Torah Yoga: Experiencing Jewish Wisdom Through Classic Postures. Students of Torah may never have considered yoga, just as students of yoga may never have considered Torah. Yet Bloomfield, a yoga instructor and longtime student of the Torah, seamlessly connects the two as she teaches readers how to engage body and breath while meditating on Jewish wisdom. Like any good teacher, Bloomfield carefully lays out her lesson plan and instantly engages her reader. She approaches her seven topics for reflection with a thoroughness employed by the most rigorous yeshiva student. At the same time, her posture instruction is clear and easily understood. Quoting the yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar, Bloomfield reminds us that “Yoga was given for the human race, not the Hindus… [it] is for the culturing of self and that self-culture has no barrier.” She universalizes the Torah references and demonstrates a keen ability to unlock the plethora of doors found within the Hebrew language. For instance, Egypt is not only the land of ancient slavery; as she points out, with the change of a few vowels, the same Hebrew letters spell the word for “narrow straits.” The center letters of the word, when paired, connote limitations and pain, yet are surrounded by letters that, when combined, spell the word for water—"a symbol of unlimited possibilities… a harbinger of new life.” Readers of any faith or athletic inclination should do their souls a favor and investigate this illuminating guide. See details
Archive for the 'Law' Category
What Do You Mean, You Can’t Eat in My Home?: A Guide to How Newly Observant Jews and Their Less Observant Relatives Can Still Get Along.
Here is a book of workable, sensible solutions to the everyday problems faced by newly observant Jews as they try to explain the parameters of their new lives to the people who love them—but think they’ve gone around the bend.
For the formerly nonobservant Jew who has decided to live an observant life, the most daunting task can be dealing with less-observant loved ones. How can you explain to them what you now feel and believe? How can you continue to be part of the lives of your parents, your siblings and their families, and your in-laws, given how differently you now live your life? In this book, Azriela Jaffe—the observant daughter of less-observant parents—answers these and other pressing questions.
Jaffe discusses how to eat kosher and observe the Sabbath and Jewish holidays in the home of a non-observant relative, and how to host nonobservant relatives in your own home; how to explain the laws of modesty and courtship practices; how to attend family life-cycle events—or explain why you sometimes can’t; and how to help your relatives understand the decision to put secular education temporarily aside to attend yeshivah and further your knowledge of Jewish law, rituals, and customs.
Eminently insightful, helpful, and readable, What Do You Mean, You Can’t Eat in My Home? will be an invaluable tool in the lives of an ever-increasing number of Jewish families. See details
Rabbi Shlomo Goren: Torah Sage and General. This is a small introductory work about one of the most important religious figures of modern Israel. Rabbi Shlomo Goren was both a great scholar and central figure in the Army of Israel. He was a person of extraordinary personal courage who time and again risked his life for the well- being of the people of Israel.He did this both on the battlefield of the War of Independence and on the ramparts in the War of Attrition in 1970. His famous charge to the Temple Mount and Western Wall in the Sixty- seven war is part of Israeli legend. He is considered one of the pioneering Poskim (Religious decisors) in areas as diverse as medical ethics and the release of ‘agunot’.
This book is a small one divided into two parts the first telling of the life of Rabbi Goren. The second is devoted to his thought.
The hope was that this would inspire further researches including more detailed and comprehensive ones which would do justice to this remarkable Jewish leader. See details
The Complete Guide to the Kabbalah.
The Kabbalah is a practical system for understanding all aspects of our lives, from the deepest spiritual connections to the everyday experience of living in the modern world. At the core of the spiritual teachings of the Western world, the ancient mysteries of the Kabbalah are now more relevant than ever. Based on an effective map of consciousness called the Tree of Life, the Kabbalah has the potential to enhance the quality of life for individuals as well as the societies in which they live. Blending traditional teachings with psychological understanding, The Complete Guide to the Kabbalah reveals the age-old mysteries of the Tree of Life, explaining how the Kabbalah can help you understand the connections among all the different events, ideas, and relationships in your life; work from the heart as well as from the intellect; and open yourself to the rich resources of your own inner wisdom. See details
