Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Kotsk (1787–1859) was one of the most interesting and challenging figures of Hasidism in the nineteenth century. His search for truth and battles against falsehood and spiritual compromise are the subject of many legends, hagiographical stories, and anecdotes. Though he was irascible and demanding, he inspired the loyalty of disciples who went on to become the dominant leaders of Hasidism in Poland from the middle of the nineteenth century to the destruction of Polish Jewry in the Holocaust. R. Menahem Mendel left no surviving writings. His descendants and disciples moved away from the radicalism of his teachings and adopted more conventional and conservative theological positions. As a result, there was little incentive to preserve and publish his teachings. The goal of this work is twofold. First, to present a biographical study of what is known about R. Menahem Mendel that is based on historical research, instead of repeating myths, legends, and stories without regard to their historical veracity. Secondly, to collect, translate, and analyze those teachings and sayings by or about R. Menahem Mendel that are consistent with what we know about his life and teachings, and are also accessible to a broader audience.

Laitman Kabbalah Publishers is proud to present the second volume of Zohar for All: The Book of Zohar with the Sulam Commentary. This new rendition of The Zohar offers an accessible and coherent explanation to the fundamental and primary composition in the wisdom of Kabbalah. The Sulam [Ladder] commentary is the most profound and elaborate commentary on The Book of Zohar, and was written by the greatest kabbalist of the 20th century, Rav Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag. Zohar for All smoothly merges the original text of The Zohar with the lucid explanations of Rav Yehuda Ashlag to create a streamlined text that is both clear and true to the source.

It is time to recover rabbinic lessons of late antiquity: God is a God of grace and love; human beings can aspire to goodness and promise; on Yom Kippur the two of them meet—God's love energizes human potential and the world is reborn with hope restored. The God of Jewish tradition is far from the strict God of justice commonly understood to be the God of the Hebrew Bible. God’s self-introduction to Moses atop Mount Sinai does indeed conclude with the image of punishment throughout the generations but begins with "God merciful and gracious," the imagery that finds its way into rabbinic liturgy and lore as solely the God of grace and compassion, pardon and love. To arrive at this selective perception of biblical tradition, the Rabbis of the Talmud deliberately misread the biblical text, and then fashioned a myth of God who dresses up as a leader of prayer and promises pardon if Israel will only repeat these merciful attributes as part of its prayer ritual on that day. Ever since, the Thirteen Attributes—as the list comes to be known—becomes central to Jewish prayer, accompanying the liturgy for holidays generally, and framing the opening and closing services of the holiest day in the Jewish year, Yom Kippur, the “Day of Judgment” itself. In this seventh volume in the Prayers of Awe Series, contributors—men and women, rabbis and laypeople, scholars and artists from across the spectrum of Jewish life, and representing the US, Israel, the UK, Germany, France, Canada, and Australia—chart the importance of these Thirteen Attributes of God. They explore the kind of God Jews meet in prayer and the consequent self-reflection about the human condition that Judaism recommends on the basis of its idealized image of God as, above all, merciful and gracious.

This work by one of the great commentators of the past is required reading for every student of the Bible. This book covers the entire Bible and includes all six volumes of Matthew Henry's work and is unabridged.

Explores the religious experience of Judaism through the perceptions and teachings of ordinary Jews and the creative elite.

An ancient religion practiced through most of recorded history and having profound influence on both Christianity and Islam, Judaism is also a modern religion that still transforms the lives of many people. Neusner surveys how Judaism took shape as people responded to political and religious crises and describes how Judaism is practiced in American today.