Product Description
Ultra-orthodox Jews in Jerusalem are isolated from the secular community that surrounds them not only physically but by their dress, behaviors, and beliefs. Their relationship with secular society is characterized by social, religious, and political tensions. The differences between the ultra-orthodox and secular often pose special difficulties for psychiatrists who attempt to deal with their needs.In this book, two Western-trained psychiatrists discuss their mental health work with this community over the past two decades. With humor and affection they elaborate on some of the factors that make it difficult to treat or even to diagnose the ultra-orthodox, such as their distrust of the secular, their belief that all suffering is God-sent, and the problem of distinguishing what appear to be mental disturbances from manifestations of religious fervor.

Drs. David Greenberg and Eliezer Witztum explain how they cope with their ultra-orthodox patients' negative feelings toward Western medicine and gradually establish a relationship of trust, by listening carefully to patients' narratives, learning about the ultra-orthodox way of life, working closely with the patient's religious advisers, and coming to terms with their own feelings. They present fascinating case studies, ranging from some young men who became psychotic while studying Kabbalah to another man who intended blowing up a mosque to atone for a friend's death. And they relate their observations of this religious community to the management of mental health services for other fundamentalist, anti-secular groups ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Unique and Valuable
This is a very honest account of the authors' experiences in treating members of the fervently Orthodox ("Chareidi") community of Jerusalem.They are not Chareidi, but I am and I can say that they are extremely accurate in their portrayal of our culture and beliefs.They are respectful, and make a concerted effort to identify any biases they might have.The book also appears to be well researched, and I recommend that readers do not skip the end notes.

Personally, I have encountered a case in which a young man's behavior was at the borderline between sincere religious practice and obsessive compulsive disorder. In his case, a very sensitive Rabbi identified him as having a potential problem, and he was encouraged to get professional therapy (which was effective).Not all religious leaders, however, are this savvy and many of them could benefit from reading this book.

Similarly, mental health workers who encounter Chareidi or other Orthodox Jews would benefit by a peek into our culture.

I am very glad that the authors wrote this book.I give it 5 stars. ... Read more

Product Description
The volume, composed by excellent scholars from different academic disciplines, is a comprehensive handbook devoted to the complex relationship between modern Judaism and historical thinking in Europe, the United States and Israel from the Enlightenment to the present. Apart from analyzing the emergence of a new scholarly historical paradigm during this period, the contributions interpret the interaction and the tensions between Jewish historiography and other disciplines such as literature, theology, sociology and philosophy, describe the way historical consciousness was popularized and used for ideological purposes and explore the impact of different - religious or secular - identities on the historical representation of the Jewish past. A final part envisions new theoretical and methodological concepts within the field, including cultural studies and gender studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

some poetry, some prose
This book goes over many of the same issues as "One People" (e.g. relationships between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews, and the evolution of both) and would probably best be appreciated by someone who has not read that book.

Nevertheless, I still thought it was worth reading, because he does intelligently explain not just today's divisions between Modern Orthodoxy, Ultra-Orthodoxy and religious Zionism, but also the intellectual roots of those movements: the first seeks to combine strict observance with modern life, the second to repudiate modernity, and the third movement suggests that neither alternative is palatable in the Diaspora.

Sacks also addresses a variety of other questions, such as:

*Why did emancipation cause the breakdown of traditional Judaism's hold over the Jewish masses?Before emancipation, Jews were governed by each other as a kind of state-within-a state: since deviation from orthodoxy would lead to excommunication, Jews had no real choices other than tradition or conversion to another religion.Once Jews had the alternative of being Jewish in different ways or of practicing no religion at all, those alternatives seemed quite appealing.

*Why did Orthodoxy (and even its most traditionalist forms) survive and thrive?For a variety of reasons.First, after the Holocaust and the cultural crisis of the late 20th century, assimiliation into Western society seemed less appealing because Western society itself seemed less appealing. Second, Zionism (and even modern Orthodoxy) have been victims of their own success: we have a Jewish state and observant Jews who seem well-adjusted to the modern world, so these goals, having been met, fail to inspire.Third, throughout the world liberal individualism fails to satisfy the quest for meaning.

And Sacks also has an interesting explanation of the "move to the Right" within Orthodoxy.In the pre-emancipation world, "What moderated Jewish law in the past was the fact that it was the constitution of a complete society"rather than of a self-selected spiritual elite.Now that Orthodoxy is just one voluntary enclave among many, Jewish law is interpreted strictly because "Most Jews did not observe Jewish law anyway, so whom could leniencies benefit?"And since only the most rigorously observant choose to be Orthodox, the moderately observant tend to be outside the enclave and thus have no voice in the direction of Orthodoxy.

*Why are birth rates so low among non-Orthodox Jews?Sacks speculates that most diaspora Jews are so emotionally invested in each child that they cannot handle the stress of multiple chidren, while the community-centeredness of Orthodox families "might represent an important defusion of family stress and a release of some of the anxieties of child-raising."

To get to these gems, I had to wade through a lot of very general comments on Jewish unity, mutual respect, etc.Sometimes I felt like I was reading glittering generalities- but at other times, Sacks brilliantly crosses the line from prose into poetry.Indeed, the best part of Sacks's book is the occasional vivid, poetic quote: for example, he writes that just as "Not all Jews live in Israel, but the overwhelming majority of Jews live toward Israel . . . [similarly] Not all Jews live by tradition; but all Jews might live toward tradition." (By which he means that Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews, like Israeli and Diaspora Jews, should constrain themselves "from policies that would benefit themselves but alienate the others.")

Guide to the Perplexed
If you want to really understand the tensions and central arguments, the competing streams and ideologies of the modern Jewish world, then this book is a wonderful place to begin.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is a scholar who is at home in the world of Rabbinic learning, modern western philosphy, sociology, political and social history, and much more.

In this brilliant book, the Chief Rabbi of Britain explains to us in a lucid and easily readable style, why the Jewish world looks the way it does today. He charts the dillemas and ideological arguments which have taken place over the past 200 years since the emancipation, and demonstrates the impact that these ideologies have had on the communal map of the Jewish world today.

Whether we talk about Reform, Ultra-Orthodoxy, Zionism, Modern Orthodoxy, all the background, and the historical developments are here. Rabbi Sacks ends the book with some soul-searching questions regarding the direction of the unity and direction of the Jewish World today.

A great read, and a beautiful passionate book.

Guide to the Perplexed
If you want to really understand the tensions and central arguments, the competing streams and ideologies of the modern Jewish world, then this book is a wonderful place to begin.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is a scholar who is at home in the world of Rabbinic learning, modern western philosphy, sociology, political and social history, and much more.

In this brilliant book, the Chief Rabbi of Britain explains to us in a lucid and easily readable style, why the Jewish world looks the way it does today. He charts the dillemas and ideological arguments which have taken place over the past 200 years since the emancipation, and demonstrates the impact that these ideologies have had on the communal map of the Jewish world today.

Whether we talk about Reform, Ultra-Orthodoxy, Zionism, Modern Orthodoxy, all the background, and the historical developments are here. Rabbi Sacks ends the book with some soul-searching questions regarding the direction of the unity and direction of the Jewish World today.

A great read, and a beautiful passionate book. ... Read more

Product Description
This book takes as its point of departure the historical fact that it was Orthodox pioneers of German origin, in contrast to their Eastern European counterparts, who successfully developed religious kibbutz life. Employing sociological concepts and methods, the author goes on to examine the correlations between two evolutionary phases in kibbutz development and two modes of Judaism: the rational Halkhic and the emotive Hassidic modes. In doing this, he exposes the relationship between two diverse dispositions towards divinity - the transcendent and the immanent - and two diverse modes of the self and their related communities.
This innovative and insightful work will be of essential interest to scholars of the sociology of religion, Jewish studies, modern Jewish history and Israel's national history, and will also interest those more broadly engaged with theology and religious studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Intellectually stimulating; get it in print!
I loved this book immensly when I read it in Israel. Now I'm in Americaand despratly want to finish the last couple of chapters. If somebody canfind a way of getting this back in print I have a strong feeling the bookwill become the best seller it should be. I also will be able to continuemy own little 'kiruv' aspirations here in Vermont.

This is an informative, well written book on basic Judaism.
The name Mayer Schiller may have a familiar ring to it.I can't tell you why that is true in your particular case.This author is so eclectic and wide ranging both in interest and talent that you may have crossed his path on any of a myriad of roads on which he travels. He was featured in the recent and highly acclaimed documentary, A World Apart. His articles have appeared in many publications including a review in The National Review of Phillip Roth's latest work. He is the author of two very different books.

In this work the author maps out the what, where, why, and how of a return to traditional Judaism. It is a clearly and convincingly written presentation of the basics of Orthodox Judaism. Readers will be happily surprised by the author's plasant tone as well as being inspired by his logic and sincerity.

This reviewer would have liked to have seen more of the author himself in this work.Read thebook.Then do some research about the author.You are in for an introduction to a man and a world that might just change your life forever. Trust me on this one. ... Read more

Product Description
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America serves as the central body of Orthodox synagogues in this country. For 100 years, the Orthodox Union has played a large role in the shaping of modern Orthodoxy. While remaining true to its theological principles, the Orthodox Union has changed along with the world. This book tells the Union's history on the occasion of its centenary . ... Read more

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A little boy describes what it means to be an Orthodox Jew. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The War Between the Jews
It's always assumed that there were no observant Jews in America prior to the great Eastern European migration that began in the 1880's. Rabbi I. Harold Sharfman, the author of "Jews on the Frontier" and the founder of the "Half-Moon K" Kashrut Organization, has gathered a sampler of sermons, journals and synagogue records to show the rise of Reform and the resistance of Orthodox Judaism from 1840 to 1860. The only flaw I could find in this book is the lack of footnotes, although if citations had been included the book would be much longer than 750 pages! Nevertheless I highly recommend this to anyone who is studying the history of Judaism in America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Interesting sociological account
This book has a rather acerbic title, but the author did not create it...his publisher did. Although it doesn't make much of a case for leaving Christianity for Judaism, it does give an inside look at the life of the children of early Jewish Eastern European immigrants in New York City. Because that group is shrinking, it provides an important snapshot in Jewish American life.
Secondly, it illustrates the zeal of the new baal teshuvah (returnee to Jewish observance), one that is often short-lived once the bt sees the negative underbelly of Orthodox life. BT's and the formerly religious will understand and relate to the thinking of Shlomoh at this time in his life, as his passion and enthusiasm are typical.
It does not fulfill its intended purpose, but it does take the reader on an interesting sociological journey through the eyes of the protagonist.
Those who know Shlomoh today would not recognize the author of this book. It is but one of many steps in the evolution of a fully-developed and sophisticated human being.

"Escape" has escaped reasonable theological criticism.
Sherman's "Escape from Jesus" views Christianity through the lenses of fundamentalism, rather than to examine it from a more scholastic viewpoint. It struck me as being very personal. Ex-patriots from the "Jews for Jesus" years may find it interesting. ... Read more

Product Description
In one of the few studies of the early immigrant orthodox rabbinate in North America, author Ira Robinson has delved into the Jewish community in Montreal in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Rabbis and their community introduces several rabbis who, in various ways, impacted their immediate congregations as well as the wider Montreal Jewish community. Most studies of the early North American rabbinate focus on only one rabbi. Here, though, Robinson carefully examines the interrelationship among a number of rabbis sharing the same communal 'turf'. He has diligently researched the unpublished source material these men, generally forgotten to history, left behind; their writing offers a valuable glimpse at some of the struggles and challenges they faced in their own community, as well as those faced by Canadian Jewish society as a whole in the early twentieth century. Robinson introduces the reader to such leaders as Rabbi Hirsh Cohen, a fixture in the Jewish community of Montreal from 1901 through the late 1940s, Rabbi Simon Glazer, Cohen's main rival for the chief rabbinate, and revolutionary thinker Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg.The issues they faced, such as the Kosher meat wars of the 1920s, and the institutions they created, most notably the Jewish Community Council of Montreal, were factors of fundamental importance for the development of the second-largest Jewish community in Canada. ... Read more

Product Description
This collection of articles is culled from the columns hewrote for the weekly 'Jewish Press' from 1961 to 1990.Rabbi Kahanefought fervently and fearlessly for a broad range of Jewishcauses. One of his most important weapons was his pen.His articleswere impassioned yet logically reasoned expositions, applying theTorah approach to current situations and issues.They show his uniqueability to translate Torah values into a viable, practical approach tothe urgent problems facing the Jewish people in our time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Current and Topical
This books deals with today's issues as if were written only yesterday.Rabbi Kahane's incisive articles are as true today as ever.

In fact, the articles in this book were written by Rabbi Kahane between 1961 and 1990,but if their dates would not have been given, I would have thought that hewrote them only last week.

He insisted that Jews must be proud of beingJewish.This is the basis of his philosophy, whether he applies it todetermining government policy or to conducting one's private life.

Thisbook must be read - it is a breath of fresh air! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Philokalia Overview
This book is an overview of the Philokalia for laymen. For full effect, one needs to read this book, and then read the Philokalia with the guidence of their priest or spiritual father.

Orthodox Spirituality
This is perhaps the best introductory work for those enquiring about what Orthodox spirituality is...
And as well, it is a superb introduction to the Philokalia.

It can be bought brand-new and unopened from Light and Life Publishing for $17.95,
so you do not have to pay the $45 used rates listed here...

Arsenios ... Read more

Product Description
"Orthodoxy's image of itself was that of bearer and guardian of the ancient Jewish faith and of ancient Jewish tradition", explains Mordechai Breuer, in his study of Orthodox Jewish life in Imperial Germany. As secularization and reform pervaded German Jewry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Orthodox Jews became a minority, resulting in alienation and social rifts. Yet despite the decrease in numbers and social problems, Orthodoxy increased in spirit, perseverence, and inner strength. Breuer depicts the life of those German Jews who sought to remain fully loyal to the Jewish tradition while integrating German culture into their lives. He examines the religious, cultural, social, and economic factors that shaped Orthodox Jewish life in Germany, using the literary documentation of the period - periodicals, personal memoirs, and religious literature. The book covers a wide variety of topics, including the different types of German-Jewish Orthodoxy, Jewish and general education, cultural attitudes toward Orthodoxy, identity as Germans and Jews, the development of nationalist Judaism and its relationship to Zionism, and reactions to anti-Semitism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

a distant mirror
Some American Jews think of pre-WW II German Jewry as an exotic species, a land of ultra-Reform kooks and not much else.But this fascinating book shows how German Jewry circa 1906 wasn't that much different from American Jewry circa 2006.

There, as here, Orthodox Jewry constituted about 10-20% of the Jewish population - a minority with a higher birth rate than the more liberal majority.

There, as here, the first post-ghetto generations gravitated towards a sort of Modern Orthodoxy that rigorously followed Jewish law but enthuasiastically endorsed German patriotism and German culture; but just as American Orthodoxy in recent decades has been influenced by a more tradition-migrated East European migration, some 20th-century German Orthodox Jews became enthralled by pre-modern, mystical-minded East European Orthodoxy. (Of course, at that time East European Orthodoxy actually still existed in Eastern Europe).

There, as here, much of Orthodoxy sought to reconcile Torah and Science.For example, one Orthodox newspaper wrote on Charles Darwin's 100th birthday: "that which Darwin created as an enduring intellectual good, namely the insight into an uninterrupted, gradual ascent of the organic universe, is nothing but the exact scientific proof of ancient Jewish axioms."

There, as here, Jewish education (and especially Jewish day schools) went into a tailspin in the early post-ghetto generations, but were gradually rebuilt in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, just as Jewish day schools have boomed here.Even in the rough economic times after World War I, new Orthodox schools were created in Berlin and other cities.(Though unlike in America, non-Orthodox Jews did not join this trend; liberal Jew were less interested in Jewish schools than in equal treatment within public schools).

There, as here, Orthodox Jews were politically divided: The classically liberal National Liberal party had a great deal of Orthodox support, though some Orthodox Jews supported Catholic parties that sought to unite believing Jews and Christians.

However, leftist hostility towards accommodation for religion kept Orthodox Jews from supporting socialist parties; for example, left-wing politicians generally supported forcing businesses to close on Sundays in the interest of protecting labor.On the other hand, right-wing anti-Semitism kept Jews away from the more right-wing parties.

Of course, Germany is not identical to America in 2006.Some of the differences that this book points out:

1.German Jews were less welcoming of migrants from Eastern Europe than American Jews have been; for example, East European children were sometimes segregated in separate schools.

2.To a greater extent than American Jews of any denomination, German Orthodox Jews were more dependent on the work of one leader: Samson Raphael Hirsch.Breuer asserts that Hirsch's "writings were read and studied over and over", and that areas of Jewish tradition not covered by Hirsch's works were generally ignored by German Jews.

3.German government was generally less willing than American government to accommodate religious observance; German public schools held classes on Saturdays and expected students to write on Saturdays (an act forbidden by Jewish law).Orthodox Jews also battled Sunday closing laws (which made it highly unprofitable for Jewish businesses to close on Saturday) and municipal refusal to build eruvim to allow carrying on Shabbat.

4.Although right-wing politicians lusted after Orthodox votes, they still viewed Jews as second-class citizens to a much greater extent than do American conservatives.Breuer asserts that right-wingers praised Orthodox Jews for their relative lack of interest in civic equality and for their willingness to tolerate aristocratic domination of government and Christian domination of the public sphere.One reactionary commentator wrote that Orthodox Jews were the best citizens "because they never distress themselves about the government but care only about their true fatherland, Jerusalem."

5. Breuer leaves the impression that the divisions between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews were sharper than in America; nominal Jews could not always be counted on to support Orthodox interests in promoting Jewish education and opposing Sunday closing laws, and Orthodox and Reform Jews sometimes blamed each other for German anti-Semitism.

Fills a huge void on the subject of Orthodox German Jews
The best critical history of Orthodox Jewry available in English (and, it might be added, one of the few works on the subject). Gives overdue credit to the vitality and size of the 19th century German Orthodox community,thoroughly refuting a wide array of sterotypical notions.Holistic inscope, it is part of an emerging focus upon traditional Judaism in Germanyand central Europe generally. ... Read more

Product Description
Britain's greatest religious historian chronicles the rise and rise of fundamentalism.One of the most potent forces bedevilling the modern world is religious extremism, and the need to understand it has never been greater.Focusing in detail on Protestant fundamentalism in the United States, Jewish fundamentalism from sixteenth century Spain onwards and Muslim fundamentalism over the last four hundred years, Armstrong examines the patterns that underlie fundamentalism. These evolve from the clash between the conservative pre-modern mind that is governed by a love of myth, and the progressive rational society that relishes change. Fundamentalists view the contemporary world with horror, rejecting its claims to truth, and a state of war now exists over the future of our culture. They are not terrorists, rather, they are innovative, existing in a symbiotic relationship with an aggressive modernity, each urging the other on to greater excess.The Battle for God is original in its thesis and in its understanding; as a history of religious ideas it is fascinating, and as an explanation of one of the most destabilizing forces at large in the world today it is extraordinary. ... Read more

Product Description
Another addition to the _Orthodox Forum Series_, this book is a collection of papers from the Second Orthodox Forum in New York and provides compelling insight into the minds of highly respected scholars in the Orthodox Rabbinate. Two of the papers include a brief account of non-observance and the Rabbinic view throughout Jewish history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

two books
This little book is really two very different books. The first two chapters discuss the history of relationships between rabbis and their less observant congregants.The first chapter focuses on the Middle Ages, drawing a distinction between Ashkenazic and Sephardic communities.Sephardic communities, like today's rabbis, tended to rely on persuasion rather than coercion, and included less observant Jews.By contrast, some Ashkenazic communities were more state-like; in some communities, freedom of religion was not an option, as congregants were flogged for ritual violations.The second chapter similarly addresses how Ashkenazic rabbis reacted to the birth of Reform Judaism in the 19th century; many rabbis chose to be more stringent than before, out of a fear that any change would lead to a "slippery slope" of liberalization.

The second half of the book is more noble but less interesting, basically saying that frum (ritually observant) Jews should be nice to non-frum Jews so the latter will become more frum.

Traditional teachings conflict with the non-observant Jew
"Jewish Tradition and the Non-Traditional Jew", is a fascinating journey into the minds of highly respected scholars in the Orthodox Rabbinate. The great dilemma currently faced by traditional Judaism, is well presented and on some points resolved in this volume. It is acollection of papers that was presented at the 2nd Orthodox forum in NewYork. Two of the papers include a brief account of non-observance and theRabbinic view throughout Jewish history. It was incredible to discover someof the ways in which non-observant Jews in medieval times were reprimandedfor such actions as desecrating the Sabbath. In some cases severepunishment such as "lashes" was enforced.

The majority of thebook deals with how non-observant Jews should be "dealt with" inmodern times. The Rabbis cite many passages from the teachings of greatJewish sages presenting a case against using violent penalties such asdeath and stoning for non-observant actions. They argue that Jews of all"denominations" that do not adhere to Halakhic laws, are stillpart of the Jewish people and are simply in need of the proper guidance. Itis ironic that the Orthodox Rabbis in this volume, in a sense"justify" the actions of non-observant Jews by citing theteachings of Halakhah, and yet they refute the case presented by earlyReform Jews that were attempting to justify their position by using thesame teachings.

I have to conclude by saying that it doesn't matterwhether you are a Reform, Conservative or Orthodox Jew, you will find thisbook absorbing. It is definitely worth reading, if not just to come toterms with how Orthodoxy views the behaviour of other Jewish denominationsand whether or not there will ever be reconciliation between them. ... Read more

Product Description
The factionalism and denominationalism of modern Jewry makes it supremely difficult to create a definition of the Jewish people. Instead of serving as a uniting force around which community is formed, Judaism has itself become a source of divisions. Consequently, attempts to identify beliefs or practices essential for membership in the Jewish people are almost doomed to failure.

Aiming to take readers beyond the divisions that characterize modern Jewry, this book explores the ever contentious question of "who is a Jew." Through a historical survey of the shifting boundaries of Jewish identity and deviance over time, the book provides new insights into how Jewish law over the centuries has erected boundaries to govern and maintain the collective identity of the Jewish people. Drawing on these historical strategies the book identifies the causes and reasons that underlie them, and employs these in order to help construct a guide for creating a structure of boundaries relevant for contemporary Jewish existence. ... Read more

Product Description
The first full-scale historical treatment of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the leading figure in twentieth-century American Jewish Orthodoxy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Boston Jewish History and the Rav
If you are interested in the history of Jewish education in America, this book is a fascinating read.For those who want to hear about Rav Soloveitchik's early days and some of his philosophy, the book tells about how he came to Boston and how he came about founding Maimonides School.The chapter on Coeducation & Women Studying Talmud focuses on the history of women's Jewish education and speculates about why the Rav agreed to coeducation at Maimonides.I cannot say whether all the author's facts are accurate, but I can say that Latin was taught at Maimonides School well into the 1970s (and not just in the 50s and 60s), as that is when I studied Latin there. ... Read more