Judaism category: 3160 books

Why is the Jewish New Year designated on the Jewish calendar as the first day of the seventh month, and not of the first month? Why do women cover their eyes when reciting the blessing over the Sabbath candles? How did the Seder originate? Does the Book of Esther, read on Purim, mirror any real historical...

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the Alter Rebbe, famously stated that we must "live with the times," thereby experiencing the teachings of the Torah related to each week of the year. Similar to the zodiac, where every month has its own symbolism, every week of the Jewish calendar also has...

This multi-volume series offers fresh perspectives on the individual characters of the sages (Hazal), the historical contexts in which they lived, and the creativity they brought to the pursuit of Jewish wisdom. Volume II covers the period from Yavne to the Bar Kokhba Revolt.

For millennia the Jewish people have awaited Moshiach. We have prayed for him and longed for his appearance. But how many of us know what part he will play in Jewish destiny, how to identify him, what the messianic era will be like, or why we need Moshiach at all? Though a plethora of sources...

In The Sages, Vol. III: The Galilean Period, Binyamin Lau paints vivid portraits of the some of the most central figures in the Talmud: the disciples of Rabbi Akiva. Featured in every tractate of the Talmud, these charismatic personalities kept Jewish tradition alive after Rabbi Akiva's tragic execution....

Join Joe Bobker in his humorous adventure through Torah and Talmud, history and halacha, law and lore, and much more. This enjoyable volume on Jewish practice and law serves, in the author s words, as an envelope to be opened from time to time in order to learn something new. Packed with nuggets of...

The Kabbalah of Large, Small, and Missing Letters in the Parshah.Was that a…mistake?There are no mistakes in Torah. That said, week after week when reading the weekly Torah portion, scholars and laymen alike encounter broken, enlarged—and even missing—letters without stopping to...

In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov is the first complete English translation of the tales surrounding the Besht, a rabbi and kabbalistic practitioner whose teachings bolstered the growing Hasidic movement in the eighteenth century. An important source on the life, philosophy, and mystical works of the...

Exploring the wisdom of the great sages of Lithuania, The Legacy presents a moral and spiritual vision for the Jewish people. Providing a glimpse into the world of these sages – their own teachers’ rabbis – the authors outline the ideas and deeds, the values and ethics by which Jews should live....

Join Joe Bobker on a fascinating journey through the Jewish Festivals. You will laugh, you will cry but this roller-coaster cyclical ride through Jewish history, holidays, halacha, lore and minhag is worth the trip! In this extraordinary, insightful analysis of the Jewish calendar, Joe Bobkers refreshingly...

The dynamic Jewish calendar provides constant religious challenges and spiritual opportunities. It allows us to focus on the birth of our nation, our travels in the desert, our relationship to God, and the giving of the Torah. Through the in-depth study of the Torah and the halakhot of the moadim,...

The second volume of Halakhic Positions of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik continues to provide the modern reader with a glimpse into the illustrious and meaningful halakhic opinions of this highly revered Jewish scholar. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903-1993), commonly known as "the Rav,"...

The Jewish mystic path and its practices to attain God-consciousness.

Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook was the first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Erets Israel. Orot is his seminal work of thought, a poetic vision of grandeur of the Nation of Israel reborn in its ancient land.