Israel Books

I have been grieved as many Americans by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. I have never understood before why the people are fighting and just who the players really were. While I may not be sure that I agree with all the conclusions, I have never been given such a clear picture of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. I also never really understoon the concept of Paradise and how it related to Christianity until now. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a textbook complete understanding of our problems in the Middle East.

Johannes Miller
St Louis, Missouri

I have always wondered just what Islamic people believed. This book has the history of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael from the Bible and also the Koran. These brothers were having problems over 3000 years ago and it is no wonder there are still problems between the Islamic people and Jewish people today. Very easy to read, I loved the larger print with extra spaces and I would recommend this book to everyone.

Jill Malter has written an outstanding and detailed review of this book on this Amazon Site. She has described clearly each of the essays of the volume. I recommed it highly.
Instead of reiterating her descriptions of the individual essays I would like to say a word about the subject in general.
The book provides well- documented information on Anti- Semitic actions taken against the state of Israel by a wide variety of academics. These actions include efforts to boycott Israelis from participating in academic conferences, to cut off all contact with Israeli universities, to condemn Israel politically by accusing it of a wide variety of crimes.
The refutations provided by the essays here take individual claims one by one and refute them. This is the central strength of the work.
But a no less important strength of the work is in the general claims involved. The absurdity of boycotting Israeli academic institutions is multiple. First of all Israel's universites are real universities in which first- rate contributions are made to academic work in a variety of fields. They are not in other words like the religious academies in the Arab world which have as their name University- but which are in fact closed off from real historical and scientific inquiry. Secondly, Israel is a democracy , an open - society. If one were to take to task societies in the world and try to boycott and blame them one might begin one would think with precisely those backward terror- states that deny the existence of Israel. Thirdly. The academic world relies on dialogue and discussion, open criticism and debate. Freedom of inquiry is its most sacred value. The attempts to subvert scholarly inquiry,(And here I would especially point to Martin Kramer's work describing how Middle East Studies Departments have obstructed academic discourse, in favor of supporting a formula anti- Western line) are shameful fallings off from the true academic spirit.
Many political critics of Israel from the academy realizing a boycott of Israel and its scholars and scientists- violates the fundamental value of academic freedom- have drawn back from supporting any boycott effort.
This present work provides detailed evidence of iniquity done by a large number of academics not only against Israel but against the fundamental values of the academic world itself.
It is an invaluable document which every university department in the world should have a copy of it.

This is an excellent book which discusses instances academic bias against Israel and Jews. Much of it involves clear violations of academic standards, and the substitution of propaganda for what is supposed to be scholarly work.

There is a foreward by Natan Sharansky, who points out the significance of the fact that mass murders of the Jews in World War Two occurred only after many universities became permeated with the attitude that Jews were dangerous and inferior beings.

Following the foreward, there is a roughly 60-page essay by Manfred Gerstenfeld. This addresses boycotts, demonization and stereotyping of Jews, Jewish "self-hatred," shouting down of Israeli speakers, Holocaust denial, anti-Israeli actions (including violence) on campuses, the relationship of anti-Israeli actions to anti-Semitism, specific discussions of situations in a variety of nations, and speculations on future developments.

Rebecca Leibowitz then discusses Rutgers University, which did manage to refuse to allow the hosting of an anti-Israeli conference in 2003. After this is an article by Noah Liben not on Columbia University's Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures department (MEALAC) per se, but on the highly flawed report prepared by an ad hoc committee which claimed to investigate complaints about that department. To put it mildly, the committee was extremely biased and its report was a travesty. In fact, most reasonable observers can see that Columbia University's MEALAC is one of the most biased and counterproductive departments in the nation. However, the report makes it appear that the worst thing it has ever done is a single incident where a professor may have said something mildly improper to a student! I agree with the implication that the report, as well as MEALAC itself, condemns Columbia as being unwilling to enforce minimal academic standards. Martin Kramer adds an article which looks at Columbia as a test case for Middle Eastern studies in this country. The David Project is quite properly praised for its work in producing the short movie, "Columbia Unbecoming." That movie "put a human face on the dysfunction of Middle Eastern studies." It is a shame that things have become so bad that a movie of this sort has become necessary.

Jonathan Jaffit has an article on the fight against Sheikh Zayed's funding of Islamic studies at Harvard Divinity school. Harvard wound up turning down a 2.5 million dollar endowment by this Sheikh.

We then see a little of what has been happening in California. Leila Beckwith has an article on anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism at the University of California-Irvine. Beckwith, along with Tammi Rossman-Benjamin and Ilan Benjamin, then have an article about the University of California-Santa Cruz. Edward Beck discusses Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), which was founded in part as a reaction to anti-Semitic events at San Francisco State University. And Roz Rothstein describes Stand With Us, a very useful watchdog of coverage of Israel. The catalyst for Stand With Us, which has a main office in Los Angeles, was the murder of two Israeli teens, Koby Mandell and Yosef Ishran.

The next stop is Canada. Alain Goldschlager's article reviews the Canadian campus scene, while Corrine Berzon discusses anti-Israeli activities at Concordia University specifically.

After this, we cross the Atlantic Ocean. Aryeh Green talks about European universities and the new anti-semitism in general, including a mention of problems in Ukraine. Ruth Contreras' article is about the situation in Austrian universities. And then we get to specific articles about the United Kingdom. Ronnie Fraser attempts to show why there was an academic boycott of Israel by an association of university teachers in Great Britain. Manfred Gerstenfeld discusses the May, 2007 University and College Union boycott and its aftermath. And Gavin Gross has an article about anti-Israeli activity at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), which is part of the University of London. Gross quotes Linda Grant, who made the excellent point that there appear to be two countries of Israel. One of these is the real Israel, with real people, real streets, real houses, real cats and dogs, and real newspapers. The other is a fantasy, described to be a "criminal" and "illegitimate" state and a "cancer" that has to be eradicated. She wonders which of these will win, reality or fantasy.

The final three contributions are interesting as well. The first of these, by Gerstenfeld, discusses fear of political incorrectness at Utrecht University. The next, by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, describes anti-Semitism among Arab academics in the Levant. This includes the fabrication of an entire Levantine Arab history, which attempts to erase Jewish history from the region. And it includes "denying the Holocaust while demanding a new one." The final article, by Ted Lapkin, tells us about academic anti-Zionism in Australia.

I highly recommend this book. Academics could have done (and still can do) a great deal to ameliorate hostilities in the Middle East. Instead, many academics have made the situation worse.

I bought several courses. The cards offer basic concepts in small bites. The information was relevant to what was presented by my teacher. The cards and CD's gave good review before exams and a head start at the start of the new school year. The cards had a lot of questions; you can carry them in your pocket and learn a few each day. The software was easy to use. It is like the cards but on the screen. You can take a test or just review. Front is question, click for answer on back of card. The software can also show the cards on the screen at random, first the question, then the answer. They change every few seconds. That keeps you reading and wondering what's coming up next. It's entertaining while you're studying.

Every year I recommend them to my students. The ones who buy them seem to do a little better than they might have. The cards are numbered, so it's easy to tell them which ones they need to know, and which they can set aside based on the curriculum. It's harder to accomplish that type of culling of information with a review book you'd buy at the superstore.

All of the Books of the Bible volume Three written by author M.E. Rosson is one of the most easy to read, easy to understand commentaries of the book of Leviticus. Written as if the author is speaking directly to you and telling you things about the scriptures that you quite possibly do not know. If you will read the chapters first and then read the commentary that is given, you will have a better understanding of what the Bible actually says. There will be more books in this series and I want to encourage you to purchase these books as they will become a prized possession in your personal library and I assure you that you will refer to them time and time again. Tom Ward-Warrior Ministries

All of the Books of the Bible is a Series of Bible Commentaries written by author M.E. Rosson. This seriesis one of the most easy to read, easy to understand commentaries of the Bible. Written as if the author is speaking directly to you and telling you things about the scriptures that you quite possibly do not know.
Tom Ward-Warrior Ministries, Oklahoma

What a great book,very well written. I stayed up all night reading. This is a real page turner.

A great first work from this young author. The story is of a forbidden love between a therapist and her young patient that takes a turn for the worst. Prurient at times, and vile at others, the story courses the young protagonist's view of a relationship with his attractive therapist as it morphs from wishful thinking, to mind-blowing reality, and finally to a self-destructive nightmare.

Hine was a documentary photographer whose images offer a peek into a lost world. His credo was "Work itself has ever been one of the deepest satisfactions that come to the restless human soul." That was not something he figured out while working in some summer job during his college days; he was personally acquainted with hard labor, hunger and poverty - as the text in the book explains. The photographs are of immigrants at Ellis Island, tenement dwellers, child laborers, rural families, and construction workers building the Empire State Building.

Review Summary: Lewis Hine was a pioneer in documenting the working conditions of children. His poignant images of coal mines, sweatshops, and factories shocked America into passing its first legislation to regulate and reduce child labor. Generations of Americans have benefited as a result. Review: The foreword by Walter Rosenblum describes Lewis Hine as being "a born teacher." Mr. Rosenblum recounts Mr. Hine's generosity in writing a letter or recommendation for him saying that Mr. Rosenblum was "a new and better Hine." This example captures his compassion and generosity towards others. He never saw a person he didn't respect and have compassion for. Each image in this fine book contains that "compassionate vision." His subjects included immigrants at Ellis Island and in their first tenement homes, working conditions in sweatshops and factories, the everyday life of the working poor, and the building of the Empire State Building (with views from the 100th floor girders).

The reader will get a "fresh insight through his vision" because Mr. Hine takes you places you never imagined existed. The scenes speak for themselves and cause you to have a visceral reaction. My sense of vertigo at thinking about swaying on a girder was palpable as I looked over the Empire State Building construction photographs. In viewing the sweatshops, I could feel heat building up in my body. In the images of breaker boys, I could feel the dusty despair of the coal mines in my bones and lungs.

From a technical point of view, the compositions are very fine and draw the eye into the scene. You get a strong sense of the moment, even though the scenes are 70-90 years old. The images strike hard at you with their messages . . . without using captions. They are as gripping as anything you have seen about work or slum life on the front pages of a newspaper.

Sadly, Mr. Hine's career hit a major snag in the Depression. Stieglitz and he were on different paths, and those who were showing interest in art photography were uninterested in social realism. He was impoverished, had his house foreclosed on, and lived on welfare. His wife died on Christmas 1938. He died in November 1940 "impoverished, dispirited, worn out." He was "malnourished to the point of starvation." One cannot help but think that he moved closer to living the life of a saint than many of us will ever achieve.

My favorite images in the book include: New York City Sweatshop, 1908; Climbing into America, 1908; Young girls knitting stockings in Southern hosiery mill, 1920; Cigar makers, Tampa, 1909; Breaker boys in coal chute, South Pittston, Pennsylvania, January 1911; Playground in tenement alley, Boston, 1901; Cannery workers preparing beans, c. 1910; and Photographs of building the Empire State Building, New York City, 1930/32.

I suggest that you follow Mr. Hine's fine example and think about how you can visualize important messages that others can best appreciate as images. What images would you capture? How would you share them? Who would benefit?

Be prepared to help others see the injustices that you do!

Ancient Jewish Philosophy is a learned work on philosophy with a lot of footnotes, but it is written in a style that flows, as one would expect from a prolific poet. The diction is explained clearly making the subject easy to understand.

The late Rabbi Efros demonstrates in this work that Jewish philosophy began with the five books of Moses, and was further developed in the prophetic books - all long before Socrates, let alone the medievals. The book is arranged in two parts, the first describing the dichotomy and tension between the concepts of Kadosh (holiness as separateness, limitlessness) and K'vod (glory as omnipresence, accessability, and intimacy). Kadosh and K'vod are the the warp and weft of Ancient Jewish philosophy, prophecy and ethics.

Part two shows that the the attribute Kadosh is the foundation of Jewish ethics, providing absolute authority in decision making: "You shall be Holy, for I your G!d am Holy". K'vod works in tandem with Kadosh, making holiness possible in the human realm as well as the Divine. In other words, we are to do the right thing because we are told to do so by the most authoritative Being, and in following that instruction we move closer to being holy ourselves. Decision making and action become sacramental.

In contrast, the ancient gods of Greek religion offered no admirable role models, and no good advice for human conduct, while Greek philosophy tended to deal with the abstract rather than the difficult decisions that people face in life.

I say that the scheme Efros distinguishes makes nonsense of old accusations that the ancient Hebrews 'performed works' in order to bribe or change G!d. Rather, they 'performed works' in order to change themselves. Read with Efros' scheme in mind, the Bible becomes a work that inextricably joins mysticism (by which I mean the practice of opening to the Presence) with ethics. Having read Efros' book, the Bible became new for me once more.

As a Christian reader I found Professor Efros' study of the historical development of Jewish philosophical theology very helpful historically as well as theologically. Efros highlights the continuing tension between two schools of thought: Holiness (emphasizing God's transcendence) and Glory (stressing the immanence of God). The tension between these two poles of thought is traced from the prophetic era to the Middle Ages. I was struck by many suggestive parallels with Christian struggles over the concepts of immanence and transcendence and have been stimulated to learn further from Jewish scholars as I seek to find the right balance between the two extremes. I strongly recommend this fine work to anyone interested in theocentric philosophy.

Dr. Israel demonstrates his mastery of the law as applied to the mental health professions. His writing style is engaging and articulate. The case scenarios can apply to any practitioner's in the behavioral health field. This book is a welcome addition to this area of expertise. We look forward to other books in this area by Dr. Israel.

An exceptional book for the practicing clinician. Clear and to the point, I found this to be a book I recommended to colleagues and especially to new clinicians I was training and supervising. The guidelines for ethical decisions are not academic but realistic. I also appreciated that the case illustrations applied to rural and small town life . Highly readable and useable this is a book for every clinician's library.

Don't be scared by the rather daunting title, this book reads beautifully and gives even the casual reader a vivid and lasting sense of what it's like on the front line between Israel & Lebanon. While I am sure that this book is bound to become an important academic work, it's also incredibly engaging and accessible and deserves to be read by a wider audience. Waldman is off to a brilliant start for such a young writer / scholar.

Before reading this book I knew just a bit about the Israeli-Arab conflict. This amazing study examines a little-known but fascinating (and important) aspect of Israel's experience in Lebanon. This study is all the more important because of the current situation between Israel and the Palestinians; Mr Waldman offers a close look at a model that was tried in Lebanon and may offer some hope for progress with the Palestinians. Mr Waldman, who writes from personal experience, writes lucidly and in language that makes it easy for even someone with just a rudimentary background to grasp the nuances of the arrangements in Lebanon and the possible implications for the future.Highly Recommended!

Do you want to understand the Scriptures better? Do you want detailed information? Do you want to know more about the Holy Land? Better have a copy of this encyclopedia. This book will give you a better knowledge about the stories in the Bible. Biblical artifacts, places, and people are well documented. So much has happened in the Holy Land that you need to brush up yourself too. This would give you more information about the different Abrahamic faiths. An eye-opener for lukewarm followers.

The 2003 edition of AEHL is an excellent reference to all the major excavation sites in Israel! Compared to the 4- or 5-volume set, "Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land" (& its "New..." edition), which is hard to find & expensive, AEHL is a tremendously beneficial aid to students who just need the basic facts to help them understand what's been revealed in this territory.

It not only acts as a reference work for well-known sites like Jerusalem & Lachish, but also introduces readers to obscure ones like Ras (a small site SW of Jerusalem where farmers built terraces for their crops during the Iron Age) & distinguishes 2 places named Socoh (one in northern Judah that functioned as an administrative fortress, & another in southern Judah that was home to a family of scribes).

Each of the classifications discusses its excavation history, its relevance to the Biblical record, & important artifacts discovered there such as the Gezer calendar, the Tel Dan "House of David" stela, & the Siloam Tunnel inscription.

More than 300 black/white photos, maps, & drawings appear with their respective listings, & besides the sites, there are also categories for peoples (e.g., Canaanites, Hittites, etc.), Roads, Seals; in fact, you could read sections on Agriculture, Building Materials, Churches, Cult Objects, Housing, Lamps, Metals, Money, Musical Instruments, Pottery, Temples, Time, Transport, Weapons & Warfare, Weights & Measures as if they were chapters of a book!

Unlike books written from a limited perspective, or magazines/journals edited by a common-bias staff, AEHL maintains its objectivity by presenting over 800 entries studied by more than 100 experts in their respective fields. You will not find a better summary of this material in compact, paper format elsewhere.