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4 books match the query 'Marmur, Michael'

cover of American Jewish Thought Since 1934: Writings on Identity, Engagement, and Belief

American Jewish Thought Since 1934

Writings on Identity, Engagement, and Belief

Edited by Michael Marmur and David Ellenson

Brandeis University Press, 2020

What is the role of Judaism and Jewish existence in America? And what role does America play in matters Jewish? This anthology considers these questions and offers a look at how the diverse body of Jewish thought developed within the historical and intellectual context of America.

In this volume, editors Michael Marmur and David Ellenson bring together the distinctive voices of those who have shaped the bold and shifting soundscape of American Jewish thought over the last few generations. The contributors tackle an array of topics including theological questions; loyalty and belonging; the significance of halakhic, spiritual, and ritual practice; secularization and its discontents; and the creative recasting of Jewish peoplehood. The editors are careful to point out how a plurality of approaches emerged in response to the fundamental ruptures and challenges of continuity posed by the Holocaust, the establishment of the state of Israel, and the civil rights movement in the twentieth century.

This volume also includes a wide swath of the most distinctive currents and movements over the last eighty years: post-Holocaust theology, secular forms of Jewish spirituality, ultra-orthodoxy, American neo-orthodoxy, neo-Hasidism, feminism and queer theory, diasporist critiques of Zionism, and Zionist militancy. This collection will serve as both a testament to the creativity of American Jewish thought so far, and as an inspiration for the new thinkers of its still unwritten future.
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cover of Loaves of Torah: Exploring the Jewish Year through Challah

Loaves of Torah

Exploring the Jewish Year through Challah

Rabbi Vanessa M. Harper

Central Conference of American Rabbis, 2023

Braided and spiral loaves of challah have long been a delicious centerpiece of the Jewish table, but with a few extra twists, the beloved Shabbat bread can become a work of art that teaches Torah. In Loaves of Torah, Rabbi Vanessa M. Harper— creator of the hit Instagram account @lechlechallah—shapes interpretive challot for each weekly Torah portion and Jewish holiday. A creative journey through the Jewish year, the book pairs gorgeous color photographs with insightful commentary, in-depth questions for reflection and discussion, as well as beautiful kavanot. Rabbi Harper also includes blessings, recipes, and tips for creating your own interpretive challot. A fresh, contemporary commentary on our holiest text, Loaves of Torah will inspire you to think outside the braid and take Torah into your own hands.

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cover of Mishkan Moeid: A Guide to the Jewish Seasons

Mishkan Moeid

A Guide to the Jewish Seasons

Rabbi Peter S. Knobel, PhD

Central Conference of American Rabbis, 2013

Newly revised and updated edition of the CCAR classic Gates of the Seasons, this new volume presents a survey of the sacred days of the Jewish yearly cycle. Providing detailed guidance on observing Shabbat and the Jewish holidays, including historical background, essays, and extensive notes, Mishkan Moeid is perfect for Introduction to Judaism classes and conversion candidates, as well as personal study for those wishing to reconnect or deepen their relationship to Judaism.
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cover of The Challenges of Sovereignty: Essays on Israel and Zionism

The Challenges of Sovereignty

Essays on Israel and Zionism

David Ellenson

Brandeis University Press, 2026

Key essays by a notable scholar address some of the most pressing questions facing Israel today.

Over the course of his rich career, David Ellenson—one of the most outstanding Jewish scholars, intellectuals, and thinkers of our time—probed the tension between tradition and modernity, especially as reflected in the ceaseless reinterpretation of liturgical and halakhic texts. Alongside that scholarly interest, largely centered on European Jewry, Ellenson produced an impressive body of work on Zionism and Israel.

This volume follows the arc of this body of work from Ellenson’s early articles on the Zionism of American rabbis to his last essay on the struggle between Jewish and democratic impulses in Israeli society. He draws on familiar sources of inquiry—Jewish prayers and legal sources—to chart changes in Israeli religious life and to excavate its theological-political foundation. What emerges is a profound meditation on some of the most important questions that Israel faces today: what does it mean to be Jewish in the state? What role should Halakhah play in a self-defined Jewish state? How should the state treat its non-Jewish minority? How deeply rooted is democracy in the state and its foundational texts? And can the state ever escape seemingly irrepressible internal and external conflict?

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