Holy Beggars

In 1967, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach established the House of Love and Prayer, an outreach center for Jewish spiritual seekers located in San Francisco. One of its activities was the publication of The Holy Beggars' Gazette, a gathering of Jewish wisdom authored by Reb Shlomo and others. This book brings together the contents of The Holy Beggars' Gazette, and is presented chronologically from its beginnings in 1972 until it ceased publication in 1979.

The 1960s San Francisco spiritual revolution - a view from inside. Memoir about a spiritual teacher and a student in 1960s San Francisco, a colorful cast - including Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, Allen Ginsburg, Murshid Samuel Lewis ("Sufi Sam"), Swami Satchidananda, Ajari Warwick, Rabbi Zalman Shalomi Schachter, and many more - and lives that were changed forever. Aryae Coopersmith, a 22-year old college student in 1960s San Francisco, meets the charismatic rabbi and folk singer Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and decides to start a community for him. He rents a house and moves in with his best friends. Before long they find themselves - and their house - at the center of the San Francisco spiritual revolution as thousands of young people - Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Sufis, and followers of countless gurus - flood in through their doors. Giving concerts to packed halls all over the world, Shlomo is recognized as Judaism's most influential musician, and one of its greatest spiritual leaders, of the late 20th century. Their house - the House of Love and Prayer - becomes an historic part of the legend of 1960s San Francisco. Aryae and his fellow students who are running other spiritual communities bring their teachers and gurus together to create a big San Francisco event - the Meeting of the Ways - to celebrate the oneness of the world's spiritual traditions and all the world's people. Aryae's best friends Efraim and Leah leave San Francisco and head to Jerusalem, where they become ultra-Orthodox Hasidim. Many others from the "House" follow. Aryae stays behind and settles into a secular life as a Silicon Valley business owner. After Shlomo dies, Aryae feels compelled to tell the story. To try to understand the lives of his old friends and pull together the scattered fragments of his own, he travels to Jerusalem. This profoundly moving memoir tells a story of grace, loss, redemption, and ultimately of acceptance. It invites us to reflect on how the 1960s spiritual revolution - with its vision of the oneness of us all - has impacted each of our lives.

Inspiring Stories and Enchanted Tales about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.

Why, asks Kelly Johnson, does Christian ethics so rarely tackle the real-life question of whether to give to beggars? Examining both classical economics and Christian stewardship ethics as reactions to medieval debates about the role of mendicants in the church and in wider society, Johnson reveals modern anxiety about dependence and humility as well as the importance of Christian attempts to rethink property relations in ways that integrate those qualities. She studies the rhetoric and thought of Christian thinkers, beggar saints, and economists from throughout history, placing greatest emphasis on the life and work of Peter Maurin, a cofounder of the Catholic Worker movement. Challenging and thought-provoking, The Fear of Beggars will move Christian economic ethics into a richer, more involved discussion.

If heaven is truly a paradise where God dwells, we should desire it more than anything on this frail, fleeting earth. The trials and difficulties of life should each be seen in light of the coming glory of heaven. Unfortunately, we rarely view things from this perspective. Our schedules are filled with the present, allowing no time for contemplating or desiring eternity. Our incorrect perspective makes us spend our time on the least important things while ignoring those things that are most crucial. Take a break from the present and let E. M. Bounds help you discover A Place Called Heaven. Examining virtually all the Scriptures that pertain to heaven, Bounds masterfully explains the nature of heaven and our purpose in it. Get a taste of heaven here on earth, learn a true Christian attitude toward eternity, and discover a purer, truer life.