The Shocking Secrets of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ArtworkThe recent cleaning of the Sistine Chapel frescoes removed layer after layer of centuries of accumulated tarnish and darkness. The Sistine Secrets endeavors to remove the centuries of prejudice, censorship, and ignorance that blind us to the truth about one of the world's most famous and beloved art treasures.Some images that appeared in the print edition of this book are unavailable in the electronic edition due ...

Why do bad things happen to good people? Where is God in our suffering? Can faith survive heartbreak?In Dear God, Why?, Rabbi Benjamin Blech-internationally renowned educator, bestselling author, and spiritual guide-confronts the timeless and anguished cry of the human soul. Drawing on Jewish wisdom, personal experience, and decades of pastoral counseling, Rabbi Blech offers profound yet accessible answers to life's most difficult questions.Whether...

Just as in his previous volume, The Secrets of Hebrew Words, Rabbi Blech brings readers into the fascinating world of gematria (the reckoning of numbers) and acronyms to uncover the vast profundity hidden in everyday Hebrew language. Rabbi Blech demonstrates that the language through which God creates the world is not composed of a haphazard arrangement of Hebrew letters. The letters are also numbers that define the essence of things with the exactitude of mathematics.

In Hope, Not Fear Benjamin Blech helps readers approach the end of life with calm. More than six years ago Blech was diagnosed with a fatal illness and given six months to live. Over the course of his career Rabbi Blech had counseled hundreds of people through the losses of loved ones and their own end of life, but when confronted with his own unexpected diagnosis he struggled with mortality in a new way. This personal and heartfelt book shares the answers people grappling with th...

This ebook is now available from Bloomsbury Academic. Bloomsbury Academic publish acclaimed resources for undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as the general reader, across a broad range of subjects including Archaeology, Art & Visual Culture, Biblical Studies, Business & Management, Drama & Performance Studies, Economics, Education, Film & Media, History, Linguistics, Literary Studies, Music & Sound Studies, Philosophy, Politics & International Relations, Psychology, Religious ...

Your Name Is Your Blessing: Hebrew Names and Their Mystical Meanings represents the first time that the secrets of the Kabbalah, the mystical teachings of Jewish spiritual leaders, were introduced to the general public for the purpose of explaining the profound meanings hidden in every person’s name. Your Name is Your Blessing remains alone in its application of Kabbalistic teachings to the choice and understanding of one’s name. A name tells a story that captures a perso...

Ever since the earliest times, Jewish scholars have looked to the Hebrew language as a source of holiness and a wellspring of wisdom. Both letters and words, it has always been assumed, they have hidden messages and secrets to be sought after, as if we are opening a shell to extract the fruit. Rabbi Benjamin Blech has gathered many examples of the meanings hidden within Hebrew words and has explained them to the modern reader_even those who do not know any Hebrew. The result is both a fine...

Part of The Complete Idiot's Guides® popular religion and history titles. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jewish History and Culture contains information about Jews in early American history through the 19th century as well as coverage of Jewish history and culture in the places you might least expect - Asia and South America.

A young mother dies in agony. Was it a natural death, murder—or witchcraft?On the night of the festive holiday of Shrove Tuesday in 1672 Anna Fessler died after eating one of her neighbor's buttery cakes. Could it have been poisoned? Drawing on vivid court documents, eyewitness accounts, and an early autopsy report, historian Thomas Robisheaux brings the story to life. Exploring one of Europe's last witch panics, he unravels why neighbors and the court magistrates ...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"An elegantly written account of leadership at the most pivotal moment in American history" ( Philadelphia Inquirer): Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson reveals how George Washington saved the United States by coming out of retirement to lead the Constitutional Convention and serve as our first president.After leading the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, George Washington shocked...

One of the world's most beautiful endangered species, butterflies are as lucrative as gorillas, pandas, and rhinos on the black market. In this cutthroat $200 million business, no one was more successful—or posed a greater ecological danger—than Yoshi Kojima, the kingpin of butterfly smugglers.In Winged Obsession, author Jessica Speart tells the riveting true story of rookie U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Ed Newcomer's determined crusade to halt the career of a brazen and in...

"One of the finest biographies of a sadly underrated man . . . [Kaplan is] a master historian and biographer" (Carol Berkin, Washington Post).In this fresh and illuminating biography, Fred Kaplan brings into focus the dramatic life of John Quincy Adams—the little-known and much-misunderstood sixth president of the United States and the first son of John and Abigail Adams. In doing so, he reveals how Adams' inspiring, progressive vision guided his life and h...