of these foundational principles corrects the other’s excesses and enhances our comprehension of the truth in a continuous renewal of civilization. By recovering this balance, we can avoid a suicidal winner-take-all conflict between reason and faith and a future that will respect neither.
Author: Adin Steinsaltz Publisher: ISBN: Category : Music Languages : en Pages : 258
Book Description
In the Fourth Commandment, God instructs us to observe the Sabbath and to withdraw temporarily from the stress and pressures of our secular activities. This books helps us understand the Sabbath as God's gift and an opportunity for each of us to renew ourselves and experience personal transformation. Step-by-step this guide shows how to observe the Sabbath in our homes each week and includes commentary on every potential ritual, prayer, and song. It should serve as both an introduction to and a program for designing one's own way of observing the Sabbath.
Author: Robert H. Schram Publisher: Xlibris Corporation ISBN: 1669844234 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 102
Book Description
A Jew who does not believe in miracles is not a realist. (David Ben Gurion) All things are mortal, but the Jew. All other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality? (Mark Twain) The Jew is the emblem of eternity. He who neither slaughter nor torture of thousands of years could destroy, he who neither fire, nor sword, nor Inquisition was able to wipe off the face of the earth. He who was the first to produce the Oracles of God. He who has been for so long the Guardian of Prophecy and has transmitted it to the rest of the world. Such a nation cannot be destroyed. The Jew is as everlasting as Eternity itself. (Leo Nikolaivitch Tolstoy) As civilization extended, they by one means or another became most wonderfully dispersed through all countries; and at this day they are almost literally everywhere, the most conspicuous, and in the eye of reason and religion, the most respectable nation on the face of the earth. (Joseph Priestly) The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. (President John Adams)
Author: Rabbi Lawrence Kushner Publisher: Turner Publishing Company ISBN: 1580235050 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 79
Book Description
Here is a book of spiritual adventure. From the miracle at the Red Sea to the miracle of waking up this morning, this intriguing book introduces young people to a way of spiritual thinking to last a lifetime. Kushner, whose award-winning books have brought spirituality to life for countless adults, here reveals the essence of Judaism in a way kids can understand and enjoy. Easy to read and imaginatively illustrated by the author, The Book of Miracles helps young people make—and treasure—the connections between religion, spirituality and everyday life. For parents to read to their children, for children to read to their parents, The Book of Miracles encourages kids' awareness of their own spirituality, and shows young people how to use Judaism as a foundation on which to build their lives.
Author: Morey Schwartz
Author: Jim Fletcher
Author: Ken Spiro
Author: Graham H. Twelftree
Author: Eric Eve
Author: Samuel Gregg
Author: Adin Steinsaltz
Author: Robert H. Schram
Author: Zola Levitt
Author: Rabbi Lawrence Kushner