Social groups: religious groups and communities Books

Book SynopsisA family history of surpassing beauty and power: Ian Buruma’s account of his grandparents’ enduring love through the terror and separation of two world warsDuring the almost six years England was at war with Nazi Germany, Winifred and Bernard Schlesinger, Ian Buruma’s grandparents, and the film director John Schlesinger's parents, were, like so many others, thoroughly sundered from each other. Their only recourse was to write letters back and forth. And write they did, often every day. In a way they were just picking up where they left off in 1918, at the end of their first long separation because of the Great War that swept Bernard away to some of Europe’s bloodiest battlefields. The thousands of letters between them were part of an inheritance that ultimately came into the hands of their grandson, Ian Buruma. Now, in a labor of love that is also a powerful act of artistic creation, Ian Buruma has woven his own voice in with theirs to provide the

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Book SynopsisA graphic history that uses a theological disputation to explore interfaith relations, the complicated dynamics between Christians and Jews in medieval Spain, and the nature of truth.Trade ReviewCaputo has created a work that is intellectually fascinating and visually stimulating. * Ben Rothke, Israel Times *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Part I: Graphic history Chapter 1."Our lord king ordered me to debate Friar Paul..." Chapter 2. "We have three types of books..." Chapter 3. "Jesus never walked with the righteous in the Garden of Eden..." Chapter 4. "Moses, called master, having been summoned by the lord king..." Chapter 5. "I write this letter to you from Jerusalem..." Part II: The Primary Sources Document I: Nahmanides' Hebrew Account of the Barcelona Disputation Document II: The Latin Account of the Barcelona Disputation Document III: A letter from King James I permitting the Dominicans to compel Jews to attend public sermons and protecting the property and freedoms of those who convert Document IV: A letter from James I calling for the burning of copies of one of Maimonides' books on charges that it contained statements blaspheming Jesus Document V: Letter from James I to the Jewish communities of the Crown of Aragon instructing them to attend Friar Paul's sermons Document VI: Letter from James I limiting the friars' freedom to compel Jews to attend their sermons Document VII: James I's report of tribunal investigating charges that Nahmanides had blasphemed Document VIII: Letter of reprimand from Pope Clement IV to James I Document IX: Letter from Nahmanides to his son describing the physical landscape of Palestine. This document includes important demographic and political information as well as details about daily life in late thirteenth-century Palestine Document X: Selected canons from the Fourth Lateran Council concerning the statement of the Catholic creed, definition of heresy, a call for regulations governing Jewish business and public conduct, and a statement of privileges and rewards for those who participate in renewed military campaigns to the Holy Land Part III: Context 1. Reconquista and the Boundaries of Christendom 2. King James the Conqueror (1213-1276) 3. The Jews of Spain 4. Disputation in Medieval Society and Culture Part IV: Historiography Modern and Medieval Traces of the Barcelona Disputation Making This Book: Sources, Historical Narrative, and Visual Media Part V: Resources for Further Research Questions Sources for Additional Reading Glossary Maps and Figures

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A carefully plotted, awe-awakening journey through the evolution and adaptation of the Jewish Bible within a variety of cultures and settings. . . . Enrapturing. . . . Bibliophiles will find much here that fascinates. . . . The Jewish Bible is a fascinating look at a work whose materiality is shown to be inseparable from its meaning." -- Michelle Anne Schlingler * Foreword Reviews *"The Jewish Bible: A Material History will give you a great sense of the gift ancient and medieval scribes and scholars bequeathed to those who came after them." * Association of Mormon Letters *"Brilliant and fascinating. . . . In The Jewish Bible, Stern masterfully synthesizes this scholarship, offering a chronological history of Jewish sacred books from Qumran to the JPS Tanakh." -- Adam Kirsch * Jewish Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisThe Holocaust continues to leave survivors and their descendants, as well as historians, philosophers, and theologians, searching for words to convey the enormity of that event. This title identifies three such 'after-words': forgiveness, reconciliation, and justice. These words, though forever altered by the Holocaust, are still spoken and heard.Table of ContentsPrologue: "Did you say: after? Meaning what?"--David Patterson and John K. Roth Part One: Forgiveness 1/ Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Jewish Memory after Auschwitz--Peter J. Haas In Response: --Rachel N. Baum --Leonard Grob --Peter J. Haas 2/ The Face of Forgiveness in a Post-Holocaust World--Henry F. Knight In Response: --Britta Frede-Wenger --David Patterson --Henry F. Knight 3/ Forgiveness after the Holocaust--Didier Pollefeyt In Response: --Peter J. Haas --Juergen Manemann --Didier Pollefeyt Part Two: Reconciliation 4/ Useless Experience: Its Significance for Reconciliation after Auschwitz--John K. Roth In Response: --Rachel N. Baum --Didier Pollefeyt --John K. Roth 5/ Anthropological Remarks on Reconciliation after Auschwitz--Britta Frede-Wenger In Response: --Juergen Manemann --Didier Pollefeyt --Britta Frede-Wenger 6/ Struggles for Recognition in an Era of Globalization: The Necessity of a Theology of Reconciliation from a Political-Theological Perspective after Auschwitz--Juergen Manemann In Response: --Peter J. Haas --David Patterson --Juergen Manemann Part Three: Justice 7/ G-d, World, Humanity: Jewish Reflections on Justice after Auschwitz--David Patterson In Response: --Britta Frede-Wenger --John K. Roth --David Patterson 8/ The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Just Reconciliation in the Shadows of the Holocaust--Leonard Grob In Response: --Henry F. Knight --John K. Roth --Leonard Grob 9/ The Post-Holocaust Jewish Heart--Rachel N. Baum In Response: --Leonard Grob --Henry F. Knight --Rachel N. Baum Postscript: An After That is Yet to Be--David Patterson and John K. Roth Bibliography About the Editors and Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisConsiders how teacher/student relations sustain and renew the Jewish traditionTrade Review"The book was written to be accessible and its insights, literary and education, are relevant to the many readers of these rabbinic sources, and to teachers and lecturers seeking insight from Jewish sources." -- Pinchas Roth * Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews *"Her book wonderfully demonstrates the creative interplay between traditional learning and contemporary intellectual freedom . . . Rabbis, and all of us, would do well to internalize Handelman's call to see teaching as not an add-on but a central category of human experience." -- Yehudah Mirsky * Jewish Ideas Daily *"Handelman’s book drew me into a world I knew little about, providing a heretofore neglected, but intriguing space for thinking about the teacher-student relationship. . . . That Handelman wrote this book when bombs were exploding throughout Jerusalem – including at the university where she teaches – demonstrates that the teacher-student relationship lives, and may be even more critical, during crises." -- Mitzi J. Smith * Teaching Theology & Religion *Table of ContentsPreface A Note on Translation and Transliteration of Hebrew Notes on Notes Introduction "I Only Want the Piece Which Is in Your Mouth" 1. "Torah of the Belly": Rabbi Eliezer Starves for a Teacher 2. "The Gates of Wounded Feelings"" Rabbi Eliezer Is Banned 3. "Father! Father! Israel's Chariot and Its Horsemen!": The Passing of Rabbi Eliezer Epilogue Notes Selected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisExplores the response of Israel's Nobel laureate S Y Agnon to the privileged position of the Song of Songs in Israeli culture. This book recasts Israeli biblicism as a peculiar chapter within the history of biblical exegesis.Trade Review"In her vital contribution to Agnon studies, Ilana Pardes delivers a richly multifaceted exploration…[that]will be valuable reading for any dedicated student of modern Hebrew literature and culture. Its impact on Agnon scholarship will surely be significant and lasting." -- Ramen Omer-Sherman * Hebrew Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments 1. Introduction: Upon the Handles of the Lock 2. The Song of Songs as Cultural Text: From the European Enlightenment to Israeli Biblicism 3. Rechnitz’s Botany of Love: The Song of Seaweed 4. The Biblical Ethnographies of “Edo and Enam” and the Quest for the Ultimate Song Epilogue Forevermore Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWhat is Jewish cooking in France?That is the question that has haunted Joan Nathan over the years and driven her to unearth the secrets of this hidden cuisine. Now she gives us the fruits of her quest in this extraordinary book, a treasure trove of delectable kosher recipes and the often moving stories behind them, interlaced with the tumultuous two-thousand-year history of the Jewish presence in France.In her search, Nathan takes us into kitchens in Paris, Alsace, and the Loire Valley; she visits the bustling Belleville market in Little Tunis in Paris; she breaks bread around the observation of the Sabbath and the celebration of special holidays. All across France she finds that Jewish cooking is more alive than ever. Traditional dishes are honored, yet many have acquired a French finesse and reflect regional differences. The influx of Jewish immigrants from North Africa following Algerian independence has brought exciting new flavors and techniques that have infiltrat

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Book SynopsisOn his popular science blog, Pharyngula, PZ Myers has entertained millions of readers with his infectious love of evolutionary science and his equally infectious disdain for creationism, biblical literalism, intelligent design theory, and other products of godly illogic. This funny and fearless book collects and expands on some of his most popular writings, giving the religious fanaticism of our times the gleeful disrespect it deserves by skewering the apocalyptic fantasies, magical thinking, hypocrisies, and pseudoscientific theories advanced by religious fundamentalists of all stripes. Forceful and articulate, scathing and funny, The Happy Atheist is a reaffirmation of the revelatory power of humor and the truth-revealing powers of science and reason.

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Book Synopsis A deeply moving memoir that confronts the defining trauma of the twentieth century, and its effects on a father and son. In 1939, Jonathan Lichtenstein's father Hans escaped Nazi-occupied Berlin as a child refugee on the Kindertransport. Almost every member of his family died after Kristallnacht, and, upon arriving in England to make his way in the world alone, Hans turned his back on his German Jewish culture. Growing up in post-war rural Wales where the conflict was never spoken of, Jonathan and his siblings were at a loss to understand their father's relentless drive and sometimes eccentric behavior. As Hans enters old age, he and Jonathan set out to retrace his journey back to Berlin. Written with tenderness and grace, The Berlin Shadow is a highly compelling story about time, trauma, family, and a father and son's attempt to emerge from the shadows of history.

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Book SynopsisA compelling memoir—hilarious and heartbreaking (The New York Times)—of two intertwined journeys: a Jewish refugee family in Ukraine fleeing persecution and a young man seeking to reclaim a shattered pastIn the twilight of the Cold War (the late 1980s), nine-year old Lev Golinkin and his family cross the Soviet border, leaving Ukraine with only ten suitcases, $600, and the vague promise of help awaiting in Vienna. Years later, Lev, now an American adult, sets out to retrace his family's long trek, locate the strangers who fought for his freedom, and in the process, gain a future by understanding his past.This is the vivid, darkly comic, and poignant story of Lev Golinkin in the confusing and often chilling final decade of the Soviet Union, and of a Jewish family’s escape from oppression ... whose drama, hope and heartache Mr. Golinkin captures brilliantly” (The New York Times). It's also the story of Lev Golinkin as an Americ

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Book SynopsisA single photograph—an exceptionally rare “action shot” documenting the horrific murder of a Jewish family—drives a riveting forensic investigation by a gifted Holocaust scholar. In 2009, the acclaimed author of Hitler’s Furies was shown a photograph just brought to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The documentation of the Holocaust is vast, but there are virtually no images of a Jewish family at the actual moment of murder, in this case by German officials and Ukrainian collaborators. A Ukrainian shooter’s rifle is inches from a woman’s head, obscured in a cloud of smoke. The woman is bending forward, holding the hand of a barefoot boy. And—only one of the shocking revelations of Wendy Lower’s brilliant ten-year investigation of this image—the photograph reveals the shins of another child, slipping from the woman’s lap.  Wendy Lower’s gripping detective work—in Ukraine, Germany, Slovakia, Israel, and the United States—recovers astonishing layers of detail concerning the open-air massacres in Ukraine. The identities of the victims, of the killers—and, remarkably, of the photographer who openly took the picture, as a secret act of resistance—are dramatically uncovered. Finally, in the hands of this exceptional scholar, a single image unlocks a new understanding of the place of the family unit in the history and aftermath of Nazi genocide.

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Book SynopsisA National Book Award FinalistOne of 100 Notable Book of 2024 at The New York Times Selected for NPR's Books We Love 2024 A New Yorker Best Book of the Year (So Far) and Los Angeles Times Must-Read Glows on every page . . . nearly miraculous.-The Boston Globe Marvelous. -The New York Times From the Pulitzer Prize winner Eliza Griswold, Circle of Hope is an intimate portrait of a church, its radical mission, and its riveting crisis. The revolution I wanted to be part of was in the church. Americans have been leaving their churches. Some drift away. Some stay home. And some have been searching for-and finding-more authentic ways to find and follow Jesus. This is the story of one such radical outpost of Jesus followers dedicated to service, the Sermon on the Mount, and working toward justice f

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Book SynopsisAn essential exploration of a rich literary tradition from the Bible to modern times, by a “rare literary authority” (New York Times Book Review) and “one of our keenest critics” (Washington Post).Trade Review"[A]n astute and accessible introduction to 18 Jewish literary classics... [Kirsch's] laser focus on these works' most topical themes makes them feel so urgent that curious readers of any religious persuasion will want to read them all." -- Dara Horn - Wall Street Journal"Lucid, vivid and likely to provide helpful instruction… [Kirsch] has, like Simon Schama, a keen eye for the revelatory detail in discussing his historical subjects." -- New York Times Book Review"Anyone looking for a single-volume introduction to Jewish civilization… will find nothing better in print… A deeply serious meditation on the meaning of Jewish existence.""[A]n entertaining and enlightening review of eighteen classic works and, at the same time, Judaism’s most important ideas and ideals. It deserves to be on the Jewish bookshelf along with the eighteen books it opens for its reader." -- Jewish Book Council"Through profiles of eighteen indelible figures and chronicles...Adam Kirsch uncovers the unfailing excitements of a living, creative, and abiding civilization. And more: in this superbly clarifying panorama, he illumines how in the history of ideas Jews, despite so many permutations of approach, have faithfully adhered to a single sublime Idea." -- Cynthia Ozick"The people of the book are often unaware of the books of their people. Kirsch opens, unfurls, and illuminates the great works of Jewish tradition and history; he is our intellectual Sherpa, guiding us sure-footedly through the heights." -- Rabbi David Wolpe, author of David: The Divided Heart"Luminous… The secret of the Jews, [Kirsch] shows, is found within these classic works. Anyone interested in penetrating that secret should read The People and the Books." -- Jonathan D. Sarna, University Professor and Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University

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Book SynopsisOne of the most dramatic explorations of a German town in the grip of anti-Semitic passion ever written.Trade Review"[A] pioneering study, at once tightly focused and broadly conceived…This is a lucid exemplar of social and cultural history at its best." -- Peter Gay"Smith brilliantly pursues the many clues in the case, tracing the transformation of lies, gossip, spurious facts, and the reporting of the anti-Semitic press into conviction." -- Barbara Fisher - Boston Globe"As absorbing as a mystery novel…stimulating, thoughtfully argued, informative and eye-opening." -- Merle Rubin - Los Angeles Times"Chilling…reads like a thrilling true-crime story." -- The Forward"This powerful volume will appeal to true-crime readers and anyone interested in the dynamics that can turn a peaceful community into a place of hatred and violence." -- Publishers Weekly"A disturbing and often downright frightening examination of how easily 'civilized' societies can succumb to their prejudices and cross over into hysterical barbarism." -- Jay Freeman - Booklist

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Book Synopsis"A feast for the eyes...bringing alive a long vanished world that's still eerily present."--Daniel Czitrom, New York PostTrade Review"...the scope of the Forward is extraordinary and its raw material-20th century Jewish life-a source for hundreds of provocative, devastating, illuminating, inspiring and heartwarming images." Photoicon "Not only an amazing book, but an invaluable artifact, and a work of art." Jonathan Safran Foer"

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Book SynopsisA detailed look at the fast-growing field of Islamic finance and banking The guiding principle of Islamic finance has existed throughout Islamic history, yet modern Islamic banking has been around for a relatively short period of time. Author Amr Mohamed El Tiby is an expert in this field, and with this new book, he reveals how you can benefit from the use of Islamic banking strategies in your financial endeavors. Engaging and accessible, Islamic Banking shows the impact this approach has made on conventional banking since the 1950s, and why it''s such a big player in the current market. It offers a unique look at various aspects of this field, including the salient features of Islamic banking that distinguishes it from non-Islamic banking, the development of the regulatory bodies and supervisory agencies that support the Islamic banking system, and much more. It also explores the nature of risk in Islamic banking and the issues of capital adequacy, corporate governanTable of ContentsList of Tables. Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. Part I: Understanding the Origins. Chapter 1: Introduction to Islamic Banking. Chapter 2: History and Development of Islamic Banking. Part II: Risk in Islamic Banking. Chapter 3: The Nature of Risk in Islamic Banking. Chapter 4: The Inherent Risk in Islamic Banking Instruments. Chapter 5: Operational Risk in Islamic Banking. Chapter 6: The Islamic Capital Market. Part III: Capital Adequacy. Chapter 7: The Importance and Role of Capital Literature Review. Chapter 8: The Regulatory Framework of the Conventional Banking System: Basel I and II. Chapter 9: The Regulatory Framework of Islamic Banks. Part IV: Corporate Governance. Chapter 10: The Supervisory Review Process and Issues. Chapter 11: Corporate Governance in Islamic Banking. Chapter 12: Market Discipline and Transparency in Islamic Banking. Chapter 13: Challenges Facing Islamic Banking and Recommendations. Abbreviations. Glossary. References. About the Author. Index.

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Book SynopsisA piercing portrait of the struggles and triumphs of one of America''s renowned Jewish neighborhoods in the wake of unspeakable tragedy that highlights the hopes, fears, and tensions all Americans must confront on the road to healing.Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in the country, known for its tight-knit community and the profusion of multigenerational families. On October 27, 2018, a gunman killed eleven Jews who were worshipping at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill--the most deadly anti-Semitic attack in American history. Many neighborhoods would be understandably subsumed by despair and recrimination after such an event, but not this one. Mark Oppenheimer poignantly shifts the focus away from the criminal and his crime, and instead presents the historic, spirited community at the center of this heartbreak. He speaks with residents and nonresidents, Jews and gentiles, survivors and witnesses, teenagers and se

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Book SynopsisA perennial favorite with more than 200 holiday recipes from top chefs and writers, The New York Times Passover Cookbook includes beloved family recipes and innovative kosher cuisine that will make your holiday particularly savory and festive. Compiled by Linda Amster and featuring mouthwatering contributions from Craig Claiborne, Mimi Sheraton, Wolfgang Puck, Alice Waters, and many others, The New York Times Passover Cookbook offers a cornucopia of delights to add magic to your Seder meal…and to any family gathering thereafter!

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Book SynopsisBeautifully and evocatively rendered, this memoir endures as an example of post-war narrative at its finest.Jankele Kuperblum was just nine years old when he returned home and found his family gone. The night before, Germans had come to his town in rural Poland and taken away all the Jews. Now alone in the world, he has to change his name, forget his language, and abandon his religion in order to survive. Jack wanders through Nazi-occupied Poland for four years with no place to hide and no one to trust.

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Book SynopsisPresents trends in American Catholic opinion from 1987 to 2005, using four identical surveys, which depict trends in Catholics' views of the sacraments, church authority, church teachings in the area of sex and gender, and strength of Catholic identity.Trade ReviewIf you want to know who Catholics are, how they feel, and what they think, this is the book to read. -- E. J. DionneThe most definitive study of American Catholics' beliefs and practices to date! This revealing book is 'must reading' for pastors and teachers who want to understand the lay audience to which they wish to communicate the faith. New, more nuanced, analysis and use of multiple sources for their data make this the best social portrait yet of the Catholic laity and their commitments to their faith and their church. -- Terrence W. Tilley, Professor and Chair, Department of Theology, Fordham UniversityThe teachings of the Church are clearly stated and widely known. However, what Catholics actually believe and practice often differs from official teachings and is more difficult to know. This book tells us what contemporary Catholics are thinking about their Church. And it tells us in detail, by generation, how committed and active they are in their belonging. Younger Catholics relate to the Church differently from older Catholics and the future does not look like the past. Anyone who has responsibility in the Church-from the bishops to the parishioners-will benefit from reading this book whether or not one likes the data and conclusions. To form Catholics in their faith, it is important to be informed by Catholics themselves. While the Church does not formulate its doctrine according to sociological data, it would be wise to pay attention to such data when it constructs its policies. -- Chester Gillis, Georgetown University; author of Roman Catholicism in AmericaAmerican Catholics Today offers a clear snapshot of what it means to be Catholic at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Built on twenty years of church research, American Catholics Today is a must-read for Church leaders who wish to respond creatively to the pastoral challenges facing the Church in the U.S. today. An invaluable, informative and insightful resource for exploring questions of Catholic identity, commitment, church authority, leadership and lay participation in the Church! -- Sr. Sharon A. Euart, RSM, JCD, Canon Law ConsultantWill be of interest to those involved in Church leadership and those interested in what Catholics think about various topics. * Curled Up With A Good Book, (Www.Curledup.Com) *The book presents the important findings of the survey in clearly labeled tables for quick reference and the data are described in a readable style that will quickly draw in those interested in American Catholicism. -- Aisha S. Taylor * Conscience *Once again, four of the premier observers of contemporary Catholic life in the United States have combined their considerable expertise to provide a thoughtful view of lay Catholic attitudes. Through the data that they have collected, but more importantly through their insightful analysis of that data, they have provided an invaluable snapshot of the U.S. Catholic Church in the early years of the third millennium. As with their previous books, this book is must reading for anyone who cares about the Church, especially those in leadership positions. -- Charles Zech, Center for Church Management and Business Ethics, Villanova UniversityI know — bar none — of no better overview anywhere else than American Catholics Today for presenting carefully garnered data and astute interpretations about what American Catholics think about church authority; core belief items; moral issues, such as serving the poor or abortion; politics; how gender, generation or political beliefs effect Catholic religious practice. This volume will be a valued and indispensable constant companion for all thoughtful students of American religion, sociology of religion or pastoral workers in the Catholic Church in America. -- John A. Coleman S.J., Casassa Professor of Social Values, Loyola Marymount University, Los AngelesThis book is unique among social science books on Catholicism in that it offers analysis of survey data documenting trends over the past eighteen years as well as interweaving a number of other sociological studies that clarify and corroborate their findings. This is a most important book for all church leaders to read and discuss whatever their liberal or conservative persuasions might be. -- Dr. Michael J. McCallion, Rev. William Cunningham Chair in Catholic Social Analysis, Sacred Heart Major SeminaryAmerican Catholics Today is a rich resource for nurturing the pastoral imagination, inviting response to "good news" such as the stability of Catholic identity, and the "bad news" of diminishing commitment to the Church. Ordained and lay leaders will find many challenges in such trends as the increasing dependence on individual conscience, diminished trust in bishops, low involvement of young adults in church life and the growing desire for greater lay participation in decision-making.The book's portrait of U.S. Catholics is based on impressive research and is presented with eminent fairness. * Commonweal Magazine *We think the studies are important to understanding the church in the United States. Some of the findings, however, could be disturbing to church leaders and others who would rather ignore the evidence and continuing imagining a church that doesn't exist. * National Catholic Reporter *We recommend American Catholics Today to anyone who wants to know what Catholics are really thinking! * America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture *Amidst this turmoil, American Catholics Today, the latest in a series of surveys of American Catholics conducted since 1980s by William D'Antonio, James Davidson, Dean Hoge, and Mary Gautier, offers both reassurance and a call to action. As in their previous books, D'Antonio et al. provide an easy-to-read descriptive account based on a broad swath of data examining Catholics' beliefs and doctrinal attitudes, and their commitment to the church and to a Catholic identity. * American Catholic Studies, 2008 *American Catholics Today is an important book, both for the number of findings about U.S. Catholics from preceeding studies, which it confirms, and for the new findings, which it reveals for the first time. . . . In summary, therefore, I believe that the authors have done the church an invaluable service by writing this book. -- . * Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, March 2008 *The study is extremely valuable. -- . * Catholic Library World, March 2008 *Cogent and challenging conclusions are offered. Readers will be challenged to explore how the book's findings relate in each ministry setting and to determine how to act to strengthen Catholic identity and commitment. -- November/December 2007 * Rite, November/December 2007 *What makes this book so enlightening is...the inclusion of personal stories that put some flesh on the bones of the bare data. * America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture, February 2009 *This timely and thought-provoking book carefully interprets 18 years of gathered evidence and prognostications about the next generation of Catholicism in America....This wonderful book is essential reading for all those involved in church leadership and for the ordinary person in the pew. Enlightening, challenging, and threatening, it is recommended for all libraries. * Library Journal *Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Catholic Laity, Catholic Faith, and the Catholic Church Chapter 2 Catholic Identity: Analysis and Trends Chapter 3 American Catholics' Commitment to the Institutional Church Chapter 4 The Sacraments: Trends and Variations Chapter 5 Problems Facing the Catholic Church Chapter 6 American Catholics and Church Authority Chapter 7 Church Leadership and Lay Involvement Chapter 8 Religion and Politics among American Catholics Chapter 9 Conclusions: Summary and Implications Part 10 Appendix A -Catholic Education Part 11 Appendix B - Hispanic Catholics Part 12 Appendix C - The 2005 Gallup Survey

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Book SynopsisNATIONAL BESTSELLERFor readers of All Things Consoled by Elizabeth Hay and They Left Us Everything by Plum Johnson, Kiss the Red Stairs is a compelling memoir by award-winning journalist Marsha Lederman delves into her parents’ Holocaust stories in the wake of her own divorce, investigating how trauma migrates through generations with empathy, humour, and resilience.With compelling Holocaust stories, deep research into trauma theory, and a powerful personal narrative about family and motherhood, the book brings together subjects readers are fascinated by with humour, empathy and raw emotion.Marsha was five when a simple question led to a horrifying answer. Sitting in her kitchen, she asked her mother why she didn’t have any grandparents. Her mother told her the truth: the Holocaust.Decades later, her parents dead and herself a mother to a young son, Marsha begins to wonder how much history has shaped her own life. Reeling in the wake of a divorce, she craves her parents’ help. But in their absence, she is gripped by a need to understand the trauma they suffered, and she begins her own journey into the past to tell her family’s stories of loss and resilience.Kiss the Red Stairs is a compelling memoir of Holocaust survival, intergenerational trauma, divorce, and discovery that will guide readers through several lifetimes of monumental change.

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Book SynopsisIn A Time for Planting, Eli Faber recounts these earliest days of Jewish life in America, as Jews from Lisbon to Amsterdam to London extended the wanderings of their centuries-old diaspora.Trade ReviewBecause of the small numbers involved, Eli Faber in this work can follow families, specific communities, and even individuals in gratifying detail. Throughout, his focus is on the persisting tension between preserving the distinctive community on the one hand and, on the other, seeking some identification with the surrounding society... In workmanlike prose Faber demonstrates how patterns of accommodation and survival were set well before large numbers of Jews began arriving in this latter day promised land. -- Edwin S. Gaustad Journal of American Ethnic HistoryTable of ContentsSeries Editor's ForewordPreface and AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1. Origins and AntecedentsChapter 2. The Atlantic World of Colonial JewryChapter 3. CommunityChapter 4. Fitting InChapter 5. The Jewish Communities of the Early RepublicChapter 6. A Second Jerusalem?Conclusion: The Significance of Early American JewryNotesBibliographical EssayIndex

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Book Synopsisand their strategies for survival.Trade ReviewA must reading for anyone doing serious study of the Hutterites... An excellent history of the Hutterites... [which] will serve for many years to come as a good benchmark for an analysis of change in the way of life of this extraordinary group. Mennonite Life A fine study of the oldest Western communal society, originally Moravian, who live now on the American and Canadian plains. New York Times Book Review An impressive picture of a people who share the general Anabaptist rejection of worldly thrills and pleasures, but who have a special distinction of their own-a strict devotion to communal living that has endured with little change for more than four centuries. Time Hutterite Society, an even more impressive work than Hostetler's earlier Amish Society, is surely destined to become a minor classic widely read and acclaimed by scholars and the general public. Sociology Essential to any study of Hutterites. American Historical ReviewTable of ContentsPreface to the Paperback EditionPrefaceIntroductionPart I: Historical DevelopmentChapter 1. The Birth of Hutterite Society Chapter 2. The Golden Period in MoraviaChapter 3. The Decline and Fate of The Eastern European Communities Chapter 4. Life in RussiaChapter 5. Adaptation to the North American EnvironmentPart II: Contemporary Social and Cultural OrganizationChapter 6. World View and LanguageChapter 7. Colony OrganizationChapter 8. Subsistence and Economic PatternsChapter 9. Schooling and Preparation for LifeChapter 10. Adult Life PatternsPart III: The Problems and Techniques of SurvivalChapter 11. The Social Problems of Communal LivingChapter 12. The Strategy of Hutterite SurvivalAppendixesSelected BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisBaltimore has a strong and historically important Jewish presence, and this book engagingly tells the story of that community.Trade ReviewBooks like Sandler's restore ethnicism's good name. Baltimore Sun As a professional historian who writes about Baltimore, I learned much from this book, and I spent several delightful evenings visiting a little world that is now rapidly moving from living memory into the silence of history. -- Joseph L. Arnold American Jewish History

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Book SynopsisAs a result, Carroll concludes, Penitente membership facilitated the "rise of the modernin New Mexico and-however unintentionally-made it that much easier, after the territory's annexation by the United States, for the Anglo legal system to dispossess Hispanos of their land.Trade ReviewA richly circumstantial, well-presented, and interesting account of the New Mexico Penitentes... The Penitente Brotherhood offers readers looking for a historical introduction to this Hispanic confraternity a generous account... I highly recommend reading the book. -- Roy R. Barkley Catholic Southwest 2004 In the popular mind, the Penitentes are a late medieval revival and a quaint and irrelevant example of popular religiosity. For anyone who wants to know the real story, this controversial book-with the hallmarks of academic scholarship and the narrative line of a novel-might fit the bill. Catholic Library World 2004 Carroll's multifaceted recounting of Hispano Catholicism in historic New Mexico is well written and compelling. Contemporary Sociology A gifted, lucid writer and a great narrator of fiction... Carroll's approach refreshes the literature. -- Michelle Madsen Camacho Catholic Historical Review 2007 Carroll is a storyteller... He creates a convincing narrative from the primary sources and the logic of scientific theory available to him. -- Christopher Vecsey Church History 2007 A book that requires a careful read in order to acknowledge its full impact... It raises new issues and perspectives that future Penitente scholarship will have to address as we struggle to interpret this critical history. -- Alberto Lopez Pulido Studies in Religion / Sciences Religieuses 2007 Innovative and lasting contributions. -- Enrique R. Lamadrid Sociology of Religion 2007Table of ContentsContents:List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsINTRODUCTION Juan de Onate's Severed Foot and Other Good StoriesONE Penitente Historiography and Its ProblemsTWO The Golden Age: Hispano Piety before 1800THREE Awash in a (Very Small) Sea of Crimson Blood: Flagellation in Pre-Penitente New MexicoFOUR Suffering Fathers and the Crisis of Patriarchal AuthorityFIVE Padre Martinez of Taos and the Meaning of DisciplineSIX The Penitentes and the Rise of the Modern New MexicoSEVEN Stories That Connect to Guilt and RageEPILOGUE The Stories We Tell about Subaltern Groups Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAn Amish Paradox captures the complexity and creativity of the Holmes County Amish, dispelling the image of the Amish as a vestige of a bygone era and showing how they reinterpret tradition as modernity encroaches on their distinct way of life.Trade ReviewHurst and McConnell's thorough, readable analysis of the world's largest Amish settlement is fascinating from a variety of perspectives... Highly recommended. Choice 2011 Hurst and McConnell, obviously sympathetic to the Amish they study, are to be commended for their extensive research and their careful attention to nuance and exception. -- Robert Brenneman American Journal of Sociology 2011 A number of excellent books have been written about the Amish in recent years and An Amish Paradox joins the ranks of the best of them. A wonderful book. -- Elizabeth C. Cooksey Journal of Contemporary Religion 2011 A number of excellent books have been written about the Amish in recent years and An Amish Paradox joins the ranks of the best of them. Sociologist Charles Hurst and Anthropologist David McConnell not only bring an interdisciplinary expertise to their study, but also an intimate knowledge of the Amish in Ohio's Holmes County Settlement area, as well as a sense of adventure, as they lead theirreaders on a journey through various domains of Amish life. Their presentation is knowledgeable, measured, and thoughtful and their clear and straightforward style of writing takes one through many facets of Amish life in Ohio at a horse and buggy pace-fast enough to cover the territory and maintain one's interest, but slowly enough to point out the changing scenery en route and to really giveone a sense of the complex nuances that make up everyday Amish life. Journal of Contemporary Religion 2011 An Amish Paradox is a richly detailed and highly readable account of one settlement of Amish, perhaps the most visible ethnic religious minority in the United States. It is well-researched and free of jargon... [A] good choice for an advanced course in anthropology or sociology on religion, ethnicity, community, identity, or social change. -- Jonathan G. Andelson Anthropological Quarterly 2011Table of ContentsList of Figures, Maps, and TablesPrefaceAcknowledgments1. Discovering the Holmes County Amish2. The Origins of Religious Diversity3. Coping with Church Schism4. Continuity and Change in Family Life5. The Changing Landscape of Learning6. Work Within and Outside Tradition7. Health along the Life Cycle8. Stepping Back and Looking ForwardAppendixesA. MethodologyB. Ohio Amish Settlements, 2008C. Holmes County Settlement Amish Church Schisms, 1900–2001NotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisReligious scholars, anthropologists, and historians of America and the Anabaptist faiths will find this objective-yet-appreciative account of the Hutterites' distinct North American culture to be a valuable and fascinating study both of the religion and of a viable alternative to modern-day capitalism.Trade ReviewA comprehensive and appealing description of Hutterites that should become a definitive work and read by those looking for an interesting book in the field of American religion. -- Steve Longnecker Church History 2011 An excellent resource for understanding the contemporary culture of an Anabaptist congregation few North Americans know. Choice 2011 This book is an essential synthesis of Hutterite history and culture. -- Steven D. Reschly Journal of American History 2011 The book provides a very readable brief description of just about every aspect of Hutterite life. -- Wilma Ann Bailey Indiana Magazine of History 2011Table of ContentsList of Figures, Tables, and MapsPrefaceAcknowledgments1. Communal Christians in North America2. Origins and History3. Immigration and Settlement in North America4. Four Hutterite Branches5. Beliefs and Practices6. Life Patterns and Rites of Passage7. Identity, Tradition, and Folk Beliefs8. Education and Cultural Continuity9. Colony Structure, Governance, and Economics10. Population, Demography, and Defection11. Managing Technology and Social Change12. Relationships with Non-Hutterites13. Facing the FutureAppendix: Hutterite Colonies in North America, 2009GlossaryNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTells the story of how author and her long-time friend Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi found a way to confront ugly stereotypes and persistent misperceptions that were cleaving their communities.Trade ReviewPULITZER PRIZE FINALISTNATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALISTNamed A Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post and The Denver Post A vibrant tale of a friendship... If the Oceans Were Ink is a welcome and nuanced look at Islam [and] goes a long way toward combating the dehumanizing stereotypes of Muslims that are all too common... If the Oceans Were Ink should be mandatory reading for the 52 percent of Americans who admit to not knowing enough about Muslims. The Washington Post Journalist Power writes about her year studying the Quran with a Muslim scholar she befriended while working at a think tank in London. For some, this will be a strong introduction to Islam. To others, it's fodder for discussion on the Sheikh's views, how Westerners (such as Power) interpret those views and the interplay of culture and religion. The Denver Post For all those who wonder what Islam says about war and peace, men and women, Jews and gentiles, this is the book to read. It is a conversation among well-meaning friends--intelligent, compassionate, and revealing--the kind that needs to be taking place around the world. Fareed Zakaria, author of The Post-American World With a journalist s mind for the story, a born traveler s heart for the adventure of crossing borders, and a seeker s yen for the poetry and mysticism of belief, Power creates an exceptional record of a timeless quest. Merritt Tierce, a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree and author of Love Me Back An inspiring story of two [people] from different worlds who refuse to let religious and cultural differences, prejudice, and ignorance get in the way of their friendship, If the Oceans Were Ink is as thought-provoking as it is elegantly written. It takes a difficult, highly charged topic and puts it into terms that are not only understandable and eye-opening, but beautiful. Bustle (11 Beautifully Written Memoirs by Women) [Carla Power and Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi's] conversations break down stereotypes... Power displays the diversity and intellectual richness of the practicing Muslim world, and shows how much we have to gain from mutual understanding. Shelf Awareness Carla Power's intimate portrait of the Quran, told with nuance and great elegance, captures the extraordinary, living debate over the Muslim holy book's very essence. A spirited, compelling read. Azadeh Moaveni, author of Lipstick Jihad Engaging Together [Carla Power and the Sheikh] explore the significance of veiling and unveiling, the struggle against unjust rulers and jihad, and contemporary wars. Power's narrative offers an accessible and enlightening route into a topic fraught with misunderstanding. Publishers Weekly Unique, masterful, and deeply engaging. Carla Power takes the reader on an extraordinary journey in interfaith understanding as she debates and discovers the Quran's message, meaning, and values on peace and violence, gender and veiling, religious pluralism and tolerance. John L. Esposito, University Professor and Professor of Islamic Studies, Georgetown University, and author of The Future of Islam Lively Intelligent and exceptionally informative. Kirkus Reviews A thoughtful, provocative, intelligent book. Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Birds Of Paradise and The Language of Baklava Their yearlong debates on issues ranging from the veiling of women to calls for fatwas challenged their own understandings of religion, culture, politics, and friendship and offer powerful new insights into Islam. Booklist If the Oceans Were Ink opens a door to the power of the Quran's lyrical and complex prose to inspire, comfort, and ignite hearts everywhere. A must read for anyone wishing to understand a global community's central spiritual source. Dalia Mogahed, Director of Research, The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, and co-author of Who Speaks for Islam? A former foreign correspondent for Newsweek raised partly in the Middle East and boasting a graduate degree in Middle Eastern studies from Oxford, Power spent a year reading the Quran with a longtime friend, Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi. Their experience led them beyond stereotypes to a constructive understanding for the text's call for peace and equality. Great for book clubs. Library Journal There are many intriguing books that trace the encounter of Westerners with Muslims from traditional backgrounds. Some of these books are love stories, others are clashes. Carla Power's If the Oceans Were Ink is something more radical, magical, and much more relevant: a religious encounter mediated through a gentle friendship, one that is committed to a dialogue and a search for truth. In a world characterized by so much tension and polemic, Power offers what might be our best hope for a better tomorrow: an intelligent friendship. Most enthusiastically recommended. Omid Safi, Director, Duke Islamic Studies Center "

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Book SynopsisBegun in 1690, this diary of a forty-four-year-old German Jewish widow, mother of fourteen children, tells how she guided the financial and personal destinies of her children, how she engaged in trade, ran her own factory, and promoted the welfare of her large family. Her memoir, a rare account of an ordinary woman, enlightens not just her children, for whom she wrote it, but all posterity about her life and community. Gluckel speaks to us with determination and humor from the seventeenth century. She tells of war, plague, pirates, soldiers, the hysteria of the false messiah Sabbtai Zevi, murder, bankruptcy, wedding feasts, births, deaths, in fact, of all the human events that befell her during her lifetime. She writes in a matter of fact way of the frightening and precarious situation under which the Jews of northern Germany lived. Accepting this situation as given, she boldly and fearlessly promotes her business, her family and her faith. This memoir is a document in the history of w

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Book SynopsisFilled with princesses and witches, dybbuks and wonder-working rebbes, the two hundred tales that make up this delightful compendium were gathered during the 1920s and 1930s by ethnographers in the small towns and villages of Eastern Europe. Collected from people of all walks of life, they include parables and allegories about life, luck, and wisdom; tales of magic and wonder; poignant encounters between rabbis and their disciples; and stories whose only purpose is to entertain. Long after the culture that produced them tragically disappeared, these enchanting Yiddish folktales continue to work their magic today.With black-and-white illustrations throughoutPart of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

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Book SynopsisNATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FINALISTWINNER OF THE 2012 AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION’S SOPHIE BRODY AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN JEWISH LITERATURE Sacred Trash tells the remarkable story of the Cairo Geniza—a synagogue repository for worn-out texts that turned out to contain the most vital cache of Jewish manuscripts ever discovered. This tale of buried communal treasure weaves together unforgettable portraits of Solomon Schechter and the other modern heroes responsible for the collection’s rescue with explorations of the medieval documents themselves—letters and poems, wills and marriage contracts, Bibles, money orders, fiery dissenting religious tracts, fashion-conscious trousseaux lists, prescriptions, petitions, and mysterious magical charms. Presenting a pan­oramic view of almost a thousand years of vibrant Mediterranean Judaism, Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole bring contemporary readers into the heart of thi

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Book SynopsisOn December 17, 1862, just weeks before Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, General Grant issued what remains the most notorious anti-Jewish order by a government official in American history. His attempt to eliminate black marketeers by targeting for expulsion all Jews as a class from portions of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi unleashed a firestorm of controversy that made newspaper headlines and terrified and enraged the approximately 150,000 Jews then living in the United States, who feared the importation of European anti-Semitism onto American soil.Although the order was quickly rescinded by a horrified Abraham Lincoln, the scandal came back to haunt Grant when he ran for president in 1868. Never before had Jews become an issue in a presidential contest and never before had they been confronted so publicly with the question of how to balance their American and Jewish interests. Award-winning historian Jonathan D. Sarna gives us the first compl

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Book SynopsisJewish holidays are defined by food. Yet Jewish cooking is always changing, encompassing the flavors of the world, embracing local culinary traditions of every place in which Jews have lived and adapting them to Jewish observance. This collection, the culmination of Joan Nathan’s decades of gathering Jewish recipes from around the world, is a tour through the Jewish holidays as told in food. For each holiday, Nathan presents menus from different cuisines—Moroccan, Russian, German, and contemporary American are just a few—that show how the traditions of Jewish food have taken on new forms around the world. There are dishes that you will remember from your mother’s table and dishes that go back to the Second Temple, family recipes that you thought were lost and other families’ recipes that you have yet to discover. Explaining their origins and the holidays that have shaped them, Nathan spices these delicious recipes with delightful stories about the people w

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Book SynopsisWith her perfect memory (and plenty of zip), ninety-five-year-old Ruth Gruber—adventurer, international correspondent, photographer, maker of (and witness to) history, responsible for rescuing hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees during World War II and after—tells her story in her own words and photographs. Gruber’s life has been extraordinary and extraordinarily heroic. She received a B.A. from New York University in three years, a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin a year later, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cologne (magna cum laude) one year after that, becoming at age twenty the youngest Ph.D. in the world (it made headlines in The New York Times; the subject of her thesis: the then little-known Virginia Woolf). At twenty-four, Gruber became an international correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune and traveled across the Soviet Arctic, scooping the world and witnessing, firsthand, the buil

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Book SynopsisThe former owner/proprietor of the beloved appetizing store on Manhattan’s Lower East Side tells the delightful, mouthwatering story of an immigrant family’s journey from a pushcart in 1907 to “New York’s most hallowed shrine to the miracle of caviar, smoked salmon, ethereal herring, and silken chopped liver” (The New York Times Magazine). When Joel Russ started peddling herring from a barrel shortly after his arrival in America from Poland, he could not have imagined that he was giving birth to a gastronomic legend. Here is the story of this “Louvre of lox” (The Sunday Times, London): its humble beginnings, the struggle to keep it going during the Great Depression, the food rationing of World War II, the passing of the torch to the next generation as the flight from the Lower East Side was beginning, the heartbreaking years of neighborhood blight, and the almost miraculous renaissance of an area from which hundred

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Book SynopsisThe stunning true story of the rise of Nazism in America in the years leading to WWII—and the fearless Jewish gangsters and crime families who joined forces to fight back. With an intense cinematic style, acclaimed nonfiction crime author Michael Benson reveals the thrilling role of Jewish mobsters like Bugsy Siegel in stomping out the terrifying tide of Nazi sympathizers during the 1930s and 1940s. Goodreads Top Nonfiction of 2022“[A] masterpiece. One of the most rivetingly relevant reads I’ve ever encountered.” —Jon Land, Providence JournalAs Adolph Hitler rose to power in 1930s Germany, a growing wave of fascism began to take root on American soil. Nazi activists started to gather in major American cities, and by 1933, there were more than one-hundred anti-Semitic groups operating openly in the United States. Few Americans dared to speak out or fight back—until an organized resistance of notorious mobst

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Book SynopsisAn exploration into the lives of people who embrace two or more religious traditions, and what this growing community tells us about change in our societyNamed a best book of 2018 by Library JournalIn the United States, we often assume religious and spiritual identity are pure, static, and singular. But some people regularly cross religious boundaries. These “spiritually fluid” people celebrate complex religious bonds, and in the process they blur social categories, evoke prejudice, and complicate religious communities. Their presence sparks questions: How and why do people become spiritually fluid? Are they just confused or unable to commit? How do we make sense of them?When One Religion Isn’t Enough explores the lives of spiritually fluid people, revealing that while some chose multiple religious belonging, many more inherit it. For many North Americans, the complicated legacies of colonialism are part of their fam

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Book SynopsisPresents a tour of southern Jewish foodways. This book explores how southern Jews embraced, avoided, and adapted southern food, and demonstrates how southern Jews reinvented traditions, as they adjusted to living in a largely Christian world. It includes various photographs, anecdotes, oral histories, and more than thirty recipes to try at home.

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Book SynopsisSt. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village relates the life of a local faith community to the larger religious and secular world of which it is a part, and reciprocally illuminates that bigger world from the perspective of this local community. The history of this parish is worth telling for its own sake as the collective journey of one faith community from immigrant mission to pillar of society and then to spiritual outpost in the Secular City.Trade Review“An engaging account of a quintessentially urban parish in New York City—a local church community old enough to have encountered all of the nuances of American Catholic life . . . demonstrates strongly the value of scholarly study of church life at its basic level.” —Church History“Recommended for general readers and scholars interested in American Catholicism, New York City, Greenwich Village or urban history.” —Catholic Historical Review“Shelley’s work is an exceptional and indispensable study of Catholic urban life in America.” —Cithara.

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of the temporal function that “the Jew” plays in literature. No Place in Time: The Hebraic Myth in Late Nineteenth-Century American Literature examines how the Hebraic myth, in which Jewishness became a metaphor for an ancient, pre-Christian past, was reimagined in nineteenth-century American realism.

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Book SynopsisThe prohibition against lending on interest (Exodus 22:24) is a well-known biblical law. This prohibition was intended to prevent the wealthy from exploiting the unfortunate. Jewish law has over the centuries relaxed this biblical injunction. Hillel Gamoran seeks to explain how and when this law of high moral standing collapsed and fell over the course of the centuries.

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