In the trenches of a typical day, every parent encounters a child afflicted with ingratitude and entitlement. In a world where material abundance abounds, parents want so badly to raise self-disciplined, appreciative, and resourceful children who are not spoiled by the plentitude around them. But how to accomplish this feat? The answer has eluded the best-intentioned mothers and fathers who overprotect, overindulge, and overschedule their children's lives. Dr. Mogel helps parents learn how to turn their children's worst traits into their greatest attributes. Starting with stories of everyday parenting problems and examining them through the lens of the Torah, the Talmud, and important Jewish teachings, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee shows parents how to teach children to honor their parents and to respect others, escape the danger of overvaluing children's need for self-expression so that their kids don't become "little attorneys," accept that their children are both ordinary and unique, and treasure the power and holiness of the present moment. It is Mogel's singular achievement that she makes these teachings relevant for any era and any household of any faith. A unique parenting book, designed for use both in the home and in parenting classes, with an on-line teaching guide to help facilitate its use, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee is both inspiring and effective in the day-to-day challenge of raising self-reliant children.

From the New York Times bestselling author comes the wisdom to heal ourselves and those around us.With Kitchen Table Wisdom, Dr. Remen established herself as an important new voice bringing hope and healing to a difficult world. Her book spent more than three months on the New York Times bestseller list, and maintained even longer runs on the Boston, San Francisco, and Denver lists. Now she has written My Grandfather's Blessings, a work that further examines the human heart and celebrates those who serve life so beautifully, so effortlessly, so selflessly often without knowing.It was Rachel Remen's grandfather, a kabbalistic rabbi, who gave her the eyes to see that service is what heals the isolation and loneliness in us all. Service happens every day in ways we don't notice: we serve each other; life serves us; and it is discovering the place of service in ourselves that leads at last to wisdom. As Remen says, "Every life serves a purpose which is both simple and profound. We are here to grow in wisdom and to learn to love better. What this says is that there are many life paths but all life has a spiritual agenda. And all people are on a spiritual path." These stories give us a profound sense of strength that is achieved by knowing that we belong to each other, and to life itself."Rachel Naomi Remen is nature's gift to us, a genius of that elusive and crucial capacity, the human heart. She has much to teach us about healing, loving, and living."--Daniel Goleman

This updated edition has been newly typeset in an easy-to-read, modern typeface. Now it is easier and more enjoyable than ever before to read, study, and consult this classic work.Citations from Scripture, rabbinic sources, and the works of Philo and Josephus enhance the reader's understanding of the temple, kits sacrifices, ministry, personnel, and services. These materials complement Edersheim's discussion, clarify difficult passages, and illumine the reader as to the true, spiritual meaning of the temple and its services. This edition brings a wealth of information together in the margins, providing a unique entree into the primary sources of the ancient world.Jerusalem, the temple, priests, and worshippers all come alive through Edersheim's prose as well as through the more than 75 illustrations, charts, photos, and drawings. Enhanced both aesthetically and practically, this edition of The Temple has no rival.Edersheim's deep devotion to the authority of the Scriptures, his ability to make the Scriptures come alive in their ancient context, and his encyclopedic familiarity with ancient Jewish sources all enrich this classic and timeless work.

Elegant, passionate, and filled with the love of God's creation, Abraham Hoshua Heschel's The Sabbath has been hailed as a classic of Jewish spirituality ever since its original publication in 1951—and has been read by thousands of people of many faiths seeking meaning in modern life. In this brief yet profound meditation on the meaning of the Seventh Day, Heschel introduced the enormously influential idea of an "architecture of holiness" that appears not in space but in time. Judaism, he argues, is the religion of time: it finds meaning not in space and the material things that fill it but in time and the eternity that imbues it, so that "the Sabbaths are our great cathedrals."

Read each year around the seder table, the Haggadah recounts through prayer, song, and ritual the extraordinary story of Exodus, when Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt to wander the desert for forty years before reaching the Promised Land. Now, Jonathan Safran Foer has orchestrated a new way of experiencing and understanding one of our oldest, most timeless, and sacred stories, with a new translation of the traditional text by Nathan Englander and provocative commentary by major Jewish writers and thinkers Jeffrey Goldberg, Lemony Snicket, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, and Nathaniel Deutsch. Ravishingly designed and illustrated by the acclaimed Israeli artist and calligrapher Oded Ezer, New American Haggadah is an utterly unique and absorbing prayer book, the first of its kind, that brings together some of the preeminent voices of our time.

What does it mean to be a Jew? How does one begin to answer so extensive a question? In this insightful and completely updated tome, esteemed rabbi and bestselling author Joseph Telushkin helps answer the question of what it means to be a Jew, in the largest sense. Widely recognized as one of the most respected and indispensable reference books on Jewish life, culture, tradition, and religion, Jewish Literacy covers every essential aspect of the Jewish people and Judaism. In 352 short and engaging chapters, Rabbi Telushkin discusses everything from the Jewish Bible and Talmud to Jewish notions of ethics to antisemitism and the Holocaust; from the history of Jews around the world to Zionism and the politics of a Jewish state; from the significance of religious traditions and holidays to how they are practiced in daily life. Whether you want to know more about Judaism in general or have specific questions you'd like answered, Jewish Literacy is sure to contain the information you need. Rabbi Telushkin's expert knowledge of Judaism makes the updated and revised edition of Jewish Literacy an invaluable reference. A comprehensive yet thoroughly accessible resource for anyone interested in learning the fundamentals of Judaism, Jewish Literacy is a must for every Jewish home.

'After her conversion from Orthodox Judaism to Christianity, Lauren Winner found that her life was indelibly marked by the rich traditions and spiritual practices of Judaism. She set out to discover how she could incorporate some of these practices into her new faith. Winner presents eleven Jewish spiritual practices that can transform the way Christians view the world and God. Whether discussing attentive eating, marking the days while grieving, the community that supports a marriage, candle-lighting, or the differences between the Jewish Sabbath and a Sunday spent at the Mudhouse, her favorite coffee shop, Winner writes with appealing honesty and rare insight. 'Lauren Winner speaks the language of this generation. It is authentic, free and bold.'---Ben Young, author of The Ten Commandments of Dating' At a time when we are so aware of the differences between Judaism and Christianity, Lauren Winner's book on what we can learn from each other is so refreshingly welcome.'---Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People 'For all of us who can't get our spiritual lives in shape by shipping out to a monastery, Lauren Winner explores simple, do-able ways of keeping company with God in the ordinary, day-to-day world of eating, working, resting, romancing, aging, earning, grieving, and celebrating. Her rich identity as a Jewish/Christian/scholar/writer informs every sentence.'---Brian McLaren, pastor and author of A New Kind of Christian '[Winner is] a gifted writer who has much to teach us about the deep and indestructible bonds between Judaism and Christianity.'---Richard Mouw, President, Fuller Seminary

This indispensable volume has long been acknowledged as the classic guide to the traditional Jewish laws and customs as they apply to daily life in the contemporary world. The unique treasury of practical information and daily inspiration has long been acknowledged as the classic guide to the ageless heritage of Judaism—Jewish attitudes, Jewish philosophy, and Jewish law.

A decade in the making, The Observant Life: Ritual and Ethics in Contemporary Judaism distills a century of thoughtful inquiry into the most profound of all Jewish questions: how to suffuse life with timeless values, how to remain loyal to the covenant that binds the Jewish people and the God of Israel and how to embrace the law while retaining an abiding sense of fidelity to one s own moral path in life. Written in a multiplicity of voices inspired by a common vision, the authors of The Observant Life explain what it means in the ultimate sense to live a Jewish life, and to live it honestly, morally, and purposefully. The work is a comprehensive guide to life in the 21st Century. Chapters on Jewish rituals including prayer, holiday, life cycle events and Jewish ethics such as citizenship, slander, taxes, wills, the courts, the work place and so much more . . . The Observant Life explains the way halakhah (Jewish law) impacts on the way Jews actually live in the world and interact with the world. It will serve as an excellent guide for anyone seeking to create a course devoted to contemporary Conservative theology and belief. The Observant Life is hailed by Jonathan D. Sarna, the Joseph H.&Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University. With this volume, the Conservative movement spells out in unprecedented detail and wondrously accessible form how to live the observant life . Combining the timeless teachings of Judaism on a range of expected and unexpected topics, with a keen sensitivity to ethics and to the challenges of modern Jewish life, this guide provides a comprehensive and up-to-date answer to an age-old question: what does it mean to be a good Jew?

To most people, the very word Kabbalah implies the mystical experience par excellence, but most modern books about this subject shed very little light on its ancient mystical and magical aspects. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan has translated Sefer Yetzirah, the oldest and most mysterious of all kabbalistic texts, and now brings its theoretical, meditative, and magical implications to light. He expounds on the dynamics of the spiritual domain, the worlds of the Sefirot, souls, and angels. When properly understood, Sefer Yetzirah becomes the instruction manual for a very special type of meditation meant to strengthen concentration and to aid the development of telekinetic and telepathic powers. These powers are meant to help initiates perform feats that outwardly appear magical. The magical Kabbalah is closely related to the meditative Kabbalah and uses various signs, incantations, and divine names by which initiates can influence or alter natural events. Also included is a digest of all major commentaries on the text of Sefer Yetzirah and a bibliography of many of the major kabbalistic works that discuss it, as well as extensive notes regarding various aspects of the translation. Rabbi Kaplan's translation is based on the Gra version, which has been thought to be the most authentic. Also included are the short version, the long version, and the Saadia version, making this volume the most complete work on Sefer Yetzirah in English.