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I just hope that we don't have to resort to the level of security that they have in Israel or Northern Ireland. Also, this book makes me want to read other books about the Israeli military.
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"Always remember: joy is not merely incidental to your spiritual quest," warns Nachman, a Hasadic leader in Ukraine during a turbulent time of religious persecution. "It is vital." Nachman's inspirational quotes, often given in imperative sentences, focus on the need to liberate yourself by maintaining hope and secluding yourself daily.
Adored by his followers, many modern readers will find his extremely optimistic assertions questionable. "When troubles come, as they will, take comfort in your faith that whatever happens is for the best," advises Nachman. This soothing advice, especially in light of the Holocaust and suicide bombers, remains a very difficult task for contemporary adults.
Still I have found myself drawn to this wise little book on many somber, pensive occassions. The Rebbi seems like a kind, tolerant older brother urging me forward toward the light. "Go carefully: spiritual growth must proceed slowly and steadily. Too often we want to improve ourselves and our relationships so quickly that we make ourselves frustrated and confused." Doesn't that sound very apt for the 21st century?
For whatever reason, I have found myself giving copies of this book to friends during times of emotional confusion and mild depression. It seems to strike a familiar chord and ease burdens. What more can a thin book do?
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He has a definite style and powerful vision with political digs and towering worries and, of course, contemplations. Indeed, his poetry makes for a beautiful and thought-provoking read.
Benarroch's poetry has a very personal and unique voice, influenced by Alen Ginsberg, Charles Bukowski, Pablo Neruda, Israeli and Spanish poetry, as well as South American and north American poetry. The long lines of poets who have influenced him and his encyclopedic knowledge of 20th century poetry, doesn't make him a dull poet to read. On the contrary his poetry is crystal clear, and the nuances and complexities are only seen on a third or forth reading, and not the other way round. It's accessible and simple without being simplistic.
Moshe Benarroch is one of the best contemporary poets. He is also one of the most prolific. He is already an author of ten
books, including novels, toms of poetry ond prose. Thanks in part to his incredible presence on the Internet his poems are featured on hundreds of sites and are read and loved throughout the globe.
He has a faithful following in places as exotic as Budapest and Brazil. His poems have been translated into several languages including Chinese. Mr.Benarroch has this rare gift of masterful simplicity of language, while expressing a very complex message of great importance, that can be easily understood by people everywhere who are concerned about injustice, discrimination, war, terrorism, and existential matters, including marriage, love and change. His meaningful and often nostalgic poems combine the honesty of his clear voice with bittersweet beauty of his verse. Unfortunately, this volume was poorly edited
which doesn't do Mr. Benarroch's poetry justice and his publisher needs to wake up.
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This book is hard to find, and is also a hard read. If you have come this far then your search is just beginning. Most booksellers list it as delated or out-of-print. I found a copy at my local library, of all places. But if you persevere, then you will be rewarded with a book that tells you everything you every wanted to know (and probably didn't) about life in a German concentration camp. It recounts the true story of a fourteen year-old Polish Jew schoolgirl who eventually arrived at the infamous "Joy Divsion", which was part of a camp that housed prositutes for the pleasure of German officers.
It ranks alongside "A Clockwork Orange" as one of the two most graphic and haunting books I've ever read. I think some of the imagery will remain with me a long time. There are also many allusions to Orwell's world of "1984", and there are recurrent (and sadly true) references to the Germans' twisted terminology. Even the concept of a barrack of prositutes being a "Joy Division" seems a perfect example of Orwell's "doublespeak".
I had hoped to ascertain a bit more knowledge about Joy Division's influences, but apart from the title, there is little relevance. So by that criteria, there was not much gained by reading the book, but the book became compelling in its own right, and I am glad to have read it, and might read more of his work and the genre. But note, that if your crazy about the band, and don't have the broader interest or think you could stomach this sort of thing, then there might not be much point in reading it in the first place.
Ka-Tzetnik's books are novels, in that they draw on the author's experiences and those of other inmates, but do not necessarily depict actual events and actual people. However, regardless of the context, House of Dolls is not for the faint-hearted; it makes Anne Frank's confinement seem like a Sunday School picnic.
The first link (listed below) is the best if you want info on Ka-Tzetnik & the House of Dolls. It's written as apart of an academic essay, but still quite informative and readable. My major query concerned how the author fitted into the picture, so to speak. The essay explains that it is his sister whom is the central character in the book, which is based on her diary. His character in the book is known as "Harry". The book also mentions his younger brother, Moni. Ka-Tzetnik has also written, seperately, about Moni's miserable and tortured life at Auschwitz. Ka-Tzetnik covers his own story in his book "Atrocity", apparently.
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In a minding organization, all of the parties involved in a project-whether it's developing a new product, streamlining a process, or changing a strategy-get together from the start to explore the issues. They bring insights up front that would normally be learned only later on, a kind of high-level connection that is the hallmark of the minding organization and the surest way to gain competitive advantage. The goal of a minding organization is to adapt so readily that it innovates before its competitors do.
This book shows managers how to transform their organisation into one that behaves like a living organism-alive with ideas and instantly able to adapt for survival in an increasingly complex, unpredictable global business world.
Moshe F. Rubinstein is a professor at the UCLA School of Engineering and a frequent speaker at universities and organizations all over the world. Iris R. Firstenberg is an adjunct professor in the UCLA Department of Psychology and has also taught at the UCLA School of Engineering and the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA.
Reviewed by Azlan Adnan, Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group.
Chapter One: The Minding Organization
Chapter Two: Transforming the Organization into an Organism
Chapter Three: Adapting and Planning
Chapter Four: Structure, Creativity, and Error: The Foundations of the Minding Organization
Chapter Five: Chaos to Order to Chaos: Embracing Uncertainty
Chapter Six: Expanding the Imagination: Frames as Filters
Chapter Seven: Kniht [Think] Backward: Visit the Future in the Present
Chapter Eight: The New Leadership: Operating on the Edge of Chaos
Chapter Nine: The Minding Organization in Action
The authors provide a rigorous analysis of each component of a process by which to "bring the future to the present and turn creative ideas into business solutions." At the conclusion of Chapter Six, they suggest that the minding organization "creates chaos deliberately up front by starting with divergent concurrent perceptions and encourages errors to surface early when the costs of detection and correction are minimal." Immediately in the next chapter, they explain that the "frames" we create "filter the world for us, allowing us to manage the tremendous amount of information available." They then examine various "filters" which could prevent us from formulating the aforementioned "divergent concurrent perceptions." The sequence of the authors' ideas thus flows logically from one chapter to the next.
In the final chapter, the authors identify thirteen "precepts" of the minding organization. By now they have explained the interrelationships between (indeed the interdependence of) these precepts; they have also provided a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective plan by which to apply those precepts to the needs of any organization, regardless of its size or nature.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to read two books written by Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline and The Dance of Change. Rubinstein, Firstenberg, and Senge no doubt agree with Derek Bok's observation, when criticized by parents of Harvard students after a tuition increase: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." In the minding organization, education is alive and well...and given its relative cost, a bargain.