Every Tallit Tells a Tale

Every Tallit Tells a Tale PDF

Author: Stella Hart, Incorporated

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780976811800

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Every Tallit Tells a Tale is an inspired and inspiring collection of never-before-published essays and poems, all focusing on how a tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl, figures in and enriches each writers spiritual life. Every Tallit Tells a Tale reveals how the fringes of the tallit tie together generations within a family and generations within the larger family of all Jews. Tallit designers mesh their spiritual and creative urges as they weave or sew or knit prayer shawls for themselves or their loved ones. And for many writerswomen especiallydonning a tallit for the first time and uttering the age-old bracha, once exclusively reserved for men, takes on monumental significance.

A Cultural History of Jewish Dress

A Cultural History of Jewish Dress PDF

Author: Eric Silverman

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2013-08-29

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0857852094

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A Cultural History of Jewish Dress is the first comprehensive account of how Jews have been distinguished by their appearance from Ancient Israel to the present. For centuries Jews have dressed in distinctive ways to communicate their devotion to God, their religious identity, and the proper earthly roles of men and women. This lively work explores the rich history of Jewish dress, examining how Jews and non-Jews alike debated and legislated Jewish attire in different places, as well as outlining the big debates on dress within the Jewish community today. Focusing on tensions over gender, ethnic identity and assimilation, each chapter discusses the meaning and symbolism of a specific era or type of Jewish dress. What were biblical and rabbinic fashions? Why was clothing so important to immigrant Jews in America? Why do Hassidic Jews wear black? When did yarmulkes become bar mitzvah souvenirs? The book also offers the first analysis of how young Jewish adults today announce on caps, shirts, and even undergarments their striving to transform Jewishness from a religious and historical heritage into an ethnic identity that is hip, racy, and irreverent. Fascinating and accessibly written, A Cultural History of Jewish Dress will appeal to anybody interested in the central role of clothing in defining Jewish identity.

Tales of Elijah the Prophet

Tales of Elijah the Prophet PDF

Author: Peninnah Schram

Publisher: Jason Aronson, Incorporated

Published: 1997-02-01

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 1461630878

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Elijah the Prophet is one of the most popular and beloved figures in all of Jewish literature. Both as a biblical prophet and a folklore hero, Elijah has fascinated Jews all over the world for centuries. He has served in many different roles, offering guidance on how to live Like a mensch, bringing hope, reconciling family members, rewarding goodness while punishing wickedness, rescuing Jewish communities and worthy individuals, seeing that justice prevails, and signaling the coming of the Messiah. Tales of Elijah the Prophet is a brilliant collection of thirty-seven stories selected by the gifted storyteller, Peninnah Schram. In these intriguing tales, we see Elijah as the master of miracles. His chameleon-like disguises are marvelously clever and numerous, using such diverse poses as an old man, a traveler, a matchmaker, a magician, a slave, and even a handsome horseman. He uses these disguises to heighten suspense and fantasy, to test people's behavior, to restore faith, and to bring about a happy resolution to the problems in the story. The tales in this wonder-filled volume cover a range of themes and types of Elijah tales. All are miracle stories, but they vary greatly in mood, character, plot, locale, time, and theme. There are religious stories focusing on restoring faith in God and humorous tales that emphasize resourcefulness. Other stories involve Passover, love, and riddle themes. Peninnah Schram chose thirty-six of these stories, using the Jewish symbolic number of twice eighteen (chai), which is the Hebrew equivalent to "life." And since it is the Jewish custom to add one to a number, perhaps to ensure good luck, she included her favorite story, Elijah and the Three Wishes, in the Introduction. In addition to the stories in Tales of Elijah the Prophet, this volume includes an informative introduction to the character of Elijah the Prophet that explores his various roles in Jewish life and literature. There are also extensive notes to each story, indicating sources a

Sacred Places Tell Tales

Sacred Places Tell Tales PDF

Author: Yoram Meital

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2024-08-06

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1512825891

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Sacred Places Tell Tales is the previously untold history of Egyptian Jewry and the ways in which Cairo’s synagogues historically functioned as active institutions in the social lives of these Jews. Historian Yoram Meital interprets Cairo’s synagogues as exquisite storytellers. The synagogues still stand in Cairo, and they shed new light on the social, cultural, and political processes that Egyptian society and the Jews underwent from 1875 to the present. Studying old and new synagogues in the Egyptian capital, their locations, the items they stored, and the range of religious and nonreligious activities they hosted reveals the social heterogeneity and the diverse ways in which modern Jewish sociocultural identity was constructed within Cairo’s Sephardi, Ashkenazi, and Karaite communities. Meital contends that studying the congregations and the social services provided in synagogues reveals the local Jewish community’s customs, cultural preferences, socioeconomic gaps, and class divisions. Sacred Places Tell Tales narrates not only the past but also the unprecedented transformations that have occurred in recent years in Egypt. While only a handful of Jews live in Egypt, the preservation of Jewish heritage, first and foremost synagogues and cemeteries, enjoy a growing interest in public discourse and popular culture. This new desire to preserve Jewish heritage is inseparable from the ongoing public debate about Egyptian society, its characteristics, and its identity, past and present. By contextualizing Jewish heritage preservation in a longer Egyptian and Jewish history, Meital opens a window into one of the most significant political discussions dividing Egyptian society today.

The Heart of the Matter:

The Heart of the Matter: PDF

Author: Graham Greene

Publisher: Prabhat Prakashan

Published: 1951-01-01

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13:

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The Talmud by Deutsch, Emanuel: Explore one of the central texts of Rabbinic Judaism with "The Talmud" by Emanuel Deutsch. This comprehensive work provides insights into the Talmud's teachings, discussions, and interpretations. Key Aspects of the Book "The Talmud": Rabbinic Literature: Deutsch's book introduces readers to the world of Rabbinic literature, offering explanations and analyses of Talmudic texts. Religious Scholarship: The book serves as a valuable resource for those interested in the study of Judaism and religious scholarship. Interpretations and Discussions: "The Talmud" presents the Talmud's rich tradition of discussions, debates, and interpretations of Jewish law and ethics. Emanuel Deutsch was a scholar and author known for his expertise in Rabbinic literature and Jewish studies. His book reflects his dedication to preserving and explaining the teachings of the Talmud.

The Hebrew Folktale

The Hebrew Folktale PDF

Author: Eli Yassif

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2009-04-16

Total Pages: 594

ISBN-13: 9780253002624

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"The most comprehensive account of its subject now available, this impressive study lives up to the encyclopedic promise of its title." -- Choice The Hebrew Folktale seeks to find and define the folk-elements of Jewish culture. Through the use of generic distinctions and definitions developed in folkloristics, Yassif describes the major trends -- structural, thematic, and functional -- of folk narrative in the central periods of Jewish culture.

Rarest Blue

Rarest Blue PDF

Author: Baruch Sterman

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2012-11-20

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 0762790423

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For centuries, dyed fabrics ranked among the most expensive objects of the ancient Mediterranean world, fetching up to 20 times their weight in gold. Huge fortunes were made from and lost to them, and battles were fought over control of the industry. The few who knew the dyes’ complex secrets carefully guarded the valuable knowledge. The Rarest Blue tells the amazing story of tekhelet, or hyacinth blue, the elusive sky-blue dye mentioned 50 times in the Hebrew Bible. The Minoans discovered it; the Phoenicians stole the technique; Cleopatra adored it; and Jews—obeying a Biblical commandment to affix a single thread of the radiant color to the corner of their garments—risked their lives for it. But with the fall of the Roman Empire, the technique was lost to the ages. Then, in the nineteenth century, a marine biologist saw a fisherman smearing his shirt with snail guts, marveling as the yellow stains turned sky blue. But what was the secret? At the same time, a Hasidic master obsessed with reviving the ancient tradition posited that the source wasn’t a snail at all but a squid. Bitter fighting ensued until another rabbi discovered that one of them was wrong—but had an unscrupulous chemist deliberately deceived him? Baruch Sterman brilliantly recounts the complete, amazing story of this sacred dye that changed the color of history.

Circle Spinning

Circle Spinning PDF

Author: Cherie Karo Schwartz

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13:

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Come enter the world of CIRCLE SPINNING: JEWISH TURNING AND RETURNING TALES. In her third book, storyteller and author Cherie Karo Schwartz takes the reader on a pathway of spiraling interwoven stories. Drawing on the ancient jewish tradition of midrashim, she blends her renewing turnings of ancient tales, folk tales, original stories, and poetry into a seamless journey of Four Worlds and Four Elements discovery for dreamers and seekers. This book is enhanced with the superb paper-cut artistry of Lisa Rauchwerger. Her visual midrashim beautifully complement the stories in theme and intention.

The Portable Graham Greene

The Portable Graham Greene PDF

Author: Graham Greene

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2005-01-25

Total Pages: 561

ISBN-13: 0143039180

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In his essays, criticism, screenplays, autobiography, and novels, Graham Greene explored a territory located somewhere on the border between despair and faith, treachery and love. This cross-section of Greene’s work was originally selected with the author’s help in 1973 and has now been extensively revised and updated. It includes the complete novels The Heart of the Matter and The Third Man, along with excerpts from ten other novels; short stories; selections from Greene’s memoirs and travel writings; essays on English and American literature; and public statements on issues that range from repression in the Soviet Union to torture in Northern Ireland to the paradoxical virtue of disloyalty. An extensive critical and biographical introduction, headnotes, chronology, and bibliography by editor Philip Stratford make The Portable Graham Greene as invaluable for scholars as it is essential for any traveler through Greene’s richly menacing and strangely seductive literary landscapes. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Agnon's Tales of the Land of Israel

Agnon's Tales of the Land of Israel PDF

Author: Jeffrey Saks

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2021-08-13

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 1725278871

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“As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile,” S. Y. Agnon declared at the 1966 Nobel Prize ceremony. “But always I regarded myself as one who was born in Jerusalem.” Agnon’s act of literary imagination fueled his creative endeavor and is explored in these pages. Jerusalem and the Holy Land (to say nothing of the later State of Israel) are often two-faced in Agnon’s Hebrew writing. Depending on which side of the lens one views Eretz Yisrael through, the vision of what can be achieved there appears clearer or more distorted. These themes wove themselves into the presentations at an international conference convened in 2016 by the Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies in New York City, in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Agnon’s Nobel Prize. The essays from that conference, collected here, explore Zionism’s aspirations and shortcomings and the yearning for the Land from afar from S. Y. Agnon’s Galician hometown, which served as a symbol of Jewish longing worldwide. Contributing authors: Shulamith Z. Berger, Shalom Carmy, Zafrira Cohen Lidovsky, Steven Gine, Hillel Halkin, Avraham Holtz, Alan Mintz, Jeffrey Saks, Moshe Simkovich, Laura Wiseman, and Wendy Zierler