Drawing from the Bible, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud and Midrash, the kabbalistic literature, medieval folklore, Hasidic texts, and oral lore collected in the modern era, Schwartz has gathered together nearly 700 of the key Jewish myths. For each myth, he includes extensive commentary, revealing the source of the myth and explaining how it relates to other Jewish myths as well as to world literature --from publisher description

Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (1772-1810) is widely considered to be one of the foremost visionary storytellers of the Hasidic movement. The great-grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov, founder of the movement, Rabbi Nachman came to be regarded as a great figure and leader in his own right, guiding his followers on a spiritual path inspired by Kabbalah. In the last four years of his life he turned to storytelling, crafting highly imaginative, allegorical tales for his Hasidim. Three-time National Jewish Book Award winner Howard Schwartz has masterfully compiled the most extensive collection of Nachman's stories available in English. In addition to the well-known Thirteen Tales, including "The Lost Princess" and "The Seven Beggars," Schwartz has included over one hundred narratives in the various genres of fairy tales, fables, parables, dreams, and folktales, many of them previously unknown or believed lost. One such story is the carefully guarded "Tale of the Bread," which was never intended to be written down and was only to be shared with those Bratslavers who could be trusted not to reveal it. Eventually recorded by Rabbi Nachman's scribe, the tale has maintained its mythical status as a "hidden story." With utmost reverence and unfettered delight, Schwartz has carefully curated A Palace of Pearls alongside masterful commentary that guides the reader through the Rabbi's spiritual mysticism and uniquely Kabbalistic approach, ultimately revealing Rabbi Nachman to be a literary heavyweight in the vein of Gogol and Kafka. Vibrant, wise, and provocative, this book is a must-read for any lover of fairy tales and fables.

Over 150 tales from the Talmud, the Zohar, Jewish folktales, and Hasidic lore.

Nearly 25 centuries ago, the angel Gabriel foretold the time Christ would transfer His ministry from the holy place to the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in preparation for the time when divine intercession for man's salvation would be finished. Christ has revealed His plans about the reward of the righteous and the final disposition of evildoers inside the pages of the Bible. The Most High has assured us in His word that the root and branches of sin will be consumed into smoke and ashes - evil shall not rise the second time. The Sanctuary is mentioned in both the beginning and end of the Bible. Between these entries are some of the most fascinating and inspiriting themes that can occupy the human mind is revealed. The study of the sanctuary may properly engage the interest of the one who desires to understand the purposes of the Creator in the salvation of the rigorous and the final disposition of evil.

The story of Adam, Eve, "God" and "the Serpent" in the Garden of Eden is the true story of the miserable life we live as human beings on this earth. But our understanding of the fateful events in Eden had been solidly formed by the falsified mind-bending "Bible stories" we were told as children by parents and church ministers. And even as adults, organized religion still tells us the same illogical fables and somehow most of us have continued to reason and understand these crucial events that totally control our lives as children, despite the fact that they do not agree with common sense. So, "What is the Truth?" Jesus Christ came specifically to bear witness to the truth; Yahweh the god of Eden had him killed through his religious agents, who continue to muffle the truth and to mislead humanity. But The Final Testaments offers the true definition of the events in Eden. The Fall of the Human Souls; the Actual Original Sin; the Actual Genesis of this World; the Diabolic Nature of Yahweh the God of Eden; the Actual Antichrist or the Expected "Immanuel"; Who really Killed Jesus Christ-all these and more are authoritatively revealed.

Tishby's seminal study, based largely on manuscripts he discovered, shows Luzzatto as one of the most profound mystics in the history of Jewish culture.

This book - the first scholarly work on all thirteen tales in Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav's "Sippurey Ma'asiyot" - draws upon the concept of "intertextuality" to explain how Nahman defines his theology of redemption and encourages an appropriation of his religious world-view.