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"[Stealing Home] is...destined to be one of the most refreshing and enlightening Jewish titles in this publication year..." Stealing Home is an at times witty, at times grave, at times hopeful, and at times cynical, but always thought-provoking collection of autobiographical essays. This book is a ...

"[Stealing Home] is...destined to be one of the most refreshing and enlightening Jewish titles in this publication year..." Stealing Home is an at times witty, at times grave, at times hopeful, and at times cynical, but always thought-provoking collection of autobiographical essays. This book is a man's bold yet humble analysis of his own choices, particularly of his decision to give up a modest, bucolic, and secure academic life in California for an even more rewarding and meaningful one in Israel. These twenty-eight wonderfully written essays leave no delicate subject untouched. Chertok exposes the materialistic shallowness of many American "assimilated" Jews. He describes his experiences in the Israeli army and his growing distress with Israel's involvement in Lebanon. He bemoans Israel's schools, he criticizes Israel's treatment of the Arabs. He is, in fact, a rare bird- a dedicated Zionist and an observant Jew who despises narrowmindedness in any shape or form, whether it be cultural, social, left-win, right-wing, or religious. This book is essential reading not only for those concerned with Israel or with the "Jewish-American experience." Stealing Home addresses universal issues that have concerned all people in all nations throughout history. It is a book about finding one's place in the world...without becoming complacent or self-righteous.

This is a pioneering study of the nineteenth century Hasidic movement as shown through the life of one of the most controversial and influential Hasidic leaders, Rabbi Israel Friedman of Ruzhin (1796-1850). The dramatic episodes of his life -- including his involvement in the murder of Jewish ...

This is a pioneering study of the nineteenth century Hasidic movement as shown through the life of one of the most controversial and influential Hasidic leaders, Rabbi Israel Friedman of Ruzhin (1796-1850). The dramatic episodes of his life -- including his involvement in the murder of Jewish informers, his imprisonment in Russia, his subsequent escape to Austria where he successfully reestablished his court -- are echoed by the contradictory and highly critical opinions of his personal character and his role as leader of one of the largest and most opulent Hasidic courts of the nineteenth century.

Nineteenth-century Hasidism has been a comparatively neglected topic in Jewish historiography largely because of the traditional view that the movement was in a degenerate state during this period. The natural interest that scholars found in the eighteenth-century origins of the movement, alongside their personal dislike of the nineteenth-century Hasidic courts and their machinations, led them to concentrate on,the earliest years and the more recent phases of Hasidism.

The book is in four parts. Part I draws on surprisingly rich non-Hasidic sources as well as on Hasidic materials to recreate the early life of Rabbi Israel from his childhood to his leadership of a Hasidic community. Part II concentrates on his activities as a famous spiritual leader, his adventures in Russia, and his final years in Austria. In Part III, the author analyzes major aspects of Rabbi Israel's career and thought as a Hasidic leader and public figure, with emphasis on his approach to materialism, wealth, and luxury. Part IV describes in detail the royal Hasidic court of Rabbi Israel and his sons -- its formation,buildings, economics, social structure, functionaries, and administrative organization.