<![CDATA[Minyan: Ten Principles for Living a Life of Integrity]]>

false 47510 0 0 1074006 0609800558 9780609800553 0 <![CDATA[Minyan: Ten Principles for Living a Life of Integrity]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180755530m/1074006.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180755530s/1074006.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1074006.Minyan_Ten_Principles_for_Living_a_Life_of_Integrity 3.75 8 From years of work in his own synagogue, Rabbi Shapiro developed 10 spiritual practices that help ground a person in divine reality and achieve balance in internal and external affairs. Perhaps you don't associate meditation or "ethical consumption" with the Torah, but Shapiro convincingly demonstrates their value to, and history within, Judaism. Eight other practices, such as attention, generosity, and kindness make up Shapiro's metaphorical Minyan. As the ties binding all things become more and more evident in this book, the necessity of persistent self-development also becomes clear. Shapiro places the self as a necessary link in a community, thereby providing us with the refuge of solitude along with the power and love of community.

Neither a conservative Hasidic nor a head-in-the-clouds mystic, Shapiro offers a detailed, tested way of Jewish spiritual growth and fulfillment.

]]> 47510 4.16 31 2 1997 327497 1893361861 9781893361867 2 <![CDATA[Hasidic Tales: Annotated & Explained]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173783326m/327497.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173783326s/327497.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/327497.Hasidic_Tales_Annotated_Explained 4.83 6 In Hasidic Tales: Annotated & Explained, Rabbi Rami Shapiro breathes new life into these classic stories of people who so marvelously combined the mystical and the ordinary. Each demonstrates the spiritual power of unabashed joy, offers lessons for leading a holy life, and reminds you that the Divine can be found in the everyday.

Without an expert guide, the allegorical quality of Hasidic tales can be perplexing. But Shapiro presents them as stories rather than parables, making them accessible and meaningful. Now you can experience the wisdom of Hasidism firsthand even if you have no previous knowledge of Jewish spirituality. This SkyLight Illuminations edition offers insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that explains theological concepts, introduces major characters, offers clarifying references unfamiliar to most readers, and reveals how you can use the Hasidic tales to further your own spiritual awakening.

]]> 47510 4.16 31 2 2003 83157 1594731519 9781594731518 0 <![CDATA[The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness: Preparing to Practice]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171036649m/83157.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171036649s/83157.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/83157.The_Sacred_Art_of_Lovingkindness_Preparing_to_Practice 4.50 6 Guided by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, you will explore Judaism's Thirteen Attributes of Lovingkindness as the framework for cultivating a life of goodness. Shapiro translates these attributes into practices--drawn from the teachings of a variety of faith traditions--that allow you to actualize God's glory through personal deeds of lovingkindness. You will enrich your own capacity for lovingkindness as you:
Harvest kindness through compassionate honesty
Make room in your heart for reality
Recognize the manifestations of God
Embrace the paradoxical truth of not-knowing
Be present in the moment
Do right by others

With candor, wit, and honesty, Shapiro shows you that by choosing to act out of love rather than fear, with kindness rather than anger, you can transform how you perceive the world and ultimately lead a more complete spiritual life.

]]> 47510 4.16 31 2 2006 1308009 0060673001 9780060673000 0 <![CDATA[The Way of Solomon: Finding Joy and Contentment in the Wisdom of Ecclesiastes]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1182655433m/1308009.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1182655433s/1308009.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1308009.The_Way_of_Solomon_Finding_Joy_and_Contentment_in_the_Wisdom_of_Ecclesiastes 4.00 4 The Way of Solomon: Finding Joy and Contentment in the Wisdom of Ecclesiastes is Rami Shapiro's new interpretation of one of the Bible's oldest books. Shapiro's fascination with Ecclesiastes began when he discovered that the Hebrew word commonly translated as "vanity" could also mean "empty." For Shapiro, this discovery added a new and Eastern dimension to Solomon's famous line, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" and drove Shapiro to engage the book of Ecclesiastes in a holistic way. "Solomon looked and saw that all was empty of permanence; and that so much of our energies are invested in a pursuit of permanence that is doomed from the start. Ecclesiastes is his report of his journey to the heart of reality, and his insights into how we should live given the facts of life's impermanence. The only way to do justice to the text is to follow its author in looking at reality," he explains. The Way of Solomon includes Shapiro's translation of Ecclesiastes, notes from his wide-ranging research on the text, and reflections on his practice of meditation with Ecclesiastes. In Shapiro's hands, Ecclesiastes becomes something that many, many Christians are looking for these days--a kind of missing link between Buddhism and Christianity.]]> 47510 4.16 31 2 2000 828896 0517799669 9780517799666 0 <![CDATA[Wisdom of the Jewish Sages: Modern Reading of the Pirke Avot]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178737361m/828896.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178737361s/828896.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/828896.Wisdom_of_the_Jewish_Sages_Modern_Reading_of_the_Pirke_Avot 3.67 3
-- Arthur Waskow, author of Down-to-Earth Judaism and Seasons of Our Joy

Wisdom of the Jewish Sages is a fresh interpretation of Judaism's principal ethical scripture, Pirke Avot or The Sayings of the Fathers -- a treasury of maxims on justice, integrity, and virtue. Gathered into one volume in the third century, it represents the essential spiritual teaching of sixty-five remarkable rabbis who spanned the preceding six hundred years. For centuries it has been the most widely studied book in traditional Jewish homes. Now Rabbi Shapiro's modern reading of Pirke Avot makes its timeless knowledge available to a new generation of seekers.]]> 47510 4.16 31 2 1993 1143053 1594731098 9781594731099 0 <![CDATA[The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literature: Selections Annotated & Explained]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181371294m/1143053.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181371294s/1143053.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1143053.The_Divine_Feminine_in_Biblical_Wisdom_Literature_Selections_Annotated_Explained 3.50 2 Through the Hebrew books of Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and Job, and the Wisdom literature books of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon, the Divine Feminine speaks to you directly, and Her only desire is to teach you to become wise. Rami Shapiro's contemporary translations and powerful commentaries clarify who Wisdom is, what She teaches, and how Her words can help you live justly, wisely and with compassion. This is not a book about Wisdom but the voice of Wisdom Herself, liberating, uplifting and compelling.

Now you can experience the Divine Feminine and understand Her teachings with no previous knowledge of Wisdom literature. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents insightful commentary that explains Sophia's way of wisdom and illustrates the countless opportunities to experience Her creative energy through which God fashions all things.

]]> 47510 4.16 31 2 2005 387160 0974935921 9780974935928 0 <![CDATA[Open Secrets: The Letters of Reb Yerachmiel ben Yisrael]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174359633m/387160.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174359633s/387160.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/387160.Open_Secrets_The_Letters_of_Reb_Yerachmiel_ben_Yisrael 5.00 1 ". . . a rare jewel, a powerhouse of spiritual wisdom that you can read and reread."-Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. author of A Woman's Journey to God and Seven Paths to God

"[Open Secrets] invites us into the most intimate of settings, the whispered wisdom passed from an authentic Hasidic master to his student. It radiates warmth, passion for the divine, and earthy confidence in sacredness. A treasure for the spiritual seeker of any tradition." -Judith Simmer-Brown, Naropa University, author of Dakini's Warm Breath

"Open Secrets is my favorite way to introduce readers to the essence and depth of Judaism."-Bo Lozoff, author and founder of the Human Kindness Foundation

"A master teacher."-Thomas Keating

"A prophetic voice for a 21st-century Judaism"-Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

The fictional East European Hasidic Master Reb Yerachmeil writes to his hasid Herschel who has moved to America, in response to his student's perennial questions about God, what it means to be Jewish, whether all religions are true, about death, the soul, good deeds, intermarriage and more. The rebbe writes, "My Judaism seeks only the heart of the teaching and the essence of the practice and leaves the details to others." At the urging of his own rebbe, Shapiro, through these letters, creates a ". . . a Judaism for people who wish to learn from it as they do from Buddhism or Sufism, a Judaism for everyone."

Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro is regarded as one of the most creative voices in contemporary American Judaism. He is an award-winning poet and essayist, and his liturgies are used in prayer services throughout North America. His previous books include Minyan: 10 Principles for Living a Life of Integrity and The Way of Solomon: Finding Joy and Contentment in the Wisdom of Ecclesiastes.

]]> 47510 4.16 31 2 2004 828868 1594732078 9781594732072 0 <![CDATA[Ethics of the Sages: Pirke Avot]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178737314m/828868.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178737314s/828868.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/828868.Ethics_of_the_Sages_Pirke_Avot 4.00 1 At the heart of Judaism is an ethical imperative to live life from your true self, as the image and likeness of God. To do this, you must see the greatness of God manifest in all things, and therefore engage each moment with grace, humility, and justice. This imperative flowers in the words of the early Rabbis (250 BCE-250 CE), who captured God's call to be holy in Pirke Avot, a collection of pithy sayings on how best to live an ethical life.

This engaging introduction to the wisdom sayings of the rabbinic sages puts you in direct conversation with them, allowing the sages to speak directly to you about what matters in life and how to live it with dignity. With fresh, contemporary translation and provocative commentary, Rabbi Rami Shapiro focuses on the central themes in this Jewish wisdom compendium--study, kindness, compassion. He clarifies the rabbinic proverbs and parables in order to expose the ethical principles at their root. By recalling the ancient voices of the rabbinic sages, he shows us the contemporary significance of their timeless wisdom and distills Pirke Avot not as a book about ethics but as a practical guide to living ethically today.

Now you can experience the wisdom of the early Rabbis even if you have no previous knowledge of Judaism or rabbinic literature. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents the ethical teachings of the rabbinic sages, with insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that conveys Pirke Avot's core challenge of God to the Jewish people, and through them all humanity: We are to be holy as God is holy. We are to be, in a human way, what God is in a divine way.

]]> 47510 4.16 31 2 2006 6607278 0 <![CDATA[The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literature: Selections Annotated & Explained]]> http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6607278-the-divine-feminine-in-biblical-wisdom-literature 0.0 0 Through the Hebrew books of Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and Job, and the Wisdom literature books of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon, the Divine Feminine speaks to you directly, and Her only desire is to teach you to become wise. Rami Shapiro's contemporary translations and powerful commentaries clarify who Wisdom is, what She teaches, and how Her words can help you live justly, wisely and with compassion. This is not a book about Wisdom but the voice of Wisdom Herself, liberating, uplifting and compelling.

]]> 47510 4.16 31 2 2005 6607277 0 <![CDATA[The Hebrew Prophets: Selections Annotated & Explained]]> http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6607277-the-hebrew-prophets 0.0 0 Thousands of years after they spoke, the Hebrew prophets still have the power to strip away what we think we know in order to get to the truth. Their words, spoken as far back as the eighth century B.C.E., challenge us to engage justice, kindness, and humility in every aspect of our lives, thus choosing who we are, and who we are to become.

The Hebrew Prophets: Selections Annotated & Explained places you in direct conversation with them, allowing the prophets to speak directly to you about your life right here, right now. With fresh, contemporary translations, Rami Shapiro focuses on the central themes covered by all the prophets: moving from ignorance to wisdom, injustice to justice, cruelty to compassion, and despair to joy. This unique look at the Hebrew prophets sharpens the personal nature of their message and highlights their critique of the spiritual errors everyone faces in life, challenging you to correct those errors and experience a life of awakening joy.

Now you can experience the empowering words of the Hebrew prophets, even if you have no previous knowledge of the Hebrew Bible or Judaism. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents selections from the Hebrew prophets, with insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that conveys the prophetic call for humankind to fulfill the promise to renew harmony and unity, and to engage life with a sense of holiness and wholeness.

]]> 47510 4.16 31 2 2983267 0.0 0 0 2004