Swimming against the Current comprises a collection of essays celebrating the career and achievements of Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, who served as Executive Director of Hillel at UCLA for forty years and continues to be an influential leader in the Los Angeles and wider American Jewish community. These articles, like the honoree, challenge intellectual convention and accepted wisdom by breaking new ground in how they approach their subjects. They are divided into four categories that hold special interest for Seidler-Feller: Bible and Talmud, Jewish Thought and Theology, Modern Jewish History and Sociology, and Zionism and Jewish Politics. The volume also includes a sketch of Seidler-Feller’s life and work, a bibliography of his publications, and tributes by students and colleagues.

Looks at being a follower of Aristotle or St. Thomas Aquinas in a modern philosophical world.

Shirley Zinn's story is one of determination, courage, and triumph over incredible adversity. Born and raised on the Cape Flats, Shirley never allowed her past to dictate her future. She proved that the typical story of a girl from the Cape Flats - that of gangsterism, alcoholism and teenage pregnancy - didn't have to be her story. Instead she relentlessly pursued her own goals and forged an impressive academic career even when she faced significant odds. And when she'd done that, she set out to conquer the world of business. Shirley is a formidable woman with an amazing story to tell. She has risen to the top of the pile in both academic and business circles, and yet she has retained great humanity and empathy in the face of great personal tragedy. Her story has lessons for us all - whether we are ordinary or extraordinary, whether we work in business, in government, or at home. Shirley's story will inspire you and show you that it is possible to achieve your goals, if you are prepared to swim upstream and be single-minded in getting where you want to be.

In recent years, water resource management in the United States has begun a shift away from top-down, government agency-directed decision processes toward a collaborative approach of negotiation and problem solving. Rather than focusing on specific pollution sources or specific areas within a watershed, this new process considers the watershed as a whole, seeking solutions to an interrelated set of social, economic, and environmental problems. Decision making involves face-to-face negotiations among a variety of stakeholders, including federal, state, and local agencies, landowners, environmentalists, industries, and researchers. Swimming Upstream analyzes the collaborative approach by providing a historical overview of watershed management in the United States and a normative and empirical conceptual framework for understanding and evaluating the process. The bulk of the book looks at a variety of collaborative watershed planning projects across the country. It first examines the applications of relatively short-term collaborative strategies in Oklahoma and Texas, exploring issues of trust and legitimacy. It then analyzes factors affecting the success of relatively long-term collaborative partnerships in the National Estuary Program and in 76 watersheds in Washington and California. Bringing analytical rigor to a field that has been dominated by practitioners' descriptive accounts, Swimming Upstream makes a vital contribution to public policy, public administration, and environmental management.

America’s most sought-after voice in the fight to save female sports shares her unbelievable story and inspires readers to embrace common sense and truth in discussions about women's rights. Riley Gaines has been called many things: Collegiate athlete. All-American. Champion. But in 2022, everything changed. The narrative shifted. Now, critics smeared her as: Transphobic. Narrow-minded. Evil. What changed? Riley gave the truth a voice. She stood up, spoke out, and dared to ask questions -- not just for herself, but for all female athletes who refuse to accept an ideology where "inclusivity" for trans-identifying male athletes now means treating women unfairly. Riley Gaines is changing minds in the process, and this highly anticipated, fearless, pro-woman book takes on controversial but critical questions we must confront about women (and sports) in America. Can't we embrace policies that give everyone the chance to compete but still protect women and ensure they have a fair shot at success? In this book, Riley scrutinizes the perspectives of athletes on the opposing side of this debate, deconstructing their arguments with science, facts, and logic. She also asks what has happened to free speech and dissent in this country, where it now seems nearly impossible to have a well-reasoned debate. And in telling her story, Riley reveals what’s at stake if the truth-seekers remain silent about the injustices women face from radical agendas.

Many of today's parents struggle with their approach in raising a healthy daughter within our complex culture. Never before have girls been faced with so many pressures to live up to confusing and often contradictory cultural expectations. These burdens are intense, newly evolving, and are affecting girls at earlier and earlier ages. As girls of all ages listen to the messages of popular culture, they gather that their worth is based upon a perfect appearance, the ability to gain attention and approval from others, and their accrual of accomplishments. As girls absorb these expectations, they begin to believe they are not good enough as they are. They are not able to develop an authentic sense of self because they lose themselves in trying to become what the culture dictates. It is not surprising that with all of these pressures, girls are experiencing stress, emptiness, and skyrocketing rates of mental health problems. Parents know that something is very wrong with today's culture, but they can't quite put a name on the problem. Many feel helpless as popular cultural influences pervade modern life at every turn. This book, however, provides parents with reassurance that their influence can make a significant difference in their daughters' development. Parents are empowered to make positive choices to help girls learn to resist cultural pressures and to successfully navigate the transitions they will face in their journey as girls in today's culture. Written in an engaging, practical style, Laura Choate draws from research and counseling literature to provide parents with tools they can use to teach their daughters the power of resilience. The book begins with a portrait of the contemporary adolescent girl's environment, including an in-depth exploration of cultural pressures and an overview of how these pressures influence girls' physical, cognitive, and social development. In the second part of the book, parents learn about five resilience dimensions that girls need not only to survive, but to thrive as they develop during girlhood and adolescence. Practical tools for instilling resilience regarding girls' positive body image, healthy relationships with friends and romantic partners, and management of high-pressure academic environments through a redefinition of what it means to be successful are all discussed extensively.