Download Free The Jewish Challenge Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online The Jewish Challenge and write the review.

There is a well-known conundrum concerning Jewish history: The conventional chronology of the Western world - and academia - is in direct conflict with traditional Jewish sources over the history of ... history. Incredibly, there is a gap of roughly 200 years: For instance, the Talmud says the Second Temple stood for roughly 400 years, while mainstream historians today conclude that it stood for almost 600 years.This conflict has major implications on what occurred to who, and when. It also seems to question the accuracy of the entire Jewish tradition as accepted dating methods seem to contradict core parts of the traditional Jewish narrative.In presenting fresh and startling astronomical, mathematical and archaeological evidence, Rabbi Alexander Hool has charted new ground in his quest to find the solution to this ancient problem. The Challenge of Jewish History is revolutionary: it questions all assumptions, dispels unfounded myths, and transports us back in time over 2,500 years.With a subject of great significance and fascination to all those interested in history, and a wealth of scholarship and sources to impress academics, this intriguing book gives us a new perspective on Jewish-and world - history.
Publisher description
Arguably, no historical thinker has had as varied and fractious a reception within modern Judaism as Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza (1632–77), the seventeenth-century philosopher, pioneering biblical critic, and Jewish heretic from Amsterdam. Revered in many circles as the patron saint of secular Jewishness, he has also been branded as the worst traitor to the Jewish people in modern times. Jewish philosophy has cast Spinoza as marking a turning point between the old and the new, as a radicalizer of the medieval tradition and table setter for the modern. He has served as a perennial landmark and point of reference in the construction of modern Jewish identity. This volume brings together excerpts from central works in the Jewish response to Spinoza. True to the diversity of Spinoza’s Jewish reception, it features a mix of genres, from philosophical criticism to historical fiction, from tributes to diary entries, providing the reader with a sense of the overall historical development of Spinoza’s posthumous legacy.
In this highly engaging, instructive and even inspirational inquiry, Jonathan Mirvis illuminates the tapestry of Jewish education innovation with the lens of the work and theory of social entrepreneurship. He tells us how and why some Jewish educational innovators succeed and how to recognize the most promising ventures in the field. This work will appeal to anyone engaged in Jewish educational change or social entrepreneurship of any kind, as it contributes to our understanding of both worlds of thought - Jewish education and the applied theory of social innovation. Professor Steven M. Cohen Research Professor of Jewish Social Policy, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Jonathan Mirvis has written a provocative and invaluable tract for our times, and for the uncertain times ahead. Whether Jewish "peoplehood" will have any meaning for the next generation in Israel and the Diaspora, depends largely on whether Jewish education can re-invent itself. Not only for our children and grand-children, but for "adults" and whole communities as well. Jerry Silverman President/CEO, Jewish Federations of North America The good news is that Mirvis believes it can happen. He shows us how to build on the trailblazing initiatives of some of the visionary Jewish educators and funders who've "changed the rules" - and whose stories Mirvis tells with great warmth and insight. And, critically for the author, by adapting his theory of change as it applies to social entrepreneurship marketing, and the online knowledge revolution. This is not just an important book about the need for more "disruptive innovation" in the Jewish world; Mirvis is himself the "disruptive innovator." He's brought together his wide experience in adult Jewish education internationally, his deep immersion in Yiddishkeit, and some novel, even radical thinking about - dare we say it - how to market and sell a social product. Ever the teacher, he's given educators, funders, policy-makers, and community leaders essential homework to complete. Read this book!
Every human being is presented with the ''human challenge'': How do I grow? How do I become wise? How do I sanctify the world around me and make it a better place? How do I work on my character? How do I integrate work and food and intimacy into my life's goals? This volume is an attempt to answer these questions for the intelligent and sensitive adult reader. It draws significantly on deeper Jewish thought, balancing brevity with profundity. The Human Challenge provides a rich and exciting entry point for those who are at the early stages of their relationship with Judaism as well as significant benefit to those with an extensive background, as it provides a methodical and sourced overview of topics that may otherwise remain as fragmented insights.
How encounters with the Roman Empire compelled the Jews of antiquity to rethink their conceptions of Israel and the Torah Throughout their history, Jews have lived under a succession of imperial powers, from Assyria and Babylonia to Persia and the Hellenistic kingdoms. Jews and Their Roman Rivals shows how the Roman Empire posed a unique challenge to Jewish thinkers such as Philo, Josephus, and the Palestinian rabbis, who both resisted and internalized Roman standards and imperial ideology. Katell Berthelot traces how, long before the empire became Christian, Jews came to perceive Israel and Rome as rivals competing for supremacy. Both considered their laws to be the most perfect ever written, and both believed they were a most pious people who had been entrusted with a divine mission to bring order and peace to the world. Berthelot argues that the rabbinic identification of Rome with Esau, Israel's twin brother, reflected this sense of rivalry. She discusses how this challenge transformed ancient Jewish ideas about military power and the use of force, law and jurisdiction, and membership in the people of Israel. Berthelot argues that Jewish thinkers imitated the Romans in some cases and proposed competing models in others. Shedding new light on Jewish thought in antiquity, Jews and Their Roman Rivals reveals how Jewish encounters with pagan Rome gave rise to crucial evolutions in the ways Jews conceptualized the Torah and conversion to Judaism.
Becoming Jewish is an engaging, accessible, all-inclusive step-by-step guide to converting to Judaism that introduces readers to finding life's meaning through the evolving religious civilization that is Judaism. Written with humor and heart, readers learn the ins and outs of becoming Jewish and discover the wonder that is the language, literature, history, rituals, food, music, and culture of contemporary Jewish life.
This volume addresses the theological issues which arose when different ancient religious groups within three Abrahamic religions attempted to understand or define their opinion on the Mosaic Torah. The twelve chapters explore various instances of accepting, modifying, ignoring, criticizing, and vilifying the Mosaic Torah.
The Challenge of Creation is a completely revised and vastly expanded edition of The Science Of Torah. That work was widely hailed as the best book of its kind for its honesty and thoroughness of approach. The Challenge of Creation builds upon its approach, covering more issues and in greater depth. Carefully, methodically, and eschewing sensationalistic or dogmatic claims in favor of reasoned analysis, it shows how some of the greatest Jewish thinkers explained Judaism and Genesis in a way that complements modern science rather than conflicts with it. The Challenge of Creation is an invaluable resource for anyone grappling with conflicts between science and religion. It is a profound work that is sure to become a classic
Off the Derech is the phrase used within the Orthodox Jewish community to describe those who have left Jewish observance. Using questionnaires, extensive interviews with psychologists and rabbis, and her Off The Derech website, the author reveals the multilayered reasons for the defection of so many observant Jews from Judaism. At the same time, she presents solutions to this growing problem, thereby creating an invaluable handbook for parents, teachers and rabbis. Each chapter of this well-researched book deals with a different element of the Off the Derech syndrome as it explains, in detail, how parents can reach children who have become alienated and disaffected from their culture and their people.