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Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan
by Robert D. KaplanFirst time in paperback, with a new Introduction and final chapter. World affairs expert and intrepid travel journalist Robert D. Kaplan braved the dangers of war-ravaged Afghanistan in the 1980s, living among the mujahidin--the "soldiers of god"--whose unwavering devotion to Islam fueled their mission to oust the formidable Soviet invaders. In Soldiers of God we follow Kaplan's extraordinary journey and learn how the thwarted Soviet invasion gave rise to the ruthless Taliban and the defining international conflagration of the twenty-first century. Kaplan returns a decade later and brings to life a lawless frontier. What he reveals is astonishing: teeming refugee camps on the deeply contentious Pakistan-Afghanistan border; a war front that combines primitive fighters with the most technologically advanced weapons known to man; rigorous Islamic indoctrination academies; a land of minefields plagued by drought, fierce tribalism, insurmountable ethnic and religious divisions, an abysmal literacy rate, and legions of war orphans who seek stability in military brotherhood. Traveling alongside Islamic guerrilla fighters, sharing their food, observing their piety in the face of deprivation, and witnessing their determination, Kaplan offers a unique opportunity to increase our understanding of a people and a country that are at the center of world events.
The Silence We Keep: A Nun's View of the Catholic Priest Scandal
by Karol JackowskiA Catholic nun speaks out about her life and vocation, women in the Church, the sexual scandal in the priesthood, why the Catholic hierarchy won’t fix it, and how Catholics will take back their Church. Karol Jackowski joined the sisterhood forty years ago and remains a devout Catholic, but she is also an activist who now considers the reformation of the Church to be a part of her calling. InThe Silence We Keep, she takes an honest look at the priesthood throughout history and reveals a culture of privilege and sexual permissiveness that is as old as the Church itself. She turns a critical eye on a spirituality that she describes as hypocritical in its condemnation of the sins of others, while far worse behavior is perpetrated by the condemners. She also discusses the sisterhood and its culture of submissiveness to the male clergy, a passivity that has prevented a system of checks and balances that could have stopped the abuse. The Silence We Keepis hard-hitting in its frank discussion of the Church, but ultimately Sister Karol’s message is an uplifting and empowering call to action for all believers to seize upon this historic opportunity, break a centuries-old silence, and take back the Catholic Church.
Riding in the Shadows of Saints: A Woman’s Story of Motorcycling the Mormon Trail
by Jana RichmanRichman retraced on motorcycle the trail seven of her eight ancestors had traveled 150 earlier from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City as part of the migration of the Latter Day Saints, or Mormons. Along the way, she sought out graveyards and practicing Mormons, and steeped herself in the rituals of the faith to confront her own long-held prejudices about the Mormon Church. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
Que brille la Luz de Dios
by Robert MoynihanAunque se desarrolló como un conocido líder de la Iglesia por varios años antes de convertirse en Papa, no cabe duda que ha habido poco conocimiento sobre el lado espiritual de Benedicto XVI. Ahora--por primera vez--se presenta una brillante exposición de las enseñanzas más inspiradoras del Papa en Que brille la luz de Dios. El editor Robert Moynihan nos ofrece una introducción breve a la vida y la obra del Papa Benedicto XVI y luego nos presenta una colección fascinante de sus palabras más inolvidables. En estas páginas, el Papa Benedicto XVI nos demuestra un Dios que es bueno, hermoso y verdadero--la fuente de la vida y del mundo. En los ojos de Benedicto, lo más importante en la vida de uno es descubrir y fomentar una relación significativa con Dios, porque éste es el camino hacia la felicidad más profunda y duradera que los seres humanos pueden experimentar. Aun en nuestros momentos más oscuros, él enseña, podemos guardar la esperanza que todo se resolverá de forma magnífica para así reflejar la gloria de Dios y brindarle muchas bendiciones a hombres y mujeres individuales. Desde su papel más temprano como maestro hasta sus primeras palabras como líder de la Iglesia Católica, la visión esperanzadora del Papa Benedicto se resume poderosamente en Que brille la luz de Dios.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Que brille la Luz de Dios
by Robert MoynihanAunque se desarrolló como un conocido líder de la Iglesia por varios años antes de convertirse en Papa, no cabe duda que ha habido poco conocimiento sobre el lado espiritual de Benedicto XVI. Ahorapor primera vezse presenta una brillante exposición de las enseñanzas más inspiradoras del Papa en Que brille la luz de Dios. El editor Robert Moynihan nos ofrece una introducción breve a la vida y la obra del Papa Benedicto XVI y luego nos presenta una colección fascinante de sus palabras más inolvidables. En estas páginas, el Papa Benedicto XVI nos demuestra un Dios que es bueno, hermoso y verdaderola fuente de la vida y del mundo. En los ojos de Benedicto, lo más importante en la vida de uno es descubrir y fomentar una relación significativa con Dios, porque éste es el camino hacia la felicidad más profunda y duradera que los seres humanos pueden experimentar. Aun en nuestros momentos más oscuros, él enseña, podemos guardar la esperanza que todo se resolverá de forma magnífica para así reflejar la gloria de Dios y brindarle muchas bendiciones a hombres y mujeres individuales. Desde su papel más temprano como maestro hasta sus primeras palabras como líder de la Iglesia Católica, la visión esperanzadora del Papa Benedicto se resume poderosamente en Que brille la luz de Dios.
Oh God! A Black Woman's Guide to Sex and Spirituality
by Susan NewmanFar too many African American women struggle with a deep division between the two fundamental pillars of their identity--spirituality and sexuality. The church tells them that to live "holy and sanctified" lives they must give up sexual activity outside the institution of marriage, and yet their bodies and souls cry out for a way to express and fulfill their natural passions. In this groundbreaking book, the Reverend Dr. Susan Newman, a nationally recognized minister and speaker, finally shows all women of faith how to find a healthy balance between their spiritual selves and their sexual needs.Dr. Newman opens with a simple but startling premise: You can love God and love sex at the same time. Though it may sound irreverent, this premise is actually the basis for an essential journey to self-knowledge and reconciliation. As Dr. Newman shows, this journey has been denied to women for centuries because of church traditions and doctrines going back to the Old Testament and to the teachings of Saint Paul. For African American women, the spiritual-sexual divide was compounded by slavery.But women of faith do not have to live divided lives. Writing with passion, candor, and welcome humor, Dr. Newman opens new paths to healing and reconciliation. Here are frank, direct discussions about sex both inside and outside marriage; about being honest about your spiritual and erotic needs; about making personal choices; and about acknowledging the holiness of your body.The goal, as Dr. Newman explains, is not to suppress or channel your sexuality, but to embrace sex as a wonderful gift from God. As a woman of faith-and as a woman-you deserve a healthy, satisfying life, a life open to passion and truly free of guilt and shame. The first book of its kind, Oh God! is a landmark achievement that will be welcomed by black women who want to live in wholeness of spirit and body.
Marc Chagall (Jewish Encounters Series)
by Jonathan WilsonNovelist and critic Jonathan Wilson clears away the sentimental mists surrounding an artist whose career spanned two world wars, the Russian Revolution, the Holocaust, and the birth of the State of Israel. Marc Chagall's work addresses these transforming events, but his ambivalence about his role as a Jewish artist adds an intriguing wrinkle to common assumptions about his life. Drawn to sacred subject matter, Chagall remains defiantly secular in outlook; determined to "narrate" the miraculous and tragic events of the Jewish past, he frequently chooses Jesus as a symbol of martyrdom and sacrifice. Wilson brilliantly demonstrates how Marc Chagall's life constitutes a grand canvas on which much of twentieth-century Jewish history is vividly portrayed. Chagall left Belorussia for Paris in 1910, at the dawn of modernism, looking back dreamily on the world he abandoned. After his marriage to Bella Rosenfeld in 1915, he moved to Petrograd, but eventually returned to Paris after a stint as a Soviet commissar for art. Fleeing Paris steps ahead of the Nazis, Chagall arrived in New York in 1941. Drawn to Israel, but not enough to live there, Chagall grappled endlessly with both a nostalgic attachment to a vanished past and the magnetic pull of an uninhibited secular present. Wilson's portrait of Chagall is altogether more historical, more political, and edgier than conventional wisdom would have us believe-showing us how Chagall is the emblematic Jewish artist of the twentieth century. Visit nextbook. org/chagall for a virtual museum of Chagall images. From the Hardcover edition.
Jews and Power (Jewish Encounters Series)
by Ruth R. WisseTaking in everything from the Kingdom of David to the Oslo Accords, Ruth Wisse offers a radical new way to think about the Jewish relationship to power. Traditional Jews believed that upholding the covenant with God constituted a treaty with the most powerful force in the universe; this later transformed itself into a belief that, unburdened by a military, Jews could pursue their religious mission on a purely moral plain. Wisse, an eminent professor of comparative literature at Harvard, demonstrates how Jewish political weakness both increased Jewish vulnerability to scapegoating and violence, and unwittingly goaded power-seeking nations to cast Jews as perpetual targets. Although she sees hope in the State of Israel, Wisse questions the way the strategies of the Diaspora continue to drive the Jewish state, echoing Abba Eban's observation that Israel was the only nation to win a war and then sue for peace. And then she draws a persuasive parallel to the United States today, as it struggles to figure out how a liberal democracy can face off against enemies who view Western morality as weakness. This deeply provocative book is sure to stir debate both inside and outside the Jewish world. Wisse's narrative offers a compelling argument that is rich with history and bristling with contemporary urgency. From the Hardcover edition.
Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master's Lessons in Living a Life That Matters
by Bernard Glassman Rick FieldsInstructions To The Cook is a distillation of Zen wisdom that can be used equally well as a manual on business or spiritual practice, cooking or life. The hardcover edition was featured in every major Buddhist magazine. "Be nourished and inspired! Magnificent work!"--Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Home To Stay: One American Family's Chronicle of Miracles and Struggles in Contemporary Israel
by Daniel GordisIn the summer of 1998, Daniel Gordis and his family moved to Israel from Los Angeles. They planned to be there for a year, but a few months into their stay, Gordis and his wife decided to remain in Jerusalem permanently, confident that their children would be among the first generation of Israelis to grow up in peace. Immediately after arriving in Israel, Daniel had started sending out e-mails about his life to friends and family abroad. These missives—passionate, thoughtful, beautifully written, and informative—began reaching a much broader readership than he’d ever envisioned, eventually being excerpted inThe New York Times Magazineto much acclaim. An edited and finely crafted collection of his original e-mails,Home to Stayis a first-person, immediate account of Israel’s post-Oslo meltdown that cuts through the rhetoric and stridency of most dispatches from that country or from the international media. This is must reading for anyone who wants to get a firsthand, personal view of what it’s like for a family on the front lines of war.
A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of Israel
by Walter LaqueurThe original 1972 edition is cited in In his new preface, Laqueur, a Washington, DC-based historian, addresses challenges to the movement since he first traced the history of Zionism from the French Revolution to the 1948 founding of the state of Israel. This reissue includes maps, photos, and a glossary. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
Five Cities of Refuge: Weekly Reflections on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
by Lawrence Kushner David MametIn the ancient Jewish practice of the kavannah (a meditation designed to focus one's heart on its spiritual goal), Lawrence Kushner and David Mamet offer their own reactions to key verses from each week's Torah portion, opening the biblical text to new layers of understanding. Here is a fascinating glimpse into two great minds, as each author approaches the text from his unique perspective, each seeking an understanding of the Bible's personalities and commandments, paradoxes and ambiguities. Kushner offers his words of Torah with a conversational enthusiasm that ranges from family dynamics to the Kabbalah; Mamet challenges the reader, often beginning his comment far afield--with Freud or the American judiciary--before returning to a text now wholly reinterpreted. In the tradition of Israel as a people who wrestle with God, Kushner and Mamet grapple with the biblical text, succumbing neither to apologetics nor parochialism, asking questions without fear of the answers they may find. Over the course of a year of weekly readings, they comment on all aspects of the Bible: its richness of theme and language, its contradictions, its commandments, and its often unfathomable demands. If you are already familiar with the Bible, this book will draw you back to the text for a deeper look. If you have not yet explored the Bible in depth, Kushner and Mamet are guides of unparalleled wisdom and discernment. Five Cities of Refuge is easily accessible yet powerfully illuminating. Each week's comments can be read in a few minutes, but they will give you something to think about all week long. Lawrence Kushner teaches and writes as the Emanu-El Scholar at The Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco. He has taught at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City and served for twenty-eight years as rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts. A frequent lecturer, he is also the author of more than a dozen books on Jewish spirituality and mysticism. He lives in San Francisco. David Mamet is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. He is the author of Glengarry Glen Ross, The Cryptogram, and Boston Marriage, among other plays. He has also published three novels and many screenplays, children's books, and essay collections.
The Easter Rabbit's Parade
by Lois LenskiEaster is coming! The farmyard animals are planning a surprise for Ann Eliza, the little girl who takes care of them. Everyone contributes--Little Brown Hen lays the eggs, the chicks and goslings gather flowers, and White Rabbit and his family paint the eggs. Easter morning, the animals have a parade and give Ann Eliza her very own Easter basket . . . a very happy Easter, indeed!
Cuando a la gente buena le pasan cosas malas
by Harold KushnerCuando su hijo fue diagnosticado a los tres años de edad con una enfermedad degenerativa que acortaría su vida en la adolescencia, Harold Kushner se enfrentó a una de las preguntas más angustiantes en la vida: ¿Por qué, Dios? Años más tarde, el rabino Kushner escribió esta contemplación sencilla y elegante de las dudas y temores que surgen cuando una tragedia nos golpea la puerta. Kushner comparte su sabiduría como rabino, como padre, como lector y como ser humano. Con múltiples imitaciones que no han logrado superar este original, Cuando a la gente buena le pasan cosas malas es un clásico que nos ofrece pensamientos claros y consolación en períodos de dolor y tristeza.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Cuando a la gente buena le pasan cosas malas
by Harold KushnerCuando su hijo fue diagnosticado a los tres años de edad con una enfermedad degenerativa que acortaría su vida en la adolescencia, Harold Kushner se enfrentó a una de las preguntas más angustiantes en la vida: ¿Por qué, Dios? Años más tarde, el rabino Kushner escribió esta contemplación sencilla y elegante de las dudas y temores que surgen cuando una tragedia nos golpea la puerta. Kushner comparte su sabiduría como rabino, como padre, como lector y como ser humano. Con múltiples imitaciones que no han logrado superar este original, Cuando a la gente buena le pasan cosas malas es un clásico que nos ofrece pensamientos claros y consolación en períodos de dolor y tristeza.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Cuando a la gente buena le pasan cosas malas
by Harold S. KushnerCuando su hijo fue diagnosticado a los tres años de edad con una enfermedad degenerativa que acortaría su vida en la adolescencia, Harold Kushner se enfrentó a una de las preguntas más angustiantes en la vida: ¿Por qué, Dios? Años más tarde, el rabino Kushner escribió esta contemplación sencilla y elegante de las dudas y temores que surgen cuando una tragedia nos golpea la puerta. Kushner comparte su sabiduría como rabino, como padre, como lector y como ser humano. Con múltiples imitaciones que no han logrado superar este original, Cuando a la gente buena le pasan cosas malas es un clásico que nos ofrece pensamientos claros y consolación en períodos de dolor y tristeza.
A Code of Jewish Ethics Volume 1: You Shall Be Holy
by Joseph TelushkinA Code of Jewish Ethics, Volume 1: You Shall Be Holy is the initial volume of the first major code of Jewish ethics to be written in the English language. It is a monumental work on the vital topic of personal character and integrity by one of the premier Jewish scholars and thinkers of our time. With the stated purpose of restoring ethics to its central role in Judaism, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin offers hundreds of examples from the Torah, the Talmud, rabbinic commentaries, and contemporary stories to illustrate how ethical teachings can affect our daily behavior. The subjects dealt with are ones we all encounter. They include judging other people fairly; knowing when forgiveness is obligatory, optional, or forbidden; balancing humility and self-esteem; avoiding speech that shames others; restraining our impulses of envy, hatred, and revenge; valuing truth but knowing when lying is permitted; understanding why God is the ultimate basis of morality; and appreciating the great benefits of Torah study. Telushkin has arranged the book in the traditional style of Jewish codes, with topical chapters and numbered paragraphs. Statements of law are almost invariably followed by anecdotes illustrating how these principles have been, or can be, practiced in daily life. The book can be read straight through to provide a solid grounding in Jewish values, consulted as a reference when facing ethical dilemmas, or studied in a group. Vast in scope, this volume distills more than three thousand years of Jewish laws and suggestions on how to improve one's character and become more honest, decent, and just. It is a landmark work of scholarship that is sure to influence the lives of Jews for generations to come, rich with questions to ponder and discuss, but primarily a book to live by.
The Christmas Almanack
by Patricia Del Re Gerard Del ReThe Christmas Almanack is the ultimate guide to celebrating a traditional Christmas. Here in one keepsake volume are all the Christmas essentials: recipes, sheet music, decorating tips, international traditions, poems, and more. This is the big book that families will pull off the shelf every year to satisfy all their Christmas trivia whims--from saying "Merry Christmas" in 30 languages, to cooking Christmas pudding, to playing and singing "The First Noel." The back of the book features a section in which families can record their own unique traditions.
Cena con un perfecto desconocido
by David GregoryUn misterioso sobre llega al escritorio de Nick Cominsky entre una pila de solicitudes para tarjetas de crédito y envíos por correo relacionados al trabajo. Aunque su semana de trabajo de setenta horas ya ha consumido parte perder la oportunidad de ver qué tipo de trampa le han preparado sus colegas.Nick, que por lo general es seguro de sí mismo y cínico, pronto se halla en una situación inquietante, arrastrado hacia una fascinante conversación con un hombre desconcertante que discute la existencia del cielo y el infierno. Y este hombre, que dice ser Jesús de Nazaret, también parece tener una asombrosa cantidad de información sobre la vida privada de Nick.A medida que avanza la noche, la conversación giraalrededor de la vida, Dios, el dolor, la fe y la duda... y parece que tener una Cena con un perfecto desconocido pudiera cambiar para siempre la vida de Nick.From the Hardcover edition.
Cena con un perfecto desconocido: Una Invitacion Con Jesus De Nazaret (Vintage Espanol Ser.)
by David David GregoryUn misterioso sobre llega al escritorio de Nick Cominsky entre una pila de solicitudes para tarjetas de crédito y envíos por correo relacionados al trabajo. Aunque su semana de trabajo de setenta horas ya ha consumido parte perder la oportunidad de ver qué tipo de trampa le han preparado sus colegas.Nick, que por lo general es seguro de sí mismo y cínico, pronto se halla en una situación inquietante, arrastrado hacia una fascinante conversación con un hombre desconcertante que discute la existencia del cielo y el infierno. Y este hombre, que dice ser Jesús de Nazaret, también parece tener una asombrosa cantidad de información sobre la vida privada de Nick.A medida que avanza la noche, la conversación giraalrededor de la vida, Dios, el dolor, la fe y la duda... y parece que tener una Cena con un perfecto desconocido pudiera cambiar para siempre la vida de Nick.
Burnt Bread and Chutney: Growing Up Between Cultures - A Memoir of an Indian Jewish Childhood
by Carmit Delman"From the outside, no matter what the gradations of my mixed heritage, the shadow of Indian brown in my skin caused others to automatically perceive me as Hindu or Muslim. . . . Still, I trekked through life with the spirit of a Jew, fleshed out by the unique challenges and wonders of a combined brown and white tradition."In the politics of skin color, Carmit Delman is an ambassador from a world of which few are even aware. Her mother is a direct descendant of the Bene Israel, a tiny, ancient community of Jews thriving amidst the rich cultural tableau of Western India. Her father is American, a Jewish man of Eastern European descent. They met while working the land of a nascent Israeli state. Bound by love for each other and that newborn country, they hardly took notice of the interracial aspect of their union. But their daughter, Carmit, growing up in America, was well aware of her uncommon heritage.Burnt Bread and Chutney is a remarkable synthesis of the universal and the exotic. Carmit Delman's memories of the sometimes painful, sometimes pleasurable, often awkward moments of her adolescence juxtapose strikingly with mythic tales of her female ancestors living in the Indian-Jewish community. As rites and traditions, smells and textures intertwine, Carmit's unique cultural identity evolves. It is a youth spent dancing on the roofs of bomb shelters on a kibbutz in Israel--and the knowledge of a heritage marked by arranged marriages and archaic rules and roles. It is coming of age in Jewish summer camps and at KISS concerts--and the inevitable combination of old and new: ancient customs and modern attitudes, Jewish, Indian, and American.Carmit Delman's journey through religious traditions, family tensions, and social tribulations to a healthy sense of wholeness and self is rendered with grace and an acute sense of depth. Burnt Bread and Chutney is a rich and innovative book that opens wide a previously unseen world.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Burden is Light
by Eugenia PricePrice's soul-searching account of her discovery of Jesus Christ.
Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity
by Rebecca GoldsteinIn 1656, Amsterdam's Jewish community excommunicated Baruch Spinoza, and, at the age of twenty-three, he became the most famous heretic in Judaism. He was already germinating a secularist challenge to religion that would be as radical as it was original. He went on to produce one of the most ambitious systems in the history of Western philosophy, so ahead of its time that scientists today, from string theorists to neurobiologists, count themselves among Spinoza's progeny. In Betraying Spinoza, Rebecca Goldstein sets out to rediscover the flesh-and-blood man often hidden beneath the veneer of rigorous rationality, and to crack the mystery of the breach between the philosopher and his Jewish past. Goldstein argues that the trauma of the Inquisition's persecution of its forced Jewish converts plays itself out in Spinoza's philosophy. The excommunicated Spinoza, no less than his excommunicators, was responding to Europe's first experiment with racial anti-Semitism. Here is a Spinoza both hauntingly emblematic and deeply human, both heretic and hero--a surprisingly contemporary figure ripe for our own uncertain age.
Baby Blessings: Inspiring Poems and Prayers for Every Stage of Babyhood
by June Cotner"What a lovely and lyrical way to usher in a baby and celebrate the unfolding stages of parenting. " --Janet Chan, editorial director, the Parenting Group. Baby Blessings highlights the wonders of babyhood with classic and new poems, lullabies, and blessings for every stage of baby's life, from pregnancy to infanthood to the toddler years. Featuring contributions from such well-known names as Dr. Spock, Brahms, and Rami Shapiro, Baby Blessings also includes special sections for baby-naming ceremonies, christenings, and other precious moments. Baby Blessings provides inspiration and joyful reflections for the new mother just beginning to explore the miraculous experience of birth and motherhood, as well as the seasoned mom who wants to recapture the priceless emotions of those early days. Parents will treasure this collection for years to come. Our Wish for You May you always see beauty in the world And hear music every day. May you know the touch of gentle hands And walk the peaceful way. May the words you speak be loving, May laughter see you through. May you be blessed with hope and joy-- These gifts we wish for you. --Theresa Mary Grass
Prince of Darkness: Antichrist and the New World Order
by Grant R. JeffreyGrant is internationally recognized as an outstanding prophecy teacher. More than a million readers enjoyed his four best-selling prophecy books inspiring them to look for the soon return of Christ.The best-selling author of:ArmageddonMessiahHeavenApocalypseDo you understand world events in light of prophecy? Explore the astonishing prophecies about the mysterious Antichrist who will dominate the earth during the last days. Grant shares his incredible research into the secret groups moving America toward world government. Written in layman's terms, Prince of Darkness will open up the Bible's fascinating prophecies about these vital topics:·The New World Order Global Agenda·America and the Council on Foreign Relations·Surviving the coming economic crisis·The rush to world government·The PLO-Isreali Agreement-prelude to war·Zhirinovsky-the KGB and Russion Imperialism·The surveillance society-an assault on freedom·The technology of the 666 mark of the beast·Satan's prince of darkness in the Temple·Thirty-eight astonishing prophecies announce the Messiah·Armageddon-Christ's ultimate victoryFrom the Trade Paperback edition.