Commentary on the Weekly Torah Portion.

The Rav here explores the crucial interface between living religious experience and halakhic norms. He analyzes the Amidah, the Shema and other liturgical texts, and considers the tension between human dependence and exaltation.

The Rich Go to Heaven: Giving Charity in Jewish Thought focuses on how tzedekah can connect an individual with God and reveal the spirituality of the physical world.

This work provides a definitive translation into English of the Targum of Lamentations, based on a critical reading of all the extant versions, with textual annotations and extensive notes. An appendix offers, in addition, a translation and annotation of the Yemenite version.

Jesus of Nazareth was a first-century Palestinian Jew who was wholly dedicated to his Judaism, and he arose during a turbulent period of history for the Jewish people living under the oppression of the Roman Empire. From his brief few years of ministry, a new religion--Christianity--came into being. But does modern Christianity accurately understand Jesus's charismatic life, teachings, and overall goal in God's ultimate plan for humankind that Jesus so eloquently spelled out in the Lord's Prayer--to bring about life on earth as it is in heaven? On Earth as It Is in Heaven is a two-volume study, commentary, and spiritual guidebook that investigates the historical Jesus in the context of God's ultimate plan for humankind, and it covers how the accurate portrait of Jesus and his message have been altered since the first century through today. The first volume opens with an examination of the appeal and significance of the New Testament message, and it concludes by exploring how the early church altered Jesus's message after his death. The second volume further investigates the connection between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, and it explains how it is Jesus's Judaism that speaks to the true origins of Christianity. Correctly understanding the changes that were made to the historical Jesus and his message is essential for all modern followers of Jesus, and restoring an accurate portrait of Jesus is what will help believers understand God's ultimate plan for humankind.

Neusner proves that the law of normative Judaism, the Halakhah, viewed whole, with its category-formations read in logical sequence, tells a coherent story. He demonstrates that details of the law contribute to making a single statement, one that, moreover, complements and corresponds with that of the Aggadah, the lore and scriptural exegesis of Judaism. He has now portrayed for the first time the way in which Aggadah and Halakhah, attitude and action, belief and behavior, join together to set forth normative Judaism, the vast system for holy Israel's social order of the Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrash of late antiquity.

A biochemist by profession, a polymath by inclination and erudition, Yeshayahu Leibowitz has been, since the early 1940s, one of the most incisive and controversial critics of Israeli culture and politics. His direct involvement, compelling polemics, and trenchant criticism have established his steadfast significance for contemporary Israeli-and Jewish- intellectual life. These hard-hitting essays, his first to be published in English, cover the ground Leibowitz has marked out over time with moral rigor and political insight. He considers the essence and character of historical Judaism, the problems of contemporary Judaism and Jewishness, the relationship of Judaism to Christianity, the questions of statehood, religion, and politics in Israel, and the role of women. Together these essays constitute a comprehensive critique of Israeli society and politics and a probing diagnosis of the malaise that afflicts contemporary Jewish culture. Leibowitz's understanding of Jewish philosophy is acute, and he brings it to bear on current issues. He argues that the Law, Halakhah, is essential to Judaism, and shows how, at present, separation of religion from state would serve the interest of halakhic observance and foster esteem for religion. Leibowitz calls the religious justification of national issues "idolatry" and finds this phenomenon at the root of many of the annexationist moves made by the state of Israel. Long one of the most outspoken critics of Israeli occupation in the conquered territories, he gives eloquent voice to his ongoing concern over the debilitating moral effects of its policies and practices on Israel itself. This translation will bring to an English-speaking audience a much-needed, lucid perspective on the present and future state of Jewish culture.