This volume brings together a diverse collection of studies related to the cycle of Jewish holy days. Each chapter illustrates in a different way the interplay between the received teachings of the Torah and the vital impact of interpretations by diverse types of personalities, ideologies, historical events and communal dynamics. The articles are written from a sympathetic, but non-dogmatic perspective by an expert in the academic study of the Jewish religion. They were originally published as newspaper columns, and are designed to entertain as much as to educate the intelligent non-specialist.

For Signs and for Seasons is a natural sequel to its companion volumes, Holidays, History and Halakhah, In Those Days, At This Time and Sanctified Seasons. Like those earlier books, this volume brings together a diverse collection of essays related to the cycle of Jewish holy days. Each chapter illustrates in a different way the interplay between the received teachings of the Torah and the vital impact of interpretations by diverse types of personalities, ideologies, historical events and communal dynamics. The articles are written from a sympathetic, but non-dogmatic perspective by an expert in the academic study of the Jewish religion. They were originally published as newspaper columns, and are designed to entertain as much as to educate the intelligent non-specialist.

On one level this book tells a very particular story - of a church started by a charismatic woman born just 16 years after the Emancipation Proclamation which not only survived the death of the founder, but also institutionalised power-sharing by female and male elders. On another level, it tells a more universal human story of institution building, establishing community, and pursuing a life of faith while negotiating rapidly changing and often adversarial social realities.

A Time for Every Purpose continues the series of collections of Eliezer Segal’s witty, insightful, and informative articles about the Jewish sacred calendar that originally appeared in his “From the Sources” column in the Calgary Jewish Free Press between 2011 and 2015. As always, the author strives to maintain a balance between accurate scholarship and entertaining readability as he introduces his readers to fascinating aspects of the Jewish festivals and holy days -- and how they evolved in ongoing dialogue with historical changes, geographical diversity, and intellectual challenges. The articles are written from a sympathetic but non-dogmatic perspective by a recognized authority on the academic study of Judaism.