A Jewish Book Award Finalist In the tradition of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Last Lecture, New York Times bestselling author Sara Davidson met every Friday with 89-year-old Rabbi Zalman Shachter-Shalomi, the iconic founder of the Jewish Renewal movment, to discuss what he calls The December Project. "When you can feel in your cells that you're coming to the end of your tour of duty," he said, "what is the spiritual work of this time, and how do we prepare for the mystery?" Davidson, who has a seeker's heart and a skeptic's mind, jumped at the chance to spend time with him. She'd long feared that death would be a complete annihilation, while Reb Zalman felt certain that "something continues." He said he didn't want to convince her of anything. "What I want is to loosen your mind." Through their talks, he wanted to help people "not freak out about dying," and enable them to have a more heightened and grateful life. For two years, they met every week, and this is Davidson's memoir of what they learned and how they changed. Interspersed with their talks are sketches from Reb Zalman's extraordinary life. He barely escaped the Nazis, became an Orthodox rabbi in the US, was married four times and had eleven children, one from a sperm donation to a lesbian rabbi, and formed friendships with leaders of other faiths, such as Thomas Merton and the Dalai Lama. Breaking with the Orthodox, he founded the Jewish Renewal Movement to encourage people to have a direct experience of God. During their time together, Davidson was nearly killed by a suicide bomb, and Reb Zalman struggled with a steep decline in health. Together they created strategies to deal with pain and memory loss, and found tools to cultivate simplicity, fearlessness, and joy—at any age. Davidson includes twelve exercises so that readers may experience what she did—a sea change in facing what we all must face: mortality.

The U.N. headquarters in N.Y. City neither conforms to current bldg. codes nor meets U.N. technology or security requirements. As the U.N.¿s host country and largest contributor, the U.S. has a substantial interest in the success of the Capital Master Plan (CMP), a project to renovate the complex. This report reviews the following areas: renovation, approach, schedule, cost, funding, risk mgmt., project progress, procurement, and oversight. The author reviewed U.N. documents and met with officials from the CMP office and other U.N. depts. He also reviewed U.N. documents and oversight reports and interviewed U.N. officials from the Office of Internal Oversight Services and officials from the U.S. Dept. of State. Includes recommendations. Illus.

Oral history is a marvelous force for empowering young people with a love of history. But educators today may wonder how they might use it to inspire their students while still teaching the necessary curriculum and meeting standards. In Dialogue with the Past Glenn Whitman addresses these concerns from his own rich experience and that of many other teachers and students. He helps readers understand the background and methodology of oral history, guides them in creating and conducting an oral history project in the classroom, and directly addresses the issue of meeting standards. Peppered with useful tips, examples from students and teachers, and reproducible forms, along with a comprehensive bibliography, this book will be a vital and inspirational tool for anyone working with secondary students. Visit the authors' web page