I used this book for an independent study I did about year ago on Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism. (A rough outline: Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism is a religious movement that took place within the world of Rabbinic Judaism beginning somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd century. Its main focus is the ascent of a rabbi to the highest heaven so that he can worship God with the angels and perhaps even see God, which in some sources gives him a certain power to affect change here on earth.)

This book focuses on the relationship between Judaism, Mandaeism, and Gnosticism as a way of painting a more detailed picture of Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism. Deutsch uses a "comparative approach" to studying the texts produced by these different groups; the result is that Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism looks quite syncretistic. Such an approach certainly gives insight, but it also causes a bit of confusion about the nature of Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism.

Firstly, the benefits of using such an approach is that it paints a picture with wide brush strokes: the reader is likely to get good idea of major religious trends within the world of antiquity. Deutsch has three appendices that deal with Islam, Christianity, and Hermeticism that further illustrate what seems to be a general religious idea - that there are mediators between God and humanity that are above man but nonetheless divine. (Anyone familiar with the Christological controversies in the early centuries of Christianity will find much here that parallels those debates.)

These broad strokes also imply that there was a large amount of syncretism between different religious groups, with ideas from completely different religions permeating each other. Certainly, any historian of religion would agree that this is, indeed, the case: religions do influence each other. The question of "how much do religions influence each other?" is where much of the debate comes in.

This, then, is the downside to Deutsch's approach. Although in the last chapter he surveys much of the prior research on Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism and notes that the authors of its texts were quite familiar with Rabbinic law and lore, it still seems like Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism were quite syncretistic. Some influence is certainly possible and even likely, but isn't it also possible - and perhaps far more plausible - that despite these influences, Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism arose out of streams that were already developed within Judaism such as apocalypticism? Indeed it is, and although Deutsch mentions these, it still seems that in the Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism owes less to its own religious heritage than it does to other dualistic religions.

This book should be read with other works about Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism in order for the reader to better understand Deutsch's contribution to the field. Think of this book as being like a chapter: it reads well when read with all the other chapters in a book. Otherwise, it is likely to make little sense.

"The Kazakhs" is a solid, academic history of the Kazakh people from an author familiar to Central Asia scholars. Olcott starts with the formation of the ethnicity and continues through the very recent past to deal with Kazakstan's "Unexpected Independence." Lots of good information regarding the critical question of Russians in Kazakhstan, and the the new country's relations with Russia. Not light reading, but a good history.

is offered in this book. You will find guidance on many important issues. This book will get you started, but you may need to gather more detailed information of importance to you, from other sources. Easy to understand and read. The facts presented are definitely pertinent and necessary to know.

Here is another text by William Lane Craig that deals with the issues of Divine Foreknowledge, human freedom, and future contingents. This is a very academic text and expects the reader to have a background knowledge in the philosophies at hand. However, it is a good text to read for the issues. Craig covers some of the major philosophers who have tackled the problems of Divine foreknowledge and future contingents. The philosophers covered are, Aristotle, Augustine, Boethius, Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, William Ockham, Luis de Molina, and Francisco Suarez. Craig covers what each philosopher taught, the works which each philosopher wrote regarding the issue at hand, and gives criticisms and agreements regarding each of the views espoused. The bibliography is very thorough containing mainly primary works, but including secondary texts as well. The only downfall in which I was able to detect was Craig's description of some of the things espoused by Aquinas. For instance, Craig declares that, "In De veritate Aquinas explains that what is necessary can be known even when it will happen in the future, as is the case with an astronomer's knowledge of a coming eclipse, but a contingent cannot be known as future because it can be impeded before it is brought into being." (page 101-102) This is simply not true, Aquinas does not espouse such a thing in De Veritate (On Truth) nor any of his other works for that matter. While I am not an expert on Aquinas in this area, I have done enough research to know that Aquinas would not suggest such a thing. Nonetheless, overall Craig gives a somewhat fair assessment of Aquinas, but there are a few things on which he just seems to miss the boat. However, all the chapters are very informative and helpful with excellent references to help the reader move into further study and research.

The book might shock anyone, who believed, that Ramakrishna was a divine incarnation (which might not be too bad). Ramakrishna is depicted as a total lunatic. Much of his behaviour would have to be explained rather by sexual problems than by divine fervour. It's clear that sexual suppression, as it is quite common in indian relgious circles leads to massive psychological problems. The author uses the same sources for his thesis as do the proponents of Vivekanandaism but replaces the spiritual component with a psychological one. When I read a few passages in the "Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" after reading this book, I found that Ramakrishna was very much mistaken in the book under discussion. On the other hand, if the Gospel is not, what one commonly assumes it to be, a nearly stenographical account of the conversations with Ramakrishna, but rather a mystical hagiography, created over a period of decades, with one of the purposes beeing to make Ramakrishna holier than he was, then, considering the still many critical things in the Gospel, it could well be, that the real happenings were worse and a psychological analysizes of the present kind may make sense and help one to better process a possible influence through the Ramakrishna movement. It is just to hope, that more data will show up over time, for instance that the Ramakrishna movement will make publicly available the original diaries of Mahendranath Gupta.

My 4th grade students were mesmorized by the story and moved by the illustrations......even more so because I actually KNOW the illustrator.
Can't wait for another from the same........

I liked this book very much, although I really think they could have gotten more detailed. I would recommend this book to anyone doing a research project on women inventors. If you read it, you will definately have a better day, and get an 'a' on your project!

I have come to admire Steven Brill for his honesty to admit when he is wrong, for his defense of public officials who deserve respect and for his ability to seek out the truth to better our society. This book emulates all three outstanding traits of the author by the way he investigates, dissects and proposes changes to the future from history.

Brill's first book, "Teamsters" caught my attention just out of law school. "Teamsters" was accurate, insightful, and dazzling work of spiritual dedication to the subject for the reader and should have been made into a movie.

He lost some creditability when he created "Brill's Content Magazine" to excused Bill Clintons' own personal King Solomon stain of sins that just needed to go away. Yet, I thought it was another brave attempt to save a not so perfect Public Servant President who cared about making tough decisions. Upon reflection, I now see Brill's brilliance in this attempt to teach the public to understand that American Public Service most of the time deserves praise not pity, appreciation not cynics and always respectful criticism.

In this book, he does exactly that by talking about the day after 911 and how America needs a new debate on our civil liberties and public safekeeping. He outlines how globalization combined with technological expansion enhances the destruction that leaves America vulnerable to loss opportunities for freedoms, economic development and public health assaults causing death and fear.

Thus, the writer is voicing the need for our society to approach this new change and re-think old policies and practices that will balance our freedoms with public security to ensure a personal viable existence with knowledge of fear but not domination from fear.

Brill writes the fine points on how President Bush and Governor Tom Ridge together created a Department of Homeland Security. How they change the face on how our bureaucracies can be made better to protect American Transportation, Security and Business Institutions. How they forced Congress to think much bigger rather than remain small fiefdoms for congressional committee critics to wave power by claiming we cannot protect anyone anymore.

The author freely admits his error as a, "New York City Fifth Avenue Ivy League Media Cynic," a long title but nothing to be ashamed of either, and no longer undervaluing the hard work, devotion and dedication of public servants such Tom Ridge, Chuck Shumer and President Bush just as he valued President Clinton's devotion.

He shows how Ridge left a cozy Governor's position to take a ill prepared newly created position that is easy fodder for any heckler and detractor to ridicule him. Yet, he praises Ridge's performance to date nothing short of sparkling dedication to duty and country.

Simultaneously, the author does not have the same feelings or findings for Attorney General John Ashcroft who Brill fears lacks the basic abilities to see the entire picture. The author has concluded the new Department of Justice policies are not well thought out and are having a negative impact on civil liberties while not meeting the needs to provide public security.

Brill blames much on the Department of Justice incompetence managing the Immigration and Naturalization Service and after reading his indictment one must agree with him. The INS is in shambles and need a public press purge to reform the personnel, polices and practices! I call upon every newspaper, magazine and media investigator to rain upon this agency and publicly change it by publishing its failures and the people responsible so they leave and competency is restored for our protection.

Brill concludes America is on the right path towards public safety but a plan is only as good as the people who execute it. Consequently, why he contributed his own voice to calling for more public debates to re-organize and balance of our liberties against national institutional safety.

Our nation needs more Steven Brill's who support our leaders in times of perils by telling us how hard of a job they have for our benefit. I credit him for telling us about the personal sacrifices of these men and women of public service we often put down as politicians preying as public serpents without remorse or apology. At the same time, he teaches us not to be afraid to tell us what needs to be improved and who needs to reform it by providing in clear exact details why someone or some agencies like INS and FAA are deteriorating into threats of our own making.

This book is a first-class read from a author, attorney and media reactionary for the political promotion of true libertarian values. Brill shows his own dedication not because of controversy but because of his honesty to defend, encourage and criticize public service when he feels the need to participate as a citizen.

I highly recommend this book!

"The terrorists' goal is fear, not conquest," states Steven Brill in his treatise on the attacks on America in September 2001. "If terrorists can convince enough people to be scared because their government hasn't figured out how to deal with any number of threats at the same time, they win. Yet from a political point of view, if he or she alarms people so much by talking about all the threats and making the price of addressing them so onerous in terms of freedom, cost, and convenience, the terrorists win that way, too."

AFTER: How America Confronted the September 12 Era is the story of how the nation banded together and fought those fears. In the dark days that followed what will be forever remembered simply as "9/11," millions of people, Americans and non-Americans, wondered how life could ever return to normal. But in Steven Brill's commendable book, readers will learn how quickly attempts were made to get the nation back on track.

Of course, the focus that day was on the victims who perished or were injured in the horrific attacks. The days that followed were filled with palpable sadness and mourning. Jews traditionally have a seven-day period of mourning, after which it is time to get on with life.

Brill, founder of The American Lawyer and former editor of Brill's Content, reports in painstaking detail the efforts made by New York and America, through a handful of examples, to do just that --- the widow, reluctantly giving in to the inevitability of her husband's death; the long-time shopkeeper who lost everything, wondering what to do next; the businessmen on both sides of the insurance table, anxious to rebuild on the one hand and trying to avoid massive payouts on the other; the New York senator trying to get the most available aid for his battered city; the ACLU lawyer, seeking to keep mass hysteria from infringing on the civil rights of those who might become targets of persecution simply because of their nations of origin; the airline official, whose entire industry is already down dramatically, looking for assistance to avoid total collapse in the face of lost business and potential lawsuits; and the Red Cross worker, trying to maximize assistance to victims of 9/11 while juggling political sensitivities.

Unfortunately, there are always those looking to capitalize on such a situation, whether they seek financial, social or political glory. "[I]t is pointless to try to gauge the mix of 'selfish' or 'selfless' motivations at work. We live in a society that depends on both," writes Brill in the book's epilogue.

The sum of AFTER is an amazing collection of research and yet it remains a human story, rather than cold facts and figures. Congressmen cry along with family members, while the phrase "I feel your pain," often considered a joke thanks to the previous Administration, takes on real meaning.

The reader also gets a sense of the enormity of planning to re-seed a new financial infrastructure where the World Trade Center once stood. To do less, to sit and brood for an extended period, despite the unparalleled depths of anguish, would be to grant an even larger sense of victory to the madmen behind the attacks.

Brill's brilliant analysis ends with a note of hope: "Although American freedoms and the legal system that protects its people have been tested and even changed, Americans are still fundamentally free."

Brill concludes: "The American people and the American system have been as resilient as ever. Even as the nation changed, it prevailed, because its people remained fundamentally the same --- motivated enough and tough enough to pursue the same mix of self-interest and public interest in the same spirited, open arena that, since its beginning has been the source of America's enduring strength."

AFTER does not make for emotionally pleasant reading. With the first real test of that national grit since December 7, 1941 --- another date to remember --- it is, nevertheless, important reading. It reminds us how far we have come and how much farther we have yet to go.

--- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan

This book both fascinates and repluses at the same time. Fascinates in the story telling. Repluses with the actions of lots of people in the administration, especially John Ashcroft, and their assult on our civil liberties in the name of "protection".

Freud was doubtlessly a seminal thinker who shaped the way 20th century man saw himself and his relationship with the world. Together with Marx and Darwin, Freud created the modern worldview that only recently has begun to crack. These books, then, are a great introduction to Freud's thought. Freud's thought, however, is what concerns us.

It's safe to say, in 2002, that Freud was wrong about virtually everything. Not only were his theories and methods ineffective in treating mental illness, they actually made many illnesses worse. Due to the prevalence of Psychoanalytic assumptions in popular culture, people with biologically-based mental diseases such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Tourette's, Schizophrenia, and Bipolarity are treated as weaklings who can't control their emotions rather than as sick people deserving compassion and medical care. All progress in Psychiatry since Freud's day has pointed to the biological basis of mental illness - which is far more sensible than thinking that your entire outlook on life is determined by potty training accidents. Not only has Psychoanalysis failed people with severe mental disorders, it has put some people in great danger. Psychoanalysts "prep" people with severe Body Dismorphic Disorder to undergo sex change operations rather than curing their BDD. Psychoanalysts teach sick people to blame their parents and strain family relationships rather than addressing the neurological roots of their conditions. It is high time for all therapists using Freudian methods and theories to be deprived insurance compensation and expert standing in legal courts.

Freud, Marx, and Darwin deserve to be studied together because all shared a common approach: they promoted unverifiable theories that could be used to predict any possible behavior or outcome, and therefore were really only cleverly posed tautologies without real insight or substance. Consider: a patient goes into a Psychotherapist's office complaining of hypochondria. The therapist asks, "How's your relationship with your family?" The hypochondriac says, "My father was a bit of a jerk." Viola - the patient's disease obsession is explained as repressed childhood angst. But MOST people's fathers are jerks, at least part of the time. There is absolutely no proof, merely the arrangement of events in chronological order. The same is true of Darwinism, which talks of "evolution" without really giving us any insight into what rules really govern the creation of life (why was the alligator fit to survive? Because he was the most fit, of course!), and Marxism, which explains any state of affairs as the result of "class struggle" regardless of whatever the situation is. For most of the 20th century, the West's intellectual culture was bogged down in clever word play. It's no wonder the arts, philosophy, ethics, and literature have ceased to offer insight into the human condition. I blame Freud and co.!

The reader from Boston, while on the money on Freud and Marx, doesn't have a clue as to Darwin. Considering the impact of Darwin on modern biology and related sciences, especially after the evolutionary synthesis, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

My favorite part of the book is the fourth major topic, "Wit and its Relation to the Unconscious." The jokes might seem a bit stale. My printing of this book is copyright 1938, and comparison of its index with the online version of pages shown indicates that the newer version is not quite the same number of pages, but the book itself is the same as the original. For people who have trouble remembering psychological concepts or intellectual approaches to anything, but who never forget a joke, Freud's ability to keep referring to the same joke in different contexts offers an ideal opportunity to see how an expert in a field can intertwine basic concepts with known ideas to create the sensation of intellectual progress. Speaking of experts, the index has 16 entries for Heine, the first of which is merely a footnote on how dreams might work like Heine, who was famous for making the bad poetry of the King of Bavaria (Herr Ludwig?) ridiculous, in THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS. The poem is only in German in the edition I have, so the comment, "He does it by using even worse rhymes," might only be funny for people who know what German sounds like. The final mention of Heine, which might be to a joke that Freud had not told before, is to a verse in which he complained, "until at last the buttons tore from the pants of my patience," in Freud's discussion of the various forms of the comic. You might not appreciate how big this book is until you have read it.

I bought both this book, and one with a similar title by Selby Beeler, figuring I'd get one right. This book was not the one. Brill focuses on witchcraft and other oddities related to losing one's teeth, but does not actually go into the various traditions around the world (as I expected from the title).

The other book ("Throw your tooth on the roof"), was great! It had short descriptions of tooth traditions from a variety of countries, and was written in a way that my son could read along, learn about the various traditions, and more importantly, learn about different nationalities and proper tooth care.

Brill's book was not written in a read-along style and my son was not a big fan of the dark illustrations, even though they were beautifully drawn.

If I had it to do over again, I'd skip this book and only buy the other one.

I found this book fun to read because it gave a nonfiction history of the tooth fairy that also included many tooth traditions. I disagree that this book was not a narrative. Quite the reverse, TOOTH TALES had a running story line while the other tooth book mentioned provided a single caption per picture per site around the world. These are two different books that offer two different versions of tooth tradition. I do agree that the title TOOTH TALES FROM AROUND THE WORLD is misleading, but I didn't find this book to be about witchcraft, which seems to be the other reviewers realk concern.