Hardly anyone remains impartial upon hearing the words “the wisdom of Kabbalah.” One may mock it as esoteric nonsense, another might speak its praises and tell stories of formidable, enigmatic people who can set fire to people or turn them into a heap of bones with their very gaze, while yet another might mention secret, shady societies. The authentic wisdom of Kabbalah had been concealed for two millennia. Over the centuries, so many myths, misunderstandings, and misinterpretations of it have been formed that today face and palm reading, astrology, numerology, and countless other practices claim to be related to Kabbalah. Yet, the authentic wisdom of Kabbalah is not related to any of them. In fact, it is a scientific, empirical method for achieving lasting happiness through social unity. It had been fashioned and practiced by the ancient Hebrews before they were exiled from Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, and now it is reemerging precisely because social unity is the only solution to our problems—be they personal, national, or global. A Very Narrow Bridge traces the roots of Kabbalah, Judaism, and the Jewish people, how they formed and for what purpose. It is a chronicle of the struggle of kabbalists to preserve the wisdom and pass it down through the ages until today, when it has become critical to humanity to reveal the truth about the people of Israel and the wisdom of Kabbalah. This book speaks of love, hate, and total dedication to the goal of saving the human race.

Rebbe Nachman said, "The world is a very narrow bridge. The main thing is not to be afraid." This upbeat, down-to-earth book gives clear, detailed guidance for applying Rebbe Nachman's teachings to our everyday lives. Exploring a broad range of topics - from joy, peace and charity to earning a living, taking care of one's health, and raising children - this work answers many of the practical and technical questions that puzzle those who are making their first acquaintance with Breslov teachings.

“A book that looks at existence with equal measures of fear, humility and gratitude. In a time when novelists tend to be more concerned with psychology than the soul, that makes it a rare and valuable thing.” --Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal From the author of Mr. Eternity, a darkly comic road novel about a millennial couple facing the ultimate question: how to live and love in an age of catastrophe. Young Miami couple Murphy and Eva have almost decided to have a baby when Yahweh, the Old Testament God, appears to Eva and makes an unwelcome demand: He wants her to be his prophet. He also wants her to manage his social media presence. Yahweh sends the two on a wild road trip across the country, making incomprehensible demands and mandating arcane rituals as they go. He gives them a hundred million dollars, but he asks them to use it to build a temple on top of a landfill. He forces them to endure a period of Biblical wandering in the deserts of the southwest. Along the way they are continually mistaken for another couple, a pair of North Carolina society people, and find themselves attending increasingly bizarre events in their names. At odds with their mission but helpless to disobey, Murphy and Eva search their surroundings for signs of a future they can have faith in. Through wry observations about the biggest things--cosmology and theology--and the smallest things--the joys and irritations of daily life--Thier questions the mysterious forces that shape our fates, and wonders how much free will we really have. Equal parts hilarious and poignant, The World Is a Narrow Bridge asks: What kind of hope can we pass on to the next generation in a frightening but beautiful world?

Some losses are so subtle they go unnoticed, some so overwhelming and cruel they seem unbearable. Coping with grief and experiencing loss overwhelms us in ways that seem both hopeless and endless. In painful moments like these, we must make a choice: Will we allow the difficulties we face to become forces of destruction in our lives, or will we find a way to begin learning from loss, transforming our suffering into a source of strength? A theologian with the heart of a poet, Rabbi David Wolpe explores the meaning of loss, and the way we can use its inevitable appearance in our lives as a source of strength rather than a source of despair. In this national bestseller, Wolpe creates a remarkably fluid account of how we might find a way out of overwhelming feelings of helplessness and instead begin understanding grief in all its forms and learn to create meaning in difficult times.

We belong to a gullible, partly delusional/hallucinating, self-destructive species: Homo sapiens. First, we create the conditions for global catastrophes including epidemics by following unsustainable policies, and then, as we are hit—as the COVID-19 pandemic shows—we react often too late, confused and short-sighted. Hence, we badly need a new, evolved global vision/mission to steer away from our innate and self-destructive shortcomings and flaws. This book includes two parts. Book One tells my true/legendary story with the Green Man, describing how such a vision/mission was conceived. Book Two describes a tour de force beyond Homo sapiens’s current wisdom, ultimate meaning, and fixed destiny, leading to the abovementioned new, evolved vision for a future civilization, which will focus on saving us from ourselves.

From the acclaimed author of The Jew in the Lotus comes an "engrossing and wonderful book" (The Washington Times) about the unexpected connections between Franz Kafka and Hasidic master Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav—and the significant role played by the imagination in the Jewish spiritual experience. Rodger Kamenetz has long been fascinated by the mystical tales of the Hasidic master Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. And for many years he has taught a course in Prague on Franz Kafka. The more he thought about their lives and writings, the more aware he became of unexpected connections between them. Kafka was a secular artist fascinated by Jewish mysticism, and Rabbi Nachman was a religious mystic who used storytelling to reach out to secular Jews. Both men died close to age forty of tuberculosis. Both invented new forms of storytelling that explore the search for meaning in an illogical, unjust world. Both gained prominence with the posthumous publication of their writing. And both left strict instructions at the end of their lives that their unpublished books be burnt. Kamenetz takes his ideas on the road, traveling to Kafka’s birthplace in Prague and participating in the pilgrimage to Uman, the burial site of Rabbi Nachman visited by thousands of Jews every Jewish new year. He discusses the hallucinatory intensity of their visions and offers a rich analysis of Nachman’s and Kafka’s major works, revealing uncanny similarities in the inner lives of these two troubled and beloved figures, whose creative and religious struggles have much to teach us about the Jewish spiritual experience.

How can I get my life off hold? When will my life really begin? We all ask ourselves the same questions when we are struggling to move forward. As a rabbi, Naomi Levy frequently offered spiritual guidance to people seeking the answers. But when a doctor told her that her young daughter, Noa, had a fatal degenerative disease, Rabbi Levy’s own insights could not prevent her whole life from unraveling. In Hope Will Find You, Naomi Levy shares her journey and the wisdom she gained. She describes with humor and honesty how she came through a time of uncertainty and fear and learned how to stop waiting for life to begin. A natural and engaging storyteller, Levy has written a book filled with invaluable lessons for living in the present and for opening the door to an extraordinary future. Hope Will Find You is a book that will be passed to friends when life gets confusing, a book that will rest on our bedside tables when we are searching for hope and direction.

Nothing could be more important than the health of our children, and no one is better suited to examine the threats against it than Sandra Steingraber. Once called "a poet with a knife," she blends precise science with lyrical memoir. In Living Downstream she spoke as a biologist and cancer survivor; in Having Faith she spoke as an ecologist and expectant mother, viewing her own body as a habitat. Now she speaks as the scientist mother of two young children, enjoying and celebrating their lives while searching for ways to protect them -- and all children -- from the toxic, climate-threatened world they inhabit Each chapter of this engaging and unique book focuses on one inevitable ingredient of childhood -- everything from pizza to laundry to homework to the "Big Talk" -- and explores the underlying social, political, and ecological forces behind it. Through these everyday moments, Steingraber demonstrates how closely the private, intimate world of parenting connects to the public world of policy-making and how the ongoing environmental crisis is, fundamentally, a crisis of family life.