I was especially interested in this story since I grew up in St. Louis and don't often see historical Christian romance set in this city. The story is well written; several scenes moved me to tears or laughter. I was also impressed with the details of everyday life in 1890's America which revealed the thoroughness of Ms. Jacobs' research. Most importantly, though, God's faithfulness shines through in this story. Well done! I hope to see a continuation of Louisa's story soon.

The sun rises and sets eloquently and appropriately on each of the thirty chapters of this three-part novel. Kathleen Jacobs tells a heart-rending story of a German immigrant family's experience and endurance as first-generation Americans.

With St. Louis, Missouri at the close of the 19th and the opening of the 20th centuries as a setting, the Schuhmacher Family engages the reader in intimate fellowship. In the reading of the story, the reader will laugh at the antics of the rascal Rudi, cry as her characters face death and seriously appreciate the hardships of the lives of our American ancestors.

Never Forsaken is a story about life and death, fear and love, and hardship and the ease that is afforded by a faithful God.

This book gives a detailed account of Tiffanys works in most of the mediums he chose. The photographs are gorgeous.

This is truly the most fabulous book on Tiffany's works,including many illustrations of works not previously seen.  As a Tiffany book collector, I know that Nuestadt's book may have more lamps illustrated, but none have the incomparable colors and qualities as the images in this book.  They are truly magnificent pictures (over 400 color plates)on a black ackground and are of the same quality as Sotheby & Christie's catalog pictures.  Tiffany at Auction by Alastair Duncan may be a collectors item, but having seen it, most of the pictures in that book are in black and white and do not begin to compare with this book.  While the Sotheby and & Christie catalogs display beautiful pictures, they only show what people choose to sell, unlike this book that shows treasures that I have never before seen in any of the books or catalogs that I have collected.But this book has so much more.  Almost every lamp picture has a close up of the actual pattern.  As a stained glass worker, these close ups are sufficient for you to reproduce the design.  The outstanding and superlative index at the rear contains small thumbnails of each work of art in the book with illuminating information and page number shown for easy access to the item.  Actual copies of the Tiffany factory workbooks,similar to Nash's new Tiffany Notebook book, are included in this book.
Of course, this book also has the requisite biography of Tiffany.  One third of book is biography and windows, second third is lamps, and last third is vases, index and bibliography.
You will NOT be disappointed in this book - it's the best that is available as far as I am concerned.

Forgiving Louis Jacobs repetitive self-pitying polemic concerning his "disbarment" from the Orthodox establishment in England, this book is an excellent and wide ranging review of the flexibility which the Halacha has historically shown in comparison with the paralysis that has struck Halachic Judaism since the Enlightenment.

Although the historical analysis is not as deep as Neusner, this book is much easier to read, and highly recommended for anyone willing to to view Halacha as a way of life, without being bound to fundamentalist thought.

If you are interested in the development of Halacha, this is an excellent introduction with many interesting and classic examples.

Out of all the books I have come across on the development of halakha (Jewish law), this may well be the most imporant. Rabbi Jacobs, an adherent of the historical school, illustrates that Jewish law is not - and never has been - a closed system that ignores the outside world. As the book notes "considerations beyond the purely halakhic have always played a big part in the making of halakhah, both in its original formulation and in its subsequent development. Throughout the ages halakhic rulings have been influenced by rabbis' attitudes towards the wider ideals and demands of Judaism and by social, economic, theological, and even political considerations."

The publisher notes that "The most controversial element of _A Tree of Life_, when it was first published in 1984 and subsequently, was its final chapter, 'Towards a Non-Fundamentalist Halakhah'. The new introduction written for this edition responds to criticisms raised from both the right and the left wings of the Jewish world, and also summarizes further work that has been done by scholars in the various areas that the book covers. The bibliography and notes have been expanded, and the format of the book has been enlarged to allow the copious notes to be set at the foot of the page."

This is a reprint of Louis Jacobs' 1972 classic on the history and techniques of Hasidic prayer. It's an academic study, not a how-to book, but it does contain quite a bit of material translated from firsthand Hasidic sources, about how the Rebbes and their followers approached their daily prayers. As such, it is of great value to anyone interested in the inner dynamics of prayer. Both Jews and non-Jews will find gems of wisdom in this book. I am very glad to see it back in print.

From the outside looking in, Hasidic prayer appears to be nothing more than endless repetition, chanted so quickly that the casual observer wonders how the worshipper can possibly focus on the meaning of the words. In a world where "slowly" is often associated with "more sincere," the rapid-fire pace of traditional Jewish liturgy is often misunderstood by outsiders as mere rote. But the inner dynamics of Hasidic prayer are something far different and much more sublime.

The key word is "kavannah," or focused attention, which transforms the seemingly "rote" repetitions into a mystical act of "elevating holy sparks." The words may be the same over and over, but the kavannah must be freshly-focused each time, because every prayer is a new offering to God. Properly done, Hasidic prayer "transcends syllables and sounds" to become an act of spiritual redemption.

This book was among the first in English to discuss the role of kavannah for the general public, and open up the various ways in which a Hasid puts his heart and soul into the recitation of the daily liturgy. Many Jews who read this book back in the 1970's saw, for the first time, the similarities between Hasidic prayer and forms of Eastern mantra meditation.

The author gives an overview of Hasidism and the various prayerbooks used by Hasidism, then discusses the role of gestures and melodies, various forms of contemplative prayer, ecstatic prayer, the elevation of "strange" or distractiing thoughts during prayer, prayers as inspiration, and the difference between the prayers of the Zaddik (Hasidic saint) and a ordinary Hasid, inluding the custom (still practiced today) of leaving a written prayer request (kvittel) on a Hasidic Rebbe's grave.

One technique that is not discussed here is the hisboddidus prayer of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (Bratzlav), where the individual goes into solitude and speaks spontaneously to God in his or her own words, as a spontaneous "stream of consciousness" prayer. Although Jacobs cites Rabbi Nachman several times on other topics, he does not seem to have picked up on the centrality of hisboddidus prayer in the practice of Breslov Hasidism. Either that, or he made a conscious decision to focus on prayer techniques related to the written prayerbook only. Still, given the time period in which this book was written, it was a fine achievment, and remains valuable today, as a good intro to the spiritual side of Hasidism.

This colection of seven books , is THE best documented reference book about Jewish culture Iv ever handled, Its a "mejaie"(in idish pleasure) to go trough those refferences, Rab Guinsberg was the husband of the famos Henrieta Zsold at which memory there is even streets named in Israel. Its HER wisdom thats stated in this books, and she new more than Raby's, but since she was a woman Ortodox was almost prohibited to shine at Her real capacity. I repeat Yhe most inteligible set of books about the theme,a must to any serious student of Jewdaism, outside of the Ishives jails

I really like this book, the background of Genesis. I've borrowed it out so many times it looks all rough, it's very popular.

Dobh Baer of Lubavitch was a leader of the early Hassidic movement; he was the son of the founder of the Lubavitcher Hassidim, Schneor Zalman. This important book was written as a guide to his brethren, and it explores in great detail the various stages and forms of religious "ecstasy", which I take to mean a kind of union with God. It is also full of warnings and criticisms of those who have deluded themselves into thinking they have achieved a genuine religious ecstasy, and of how easily it is to be led astray by pride, by focus on the world of business and making a living, etc. Dobh Baer was quite obviously an extreme religious idealist, and his words today, while often difficult to really understand, still have a lot to say to anyone who is seeking spiritual fulfillment. The translation by Louis Jacobs is very good; it is heavily annotated which helps a lot to explain the esoteric Hebrew and Yiddish phrases and expressions which Dobh Baer uses to try to clarify his meaning. I would recommend this book to any serious student of Jewish religion, as well as to others who are looking for a pathway as to how to retain spirituality in our modern life.

This was the first book I ever read about Jewish mysticism, and it has prompted me to read more. The book is very accessible to readers with only very basic biblical knowledge, and although many of the concepts and Hebrew terms are difficult to grasp, the compiler has added copious notes and an excellent glossary. The cost of the whole book is made worthwhile by the understanding gained of the Ezekiel throne vision provided in the first chapter. Fascinating! Some of the more recent Jewish mystics' writings are not quite as interesting, but if you enjoyed the mystical angle in the movie "Pi", I think you'll be enlightened by the descriptions of the techniques used by these "modern" mystics.

The commonly-accepted wisdom is that Judaism is a religion of practices and contains no beliefs. Louis Jacobs shows that this is not entirely correct, and provides the source material behind recurring attempts to define the tenets of Jewish faith.

This book clearly, succinctly and intelligently defines the different theories about God, and distinguishes them from each other. Jacobs explains where each of these theories appears within the Jewish tradition. It is an important "primer" for anyone trying to understand Jewish philosophy and religion in general. It is very well-written, and not overly long. A reading of this book will eliminate the fuzziness which most people -- Jews and non-Jews, religious and secular -- have about theology.

The major problem with the book is Jacobs' approach in defining what he considers to be a normative Jewish view. In effect, after fairly defining theological alternatives to what he calls "theism" -- including Spinozist pantheism and Hasidic panentheism -- Jacobs casts aspersions on these views and writes them out of the Jewish fold.

I concur with the comments of other reviewers. Some further thoughts:

1. This book is more advanced than "Judaism for Dummies" but hardly as incomprehensible as the works of major philosophers such as Buber. I would say that to get the most out of it, you should have a fair amount of knowledge of Judaism, but you need not be a full-fledged theologian yourself.

2. Some readers may be dissatisfied with the amount of space Jacobs gives major issues such as revelation and the role of mitzvot; he gives every issue about an equal amount of space, whether they deserve a short chapter or a full book.

3. Jacobs certainly has a point of view - I would say he is a mainstream Conservative, generally endorsing traditional practice to a much greater extent than most Reform Jews, but not necessarily for the same reasons that traditional Jews would endorse.

There are precious few systematic works being written these days on Jewish theology -- perhaps because Judaism is sometimes regarded as in some way opposed to theology. Louis Jacobs deals with that objection directly in the very first pages of this fine work. "Jewish theology," he begins, "is the attempt to think through consistently the implications of the Jewish religion." That this task requires a degree of humility and even ends in agnosticism on some specific points, Jacobs readily acknowledges. But, he argues, the "dangers of pride and dogmatism" should merely prevent "theological smugness," not forestall the enterprise of theology itself. In a workmanlike series of twenty-two further chapters, Jacobs devotes his attention to the task he has set himself, dealing in turn with e.g. the unity of God; transcendence and immanence; omnipotence and omniscience; providence; the love and the fear of God; the nature of revelation; Torah and mitzvah; sin and repentance; the Messianic hope; and the afterlife. At each point his discussion is solidly rooted in the traditional texts of Judaism (including, of course, Torah and Talmud). His views on the central topic of _revelation_ are, it must be said, "liberal" in the final analysis; while highly critical of the idea of "progressive revelation" and adopting what he calls a "traditionalist" view, he is nevertheless forced to acknowledge in the end that his interpretation of revelation in "non-propositional terms" is "certainly not the traditional one." And I confess myself to be skeptical that his account can provide full support for even his own understanding of the nature of the mitzvot. But whatever his particular conclusions on specific points, and above all whether one agrees with them or not, his thorough discussion of Jewish theology is fair and even-handed in content, reasonable and empathetic in tone. And his unblinking willingness to deal with the problems specifically raised by modernity is altogether commendable. This volume, then, will not answer every possible question about Jewish theology. But if one wants a book that asks the questions well and tries to sort out what answers make sense in the light of both tradition and modernity without lapsing into "fundamentalism" on _either_ side, Jacobs has done that job here. And it is hard to imagine how anyone could do it better.

This is the infamous book that got Rabbi Jacobs kicked out of Orthodox Judaism in Great Britain. While containing a bit too many British references (which makes it slightly less accessible for US and Canadian readers) it is still a good read.

Louis Jacobs moves beyond the "Do it because I told you God said so" approach so popular among the Orthodox. Orthodox Jews claim that the text of the Torah is a direct quote from God, and thus we are obligated to follow its rules. Non-religious Jews use the findings of modern critical Bible study to show that since our understanding of how the Bible was edited is now known to be flawed, then it can't possibly be inspired in any way; therefore, humanity is free from trying to follow the word of God in this way (or in any way). In between these paths lies a view promoted by Rabbi Jacobs, and by Masorti and Conservative Judaism in general. He notes that *how* God inspired man is one question; whether or not God does so is another. If God does exist, and does inspire mankind in some way, then the Torah may well contain man's understanding of God's will, as Judaism has always claimed. Unfortunately, no brief review can do justice to the subtle and convincing arguments that Rabbi Jacobs makes for his views: non-fundamentalist, observant, authentic Judaism. You will have to read it for yourself - and you'll be the better for it. I also suggest reading the updated sequel to this book "Beyond Reasonable Doubt"; in fact, it may be better to skip the original altogether and just read the later volume.