This is the book that ultimately led to the creation of Israel.European Jews had been vilified and persecuted for centuries, and Moses Hess discussed it long before the rise of Hitler and Nazism.He believed that the Jews would always be homeless, unwelcomed people unless they had their own country, and was the first to introduce the concepts of Zionism, and the first to call for the foundation of a Jewish socialist commonwealth.Hess blends secular and religious phil...

Moses (Moshe) Hess (June 21, 1812 April 6, 1875) was a Jewish philosopher and socialist, and one of the founders of Zionism. Hess originally advocated Jewish integration into the universalist socialist movement, and was a friend and collaborator of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Hess converted Engels to Communism, and introduced Marx to social and economic problems. He played an important role in transforming Hegelian dialectical idealism theory of history to the dialectical materialism of ...

A collection of lectures on the features of the movement of mysticism that began in antiquity and continues in Hasidism today.

A New York Times bestselling and widely admired Catholic writer explores how we can retrieve transcendent faith in modern timesCritically acclaimed and bestselling author James Carroll has explored every aspect of Christianity, faith, and Jesus Christ except this central one: What can we believe about—and how can we believe in—Jesus in the twenty-first century in light of the Holocaust and other atrocities of the twentieth century and the drift from religi...

Author Joseph Keysor addresses the growing trend among secularists to label Hitler as a Christian and therefore attribute the atrocities of the second world war to the Christian religion. Keysor does not settle for simply contrasting the Nazis' behavior with the Biblical record. He also examines the true sources of Nazi ideology which are anything but Christian: Wagner, Chamberlain, Haeckel, and Nietzsche, to name a few. Keysor does not shy away from discussing Christian anti-semitism (allege...

An accessible introduction to the classics of Jewish literature, from the Bible to modern times, by "one of America’s finest literary critics" (Wall Street Journal).Jews have long embraced their identity as “the people of the book.” But outside of the Bible, much of the Jewish literary tradition remains little known to nonspecialist readers. The People and the Books shows how central questions and themes of our history and culture are reflected in...

An essential volume of Judaic thought from the renowned theologian, "a truly great prophet" (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)This first collection of Abraham Joshua Heschel's essays—compiled, edited and with an introduction by his daughter Susannah Heschel, is a stunning reminder of the virtuosity of one of the most well-respected minds in Judaic studies.

An internationally renowned scholar and theologian details the "the golden period in Jewish history, in the history of the Jewish soul" (Abraham Joshua Herschel, from the preface by the author).A riveting portrayal of a bygone culture of Jews in Eastern Europe by one of the foremost Jewish thinkers of the century, Earth Is The Lord's reveals the daily life of Jews prior to the twentieth century. With woodcut illustrations by Ilya Schor complementing the te...

From "one of the most prophetic Catholic writers of our time," philosophical essays exploring topics such as totalitarianism, love and solitude ( New Republic ).This classic collection of essays from leading Christian theologian Thomas Merton explores the coming together of the active and the contemplative life and the relationship of individuals to society. Merton's writing is both lively and profound as he leads the read...

Edited by Nahum N. GlatzerWith a new Foreword by Rodger Kamenetz“The question I put before you, as well as before myself, is the question of the meaning of Judaism for the Jews. Why do we call ourselves Jews? I want to speak to you not of an abstraction but of your own life . . . its authenticity and essence.” With these words, Martin Buber takes us on a journey into the heart of Judaism—its spirit, vision, and relevance to modern life.

An insightful collection of essays on the Kabbalah and Jewish spirituality—from the preeminent scholar of Jewish mysticism.Gershom Scholem was the master builder of historical studies of the Kabbalah. When he began to work on this neglected field, the few who studied these texts were either amateurs who were looking for occult wisdom, or old-style Kabbalists who were seeking guidance on their spiritual journeys. His work broke with the outlook of the scholars of th...

The abundance of conferences, lectures, and new books related to Dietrich Bonhoeffer attests to the growing interest in his amazing life and thought-provoking writings. The legacy of his theological reflections on the nature of fellowship, the costliness of grace, and the necessity of courageous obedience has only been heightened by the reality of how he died: execution at the hands of a Nazi death squad. In this latest addition to the popular Theologians on the Christian Life series, hist...