"The members of this "Congressional Minyan" have little in common save their ancestry. They have hailed from the West Indies, Germany, Russia-Poland and Palestine, from New York, Kansas, Alabama and Iowa. Among them are: Harvard-trained doctors and Oxford Dons; farmers and shopkeepers; and children of poverty and scions of unimaginable wealth.".

Forward by Sherwin B. Nuland As Jack Riemer demonstrates in this collection of Jewish resources for mourning and healing, the Jewish tradition has much to offer those who seek its help in time of need. Here are personal as well as practical writings by contemporary authors about the Shivah period, Kaddish, Yizkor, Yahrzeit, and less familiar practices to honor the dead and comfort the living. Some writers describe new rituals that were created to fill special needs. Others raise questions about the tradition: Do Jews believe in an afterlife? How do we mourn the stillborn child? Should we always strive to prolong life? Reflections on these and other issues related to death and dying make this an indispensable resource for coping with some of life's most difficult and sacred moments.

For over one hundred years, Congregation Sons of Israel has been the thriving spiritual home of observant Jews in Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst. As that neighborhood grew throughout the twentieth century from a small seaside community to a middle-class haven for immigrants and others, the rabbis, officers, and congregants built a center of worship, education, and service based on the highest principles of the Torah. From the early 1940s to today, Jack Klein was at the center of it all. Taking office in 1974, he is the longest-serving president in the congregation’s history. In these pages, Mr. Klein tells the incredible story of perseverance through times of challenge and triumph for Sons of Israel, the United States, and the Jewish people. There are many congregations in Bensonhurst but only one known as the Big Shul, a center of Jewish life that proudly remains in service today.

This two-volume Journey of a Rabbi consists of essays describing ventures undertaken, events experienced, and ideas articulated that reflect the life work of a rabbi and Jewish educator. What threads its way throughout these writings is a persistent search for ways and means to revitalize Jewish life in our time. Written in lucid and compelling fashion, the story portrays early family influences and mentoring of a searching youth, experiences of a rabbinical student, army chaplain, and pulpit rabbi that brought into focus the tasks ahead. The story proceeds to detail the work as a denominational executive, which broadened concern for the larger community and return to pulpit work devoted to fashioning a “Synagogue-Center.” It then segues into depiction of the comprehensive initiatives in education, the arts and community outreach as Dean at the University of Judaism. Interspersed throughout are “thought” essays about religious phenomena, faith, the personal life, the land of Israel, and “lessons learned” from a lifetime of experiences.

Timothy Jones offers a totally accessible spirituality that real people can incorporate into each busy day.