Gold From The Land Of Israel

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935), the celebrated first Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel, is recognized as being among the most important Jewish thinkers of all times. He was a prominent rabbinical authority and active public leader, but at the same time, a deeply religious mystic. Gold from the Land of Israel uses a clear, succinct style to grant the reader a window into his original and creative insights.

"Inspiring! This book is truly wonderful. Rav Kook zt"l is one of the most important Jewish thinkers and leaders of the last century... This book makes his words accessible and understandable. I highly recommend it." -- Rabbi Shmuel Jablon, author of "Keys to Success" Rav Kook's writings, due to their poetic and mystical nature, are difficult even for those fluent in Hebrew and rabbinical texts. Gold from the Land of Israel uses a clear, succinct style to grant the reader a window into his original and creative insights. This book elucidates his thoughts on many fascinating topics in the format of a commentary to the Torah portion. Discussed are subjects such as: Can we reconcile the Torah's account of creation with modern science? What is the Torah's view on vegetarianism? What is the purpose of death? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do we have dreams? Will the Third Temple have animal sacrifices? How can one attain joy in serving God? How should we balance our time between Torah study and work? "Rav Chanan Morrison explains Rav Kook's Torah like no one else... Purchase this book if you truly want to understand Rav Kook and bring the fulfillment of his teachings into your heart." -- Yoely Zipkin

This book is a collection of letters from a religious Jew in Israel to a Christian friend in Barcelona on life as an Orthodox Jew. Equal parts lighthearted and insightful, it's a thorough and entertaining introduction to the basic concepts of Judaism.

This gripping memoir tells the personal story of a man who has lived at the epicenter of the major events of modern Jewish history. From the ashes of Auschwitz to statehood and theingathering of the exiles, Rabbi Sholom Gold has lived through the most traumatic, tragic, and majestic period in the four-thousand-year saga of thr Jewish people.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW AND ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR “A deeply reported, deeply personal history of Zionism and Israel that does something few books even attempt: It balances the strength and weakness, the idealism and the brutality, the hope and the horror, that has always been at Zionism’s heart.”—Ezra Klein, The New York Times Winner of the Natan Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award Ari Shavit’s riveting work, now updated with new material, draws on historical documents, interviews, and private diaries and letters, as well as his own family’s story, to create a narrative larger than the sum of its parts: both personal and of profound historical dimension. As he examines the complexities and contradictions of the Israeli condition, Shavit asks difficult but important questions: Why did Israel come to be? How did it come to be? Can it survive? Culminating with an analysis of the issues and threats that Israel is facing, My Promised Land uses the defining events of the past to shed new light on the present. Shavit’s analysis of Israeli history provides a landmark portrait of a small, vibrant country living on the edge, whose identity and presence play a crucial role in today’s global political landscape.

Walk from creation to eternity in a way guaranteed to change your view of the world. You'll finally understand the war Satan is waging against God and how that conflict has affected history, including the persecution of Jewish people and Christians.

Renowned in the blogosphere as The Anchoress and as Catholic Portal editor of the popular Patheos.com, Elizabeth Scalia offers a powerful critique of the “gods” we worship today, reminding readers that life’s deepest desires can be satisfied only in Christ. Strange Gods, Scalia's debut book, is packed full of the iconoclastic vim and vigor that has won her a large, faithful Internet following. She presents readers with a surprising look at the ways in which modern people still commit the sin of idolatry in their everyday lives. While literal golden calves no longer dot the landscape, Scalia describes how legitimate loves become obsessively twisted into idols. She unmasks idolatry in a number of everyday experiences—friendships that become needy or possessive, commitments political and religious that grow so intense they lead to hatred of others, to name a few—and points to the incarnation of Christ and authentic worship of him as a way out of idolatry and into peace, happiness, and love.

Two prominent Israeli liberals argue that for the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians to end with peace, Palestinians must come to terms with the fact that there will be no "right of return." In 1948, seven hundred thousand Palestinians were forced out of their homes by the first Arab-Israeli War. More than seventy years later, most of their houses are long gone, but millions of their descendants are still registered as refugees, with many living in refugee camps. This group—unlike countless others that were displaced in the aftermath of World War II and other conflicts—has remained unsettled, demanding to settle in the state of Israel. Their belief in a "right of return" is one of the largest obstacles to successful diplomacy and lasting peace in the region. In The War of Return, Adi Schwartz and Einat Wilf—both liberal Israelis supportive of a two-state solution—reveal the origins of the idea of a right of return, and explain how UNRWA - the very agency charged with finding a solution for the refugees - gave in to Palestinian, Arab and international political pressure to create a permanent “refugee” problem. They argue that this Palestinian demand for a “right of return” has no legal or moral basis and make an impassioned plea for the US, the UN, and the EU to recognize this fact, for the good of Israelis and Palestinians alike. A runaway bestseller in Israel, the first English translation of The War of Return is certain to spark lively debate throughout America and abroad.

Most of us would agree that we want to live a successful life. But what constitutes a successful life? How do we measure a life well lived? Mining for Gold: Essays Exploring the Relevancy of Torah in the Modern World focuses on these questions of lifes values. Editor Rabbi Daniel Cohen has compiled essays from twenty leading rabbis in North America and Israel to reveal how the gold standard of living well can be reached in the modern world. Their conclusions find that ultimate wealth comes from having a good name or a virtuous character. The time to earn that good name is now, not when one is lying on a deathbed. If ones life is infused with the timeless values of family, friends, faith, and goodness, the end of life will come with few regrets. In this book, new insights on amplifying these values in your life are provided. One person who lived these values every day was Lester Gold. Mining for Gold: Essays Exploring the Relevancy of Torah in the Modern World is a tribute to his life and the timeless values he embodied. He understood that the answers to lifes mysteries emerge from the Bible, the Torah. These essays and reflections from Lesters friends and family will help you do the same.