Book Launch: Memoirs of a Hopeful Pessimist

Thursday evening, December 22, at 8 p.m. at Kehilat Yedidya, 12 Lifschitz Street in Bak’a.

MC for the evening: Linda Gradstein.

Panelists: Noomi Stahl and Dr. Yoni Moss, with response by Debbie.

Short musical program and light refreshments.

Book available for purchase and signing.

For more information, visit the event page here.

Shaarei Nechama: Rosh Hashana Machzor on sale at Matan

The Shaarei Nechama Rosh Hashana Machzor will be on sale at the Matan Yom Iyun on Monday, September 26, 2016.

New from Urim Publications – Shaarei Nechama: Rosh Hashana Machzor

New from Urim Publications – Shaarei Nechama: Rosh Hashana Machzor

Buy now

Shaarei Nechama: Rosh Hashana Machzor
With Commentary of Professor Nechama Leibowitz

Nechama Leibowitz was the most prominent, creative, and ground breaking teacher of Bible and Biblical interpretation of her time. She taught and continues to inspire thousands. In Machzor Shaarei Nechama, we have collected from her wellsprings of Torah, drawn from her writings. You will find them organized under the rubrics: “Gates of Prayer” “Gates of Torah” and “Gates of Repentance.” Enter and experience the new vistas and wondrous insights of Nechama Leibowitz, which will inform and illuminate the high holidays.

 

The Silence Breakers

In an article in The Jerusalem Post on January 17, 2016 titled “The Silence Breakers,” Orit Afra writes:

In 2011, New York-based psychologist, researcher and author Dr. Michael Salamon came out with the book Abuse in the Jewish Community: Religious and Communal Factors that Undermine Apprehension of Offenders and the Treatment of Victims (Urim Publications) to both community praise and “hate mail.” He felt compelled to write the book after his private practice in the Five Towns in New York received many victims of abuse from Jewish and Catholic communities alike.

You can read the entire article on lifting the veil of silence over the issue of sexual abuse in The Jerusalem Post Magazine.

Expecting Miracles and Finding Spirituality in Pregnancy

By Tuly Wiesz

Though I have obviously never been pregnant myself, I have had the blessed opportunity of going through the miraculous process alongside my incredible wife four times in the last decade. For some expectant parents, it is the physical changes that are the focus of pregnancy – the nausea, the aches and pains, late night ice cream cravings and ah, those fun hormonal changes.

But for many righteous women, pregnancy is a precious opportunity for an enhanced spiritual connection with God, a topic beautifully elaborated upon by Chana Weisberg in the book Expecting Miracles: Finding Meaning and Spirituality in Pregnancy Through Judaism.

During her first two pregnancies, Weisberg found a lack of spiritual literature relating to pregnancy so she set out to fill the void with Expecting Miracles. Bursting with personal stories of Godly women who used their pregnancies as an opportunity to reflect, the book connects women to God and grow spiritually.

Weisberg shares the intimate details of her own spiritual journey from Indonesia to Jerusalem, from a secular life to a deeply religious one. However, the book focuses on interviews with 24 mothers living in Jerusalem. These women include mothers, midwives and educators – each with their own personal experience and take-home message.

As one expecting mother put it, “I felt very fulfilled during pregnancy. Even if I wasn’t doing anything else in the world, just walking around with this baby inside of me gave me a lot of confidence. I felt full of self-worth.”

Expecting Miracles is arranged by topic and deals with many big issues that couples face during pregnancy including the work-life balance, birth control, family planning, large families and prenatal screening.

Kaddish Review

By Evelyn Pockrass 

Jewish mourning rituals affect survivors for the remainder of their lives. We remember loved ones in prescribed ways during the first year after their passing and in special ways hereafter…

Kaddish: Women’s Voices edited by Michal Smart and conceived by Barbara Ashkenas, gathers more than fifty short essays by women (mainly Modern Orthodox) about their experiences during the first year after a close relative has died. When a parent dies, part of the traditional observance required of men for eleven months is to attend services three times daily, during which the Kaddish (from the root meaning “holy”) prayer is recited.

Some Orthodox synagogues accept the participation of women in this ritual. The stories in Kaddish reflect the contributor’s experiences, both positive and negative, in carrying out the ritual. Some of he women endued poor treatment and other hardships, but saying Kaddish was nevertheless a great source of comfort and healing for all.

The volume’s layout is appealing; there are twelve chapters, each beginning with a part of the Kaddish prayer (in Aramaic and Hebrew) and a poem in English. Kaddish won a 2013 National Jewish Book Award.

This review appeared in the third issue of Church and Synagogue Library Association’s congregational libraries today.