This book delves into the universe of dream interpretation, in light of thousand-year Jewish teachings. It fascinates and dazzles, both for the wisdom it presents and the spirituality it reflects. It is a book that helps us to understand the meaning of dreams and reveal the purpose of existence. Based exclusively on the Hebrew sources of the Torah, Talmud, Midrash and complementary works, it also includes commentaries and anecdotes drawn from the entire sea of wisdom of which Jewish Tradition consists. Included in this book is a Glossary of Dreams, which allows the interpretation of any dream to be easily found.

“Ask the beast and it will teach thee, and the birds of heaven and they will tell thee.” —Job 12:7 In the Middle Ages, the bestiary achieved a popularity second only to that of the Bible. In addition to being a kind of encyclopedia of the animal kingdom, the bestiary also served as a book of moral and religious instruction, teaching human virtues through a portrayal of an animal’s true or imagined behavior. In A Jewish Bestiary, Mark Podwal revisits animals, both real and mythical, that have captured the Jewish imagination through the centuries. Originally published in 1984 and called “broad in learning and deep in subtle humor” by the New York Times, this updated edition of A Jewish Bestiary features new full-color renderings of thirty-five creatures from Hebraic legend and lore. The illustrations are accompanied by entertaining and instructive tales drawn from biblical, talmudic, midrashic, and kabbalistic sources. Throughout, Podwal combines traditional Jewish themes with his own distinctive style. The resulting juxtaposition of art with history results in a delightful and enlightening bestiary for the twenty-first century. From the ant to the ziz, herein are the creatures that exert a special force on the Jewish fancy.

The Judaica Department of The Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark, contains a copy of a letter from the year 53, written by Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai, who warns the Jews in Rome against Paul and Christianity. It was thought that the original letter belonged to the learned Leopold Immanuel Jacob van Dort from The Netherlands, who took the letter with him to the holy community of Gogin - גוגין – presumably Cochin on the Malabar Coast in South Western India. However, judging from the content and later ideas and particular words, the letter must be much younger and cannot have been written by Jochanan ben Zakkai. The manuscript itself contains an autograph by the scholar Salomo Dubno, presumably from around 1800. The analysis of the letter shows that it is composed according to the classical rhetorical pattern and that the main purpose is to warn the Jews against apostasy and especially to encourage them to keep their Jewish faith. It has not proven possible to date or place the letter with certainty, but it might be as late as from the 18th century. Hopefully, another scholar will some day be able to solve the enigmas of this remarkable letter, which falls within the tradition of Medieval Jewish polemics against Christianity.

THE ORTHODOX JEWISH TANAKH TORAH NEVI’IM KETUVIM BOTH TESTAMENTS The Orthodox Jewish Bible is an English language version that applies Yiddish and Hasidic cultural expressions to the Messianic Bible.

Lame Deer Storyteller, rebel, medicine man, Lame Deer was born almost a century ago on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. A full-blooded Sioux, he was many things in the white man's world -- rodeo clown, painter, prisioner. But, above all, he was a holy man of the Lakota tribe. Seeker of Vision The story he tells is one of harsh youth and reckless manhood, shotgun marriage and divorce, history and folklore as rich today as ever -- and of his fierce struggle to keep pride alive, though living as a stranger in his own ancestral land.

Since the Brit Chadasha in Yirmeyeh 31:31-34 was given to Orthodox Jews (the passage is found in the Hebrew Bible, is it not?), and since most Orthodox Jews are in New York City, particularly Brooklyn it seems, then it surely must also be appropriate to make available a translation of the Brit Chadasha from the best original manuscripts in language devoid of goyishe (and non-frum) style. The following is a passage from this new translation, specifically from "The Besuras haGeulah According to Mattityahu (Matthew)" chp 28:19-20, and is illustrative of what we at AFII are doing and what we believe:

Tehillim/ A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, midrashic and Rabbinic Sources.

'Dreams are products of the mind, and do not come from any external source' Artemidorus' The Interpretation of Dreams (Oneirocritica) is the richest and most vivid pre-Freudian account of dream interpretation, and the only dream-book to have survived complete from Greco-Roman times. Written in Greek around AD 200, when dreams were believed by many to offer insight into future events, the work is a compendium of interpretations of dreams on a wide range of subjects relating to the natural, human, and divine worlds. It includes the meanings of dreams about the body, sex, eating and drinking, dress, the weather, animals, the gods, and much else. Artemidorus' technique of dream interpretation stresses the need to know the background of the dreamer, such as occupation, health, status, habits, and age, and the work is a fascinating social history, revealing much about ancient life, culture, and beliefs, and attitudes to the dominant power of Imperial Rome. Martin Hammond's fine translation is accompanied by a lucid introduction and explanatory notes by Peter Thonemann, which assist the reader in understanding this important work, which was an influence on both Sigmund Freud and Michel Foucault.