In Chassidic Pearls, Rabbi Lazer Brody enriches the family Shabbat table with a unique and delightful new book based on the weekly Torah portions and festivals. Chassidic Pearls is a garden of relevant commentaries and original allegories that are ideal for anyone between the ages of 5 and 105. Rav Ovadiah Yosef shlit'a writes that Rabbi Brody is "an artist and master storyteller; honey and sweetness drip from his pen." The Melitzer Rebbe shlit'a of Ashdod adds that Chassidic Pearls is a "a superb collection of commentaries, ethics, and original stories-all simple, straightforward language-to help people enhance the spiritual dimensions of their lives."

This book traces the Polish Chassidic Dynasties of Lublin, Lelov, Nikolsburg, and Boston. Based on the Hebrew, Shalsheles Boston, this fascinating and uplifting book includes the biographies of the major Polish Chassidic figures and their teachings. With a foreward by the Bostoner Rebbe, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz.

In this book, we will share forty lessons, each with its own unique theme. The common thread to the series is living with deeper kindness. How can the Jewish tradition inspire us to live with deeper love and compassion? How can Jewish pearls of wisdom inform how we care for one another? The book contains five sections: Kindness Toward Specific Individuals; Kindness Toward All Individuals; Kindness Through Restraint; Care for Our Environment; and Self-Improvement as a Catalyst for Kindness to Others. The first two sections address proactive kindness towards our fellow humans; the third addresses kindness by avoiding hurting others; the fourth, kindness towards all of God's creations, including animals and nature, as kindness cannot be only people-directed; the fifth serves as a starting point and catalyst for all of the above, for without first being kind to ourselves and improving our general character we cannot be truly kind towards others. The argument is not only that God wants us to live with kindness and that Torah necessitates it, but that kindness has the greatest chance of bringing happiness and meaning to our lives.

This book will enthusiastically be sought after by Jews who were not born Jewish, and those on the path to becoming Jewish. It has received glowing approbations from the Sudilkover Rebbe, Bostoner Rebbe, Hornsteipler Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Morgenstern, Rabbi Dovid Meisels, and Rabbi Lazer Brody. Unlike numerous books already published in English on conversion to Judaism, this book is not a personal narrative, how-to manual, digest of relevant laws, or academic historical overview. This book presents the story behind the story - the mystical teachings found within Chassidic literature that illuminate the hidden inner world of the ger. Until now, these teachings were scattered in an unorganized manner throughout countless volumes and inaccessible to those unfamiliar with the Hebrew language. With this book, "Bnei Avraham Ahuvecha: Gerim in Chassidic Thought", relevant Chassidic teachings are collected, translated from Hebrew into English, organized topically, and further elucidated, when needed. Interspersed with these translated teachings, stories- both old and new - are included to help bring them to life. In addition, this book includes supplementary essays written by Rabbi Chaim Kramer, Rabbi Ozer Bergman, Rabbi Dovid Sears, Rabbi Avraham Chaim Bloomenstiel, and Mrs. Talya Lipshutz (based on conversations with Rav Elazar Mordechai Kenig of Tsfat). Excerpts from the book's approbations: - A jewel in any Jewish bookcase for generations to come, [this book] will greatly benefit all those who study it. -- Sudilkover Rebbe - I am delighted to recommend the book as a meaningful contribution to the growing body of Torah information available to the Chareidi world. Indeed, the project is intriguing both for its timeliness and for its superb scholarship. -- Hornsteipler Rebbe of Milwaukee - Well researched ... provides many novel ideas from primary sources that are not available to the general public. -- Bostoner Rebbe of Jerusalem - I have one blessing for my precious friend [the author]: may he see blessings from what he has accomplished and increase the honor of God in the world with his great book. -- Rabbi Dovid Meisels - This wonderful book is unique in the world of Torah literature. -- Rabbi Lazer Brody - It is my hope and prayer that learning and internalizing the teachings in this book will sensitize our community to the greatness of the mitzvah to love gerim. -- Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Morgenstern

Music is of paramount importance in Judaism. On the verse, «Hearken unto the song and the prayer which Your servant prays before You this day» (I Kings 8:28), the Gemarrah states that wherever there is song, there shall be prayer; and indeed, in the Temple, song was an inseparable element of the sacrificial services, thereafter finding its position in the prayers and the Torah reading, with its special melody, in the synagogue. Chassidism employed music as one of its main avenues for serving G-d. Music served to bring the individual to a state of awakening and joy, nullifying sadness which was seen as an element that could only lead to negativity. Joy allowed one to reach ever higher levels in the service of G-d, leaving one's sorrows behind, as explained by the founder of the Modzits Chassidic court, Rabbi Yehezkel of Kozmir, when interpreting the verse, «with joy you shall go forth» (Isaiah 55) to mean that through joy, we shall go forth from all our difficulties. In this book, Shmuel Barzilai takes the reader on a brief and concise tour of the Chassidic courts and their world of music. It explains the wordless melody (Niggun), which is perhaps even more important than songs having words; the importance of dance; the place of honor given to Shabbat songs; and the role of music in Kabbalah. The book provides an overview of the activities of Rabbis who composed and sang at every opportunity, whether in the synagogue or while conducting the traditional Tisch where Chassidic adherents gathered each Shabbat and Festival to hear their Rebbe explain sections of Torah, sing and interpret sayings on music. Barzilai also discusses melodies - niggunim - that became particularly famous, or derived from non-Jewish sources but underwent a process that allowed them to be adopted by the Admoric leaders and integrated into the Chassidic court's repertoire.

Based on interviews and oral histories, this collection of 89 stories is the first anthology of Hasidic stories about the Holocaust, and the first ever in which women play a large role.

In 1913, just before the outbreak of the First World War, a 19-year-old Czech Jew named Jiri Langer left his assimilated family to live in the remote village of Belz, Galicia (now Ukraine). He had gone to live under the Chassidic (or Hasidic) Rokeach dynasty, a line of Rabbis that survives to this day. Nine Gates is the autobiographical tale of Langer’s time amongst these isolated Chassidic mystics of Eastern Galicia. He tells of their enthusiasm, their simple faith, their ecstasies, their austerities, their feasts, their wonder-working Holy Rabbis and their esoteric wisdom. Alongside this narrative sits a collection of shrewd and earthy folk tales told by the holy men who ruled these little spiritual kingdoms for generation after generation. Over 80 years since its original publication in Czech, this translation by Stephen Jolly remains the definitive English version of this towering work of Jewish introspection. Nine Gates is a document from another time and place, and yet it captures the same spirit of religious longing and exploration that attracts a growing number of seekers today.