...Humanity's first sin, teaches Rav Tsadok haKohen, was Adam and Eve's eating without right intention.The tree of Knowledge, says he, was not a tree or a food, or a thing at all. Rather it was a way of eating. Whenever a person takes self-conscious pleasure fromteh world he falls inthat moment from God consciousness and eats from the Tree of Knowledge...
Enemies hold fallen slivers of our souls, estranged sparks that we do not recognize as pieces of our very own selves. They have chosen us as their opponents because they are trying, in their deluded way, to connect back to their root, which really is us. The spark of ourselves inside the enemy must be recovered...
This book presents a model of how science and Kabbala, when brought into dialogue, can solve the deepest questions of the universe in the most satisfying ways. The Talmud declares, "God's seal is truth," and since science and Kabbala both share a passion for truth, this becomes their holy meeting ground. The Kabbalistic description of Eden's "fall" presents a scenario of crash and repair that is nearly identical to the account of prehistory derived from the cutting edge of modern physics, called Superstrings. -- Amazon.com.
On the seventh day, God rested and thus completed his creation. Likewise, man should rest on the seventh day and every seven years leave the fields fallow to rest. If you like, a divine economic and environmental programme is encountered here. "Subdue the earth" is not to be misunderstood as a mandate to subjugate and exploit, but on the contrary as a call to preserve God's "very good" creation. Its current explosiveness illustrates precisely this fundamental relationship. Even secular circles now speak of the "integrity of creation" as a matter of course. And in Muslim countries, scholars and activists are preparing to launch a "green Islam", based of course on Quranic principles. At the same time, faith communities and churches with their commitment to nature and to a just world of work are moving into the concrete focus of public attention and are serious players in the current discourse. Reason enough, then, to get to the bottom of the concept of "environment" in the world religions. How do religions position themselves on the ecological question? What are the foundations of their decisions? And can they make a significant contribution to the current problem and to the enquiries of many people?
This book not only publicizes Jewish texts that are indisputably authoritative, but also enables people who do not have the skills or resources to access this experience on their own to directly encounter kabbalistic source material. Its luminous wisdom is sure to inspire a respect and affection for the Torah and its traditions. In Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine, the texts speak for themselves. Their authoritative voices are the soul and might of this work. As proof texts they verify statements made in their name, and as holy texts they transform all who take them to heart.
Tishby's seminal study, based largely on manuscripts he discovered, shows Luzzatto as one of the most profound mystics in the history of Jewish culture.
Story-telling has been an integral part of the hasidic movement from its inception. Stories about the hasidic leaders and their mystical powers attracted followers and maintained their devotion, and still do so today. This important work, based on analysis of all the published anthologies of such stories, presents them by theme and traces their origins. Originally published in Hebrew and expanded for this edition, it makes a fascinating contribution to the history of hasidism, of Hebrew literature, and of Jewish popular culture.
Globalizing Organic focuses on the globalization of a culture of "eating for change" and the ways in which local meanings attached to the production of foods embed ecological and social values. Rafi Grosglik examines how organic agriculture was integrated in Israel—a state in which agriculture was a key mechanism in promoting Jewish nationalism and in time has become highly mechanized and technologically sophisticated. He explores how organic food, which signifies environmental protection and social equity, has been realized in a country where environmental issues are perceived as less pressing compared to inner political conflicts, the Israeli-Arab conflict, and recurrent wars. Based on more than a decade of ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and analysis of historical documents and media, Grosglik traces how alternative food movements are affected by global and local trends. He covers a wide range of topics, including the ethos of halutzim ("pioneers," Zionist ideological farmers and workers), the utopian visions of the Israeli kibbutz, indigeneity that is claimed both by Palestinians and Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, biblical meanings that have been ascribed to environmental and countercultural ideas, the Americanization of Israeli society, and its neoliberalized economy.
