Out of the Depths

Out of the Depths

Author: Israel Meir Lau

Publisher: Union Square + ORM

Published: 2011-11-01

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 1402790953

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In his astonishing memoir, the Holocaust survivor and Chief Rabbi of Israel shares his story of faith and perseverance through WWII and beyond. Israel Meir Lau, one of the youngest survivors of Buchenwald, was just eight years old when the camp was liberated in 1945. Descended from a 1,000-year unbroken chain of rabbis, he grew up to become Chief Rabbi of Israel—and like many of the great rabbis, Lau is a master storyteller. Out of the Depths is his harrowing and inspiring account of life in one of the Nazis deadliest concentration camps, and how he managed to survive against all possible odds. Lau, who lost most of his family in the Holocaust, also chronicles his life after the war, including his emigration to Mandate Palestine during a period that coincides with the development of the State of Israel. The story continues up through today, with that once-lost boy of eight now a brilliant, charismatic, and world-revered figure who has visited with Popes John Paul and Benedict; the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, and countless global leaders including Ronald Reagan, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Tony Blair.


Sage Advice

Sage Advice

Author: Irving Greenberg

Publisher: Maggid

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781592644445

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The sages of the Mishna lived through one of the greatest transitions of Jewish history: the destruction of the Temple and withdrawal of divine revelation. Assuming responsibility for the future of the Torah, the sages set about bringing it out of the Temple and into everyday life, determined to keep it alive in a world of change. In his commentary to Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg mines the book for the religious and ethical wisdom, the humility and the courage, the staunch traditionalism and the bold innovation that guided the sages through this tempestuous era. Framed by thumbnail sketches of the lives and times of the sages, the book¿s line-by-line commentary offers an original reading of Pirkei Avot, applying its teachings to the questions and challenges of our rapidly changing world.


Joshua

Joshua

Author: Michael Hattin

Publisher: Maggid

Published: 2015-01-13

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9781592643042

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The Book of Joshua enumerates the great challenges faced by the ancient Israelites as they enter and settle their promised land, a lengthy process that ultimately takes hundreds of years. Exhausted from their forty-year journey in the desert, the people must overcome earlier failures, confront hostile coalitions on the battlefield, struggle with the inimical cultural values pervasive in Canaan, and make the difficult transition from a nomadic to a settled way of life. Difficult as this may sound, there is yet one burning issue that overshadows the whole enterprise: What are the hallmarks of successful leadership? In Joshua: The Challenge of the Promised Land, Michael Hattin brings to life the biblical Book of Joshua, highlighting how the many complex issues faced by the people as they fought to possess their new land mirror and shed light on today's reality. Hattin approaches the text as literary narrative, considering it from the perspectives of rabbinic midrash, medieval commentary


Pirkei Avot

Pirkei Avot

Author: Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz

Publisher: CCAR Press

Published: 2018-05-30

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 0881233234

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Pirkei Avot is the urtext of Jewish practical wisdom. In many ways, the words of Pirkei Avot were the first recorded manifesto of social justice in Western civilization. This commentary explores text through a lens of contemporary social justice and moral philosophy, engaging both classical commentators and modern thinkers.