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This book traces the Polish Chassidic Dynasties of Lublin, Lelov, Nikolsburg, and Boston. Based on the Hebrew, Shalsheles Boston, this fascinating and uplifting book includes the biographies of the major Polish Chassidic figures and their teachings. With a foreward by the Bostoner Rebbe, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz.
This book traces the Polish Chassidic Dynasties of Lublin, Lelov, Nikolsburg, and Boston. Based on the Hebrew, Shalsheles Boston, this fascinating and uplifting book includes the biographies of the major Polish Chassidic figures and their teachings. With a foreward by the Bostoner Rebbe, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz.
THE MYSTERY & HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE by SAM OYSTEIN Pdf
The Jewish people have honored the principles of the Torah for thousands of years. Today, the Jewish people make up less than 1% of the world's population. However, their contribution in global affairs is enormous. This book presents a unique perspective about Jewish culture and history. It sets out to investigate the causes of the success of the Jewish people. The History & Mystery of the Jewish People unleashes some core elements and aspects of the Jewish society that have enabled Jews to remain at the helm of affairs in professions and institutions for centuries. It uses a rationalist approach to go over the history of the Jewish people. It examines the individual and collective philosophies that have shaped the thought and mindset of the Jewish people for the past centuries. The book undertakes some comparative analysis between the Jewish society and culture and the African society. It identifies the equivalents of the Jewish culture in the Sub-Saharan African community. This piece ventures into elements of Jewish history from Ancient Israel to the Destruction of the Second Temple. It gives a vivid account about events that led to the creation of the modern state of Israel. This daring quest brings to light some elements of today's society like the root of the War on Terror amongst others. The book is a unique narration by an African writer in an African context.
This volume reviews my visit to Budapest, Hungary, and to Krakow, Auschwitz, and Birkenau (Auschwitz II), in Poland. Both of these places were deeply affected by the Nazi occupation and the devastation of their Jewish communities. Describing these visits is difficult because it describes in modern European history in which survivors still relate the story of this great tragedy. The places where these events took place still stand as testimony to the depths of horror and violation man conceives on others. had long delayed a pilgrimage to the two Auschwitz death camps, recognizing the potential of every human being to fall into the chasm of total annihilation. In fact, recent psychological experimentation with normal, ethically-minded people has shown that we have the potential, as perfectly normal people, to be persuaded to perform acts that, upon reflection, are completely unjustifiable. We think of ourselves as civilized but the reality is that our deepest drives and urges can create a complete loss of decency to self and others. The mesmerizing effects of the Hitlerian era serve notice that we all have the potential of losing the thread of our tenuous humanity. This is the sobering thought which remains with me after visiting these terrible places of governmental policies of extermination of entire peoples. Auschwitz and Birkenau are not just a death camp of the past, as a historic site, reflective of the past. It is that, but much more. These terrible places are an object lesson for the present and the future. Mankind must learn the lesson that, as Santayana reflected, the lessons of history must be learned so as not to repeat them. My review first visits Budapest, a beautiful city. National Hungarian myth is the Magyars, a primary tribe of modern-day Hungary, originated in the Carpathian Mountains, in Khazaria. This Jewish Empire, composed of converts to Judaism, is an object of intense scholarly scrutiny as to who they were and what they taught. Insofar as the Magyars were concerned, they rebelled against the Khazars, voluntarily left, or were expelled from that empire. They traveled across the Caucasian steppes and reached their current geography. Perhaps the most devastating event in modern Hungarian history was the Treaty of Trianon, following World War one, which emasculated the country, its navy, and people. World War Two was similarly tragic, in Budapest, as throughout Hungary. The Jewish population in the country was decimated and Hungarians readily assisted in the arrest, removal, and transportation of an estimated 400,000 to 600,000 Jews. These men, women, and children were transported to Auschwitz where they were murdered by the Germans. Adolf Eichmann, mastermind of the Final Solution to exterminate Jews, readily admitted that this vast effort, accomplished within three months, was only possible because of the dedicated efforts of Hungarian leadership and police. In Germany today, there is a national narrative of reviewing its Nazi (National Socialism) past, thereby ensuring all are aware of what occurred during that period and will not repeat it. But no such national narrative is present in Hungary. Denial of the past is easy; a mere refusal to own to what took place and the individual actions that led to this decimation. Perhaps Hungary will one day, maturely, boldly, and forthrightly, recognize its past crimes and seek to amend its national character. I hope my reviews of these cities and the Death Camps will provide moments of reflection and honest appraisal of both self and its national character.
A razor-sharp, hilarious, and poignant memoir about growing up in the closed world of the ultraorthodox Jewish community. The third of six children in a family that harks back to a gloried Hassidic dynasty, Judy Brown grew up with the legacy of centuries of religious teaching, and the faith and lore that sustained her people for generations. But her carefully constructed world begins to crumble when her "crazy" brother Nachum returns home after a year in Israel living with relatives. Though supposedly "cured," he is still prone to retreating into his own mind or erupting in wordless rages. The adults' inability to make him better -- or even to give his affliction a name -- forces Judy to ask larger questions: If God could perform miracles for her sainted ancestors, why can't He cure Nachum? And what of the other stories her family treasured? Judy starts to negotiate with God, swinging from holy tenets to absurdly hilarious conclusions faster than a Talmudic scholar: she goes on a fast to nab coveted earrings; she fights with her siblings at the dinner table for the ultimate badge of honor ("Who will survive the next Holocaust?"); and she adamantly defends her family's reputation when, scandalously, her parents are accused of having fallen in love -- -which is absolutely not what pious people do. For all its brutal honesty about this insular community, This Is Not a Love Story is ultimately a story of a family like so many others, whose fierce love for each other and devotion to their faith pulled them through the darkest time in their lives.
This two-volume Journey of a Rabbi consists of essays describing ventures undertaken, events experienced, and ideas articulated that reflect the life work of a rabbi and Jewish educator. What threads its way throughout these writings is a persistent search for ways and means to revitalize Jewish life in our time. Written in lucid and compelling fashion, the story portrays early family influences and mentoring of a searching youth, experiences of a rabbinical student, army chaplain, and pulpit rabbi that brought into focus the tasks ahead. The story proceeds to detail the work as a denominational executive, which broadened concern for the larger community and return to pulpit work devoted to fashioning a “Synagogue-Center.” It then segues into depiction of the comprehensive initiatives in education, the arts and community outreach as Dean at the University of Judaism. Interspersed throughout are “thought” essays about religious phenomena, faith, the personal life, the land of Israel, and “lessons learned” from a lifetime of experiences.
The powerful coming-of-age story of an ultra-Orthodox child who was born to become a rabbinic leader and instead became a woman Abby Stein was raised in a Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, isolated in a culture that lives according to the laws and practices of eighteenth-century Eastern Europe, speaking only Yiddish and Hebrew and shunning modern life. Stein was born as the first son in a dynastic rabbinical family, poised to become a leader of the next generation of Hasidic Jews. But Abby felt certain at a young age that she was a girl. She suppressed her desire for a new body while looking for answers wherever she could find them, from forbidden religious texts to smuggled secular examinations of faith. Finally, she orchestrated a personal exodus from ultra-Orthodox manhood to mainstream femininity-a radical choice that forced her to leave her home, her family, her way of life. Powerful in the truths it reveals about biology, culture, faith, and identity, Becoming Eve poses the enduring question: How far will you go to become the person you were meant to be?
Journeys to the Commonwealth of Australia by Kalman Dubov Pdf
The continent of Australia has an ancient and modern history. Aborigines arrived at this continent an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, living a hunter-gatherer existence while developing unique ways to live and thrive on this land. That idyllic life ended in 1770 when the great British explorer James Cook discovered the continent. Just eighteen years later, in 1788, the First Fleet of convict ships from England established a colony at Botany Bay, near today's city of Sydney. The settlement grew and developed, while additional convict ships and settlers came to this continent to make a new home and life for themselves. As the number of settlers increased, there was a corresponding series of attacks on the Aborigines. Massacres took many lives, while European diseases for which the Aborigines had no immunity, decimated these ancient communities. I review this tragic interaction between these two diverse cultures which continues today. I also explore the Stolen Generation, the racist and genocidal policy of forcibly removing Aboriginal children from their parents and community, then giving these children to white parents to be raised in an atmosphere intolerant to the Aboriginal culture and history. An estimated 100,000 children were taken in this manner, remembered nationally and annually as Sorry Day. In addition, an estimated 500,000 white children were taken from parents and given to others. While forcibly negating and outlawing native cultures has taken place in many countries, where dominant values are identified as superior to the older and subjugated culture, the forcible removal of hundreds of thousands of white children from parents reflects a policy that begs to be examined in depth. I also review the establishment of a Royal Commission that examined sexual predatory attacks on children, both in the Roman Catholic Church, by diocesan and order priests (brothers) while these children were wards of these religious institutions by order of the federal government. I also explore the percentages of prelates who acted in this criminal manner. This issue has been faced in several other countries, with resulting questions regarding the role Catholic priests and their bishops have in teaching religious values while protecting their charges from sexual abuse. The Jewish community too has been charged in this scourge. Two religious schools in Melbourne were charged with knowledge of such attacks taking place in these schools but the rabbinic leadership neither reported the abuse to civil authorities nor made efforts to stop it. In this regard, I explore the Jewish law inhibiting such reporting to secular authorities. In fact, the historic and traditional Jewish community standard prefers to protect the predator and not protect the victimized child. This standard is gradually changing as progressive awareness is made into the corrosive atmosphere surrounding a victimized child and the enormous psychological and emotional costs endured by the child for the remainder of his or her life. The theme of sexual abuse is also present with regard to Malka Leifer. This woman was charged with over seventy counts of criminal behavior while having a senior administrative and teaching role in a leading ultra-Orthodox religious school for girls. She became a cause célèbre with international intrigue between Australia and Israel when she escaped Australian shores for refuge in Israel. Years of legal wrangling ensued, by many Israeli courts, including the Supreme Court, each examining the increasing furor if this woman should be extradited to face criminal charges in Australia. Malka Leifer was only recently returned to Australia, now finally awaiting has moment of facing her accusers in open court. This volume also reviews and analyzes each war Australians fought in, from the Second Boer War, First World War, Second World War, Korean and Vietnam Wars, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These conflicts culminated with the ANZUS Treaty, with a military cooperation agreement between the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The United States identified New Zealand as standing against the West when it promulgated its anti-nuclear zone. New Zealand identified with smaller Pacific island nations that condemned nuclear testing on remote Pacific islands and the resulting fallout with consequent health issues they face because of such testing. I was on the Holland American Grand Voyage while visiting Australian ports. I review the different Australian ports the Amsterdam came to, such as Darwin, Brisbane, and Sydney. I review each of these cities, both as the country developed and modernly, with these cities taking on more developed economic power.
Journeys to Japan; Review & Analysis by Kalman Dubov Pdf
The Grand Voyage on the Holland America flagship Amsterdam to Asia and the Pacific remains one of the most memorable adventures I have had the privilege of being part of. I was thrilled to join the ship in San Diego California, listening to world-class scholars offering in-depth lectures on the places we would visit and to then see these countries first-hand. This volume reviews the port of San Diego, the point of departure, and the ship's visits to several ports of call in Japan. While these ports were interesting, research on Japan’s long reach of history offers up many troubling aspects of this unique people. I pondered their history and unique way of looking at themselves and the rest of the world. How is it possible, for example, for a people to create the highest forms of etiquette and graceful decorum, and to then conduct themselves with utter contempt for basic morality towards others? During World War Two, the massacres committed by the Japanese army in nearly every quadrant of their military and political reach during the Showa Empire begs the question of how common decency and ethical behavior can be so thoroughly absent as if it never existed? Even today, the Japanese government refuses to acknowledge or offer a public apology for wartime acts done during this period. I explore this very troubling issue, wondering where the lines of civility and conformity begin and end. The Japanese are a strange people, and I was frustrated at these two extremes of exemplary behavior and simultaneous contempt of others. It is my contention that a refusal to acknowledge the past, in conjunction with a reappraisal of what went wrong in that previous leadership, will eventually and inevitably force this issue into the present. There is therefore a huge divergence between the Germans and the Japanese. The former reappraised their horrific past, recognizing that a change from that past is a mandatory aspect of their social discourse. Even a Nazi salute in Germany is outlawed and a criminal offense. In contrast, the Japanese have barely tolerated criticisms of its own leaders during that period of darkness. This is a troubling volume in which I explore with an open mind, wondering if there is an answer to these troubling questions. In the Shinto Directive, formulated and implemented by General MacArthur following Japan's unconditional surrender, formalized belief in the emperor's divinity was outlawed. Today, beautiful Shinto shrines dot the Japanese countryside. Citizens can be seen washing hands and rinsing their mouths before entering these sacred spaces, then lighting incense while offering a prayer. Inevitably, I wonder as to the moral component of a people who are outwardly decorous, even recreating the common toothpick into a form of exceptional grace, while being unable to acknowledge common humanity. There are also modern aspects of Japanese society that are difficult to comprehend. Thousands of Japanese youth, for reasons that defy common sense, give up on themselves and their future by adopting the hikikomori lifestyle, living in their parent’s home, not interacting with their peers, and even refusing to emerge from their bedrooms for decades. Parents tolerate this odd behavior, refusing to confront their child, even refusing to acknowledge the presence of their child as the years pass. Similarly, are the jouhatsu, people who suddenly and without the slightest outward change, suddenly and inexplicably, disappear. Desperate to find the loved one, the government refuses to assist because of Japanese strict privacy laws. I describe these aspects of Japanese society, together with others similarly different from Western society. These are aspects of the ‘Asian face’ – that inscrutable and essentially unknown quantum, so different from that of the West. Knowing the facts, together with the statistics accompanying those facts, does not imply understanding the. As a Westerner, I review these manifestations without understanding the Japanese ‘soul,’ its core identity and substance. I can, therefore, only recount the facts and leave the rest to the reader. These questions aside, I very much enjoyed walking Japanese streets, riding its trains, and seeing its people. I also had occasion to chat with several Japanese who expressed surprise at my awareness of their culture, while I was unable to adequately answer my queries. And they too seemed perplexed by my queries, confounded by the imponderables dividing the Western the Eastern way of living a life.
Come on in and Have Your ...Faith Lifted by Darcy Wallen Pdf
Dear Reader, Before you is a unique compilation of the poetry of my maternal grandfather, Michael Franklin Ellis – a.k.a. “Gramp.” This short manuscript highlights a selection of verses from his 13 published books of poetry annotated with parallel Torah excerpts. Do not let the brevity of this volume deceive you regarding its inherent depth! Before my mother’s passing, she assisted me in choosing various verses to include here, that were remarkably and intuitively Torah-aligned. Most of Gramp’s poems are witty and philosophical; some are outright sarcastic or sardonic. It was to the latter, more negative and ‘critical’ poems (the Torah tradition would call “Mussar-style”), that Mom gave a thumb’s down – these were rejected outright. In life, she always glossed over the negative and put a positive spin on things. Gramp had no formal Torah education, nonetheless, his poetry sounds as if it is informed by or taken straight from classic Rabbinic literature such as: the Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, Biblical commentaries, Mussar and Chassidic Philosophy. Although brought up in a Jewishly-identified and culturally involved Jewish family, we were not Torah observant or knowledgeable of the traditions that The Torah and its commentaries provide. After close to four decades of living a Torah observant lifestyle and thirstily studying Torah whenever I can, while revisiting these poems, I am continuously amazed at Gramp’s intuitive, Torah-like, Kabbalistic and Chassidic bent. I am sure you will be in awe at the similarity too, as you read through this book and see the parallel Torah quotations we have included herein. You will see how Gramp’s humor and personality shines through with wit and wisdom in the upbeat style of the witty, Chassidic aphorism. Darcy F. Wallen (a.k.a. Rus Devorah Wallen) Granddaughter of Michael Franklin Ellis, ob”m Daughter of Joan Ellis Shatkin ob”m and Dr. Samuel Shatkin, DDS, MD, ob”m
A Year of Sacred Moments is a spiritual guide, a moral compass, that can help you navigate lifes challenging terrain. The sacred moments you will experience as you work your way through the book will positively impact your days, your weeks, and your life as a whole. Tal Ben-Shahar, author of Being Happy and Happier Many of us are looking for a personal breakthrough, a revelation that brings about meaning to our lives and invokes healing at a deep level. Based on biblical wisdom and through her own story of personal struggle, Hanna Perlberger reveals timeless truths in an uncomplicated manner. Her simple, yet profound teachings soften the hardened heart, and when life hurts, she inspires us to bring gratitude and acceptance into the present moment. Although lifes journey can be challenging, Perlbergers work serves to reveal the source of our self-limiting beliefs to bring about much-needed transformation and extend a hand of friendship when we need it most. Hanna Perlberger guides the reader with an interactive exploration of Torah to create a more meaningful and personal connection with the sacred. Rabbi David Aaron, author of The Secret life of God, Endless Light and The God Powered Life
Between 1936 and 1939, almost 1,700 Canadians defied their government and volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War. They left behind punishing lives in Canadian relief camps, mines, and urban flophouses to confront fascism in a country few knew much about. Michael Petrou has drawn on recently declassified archival material, interviewed surviving Canadian veterans, and visited the battlefields of Spain to write the definitive account of Canadians in the Spanish Civil War. Renegades is an intimate and unflinching story of idealism and courage, duplicity and defeat.
