Celebrate the joy of “making Shabbat” each week in your home—with rituals, prayers, blessings, food, and song. This expanded, easy-to-use edition of the classic spiritual sourcebook offers updated information, more ideas, and new resources for every aspect of the holy day. An inspiring how-to guide to every aspect of Shabbat, including: History and meaning How to prepare Rituals, prayers, and blessings (step-by-step) The Sabbath day Havdalah Songs and prayers in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish (with clear transliterations) Recipes for traditional and modern foods to spice up the Shabbat menu Family activities to enhance the experience Enriched by real-life voices sharing practical suggestions and advice, this creative resource helps us to reacquaint ourselves with time-tested traditions and discover old and new ways to celebrate Shabbat, including biblically-inspired songs and games, Shabbat-related crafts, and more family-tested ideas.

Enter into the mystery of the Sabbath, into the wonder and light of the seventh day. "We live in a world dominated by speed and distraction, with demands for our attention at every turn.... We frequently forget the restorative blessing of stillness, our desperate need for rest ... a rest that brings us back to the center of existence, a calm that allows us to reconnect with the divine breath at the soul of All." —from the Introduction Enrich your spiritual experience of Shabbat by exploring the writings of mystical masters of Hasidism. Drawing from some of the earliest teachings in the family of the Ba'al Shem Tov through late nineteenth-century Poland and the homilies of the Sefat 'Emet, Eitan Fishbane evokes the Sabbath experience—from candle lighting and donning white clothing to the Friday night Kiddush and the act of sacred eating. Fishbane also translates and interprets a wide range of Hasidic sources previously unavailable in English that reflect the spiritual transformation that takes place on the seventh day—one that can shift your awareness into the realm that is all soul. Personal prayers of the Bratzlav (Breslov) Hasidic tradition express the spiritual dimension of Shabbat in the language of devotional and individual yearning.

The Making of a Reform Jewish Cantor provides an unprecedented look into the meaning of attaining musical authority among American Reform Jews at the turn of the 21st century. How do aspiring cantors adapt traditional musical forms to the practices of contemporary American congregations? What is the cantor's role in American Jewish religious life today? Cohen follows cantorial students at the School of Sacred Music, Hebrew Union College, over the course of their training, as they prepare to become modern Jewish musical leaders. Opening a window on the practical, social, and cultural aspects of aspiring to musical authority, this book provides unusual insights into issues of musical tradition, identity, gender, community, and high and low musical culture.

Is the Bible actually a love story between a deity and a people? And what does this love story have to do with the modern world? In With All Thine Heart distinguished cultural critic Ilan Stavans speaks to freelance writer Mordecai Drache about love in the Bible. Presented in an engaging, conversational format and touched with striking artwork, the textured dialogue between Stavans and Drache is meant to show how the Bible is a multidimensional text and one that, when considered over the course of history, still has the power to shape our world. The theme of love provides the connective tissue that binds this work. Addressing a wide range of topics, from biblical archaeology and fundamentalism to Hollywood movies, lexicography, and the act of praying, With All Thine Heart suggests that the Hebrew Bible is a novel worth decoding patiently, such as one does with classics like Don Quixote de la Mancha, In Search of Lost Time, and Anna Karenina. Similar to the protagonists in these tales, biblical characters, although not shaped with the artistic nuance of modern literature, allow for astonishing insight. This exploration of love through the pages of the Bible—organized chronologically from Genesis to Exodus and followed by insightful meditations on the Song of Songs and the Book of Job—is a delightful intellectual and spiritual treat . . . Shema Ysrael!

Open Judaism is an invitation to the spiritually seeking Jew; a clarion call for a pluralistic, inclusive Judaism; and a dynamic exploration of the remarkable array of thought within Judaism today.

In the 2002 edition of From Ideology to Liturgy, Eric Caplan examined Reconstructionism's interpretation and adaptation of the traditional Jewish liturgy and its creation of new prayer texts to convey and express the movement's changing ideology. Further insight into Reconstructionist liturgy was gained through comparing these prayerbooks to the contemporaneous liturgies of Reform and Conservative Judaism and to the work of Jewish Renewal. In this new supplemented reprint edition, Caplan offers an expansive study of liberal Jewish prayerbooks published in the decades since From Ideology to Liturgy first appeared and revisits his earlier conclusions in light of more recent expanded access to Mordecai Kaplan's diaries and archives.