Author: Moshe Hallamish File Type: pdf *Provides an introduction to the world of the Kabbalah, focusing on both the Kabbalist as a person and the major teachings of the Kabbalah. An Introduction to the Kabbalah is a lucid, scintillating guide to the esoteric teachings of Judaism. The book is very readable without sacrificing scholarly sophistication. -- Daniel Matt, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley Author of The Essential Kabbalah and God and the Big Bang* This book acquaints the reader with the world of the Kabbalah. The first part discusses the Kabbalist as a person the personal transmission of Kabbalistic traditions, the Kabbalists qualities and qualifications, prerequisites and early preparations, risks and achievements, as well as techniques for uncovering mysteries and the sources of revelations. The second part deals with the major themes in the teachings of the Kabbalah, such as the doctrine of the Sefirot, the Sitra-Ahra--good and evil, the creation of the world, the status of the Torah and its commandments, the doctrine of the soul and the transmigration of souls. In treating these issues, the book also notes the assimilation of Kabbalistic notions in Jewish religious customs. This is an important work. It provides an overview of the world of Jewish mysticism with particular attention to the issues that are philosophically generated within that tradition. It examines these issues in a phenomenological way, free of the historiographical approach practiced by many students of Gershom Scholem. The book addresses a number of significant aspects of Jewish mysticism in light of their relationship to general Jewish thought, not in the light of other traditions. It also provides the newcomer to the field with important sources from across the historical continuum of the Kabbalah.-- Pinchas Giller, Washington University **

Author: Susan Strasser File Type: epub Never Done is the first history of American housework. Beginning with a description of household chores of the nineteenth century--cooking at fireplaces and on cast-iron stoves, laundry done with wash boilers and flatirons, endless water hauling and fire tending--Susan Strasser demonstrates how industrialization transformed the nature of womens work. Lightening some tasks and eliminating the need for others, new commercial processes inexorably altered womens daily lives and relationships--with each other and with the people they served.In this lively and authoritative book, Strasser weaves together the history of material advances and discussions of domestic service, womens separate sphere and the impact of advertising, home economics and womens entry into the workforce.Hailed as pathbreaking when originally published, Never Done remains an eye-opening examination of daily life in the American past.

Author: Barbara Bennett Woodhouse File Type: pdf Hidden in Plain Sight tells the tragic untold story of childrens rights in America. It asks why the United States today, alone among nations, rejects the most universally embraced human-rights document in history, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This book is a call to arms for America to again be a leader in human rights, and to join the rest of the civilized world in recognizing that the thirst for justice is not for adults alone. Barbara Bennett Woodhouse explores the meaning of childrens rights throughout American history, interweaving the childhood stories of iconic figures such as Benjamin Franklin with those of children less known but no less courageous, like the heroic youngsters who marched for civil rights. How did America become a place where twelve-year-old Lionel Tate could be sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 1999 death of a young playmate? In answering questions like this, Woodhouse challenges those who misguidedly believe that Americas children already have more rights than they need, or that childrens rights pose a threat to parental autonomy or family values. She reveals why fundamental human rights and principles of dignity, equality, privacy, protection, and voice are essential to a childs journey into adulthood, and why understanding rights for children leads to a better understanding of human rights for all. Compassionate, wise, and deeply moving, Hidden in Plain Sight will force an examination of our national resistance--and moral responsibility--to recognize childrens rights. **Review With this thoroughly annotated, well-written book, Woodhouse performs an admirable job in helping readers to understand the complicated and ambiguous issue of childrens rights in the US. Documenting some of the most egregious examples of the abuse and neglect of children with stories both personal and universal, she leads readers down the historical trail of legislative and judicial decisions made on childrens behalf, and suggests others ripe for the making. (J. C. Altman Choice ) This book is timely. Hidden in Plain Sight The Tragedy of Childrens Rights . . . will serve as a guide for all professions involved with children. The author has provided a discussion of the elemental rights of children, using historical narratives to illustrate the presence and lack of rights afforded them. . . . It is an important book and hopefully will result in definitive guidelines that will include needs-based and capacity-based standards that the legal, economic, and psychosocial professions can apply in determining the best interests of children. (Viola Mecke PsychCRITIQUES ) This is a substantive book from an academic perspective while maintaining a very readable dialogue. And for absolute certainty, wherever you stand or thought you stood on the issue of childrens rights, once you have read this book, you will never look at a childrens story the same again. (Elizabeth Falter Nursing Administration Quarterly ) [Woodhouse] provides a narrative balanced with historical examples, including Anne Frank and the children of Dred Scott, as well as contemporary examples, like children of illegal immigrants, to explain the need for a defined structure of childrens rights in the United States. Recognizing the ways that America has failed its children, Woodhouse advocates for a much-needed perspective and commitment when it comes to thinking about how we treat our countrys most vulnerable youth. . . . As a founder and director of the Center on Children and Families at the University of Florida and the Chair in Family Law at the University of Florida Levin, Woodhouse is uniquely situated to write about advocating for childrens rights. (Erika Asgiersson Campus Progress.com ) From the Inside Flap This moving and highly readable book reflects Woodhouses long career as a distinguished family-law scholar and her deep reflection on the position of children in law and policy. She brings us riveting stories about famous people who, as children, have made significant contributions in areas such as gender equality and civil rights. Woodhouse presents us with the original and compelling argument that children should also have rights, not because they are potential adults, but because of the agency, courage, and vision they can and do exercise as children.--Martha Albertson Fineman, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law, Emory University Woodhouses superb, nuanced volume demonstrates the importance of treating children with dignity, shows the connection between childrens needs and rights, and conveys how a developmentally based human rights framework can shape the balance between dependency and autonomy on the journey from childhood to adulthood.--Robert G. Schwartz, executive director of the Juvenile Law Center This is a wonderful book that essentially teaches us, through the eyes of a child, what it means to be an American--or at least what it should mean. Through profound and beautifully told stories of the experiences of youth, Professor Woodhouse provides new insight and a new conversation about the misunderstood and improperly politicized concept of childrens rights.--Marvin Ventrell, president and CEO of the National Association of Counsel for Children An intensely personal book, written with passion and conviction. Woodhouse does a highly effective job of conveying the importance of attending to childrens voices and agency. This book is likely to attract public attention and spur public debate.--Steven Mintz, author of Hucks Raft A History of American Childhood Woodhouse is a wise person of experience whose voice is an important one, because of her good sense, her compassion, and her well-earned reputation in the field. She is also an excellent writer who brings the law alive through her stories, and talks about important legal issues in language that all can understand.--Elizabeth Bartholet, author of Nobodys Children and Family Bonds

Author: Louise Barnett File Type: epub The shocking story behind the U.S. Armys longest court-martial-full of sex, intrigue, and betrayal. In April 1879, on a remote military base in west Texas, a decorated army officer of dubious moral reputation faced a court-martial. The trial involved shocking issues-of sex and seduction, incest and abduction. The highest figures in the United States Army got involved, and General William Tecumseh Sherman himself made it his personal mission to see that Captain Andrew Geddes was punished for his alleged crime. But just what had Geddes done? He had spoken out about an unspeakable act-he had accused a fellow officer, Louis Orleman, of incest with his teenage daughter, Lillie. The army quickly charged not Orleman but Geddes with conduct unbecoming a gentleman, for his accusation had come about only because Orleman was at the same time preparing to charge that Geddes himself had attempted the seduction and abduction of the same young lady. Which man was the villain and which the savior? Louise Barnetts compelling examination of the Geddes drama is at once a suspenseful narrative of a very important trial and a study of prevailing attitudes toward sexuality, parental discipline, the army, and the appropriate division between public and private life. It will enrich any readers understanding of the tumultuous post-Civil War period, when the United States was striving to define its moral codes anew. **From Publishers Weekly How do you accuse someone of an unspeakable sin? In post-Civil War America, you did not, if you were smart, for speaking of an unspeakable sin was unpardonable. In 1879, in west Texas, Captain Andrew Geddes accused a fellow officer, Louis Orleman, of having incestuous relations with his (Orlemans) daughter. Orleman countercharged that Geddes had seduced his daughter and planned to abduct her, and that the incest charge was merely an attempt to deflect responsibility from his own devious actions. The result was a court-martial of Geddes no person in a position of authority seriously considered the possibility that Orleman could be guilty of incest, for Americans of the time, according to Barnett, preferred to believe--regardless of evidence--that it [incest] simply did not occur.... Barnett, a professor of English at Rutgers, carefully chronicles the trial. Her thesis is that while Geddes was no saint, his trial was a mockery of justice and the unprosecuted charges against Orleman probably contained more truth than those pressed against Geddes. A guilty verdict was set aside by the armys highest judicial officer, the judge advocate general, but the continued hostility toward Geddes within the army led to his ultimate dismissal. The greatest strength of this volume is the way events are placed within historical and cultural context. A real sense of army life on the frontier and how the larger values of society shaped the proceedings are skillfully woven into the narrative. Through a relatively unknown incident, Barnett presents a morality play showcasing late-19th-century social values that have evolved but are still in effect. 24 b&w photos not seen by PW. (Feb.) 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Barnett (English, Rutgers Touched by Fire) examines the armys court-martial of Captain Andrew Geddes and contemporary novels such as Infelice to illuminate late 19th-century American thought on incest. Her book stages the conflict that sent Geddes to trial he had accused fellow officer Louis Orleman of incest with his teenage daughter, Lillie but Orleman accused Geddes of attempting to seduce and abduct Lillie. Barnett argues that the army court-martialed Geddes largely because public scrutiny of incest uncomfortably forced Americans to question their views of family, sexuality, and gender roles. She also places the trial in the context of life on a western Texas military fort staffed mainly by black soldiers surrounded by white civilians, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans. This is an absorbing, well-documented book, although more discussion of 19th-century laws and attitudes about incest might have enriched it. Recommended for public and academic libraries with military, gender, or American West history collections. -Charles L. Lumpkins, Pennsylvania State Univ., State College 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.