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An engrossing saga that adds significantly to the body of Holocaust literature. - Abraham H. Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League

Ehud Diskin's mother wanted him to play it safe when he was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces. Instead, he volunteered for one of the IDF's most dangerous assignments in a move that altered the course of his life. In Yes, It's Possible, a compelling new translation of his Hebrew memoir, Diskin recounts his fascinating and tumultuous life story growing up and maturing alongside the State of Israel.The son of a family with deep roots in the Land of Israel, Diskin is a member of Israel's statehood generation, whose first memories are of the War of Independence. These children were later called upon to physically defend Israel's existence and sovereignty. Diskin served as a commander in the Armored Corps during the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War, and later in the Planning Division of the IDF, eventually reaching the rank of colonel.Yes, It's Possible is full of captivating stories, funny anecdotes, and nostalgia for the little Israel of bygone days, along with the penetrating human insights of a sharp and successful businessman.

It was during the euphoric aftermath of Israels victorious Six Day War in 1967, that Yoram (Richie) Friedman uprooted his wife and ten-year-old son from the good life; in the States, to settle on a picturesque border kibbutz in Northern Israel. In October 1973, the reality of their seemingly idyllic new home comes into sharp relief as Syrian war planes fly menacingly overhead, signaling the beginning of Israel's next (and most costly) war with its Arab neighbors the Yom Kippur War. The trauma of that horrific conflict somehow strengthens Yorams Zionist ideals of helping to rebuild the Jewish homeland, but his wife and son reject his lofty principles and decide to return to the States, resulting in a wrenching silence from both sides of the ocean lasting almost a quarter century. Then one day, Yoram receives an unexpected letter from his twelve-year-old grandson a new Boy Scout and budding adventurer. Their ensuing pen-pal relationship brings about a special bond between grandpa and grandson, as adventures of the past intermingle with present day events in a compelling and healing love story spanning the generations.

This is a very unique guide to shemitta. It was created to help navigate anyone through the practical applications of shemitta observance in modern day Israel. Shemitta is an area of halacha that wasn't fully practiced for over a millennium. Shemitta's not being practiced created a vacuum in halachic literature pertaining to it. Over the past hundred years or so various works have been written on this topic. In recent years some books have been published which have collected many of the earlier books approaches and opinions to many of the issues pertaining to shemitta. Many of these books are thorough and well written. However, since they bring many opinions on many issues they aren't always helpful to someone who just needs to know what to do. This guide is the first English guide on shemitta to offer a singular approach on shemitta observance based on earlier leading rabbinic opinions and on what has become common practice in today's Israeli Torah communities. The guide avoids confusing the reader. Therefore, as a general rule, it does not suggest multiple or contradicting approaches to the same issue. All the approaches in the guide are in accordance with leading halachic opinions and in line with common practice. The guide is easy enough for the beginner yet sufficiently sophisticated that even the well versed can appreciate it. This guide can be used for general background and/or for halachic reference.

This is a true story of one man's heroic battle for physical survival in the face of Nazi persecution and his never-ending spiritual battle to recapture his soul.

Why was the universe created? Is there a Creator? What is my connection with Him? What is the purpose of my existence in this world? Why is there so much injustice?Facing personal tragedies, diseases, natural disasters, and the death of young people even children and babies causes a loss of faith. It s not surprising that we ask ourselves: Where is God?This book is an exploration of these fundamental questions.In plain and simple language, the author tries to open the reader's eyes to all that is about us, and to provide a framework for clearly addressing the important issues of human existence.Nondenominational in approach, addressed to a wide audience, Coincidence closes the distance so many adults have put between themselves and God, encouraging a wholesome and authentic perspective on life.Brightly illustrated with well-chosen, fascinating images, this exploration of the created world and our place in it will be of interest to any thinking person who wants to live a meaningful life.

Most people know little about the Hebrew Bible. They know what they were taught in grade school and perhaps what they hear in sermons. But sermons are designed to teach moral lessons, not disclose the Bible''s true meaning. In this book, Dr. Israel Drazin, a noted Bible scholar, reveals insights from the Bible that many readers will consider unusual, ideas from both traditional and non-traditional scholars and the author''s own views. He discusses over one hundred different subjects, covering history, philosophy, and practical information people should know, including thought-provoking questions like: Are all biblical laws rational? Did pagan practices influence biblical laws? Does God become angry? When did Judaism accept the idea of conversion? Are there errors in Scripture? Must religious people sacrifice themselves totally to God and not question God''s will?

Though the seemingly impossible dream of a sovereign Jewish state became a reality over sixty years ago, the question of Jewish identity remains as much an enigma as ever. That enigma is at the heart of Dr Ruth Shamir''s book as it explores the history -- at times tragic, at times triumphant -- of the evolution of Jewish identity in the modern era. Dr Shamir skillfully guides the reader through a myriad of issues that are today at the centre of a passionate debate both in Israel itself as well as in the Diaspora, where half of the world''s Jews still live. The debate -- and hence the main themes of the book -- revolves around such questions as: Are we a nation or just a religious sect?; How do Israelis and Jews around the world conceptualise their loyalties?; How acceptable is Jewish fundamentalism and how does Israel deal with the Moslem population within its borders?; How do Diaspora Jews view Israeli identity and how do Israelis define the identity of Diaspora Jews?; Above all, who is a Jew? However difficult it may be to maintain the many complex and continually changing Jewish identities under the single roof of Judaism, Dr Shamir contends that we have no alternative -- neither for Israelis nor for the Jews of the Diaspora. But if that overarching identity is to be preserved, Jews must internalise the core ideas of multiculturalism to create a multifaceted Jewish identity that positively reflects the freedoms of today''s world.

A Tale of Two Avrahams follows the lives or two men: one modern day, the other who lived 400 years ago. Both the heroes are fleeing from the threat of death: the first from renegade Jewish fanatics; the other from the Catholic Inquisition. The Israeli Avraham makes his way to Greece and Italy, with foes at his heels. In Crete, he discovers the tale of another Avraham, this one Italian and from the Renaissance, who is also fleeing from deadly enemies. These intermingled tales weave together with startling similarities and riveting differences as the two Avrahams cross four centuries and thousands of miles pursued by Jews, Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, and Muslims alike and pull us into their conflicts and danger, friendships, and love. Living in ever-present danger, both Avrahams struggle to find hope and freedom from the fear that has driven them away from everything they know and love. Dr. Avi-hai draws upon his rich cultural background as well as his Jewish heritage to bring to life the men and the women whose souls are touched by the two Avrahams.

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld remembers the Yom Kippur of his childhood surrounded by the mournful cries of his fellow worshippers, so it is not surprising that he grew up with an image of Yom Kippur as a purely solemn day. Yet his book emphasizes a different aspect of Yom Kippur, the most important holiday of the Jewish faith: it is not a day of mourning, but a day of celebrating. According to the Talmud, it is the happiest day of the Jewish year. This book explains why Yom Kippur is such a joyous day, and explores the implications of this approach to the holiday as it relates to our entire religious experience.

Dr Avraham Albert Ticho was a Viennese-trained ophthalmologist who immigrated to Ottoman-ruled Jerusalem in 1912. There he married his cousin, the artist Anna Ticho, and together they made their mark on the history of the Land of Israel. In Days of Ticho, the Tichos'' story is told in all its fascinating detail. Their personal history is presented against the backdrop of a variety of historical perspectives -- histories of medicine, art, civilian institutions, governments, and war; the struggles and growth of the Yishuv, the Jewish community in Palestine; and the conflicts that arose between Jews and their Arab neighbours. Among the stories in this book are Dr Ticho''s supervision of the first nurses in Palestine and the early years of Hadassah Hospital, as well as the near-fatal stabbing of Dr Ticho by an Arab would-be assassin in November 1929, during the murderous riots that took place throughout Palestine. Those riots were an important turning point in Jewish-Arab relations, the harbinger of problems that remain the focus of world attention until today. The Ticho House in Jerusalem was dedicated in May 1984 as a downtown annex of the Israel Museum, and it welcomes thousands of visitors every year. This book further contributes to the Tichos'' legacy while advancing an understanding of their times and ours.

Rabbi Eli Fishman began writing about his experiences in the Shoah over sixty years ago, soon after his liberation from Dachau. Mindful of the fact that his hometown of Rachov, Poland, was totally destroyed and that no Jew lived there since the expulsion of the towns Jews in October 1942, Rabbi Fishman felt that it was imperative to preserve a record of his hometown, a community that had contributed so much to the religious and social development of the Jews. In 1946, however, he felt he was too close to the tragic events of the time to evaluate the true dimensions and implications of the calamity. After the passage of more than half a century, Rabbi Fishman has resurrected the painful memories to soberly and dispassionately evaluate for history the barbaric acts that resulted in the near annihilation of the Jewish population of Europe. The story of Rabbi Fishman''s extraordinary tenacity and faith in the face of stark suffering while still in his teens will inspire the reader to value life as the most precious commodity, and to keep faith no matter how difficult the situation.

There is a missing page in Jewish history. We tend to assume that Jewish history is to be found in the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, and the Americas - but not in the Far East. Pepper, Silk & Ivory has discovered that missing page, revealing the amazing stories of Jews who both benefitted from and contributed to the Far East.

The powerful stories in Living Beyond Terrorism are testimony to their inner strength and determination and inspire each of us as we meet the challenges in our lives.

This is the story of Jackie Semha, a young girl born in Tunisia to a loving family and community, yet one in which only boys are celebrated. Her journey from Tunisia, to France, Israel, Canada and finally the United States forces her to confront the disparity between the land of her birth and the land of her mature years. Her transition from a learning-handicapped tomboy sheltered in the womb of a loving community to a successful professional in a foreign land with an unfamiliar language and alien customs and values is heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. The words of her teacher, Madame Sabban: Si tu veux, tu peux If you want to succeed, you can succeed gave Jackie strength and inspired her to help others find the faith in themselves to achieve greatness. Jackie s story is brought to life through a collection of superbly written vignettes with the help of the writer Hillary S. Liber.

This gripping memoir tells the personal story of a man who has lived at the epicenter of the major events of modern Jewish history. From the ashes of Auschwitz to statehood and theingathering of the exiles, Rabbi Sholom Gold has lived through the most traumatic, tragic, and majestic period in the four-thousand-year saga of thr Jewish people.

This is the story of the fighting underground of the Jews of Kovno, Lithuania, in World War II. The authors, Zvie A. Brown and Dov Levin, were themselves members of the underground, and this well-researched book based on documentary material, verbal and written testimonies, memoirs of witnesses, is supplemented by the authors own accounts.

When veteran broadcaster Sara Manobla represented Israel at an international conference of journalists in Moscow in 1977, little did she realize that her contact with the Jews of the Soviet Union would become the start of her own voyage of self-discovery.

Ruth Abraham and Maria Nickel would never have met each other if it hadn't been for the Shoah. But when Hitler turned Germany into a cauldron of anti- Semitism, Maria Nickel decided that morality and ethics were more important than even life itself.This story of unbridled compassion made world headlines in May, 2000 in Berlin, Germany when Ruth, then 87 and recovering from heart bypass surgery, met her friend Maria, 90, for the last time.In 1942 Ruth, eight months pregnant, and on her way to certain death, was stopped by a German woman in a gray coat who offered her food, saying, Take this. It's the Christmas rations for Germans. I can't have Christmas with my family knowing that you are carrying a baby and don't have enough to eat. Their long and arduous journey together reached its climax when Maria and her husband gave their identity papers to Ruth and Walter and with it the precious gift of life.Reha Sokolow, the daughter of Ruth and Walter, tells the story of her parents' escape from death using the voice of both Maria and Ruth so that the reader begins to understand the many levels of fear, trepidation, and love that was an integral part of the lives of both the savior and the saved.