Social groups: religious groups and communities Books

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Book SynopsisThe New Crusadesis an intersectional milestone. It lucidly illustrates how converging systems of subordination, power, and violence related to Islamophobia are experienced across the globe.Kimberlé Crenshaw, from the forewordA profound wake-up call.-Publishers Weekly Insightful and disturbing.-Library JournalThe first book to examine global Islamophobia from a legal and ground-up perspective,from renowned public intellectual Khaled A. Beydoun. Islamophobia has spiraled into a global menace, and democratic and authoritarian regimes alike have deployed it as a strategy to persecute their Muslim populations. With this book, Khaled A. Beydoun details how the American War on Terror has facilitated and intensified the network of anti-Muslim campaigns unfolding across the world.The New Crusades is the first book of its kind, offering a critical and intimate examination of global Islamophobia and its manifestations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and regions beyond and in between. ThrTrade Review"Those interested in Islam, religious persecution, or the relationship between religion and politics will find this insightful and disturbing." * Library Journal *"Sweeping yet intimately detailed, this is a profound wake-up call." * Publishers Weekly *"Enables the reader to learn how Islamophobia manifests across different contexts around the world." * Ethnic and Racial Studies *Table of ContentsContents Foreword by Kimberlé Crenshaw Introduction: Two Tuesdays 1. Forever Turned Around 2. War and Terror 3. Blood and Soil 4. Internment and Exile 5. Pandemic and Plague 6. Monsters and Martyrs 7. Ablution and Abolition Conclusion: Killing an Arab Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Bibliographic Essay Index

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Book SynopsisAn urgent, wide-ranging portrait of the divisions among Israelis today, and the external threats to their country, at a critical juncture in its history. • Through moving narratives and on-the-ground reporting, a veteran New York Times correspondent who has spent decades working in Israel reveals what holds the country together.“A wondrous tale told through the agonizing and uplifting stories of Israel’s many tribes — Jewish and Arab, religious and secular, new immigrants and veterans, soldiers and settlers.”—Martin Indyk, author of Master of the Game, and former U.S. ambassador to IsraelFor anyone trying to understand the reality of Israel today.”—Dennis Ross, former U.S. envoy to the Middle East and the author of Doomed to SucceedDespite Israel's determined staying power in a hostile environment, its military might, an

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsCONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Jewish Presence in Eastern Europe: The Beginnings 2. Translations from Hebrew in Rus′ in the Thirteenth through Fifteenth Centuries: Made by Converts? 3. The Heresy of the Judaizers and the Translations from Hebrew in Muscovite Russia in the Second Half of the Fifteenth Century Textual Findings and Analyses of the Translations Historical Background of the Translations and Link to the Judaizers General Conclusion Appendixes Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisOn a winter''s day in the mid-1970s the photographer Marcia Bricker Halperin sought warm refuge and, camera in hand, passed through the revolving doors of Dubrow''s Cafeteria on Kings Highway. There, between the magical mirrored walls and steaming coffee urns, she found herself as if on a theater set, looking out at a tableau of memorable Brooklyn faces. Enchanted, Halperin returned to Dubrow''s again and again.In Kibbitz & Nosh, Halperin reminds us of the days when she would order a coffee, converse with the denizens of Dubrow''s on Kings Highway and at its Manhattan location in the Garment District, and in that relaxed atmosphere execute candid photographs. In keeping with the work of Vivian Maier and Robert Frank, these black-and-white images taken during the waning days of New York City''s legendary cafeteria culture are revealing and empathetic.Dubrow''s was a restaurant-cum-social club for a generation of New Yorkers; it was a place to chat with friTrade ReviewThere was a time when New York was home to dozens of restaurants like the Horn & Hardart Automats or the Belmore Cafeteria, the cabby mecca made famous in the movie 'Taxi Driver.' You'd grab a tray, shuffle down the counters and grab a seat. Marcia Bricker Halperin's record of New York's long-gone cafeterias, rendered in black and white, have graceful architecture, dazzling or moody lighting and more than a few characters, like Gene Palma, the slick-haired street drummer and Gene Krupa maven. * The New York Times *Table of ContentsPrologue 1. Sundays at Dubrow's, or: Remembrance of Creamed Spinach Past 2. See You at Dubrow's 3. Dubrow's, Kings Highway, Brooklyn: Where It's Happening, Come to the Highway 4. Dubrow's, Garment District, Manhattan: The Epicenter of the Schmatta Business Acknowledgments Biographies

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"In this remarkable book, Hagar Salamon reveals unsuspected relationships and new domains of meaning communicated between species. Meat Matters is a major contribution at the vanguard of a challenging new scholarly field and should be required reading for ethnographers from across the disciplines."—Kay Kaufman Shelemay, G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music and African and African American Studies at Harvard University"A rich, sensitive and nuanced ethnography of the interlaced practices, ideas, meanings, beliefs, and symbols of meat for the Beta Israel community. Beautifully conceptualized, written and illustrated, Hagar Salamon's evocative book offers illuminating insights into the singular Ethiopian Jewish experience and Ethiopian culture more broadly."—Jonathan Miran, author of Red Sea Citizens: Cosmopolitan Society and Cultural Change in MassawaTable of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Enduring Exposures: Everyday Bonding with Creatures2. Zooming In: Creaturely Sentiments3. Zooming Out: Emerging from the Pen4. Shifting Focus/Lenses: Interreligious Negotiations5. Transposing and Splitting: Under New Hegemonies6. Candid Camera: Focusing the Lens on Lost Meats7. Upraising the Vision: God Watches over Flesh8. Concluding Words and Continuing QuestionsReferencesGlossary

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Book SynopsisJewish Life in Medieval Spain is a detailed exploration of the Jewish experience in medieval Spain from the dawn of Sephardic society in the ninth century to the expulsion of 1492. An important contribution of the book is the integration of the rise and fall of Jewish life in Muslim al-Andalus into the history of the Jews in medieval Christian Spain. It traces the collapse of Jewish life in Muslim Spain, the emigration of Andalusi Jewry to the lands of Christian Iberia, and the long and difficult confluence of these two distinct Jewish subcultures. Focusing on internal developments of Jewish society, it offers a narrative of Jewish history from the inside out, bringing to light the various divisions and rivalries within the Jewish community. This approach, in turn, allows for a deeper understanding of the complex relations between Spanish Jews and their Muslim and Christian neighbors. Jonathan Ray’s original perspective on the Jewish experience is particularly instructive when considering the widescale anti-Jewish riots of 1391. The combination of violence and mass conversion of the Jews irrevocably shifted the dynamics of inter-religious relations as well as those within the Jewish community itself. Yet even in the wake of these tragic events, the Jews of Spain continued to flourish, fostering a culture that they would carry into exile and that would preserve the memory of Jewish Spain for centuries to come.Trade Review"[W]ell documented with extensive sources, the text examines Jewish lifewith numerous examples provided by individual and communal stories...For those already knowledgeable about the broad outlines of Al-Andalus, the Reconquista, the early Inquisition, and Sephardic history generally—particularly those reading for academic purposes—this book provides a compelling micro perspective adumbrated by daily life events." * Choice *

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Book SynopsisA dazzling multi-generational examination exploring Jewishness in Europe, the Holocaust and the dark spectres of anti-Semitism and populism.Trade Review'What an extraordinary achievement. A story told with passion and adamantine dedication. David Joseph takes the reader with great tenderness on an absolutely heart-breaking journey of discovery.' -- Edmund de Waal CBE, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes'This is a totally gripping book. Deeply moving, utterly engaging and profoundly important.' -- Rob Rinder MBE'Highly recommended. An exceptionally researched family story which shines an uncomfortable light on the grotesque reality of the Holocaust and particularly those who stood by as the horrors unfolded.' -- Laura Marks OBE, Chair of the Trustees, Holocaust Day Memorial Day Trust'Throughout this book, it is impossible to ignore the struggle and persecution that Jewish people have faced in Europe for centuries, and still face today.' -- History of War Magazine, September 2023'Indeed, the struggles of those expelled from Burgenland are at times di cult to read about, but all the more valuable for this since this is a story that must not be forgotten and is a warning to present and future generations.' -- Family Tree Magazine, September 2023

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Book SynopsisRecent historic breakthroughs have introduced a new hope for peace in the Middle East. Following the lead of the first two Arab League countries who entered into peace agreements with Israel Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco each did so in 2020. Time will tell if the dove of peace will touch down in the hearts and minds of the Arab people across the region and whether or not these winds of change will result in a further departure from the decades-old Arab League mandates of hatred against Israel. The fact remains that since the emergence of the modern Zionist movement in the nineteenth century, the idea of the reestablishment of the Jewish national home in its ancient land has been under assault. The Bloody Price of Freedom traces the battle the democratic State of Israel has faced for its existence since its legally sanctioned establishment in 1948. The book analyzes the insidious attacks; maligning worldwide propaganda; economic, academic, and other boycotts; as well as the misapplication of international law in the United Nations and elsewhere that have been leveraged against Israel. A special section on the International Court of Justices 2004 nonbinding advisory opinion on the construction of Israels terrorism-prevention security fence includes detailed illustrative maps. This meticulously documented volume is essential reading for anyone interested in standing against the demonization of Israel and antisemitic attacks upon the Jewish people.

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Book SynopsisThis book investigates the transformative period in the history of the Jews of Libya (1938-52), a period crucial to understanding Libyan Jewry's evolution into a community playing significant roles in Israel, Italy and in relation with Qaddhafi's Libya. Against a background of a reform conscious Ottoman administration (1835-1911) and subsequent stirrings of modernisation under Italian colonial influence (1911-43), the Jews of Libya began to experience rapid change following the application of fascist racial laws of 1938, the onset of war-related calamities and violent expressions of Libyan pan-Arabism, culminating in mass migration to Israel in the period 1949-52. By focusing on key socio-economic and political dimensions of this process, the author reveals the capacity of Libyan Jewry to adapt to and integrate into new environments without losing its unique and historical traditions.Trade Review"Dr Roumani uses a wide range of archival and oral sources, many of which have never been used before. Throughout the book, he reveals a mastery of the social and political history, and a fine understanding of the lives, hopes, fears and aspirations of Libyan Jews. His book is a testimony to their suffering and their fortitude." -- From the Foreword by Sir Martin Gilbert."Maurice Roumani has given us an impeccably researched, richly documented, and keenly insightful survey of Libyan Jewry's social and political evolution in the twentieth century. He brings to the study not merely the observations of a trained scholar with all of the requisite linguistic and methodological skills, but also the real life experience of someone who lived through the turbulent events of the period and was an actual witness to some of them. It is to Roumani's great credit that he is able to achieve an admirable balance of overall scholarly dispassion with the intimate poignancy of personal engagement. The Jews of Libya will surely take its place alongside the pioneer studies of Renzo De Felice and Harvey Goldberg." -- Norman A Stillman, Schusterman/Josey Professor of Judaic History, University of Oklahoma.Table of ContentsIntroduction; The Changing Fortunes of Libyan Jews Under Italian Colonialism; The British Military Administration: Hopes and Disillusion; The Role of International Jewish Organisations: Rehabilitation and Protection of Minority Rights; Exodus: The Choice of Israel; Settlement in Israel: The Pains of Displacement and the Difficulties of Absorption; Closing the Circle in 1967: The Final Exodus and its Challenges; Index.

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Book Synopsis"Simple Guides Islam" provides a concise and accessible introduction to Islam. Written without bias, this guide presents engaging descriptions of the key concepts, beliefs and practices. Pocket sized and presented in an accessible format with clearly organised topics, enabling you to quickly grasp the essence of Islam. This guide is a reliable point of reference for further exploration and discovery.

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Book SynopsisAddresses ‘what it means to be human’ in a secular, post-Enlightenment world by exploring notions of self and subjectivity in Islamic and non-Islamic philosophical and mystical thought.Table of Contents Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction Part I I. The Problematic of the Self Is the Self a Modern Invention? The Opacity of the Self Degrees and Dimensions of Selfhood First-person vs. Third-person Perspective Descriptive vs. Normative Approaches A Multi-dimensional Model Overcoming the Terminological Fray Summary II. The View from and beyond the 'I' The Paradox of Self-knowledge Non-reflective Self-knowledge Self-knowledge as Abiding Presence The Varieties of Non-reflective Self-knowledge The Kantian Dilemma Summary III. Self-knowledge and the Levels of Consciousness The Humean Challenge and the Referentiality of the “I” Onto-phenomenological Structure of Consciousness What is It Like to Be a Self? Unity of Self and Consciousness Summary Part II IV. Self, Body, and Consciousness Consciousness in Neuroscience Neurobiological Theories of Consciousness The Center of the Self: Neurons or Consciousness? The Nerve Impulse and the Structure of Consciousness Graeco-Islamic-Indian Conversations Deciphering the Self through the Subtle Bodies Emotion and Subjectivity Summary V. Sculpting the Self Philosophy, Spirituality, and Self-knowledge Self-cultivation and Human Flourishing Self-perfection and the Ideal Self Meditation and Self-transparency Self-transcendence and Transformation Self, Freedom, Being-toward-beyond-death Summary VI. Consummation: 'I or I and I Bibliography Index Locorum Index of Names Index of Subjects

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Book SynopsisOn Forbes list of 10 Books To Help You Foster A More Diverse And Inclusive WorkplaceHow law, policy, and official state rhetoric have fueled the resurgence of Islamophobiawith a call to action on how to combat it. I remember the four words that repeatedly scrolled across my mind after the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. Please don't be Muslims, please don't be Muslims.' The four words I whispered to myself on 9/11 reverberated through the mind of every Muslim American that day and every day after. Our fear, and the collective breath or brace for the hateful backlash that ensued, symbolize the existential tightrope that defines Muslim American identity today. The term Islamophobia may be fairly new, but irrational fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims is anything but. Though many speak of Islamophobia's roots in racism, have we considered how anti-Muslim rhetoric is rooted in our legal system? Using his unique lens as a critical race theorist and law professor, Khaled A. Beydoun captures the many ways in which law, policy, and official state rhetoric have fueled the frightening resurgence of Islamophobia in the United States. Beydoun charts its long and terrible history, from the plight of enslaved African Muslims in the antebellum South and the laws prohibiting Muslim immigrants from becoming citizens to the ways the war on terror assigns blame for any terrorist act to Islam and the myriad trials Muslim Americans face in the Trump era. He passionately argues that by failing to frame Islamophobia as a system of bigotry endorsed and emboldened by law and carried out by government actors, U.S. society ignores the injury it inflicts on both Muslims and non-Muslims. Through the stories of Muslim Americans who have experienced Islamophobia across various racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines, Beydoun shares how U.S. laws shatter lives, whether directly or inadvertently. And with an eye toward benefiting society as a whole, he recommends ways for Muslim Americans and their allies to build coalitions with other groups. Like no book before it, American Islamophobia offers a robust and genuine portrait of Muslim America then and now.Trade Review“Much like other notable works on Islamophobia by scholars like Erik Love and Moustafa Bayoumi, Beydoun looks at the scope and impact of domestic “war on terror” legislation in how it racialized Muslims and transformed everyday life within Muslim communities. What he adds with ‘American Islamophobia’ is the terminology and language to describe the demonization of Muslims from the state — and the necessary legal and historical context to understand the depth of structural Islamophobia and the tools needed to dismantle it.” * The Intercept *“Beydoun’s book, American Islamophobia, provides urgent and compelling context to a global phenomena that has mushroomed on our shores.” * Scoop *"[Beydoun's] ability to intersperse complex academic argument with engaging stories and anecdotes ensures that not only does his writing draw you in, but also one never loses sight of the human stories of insecurity, suffering and loss that are at the book's heart." * Critical Studies on Terrorism *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Crossroads and Intersections 1. What Is Islamophobia? 2. The Roots of Modern Islamophobia 3. A Reoriented “Clash of Civilizations” 4. War on Terror, War on Muslims 5. A “Radical” or Imagined Threat? 6. Between Anti-Black Racism and Islamophobia 7. The Fire Next Time Epilogue: Homecomings and Goings Notes Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisThe mighty epic of Masada tells of Jews who preferred liberty to life itself. Their story centres on the bleak fortress of Masada in the Judean Desert after the conquest of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Holy Temple by the Romans in 70 CE.Table of ContentsPrologue One Masada Two Between Heaven and Earth Three Yeshu and Aviel Four “Pax Romana” Five Urzillah, Child of the Negev Six Come to the Fair! Seven Mortar Eight The Ingathering of the Exiles Nine Sicarii! Ten The New Moon Eleven The Last Days Twelve Iddo Helps Thirteen Rome Is Impatient Fourteen Herod’s Palace Fifteen “How Can I Be Strong . . . ?” Sixteen The Gods Have Spoken! Seventeen Is There Hope? Eighteen Is There One God? Nineteen Free at Last Twenty “Death to the Jews!” Epilogue Word List

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Book SynopsisZinaida Poliakova (1863–1953) was the eldest daughter of Lazar Solomonovich Poliakov, one of the three brothers known as the Russian Rothschilds. They were moguls who dominated Russian finance and business and built almost a quarter of the railroad lines in Imperial Russia. For more than seventy-five years, Poliakova kept detailed diaries of her world, giving us a rare look into the exclusive world of Jewish elites in Moscow and St. Petersburg. These rare documents reveal how Jews successfully integrated into Russian aristocratic society through their intimate friendships and patronage of the arts and philanthropy. And they did it all without converting—in fact, while staunchly demonstrating their Jewishness. Poliakova’s life was marked by her dual identity as a Russian and a Jew. She cultivated aristocratic sensibilities and lived an extraordinarily lifestyle, and yet she was limited by the confessional laws of the empire and religious laws that governed her household. She brought her Russian tastes, habits, and sociability to France following her marriage to Reuben Gubbay (the grandson of Sir Albert Abdullah Sassoon). And she had to face the loss of almost all her family members and friends during the Holocaust. Women’s voices are often lost in the sweep of history, and so A Jewish Women of Distinction is an exceptional, much-needed collection. These newly discovered primary sources will change the way we understand the full breadth of the Russian Jewish experience.

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Book SynopsisMusic is haram, goes the old adage. This issue of Critical Muslim begs to differ, as Jeremy Henzell-Thomas urges the ummah to move forward from its anxieties that music is a licentious influence. Celebrating the rich tradition of musical arts throughout the Muslim world, we are invited to private audiences with performers from Bollywood to Central Asia and are offered an insight into the life of a Muslim punk in 1970s Britain. Putting the Muslim into classical music and the Islam into heavy metal, every genre is brought in from the theological cold. Critical Muslim is a quarterly magazine of ideas and issues showcasing ground breaking thinking on Islam and what it means to be a Muslim in a rapidly changing, interconnected world.

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Book SynopsisIn this important book, Clarence-Smith provides the first general survey of the Islamic debate on slavery. Sweeping away entrenched myths, he hopes to stimulate more research on the neglected topic. He draws on examples from the 'abode of Islam', from the Philippines to Senegal and from the Caucasus to South Africa, paying particular attention for the period from the late eighteenth century to the present. Once slavery had disappeared, it was the Sufi mystics who did most to integrate former slaves socially and religiously, avoiding the deep social divisions that have plagued Western society in the aftermath of abolition.Trade Review'As a historian, Clarence-Smith has certainly made his case. Islam and the Abolition of Slavery is a tour de force.' * Times Literary Supplement *'Raises the profile of a debate which, for a long time, has been confined to a small group of Orientalists.' -- The Muslim World Book Review'Islam and the Abolition of Slavery is a tour de force which ranges over the entire Islamic world, from the Hijrah to the present, and for good measure includes comparisons with the attitudes and practice of other major world religions towards the "embarrassing institution".' * Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society *'An impressive survey . . . and objective analysis.' * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung *

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Book SynopsisIn nineteenth-century Eastern Europe, the Jewish-run tavern was often the center of leisure, hospitality, business, and even religious festivities. As liquor became the region''s boom industry, Jewish tavernkeepers became integral to both local economies and local social life, presiding over Christian celebrations and dispensing advice, medical remedies and loans. Nevertheless, reformers and government officials, blaming Jewish tavernkeepers for epidemic peasant drunkenness, sought to drive Jews out of the liquor trade. Their efforts were particularly intense and sustained in the Kingdom of Poland. Historians have assumed that this spelled the end of the Polish Jewish liquor trade. However, in Yankel''s Tavern, Glenn Dynner uses newly discovered archival sources to demonstrate that many nobles helped their Jewish tavernkeepers evade fees, bans, and expulsions by installing Christians as fronts for their taverns. The result-a vast underground Jewish liquor trade-reflects an impressive lTrade ReviewGlenn Dynner has written a history of Jewish tavern keepers that serves as a point of entry into a much broader challenge to a surprisingly diverse swath of conventional wisdom about Jewish life in the Polish lands of the Russian Empire. For this reason, Yankel s Tavern should be required reading for anyone interested in Jewish history, Polish history, Russian imperial history, nationalism and national identity, and the economic history of eastern Europe. Without ever adopting an aggressive or polemical tone, Dynner has launched several debates that are sure to continue for years to come....[Dynner]offers a story of nuance and complexity, one that defies any attempt to squeeze it into the simplistic dualities that have long weakened both Polish and Jewish history. This alone should place Yankel's Tavern on everyone's must-read list. * AJS Review *[An] erudite, meticulously researched, and refreshingly original new book... * Jewish Review of Books *Yankel's Tavern is an interesting work that provides insight into the social, economic, political and religious realities of Jews during this time period. The book is a pleasure to read and accessible to the scholar and non-scholar alike. * Association of Jewish Library Reviews *Dynner s rich archival discoveries lead him into multifarious aspects of Jewish life in the Congress Kingdom. He offers a thoughtful survey of Jewish perspectives on the Polish insurrections of 1830 31 and 1863. * Times Literary Supplement *The sacred, the profane, and the 45-percent proof are at the heart of Glenn Dynner's new book, Yankel's Tavern: Jews, Liquor, and Life in the Kingdom of Poland. Like all fine scholarly work, this...volume contains multitudes. * Tablet Magazine *Meticulously researched, judiciously analyzed and deeply engaging, Yankel's Tavern sets a new standard in Jewish social history. Dynner succeeds admirably in cutting through the swath of filio-pietistic myth and anti-Semitic invective that envelops the Eastern European Jewish past. His enthusiasm for reconstructing the 'tragi-comic' lives of ordinary people is positively infectious. A rich and stimulating read. * Olga Litvak, author of Haskalah: The Romantic Movement in Judaism *Dynner shifts the focus of nineteenth-century Polish-Jewish history from government policy, ideological movements and secularization to the lives of real people and the persistence of traditional social, economic and cultural patterns. Using the pervasive liquor trade as a prism, he illuminates both the myths and the reality of the complexities and perplexities of the Polish-Jewish symbiosis. * Moshe Rosman, author of The Lords' Jews: Magnate-Jewish Relations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth *Based upon massive new archival research, Glenn Dynner presents a wide-ranging portrait of the Jewish-run tavern, a central but overlooked institution of Polish Jewry. Drawing on a remarkable range of sources - legal, administrative, rabbinic, and literary - he illuminates the social, economic, religious and political ramifications of his subject. A sobering view of an intoxicating subject, told with sensitivity, nuance, and balance. * Jerry Z. Muller, author of Capitalism and the Jews *Dynner's short monograph is a remarkable achievement. The book is one of those rare academic accomplishments: persuasive yet concise. * Kevin Goldberg, European History Quarterly *Table of ContentsAuthor's Preface ; A Note on Translations ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Entrance: Myths and Countermyths ; Chapter 2: Rural Jewish Prohibition in the Kingdom of Poland ; Chapter 3: The Urban Jewish Liquor Trade in the Kingdom of Poland ; Chapter 4: Patriots, Smugglers and Spies: Tavernkeepers during the Polish Uprisings of 1830 and 1863 ; Chapter 5: The Tavernkeepers Speak: Polish Jewish Tavernkeeping in the Wake of Peasant Emancipation ; Chapter 6: Farmers, Soldiers, and Students: Attempts to Transform Jewish Tavernkeepers ; Conclusion ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Cohen’swide-ranging expertise encompasses Jewish exegesis from both Islamic and Christian milieus, and he engages meaningfully with Islamic and Christian hermeneutics themselves. Likewise, his ability to draw from earlier rabbinic literature provides the reader with critical context. Cohen’s philologically and historically informed argument details the medieval Jewish appropriation of hermeneutical tools from competing religious traditions. His work challenges us to explore the theological anxieties occasioned by turning to other faith traditions for tools to interpret one’s own sacred canon. Cohen offers a major contribution to the development of peshat and an invitation for future scholarship in hermeneutics and adjacent fields." * Speculum *"Cohen’s proficient use of both prior research and the primary sources is simultaneously far-reaching in breadth and granular in detail...Cohen’s insights are eye-opening, his examples clear and persuasive, and his conclusions leave no room for argument. For the scholar and lay person alike who mistakenly conceive of the Jewish tradition as self-contained and untouched by intellectual developments in the outside world, or for anyone interested in medieval Judaism, Cohen’s book is required reading." * Medieval Encounters *"Cohen has made his point and made it well...[The] tug of war between peshat and nonpeshat interpretation, and the fluctuation in what peshat itself could mean, reflect a larger interpretive question: Does the precise formulation of Scripture matter, or (as Abraham Ibn Ezra asserted) did the Bible’s human writers formulate God’s ideas in language of their own? Cohen’s book will leave readers with four centuries’ worth of fascinating discussion of that question." * Review of Biblical Literature *"The Rule of 'Peshat' is an enormously useful and brilliantly insightful work whose time has certainly come. Mordechai Z. Cohen's important contribution to the study of medieval Jewish biblical exegesis reflects his unsurpassed expertise in this area." * Baruch J. Schwartz, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem *"In this monumental study, Mordechai Z. Cohen reveals the theoretical complexities that attend the construction of peshat, the 'plain sense' or 'literal sense' of Jewish biblical hermeneutics. Cohen's erudite and wide-ranging analysis breaks down what has been viewed too easily as monolithic. Through his acute readings, peshat emerges as a multi-linguistic and cross-cultural tradition, as Jewish interpreters amalgamated influences from Christianity and Islam, from Byzantium and Western Asia, and from al-Andalus to northern France and the Rhineland." * Rita Copeland, University of Pennsylvania *Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations Introduction Chapter 1. Geonim and Karaites: Appropriating Methods of Qur'an Interpretation Chapter 2. The Andalusian School: Linguistic and Literary Advances in the Muslim Orbit Chapter 3. Rashi: Peshat Revolution in Northern France Chapter 4. Qara and Rashbam: Refining the Northern French Peshat Model Chapter 5. The Byzantine Tradition: A Newly Discovered Exegetical School Chapter 6. Abraham Ibn Ezra: Transplanted Andalusian Peshat Model Chapter 7. Maimonides: Peshat as the Basis of Halakhah Chapter 8. Nahmanides: A New Model of Scriptural Multivalence Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisSince the publication of their first controversial novels in the 1950s and 1960s, Philip Roth and Edna O'Brien have always argued against the isolation of mind from body, autobiography from fiction, life from art, and self from nation. In this book Dan O'Brien investigates these shared concerns of the two authors.Trade ReviewExceptional, original . . . O’Brien takes on a fascinating topic about which very little has been written and, in so doing, makes a valuable contribution to the growing corpus of books in the emergent field of Irish-Jewish studies. O'Brien's Fine Meshwork interlaces intricately the works, lives and preoccupations of two (variously) misunderstood contemporary writers so as to ask questions that go beyond considerations of nation and biography. O'Brien's carefully and playfully written study, with its bold thesis of flirtatious intertextuality, will do much to advance their cause, while offering new and exciting frameworks against which to consider Irish and Jewish-American literature both as separate entities and in relation to transnational and transatlantic studies.

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1955, with a revised edition appearing five years later, H. G. Adler''s Theresienstadt, 19411945 is a foundational work in the field of Holocaust studies. As the first scholarly monograph to describe the particulars of a single camp - the Jewish ghetto in the Czech city of Terezin - it is the single most detailed and comprehensive account of any concentration camp. Adler, a survivor of the camp, divides the book into three sections: a history of the ghetto, a detailed institutional and social analysis of the camp, and an attempt to understand the psychology of the perpetrators and the victims. A collaborative effort between the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Terezin Publishing Project makes this authoritative text on Holocaust history available for the first time in the English language, with a new afterword by the author''s son Jeremy Adler.Trade Review'Adler's Theresienstadt 1941–1945, completed in London and first published in German in 1955, is monograph as monument. … A meticulous chronicle that is at once a sober and self-aware sociology of the absurd, a memoir in which the writer does not appear, and a penetrating ethnographic study. … Both a masterpiece of scholarship and a literary event …' J. Hoberman, BookForum'The value of Adler's work is that it does not just deal with one ghetto, but with the exercise of particular forms of power and the possibilities of human autonomy, with the 'coerced community' and the 'administered human being'. In this way, as Adler's son Jeremy points out in his afterword, it has exercised a profound influence on later writers, from Raul Hilberg and Hannah Arendt, to W. G. Sebald.' Peter Pulzer, The Times Literary Supplement'This immensely significant and moving chronicle is an indispensable resource. Essential.' J. Hardin, Choice'More than sixty years after its original publication, H. G. Adler's Theresienstadt remains indispensable to anyone who has more than a casual interest in what was among the most perverse and strange sites of incarceration in the Nazi empire. Although sadly few people realize it, Adler's book is also essential reading for anyone engaged in trying to understand the Holocaust.' Ben Barkow, German Historical Institute London Bulletin'Adler draws capably on ideas from anthropology, economics, education, ethics, Judaism, penology, philosophy, political science, and other such fields… It belongs in every library, public and private, that would house the best in Holocaust scholarship.' Arthur Shostak, The European LegacyTable of ContentsPart I. History: 1. The Jews in the 'Protectorate', 1939–41; 2. Theresienstadt: history and establishment; 3. Deportations to and from Theresienstadt; 4. Closed camp: November 1941/July 1942; 5. 'Ghetto': July 1942/summer 1943; 6. 'Jewish settlement area': summer 1943/September 1944; 7. Decline and dissolution; Part II. Sociology: 8. Administration; 9. The transport; 10. Population; 11. Housing; 12. Nutrition; 13. Labor; 14. Economy; 15. Legal conditions; 16. Health conditions; 17. Welfare; 18. Contact with the outside world; 19. Cultural life; Part III. Psychology: 20. The psychological face of the coerced community.

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Book SynopsisNew in paperback - The thrilling true story of an Israel spyâs epic journey to bring the notorious Butcher of Latvia to justice. A page-turner to rival anything by John le Carre, this real-life tale of espionage will leave readers on the edge of their seats.Trade Review‘What a wonderful book. Stephan Talty’s fast-paced account of how Herbert Cukurs, the Latvian aviator turned Nazi war criminal, was eventually brought to justice by Mossad operatives is as gripping as any novel. Hard as it is read the details of Cukurs’ horrific crimes, the outcome is both moving and uplifting, with the Latvian’s demise helping to bring other perpetrators of genocide to justice. Talty is at the top of his game.’ -- Saul David, author of Operation Thunderbolt and The Force‘Stephan Talty’s The Good Assassin is a gripping chronicle of one of the most brilliant operations launched against an escaped Nazi war criminal, and a fitting memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in Latvia and to the brave Israelis who travelled half way around the world to punish one of the key perpetrators of those crimes. At a time when Latvian ultranationalists are trying to rehabilitate Cukurs as a national hero, Talty explains why such a step would be a grave miscarriage of justice.’ -- Dr. Efraim Zuroff, chief Nazi-hunter, Simon Wiesenthal Center‘Talty efficiently mines archival records for vivid details and tracks the complexities of Medad’s undercover mission with flair. The result is a captivating and gruesome real-life spy thriller.’ -- Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisThis book presents up-to-date information on the origins of the Ashkenazic Jewish people from central and eastern Europe based on genetic research on modern and pre-modern populations. It focuses on the 129 maternal haplogroups that the author confirmed that Ashkenazim have acquired from distinct female ancestors who were indigenous to diverse lands that include Israel, Italy, Poland, Germany, North Africa, and China, revealing both their Israelite inheritance and the lasting legacy of conversions to Judaism. Genetic connections between Ashkenazic Jews and other Jewish populations, including Turkish Jews, Moroccan Jews, Tunisian Jews, Iranian Jews, and Cochin Jews, are indicated wherever they are known.Table of ContentsSummaryAcknowledgments1. An Introduction to Ashkenazic History and Genetics2. Encyclopedia of Ashkenazic Maternal Lineages3. Non-Ashkenazic Haplogroups in Populations Related to Ashkenazim4. ConclusionNotesBibliographyIndexAbout the Author

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Book SynopsisWhen 20-year-old student J. S. Margot took a tutoring job in 1987, little did she know it would open up an entire world. In the family's Orthodox Jewish household she would encounter endless rules - 'never come on a Friday, never shake hands with a man' - and quirks she had not seen before: tiny tubes on the doorposts, separate fridges for meat and dairy products. Her initial response was puzzlement and occasionally anger, but as she taught the children and fiercely debated with the family, she also began to learn from them. Full of funny misunderstandings and unexpected connections, Mazel Tov is a heartwarming, provocative and disarmingly honest memoir of clashing cultures and unusual friendships - and of how, where adults build walls, sometimes only children can dissolve them.Trade Review"A gentle chronicle of empathy and understanding." - Guardian "Margot's is an exceptional voice, illuminating a section of society rarely seen in a refreshingly frank manner. Mazel Tov is a book about finding familiarity in the strange, but also the stranger in ourselves, in which courage and humour save us from the usual romanticising. Any reader interested in the central questions of our time will find enlightenment here." - Deborah Feldman, author of the New York Times bestseller Unorthodox "A brave and important contribution to our understanding of memory." - Daniel Okrent, author of The Guarded Gate"So much more than a good read... What makes Mazel Tov especially attractive is that the author effortlessly succeeds in depicting real-life characters." - Cutting Edge"A book that touched me deeply. Wow!" - Queen Mathilde of Belgium"A must-read for everyone." - De Standaard "A compelling and confronting story... beautifully written." - De Sleutel"the unvarnished account of how two clashing cultures led to lasting friendship… Mazel Tov is a fascinating story about what is possible when pretenses are dropped and true bonds are allowed to form.” - Foreward Reviews

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Book SynopsisFocusing on relations between Muslims and their host countries, this book examines questions of political representation, identity politics, civil liberties, immigration, and security issues.Trade ReviewThis study, a compilation of papers submitted to a September 2005 Indiana University conference, explores the political impact that the growing Muslim minorities in Western Europe and North America have on their host societies. In addition to editor Abdulkader Sinno's introduction and conclusion, the volume contains 12 chapters organized under four broad themes: background studies of different Western countries' Muslim minorities; their representation and integration in the hosts' political system; Western public opinion toward Muslim immigrants; and the post-9/11 era's implications for majority-minority relations. While Sinno cites the Canadian approach with approval, he portrays an often fraught relationship between Western states and their Muslim citizens, and offers a broad range of suggestions for both communities to move towards a genuinely tolerant and integrated society. (HK) -- Hobie Kropp * MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on Transliteration1. An Institutional Approach to the Politics of Western Muslim Minorities, by Abdulkader H. SinnoPart 1. Western Muslims and Established State-Religion Relations2. Claiming Space in America's Pluralism: Muslims Enter the Political Maelstrom, by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Robert Stephen Ricks3. The Practice of Their Faith: Muslims and the State in Britain, France, and Germany, by J. Christopher Soper and Joel S. Fetzer4. Religion, Muslims, and the State in Britain and France: From Westphalia to 9/11, by Jorgen S. NielsenPart 2. Western Muslims and Political Institutions5. Muslim Underrepresentation in American Politics, by Abdulkader H. Sinno6. Muslims Representing Muslims in Europe: Parties and Associations after 9/11, by Jytte Klausen7. Muslims in UK Institutions: Effective Representation or Tokenism? by Abdulkader H. Sinno and Eren TatariPart 3. Institutional Underpinnings of Perceptions of Western Muslims8. How Europe and Its Muslim Populations See Each Other, by Jodie T. Allen and Richard Wike9. Public Opinion toward Muslim Americans: Civil Liberties and the Role of Religiosity, Ideology, and Media Use, by Erik C. Nisbet, Ronald Ostman, and James Shanahan10. The Racialization of Muslim Americans, by Amaney JamalPart 4. Western Muslims, Civil Rights, and Legal Institutions11. Canadian National Security Policy and Canadian Muslim Communities, by Kent Roach12. Counterterrorism and the Civil Rights of Muslim Minorities in the European Union, by Anja Dalgaard-Nielsen13. The Preventive Paradigm and the Rule of Law: How Not to Fight Terrorism, by David Cole14. Recommendations for Western Policy Makers and Muslim Organizations, by Abdulkader H. SinnoList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisHava Tirosh-Samuelson is Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University. She is author of Between Worlds: The Life and Thought of Rabbi David ben Judah Messer Leon and Happiness in Premodern Judaism: Virtue, Knowledge, and Well-Being and editor of Judaism and Ecology: Created World and Revealed Word.

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Book Synopsis* A unique and indispensable insight into the story of al-Qa'ida from a UK-based Arab Muslim journalist and expert on the organisation

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisEvery December 12th, thousands of Mexican immigrants gather for the mass at New York City's St Patrick's Cathedral in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe's feast day. They kiss images of the Virgin, wait for a bishop's blessing - and they also carry signs asking for immigration reform. This book examines this juxtaposition of religion and politics.Trade ReviewProfessor Galvez presents the social and anthropological theoretical framework for all these developments clearly and succinctly, making this book a valuable addition to academic studies on Latinos in the United States and an excellent college text. But all readers will find the individual immigrant stories and the organizational travails thoroughly engaging and the journeys of faith inspiring. * American Catholic Studies *Galvez' book is a fascinating and valuable study of the intersection between contemporary religious practice and national identity among New York City's Mexican immigrant community. -- Paul Kahan * Religious Studies Review *Gálvezs rich ethnographic study of Mexican immigrants in New York City highlights their devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe not only as a religious practice but as a means to create community and public life in the United States. Given the ongoing and increasing presence of Mexicans immigrants in the Northeast, Guadalupe in New York is an important study that social scientists, educators, religious workers, and public servants should read to understand the persistent and complex role that Guadalupe devotion plays in the lives of Mexicans in the United States. -- Joseph M. Palacios,Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Georgetown UniversityPortrays the dilemmas of being a recent Mexican immigrant in New York City today. This book analyzes how the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe provides a means for immigrants to articulate their aspirations for belonging and, ultimately, citizenship in the United States. Written with vivid grace, this book is a pleasure to read and should be required reading for all concerned with these issues. -- Renato Rosaldo,Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences, Emeritus, Stanford UniversityGalvezs findings offer much to consider for students of religious, ethnic, and transnational identities. * Choice *Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgments 1 Introduction 2 On Citizenship, Membership, and the Right to Have Rights 3 Los Comites Guadalupanos and Asociacion Tepeyac: Their Formation and Context 4 Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Image and Its Circulation 5 El Viacrucis del Inmigrante and Other Public Processions 6 La Antorcha Guadalupana/The Guadalupan Torch Run: Messengers for a People Divided by the Border 7 Conclusion: Citizenship for Immigrants Appendix: A Note on Methodology and the Use of Pseudonyms Notes References Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisThe author of this book recounts the history of the Ashkenazic Jewish experience in medieval western Europe from the 5th to 15th centuries, focusing on interaction between Jews and Christians during this formative period.Trade ReviewGlick's examination of the social experience of Jews living among Christians in medieval Europe is fascinating. . . . The Crusades, the Jews' relegation from merchants to moneylenders, and Jewish settlement in and subsequent expulsion from England allow Glick to realize his hypothesis. Glick makes this history come alive. An excellent choice for academic, seminary, and public libraries.

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Book SynopsisTen stories which deal with religious or revelatory experiences as they orginiate out of an historical or psychological background.

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Book SynopsisWhat if the Exodus had never happened? What if the Jews of Spain had not been expelled in 1492? What if Eastern European Jews had never been confined to the Russian Pale of Settlement? What if Adolf Hitler had been assassinated in 1939? What if a Jewish state had been established in Uganda instead of Palestine? Gavriel D. Rosenfeld's pioneering anthology examines how these and other counterfactual questions would have affected the course of Jewish history. Featuring essays by sixteen distinguished scholars in the field of Jewish Studies, What Ifs of Jewish History is the first volume to systematically apply counterfactual reasoning to the Jewish past. Written in a variety of narrative styles, ranging from the analytical to the literary, the essays cover three thousand years of dramatic events and invite readers to indulge their imaginations and explore how the course of Jewish history might have been different.Trade Review'The enduring value of counterfactual approaches emerges clearly from Gavriel Rosenfeld's ably constructed collection of perceptive and exciting essays. The volume is a major contribution to the method as well as to Jewish history.' Jeremy Black, University of Exeter, and author of Other Pasts, Different Presents, Alternative Futures'Gavriel Rosenfeld has produced a marvellously imaginative book. While it is not 'history' in the conventional sense, it is certain to be appreciated, even treasured, by scholars and all of those deeply concerned with the fate of European Jewry.' Michael Berkowitz, University College London'Counterfactual thinking is implicit in Jewish culture, from the grumbling of the liberated slaves about the watermelons they would have enjoyed in Egypt to the 'Dayenu' song in the Passover Seder. Entertaining and educational, What Ifs of Jewish History makes explicit the main junctures in Jewish history by imagining what would have been otherwise, including a Jewish state in Africa and a Christian state in Israel, a world without Jews and history without the Holocaust.' Aviezer Tucker, author of Our Knowledge of the Past: A Philosophy of Historiography'So why not a counterfactual? They are essential to making causal claims, normative judgments, and identity construction. The contributors to this fascinating volume conduct a series of sophisticated and eminently plausible counterfactual experiments towards these ends. Readers will learn much about Jewish history, European and Middle Eastern history.' Ned Lebow, King's College London'What Ifs of Jewish History as a whole earns my recommendation. Its writing is not as dense as other counterfactual tomes I have come across and its fictional entries mean that [it] is accessible to a casual historian. Go check it out and learn a thing or two about Jewish history by visiting some different Earths.' Matt Mitrovich, Amazing Stories'Editor Gavriel Rosenfeld … makes a convincing case in his introduction that Jewish historians have, for various reasons, been largely reluctant to jump aboard the counterfactual train. This book, he contends, is the first serious counterfactual examination of Jewish history. The flavorful and abundant food for thought to be found here suggests that it's probably about time.' Chris Leppek, Intermountain Jewish News'Given the controversial nature of counterfactuals, then, it is quite an achievement that Gavriel D. Rosenfeld has gathered fifteen scholars to contribute to What Ifs of Jewish History: From Abraham to Zionism … Some scholars will always want to know what happened, and some will always speculate. In What Ifs of Jewish History, the questions are more important than the answers. Recommended.' Elka Weber, Segula: The Jewish Journey Through HistoryTable of ContentsIntroduction: counterfactual history and the Jewish imagination Gavriel D. Rosenfeld; 1. What if the Exodus had never happened? Steven Weitzman; 2. What if the temple of Jerusalem had not been destroyed by the Romans? René Bloch; 3. What if King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella had not expelled the Jews of Spain in 1492? Jonathan Ray; 4. What if the 'ghetto' had never been constructed? Bernard Cooperman; 5. What if Spinoza had repented? Eugene Sheppard; 6. What if Russian Jewry had never been confined to the pale of Jewish settlement? Jeffrey Veidlinger; 7. What if a Christian state had been established in Modern Palestine? Derek Penslar; 8. What if the Jewish state had been established in East Africa? Adam Rovner; 9. What if Franz Kafka had immigrated to Palestine? Iris Bruce; 10. What if the Palestinian Arab elite had chosen compromise instead of boycott in confronting Zionism? Kenneth W. Stein; 11. What if Musa Alami and David Ben-Gurion had agreed on a Jewish-Arab state? David Myers; 12. What if the Weimar Republic had survived? Michael Brenner; 13. What if Adolf Hitler had been assassinated in 1939? Gavriel D. Rosenfeld; 14. What if the Nazis had won the battle of El Alamein? Jeffrey Herf; 15. What if the final solution had been completed? Dirk Rupnow; 16. What if the Holocaust had been averted? Jeffrey Gurock; Index.

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