What accounts for the rise and fall of so many civilizationsespecially when some of them held more political power than their rivals? Author Joseph Sassoon tackles this question and many others in this, his second volume on self-actualization. As a missionary for humanism, he explores the social conditions that are necessary for the greatest number of people to achieve self-actualization. In presenting his theories, he reviews the work of major thinkers, including Kurt Goldstein and his landmark book, Human Nature in the Light of Psychopathology; Charles Darwin; Buddha; and many others. Sassoon explores the answers to key questions: What is societys role in helping individuals move toward self-actualization? What benefits would society enjoy if more people achieved their potential? What are the main characteristics of a humanist code? What can we do to promote humanist values? A third volume in this series will establish the conditions required to bring about a world federalism based on humanism. In a changing world with competing ideologies, it is more important than ever to establish the importance of humanist values. In this study, Sassoon describes a step-by-step social arrangement leading to self-actualization for the greatest number of people in society.

This comprehensive bibliography to scholarly works on the biblical book of Esther contains over 1500 references. It includes titles of books, collected works, Festschriften, theses, journal articles, essays in collections, encyclopedia and dictionary articles, and online material. It is a classified bibliography, arranged in three categories -- commentaries, biblical chapters and verses, and subject headings in alphabetical order. The scope of the bibliography is international, and its focus is on research from the last hundred years. Scholars, students, clergy, and librarians -- among them literary scholars, sociologists, historians, linguists, art historians, feminists, and Christian and Jewish scholars -- will find this unique volume an indispensable resource and stimulus to further research.

This is the first translation with commentary of selections from The Zohar, the major text of the Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition. This work was written in 13th-century Spain by Moses de Leon, a Spanish scholar.

Based on a series of lectures that Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan gave to a small group of students in Brooklyn in 1981, this contains transcripts of the series on the Kabbalistic system, and testifies to his wonderful ability to transmit profound ideas in a readily-graspable way. Although this is an introductory text, it contains many perspectives that are expressed in a unique way, so it would be quite valuable even for the more advanced student of Jewish mysticism.