(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best books about judaism

I've got some suggestions!

One of my favorite books is The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet's Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India by Rodger Kamenetz. The book chronicles a journey by the first Jewish delegation to meet with the Dalai Lama. The rabbis involved come from different backgrounds. Some are more mystical than others, but each have important things to say. As a bonus, it's a thrilling adventure and you get to learn a little bit about Tibetan Buddhism. Also, Kamenetz is a beautiful writer.

Now, you mentioned "mysticism." So mysticism in Judaism often defaults to Kabbalah. Many Jews and Jewish denominations do not believe in Kabbalah. So keep that in mind. But of course, there are Jews who do believe in it. So certainly it should be discussed. Anyway, there's a lot of misinformation about Kabbalah out there, much of which spread by the Kabbalah Centre. Just as "Yoga" means something different to a Hindu and an American, so too does "Kabbalah" mean something different in Judaism than to an American. New-Age movements are inspired by ancient traditions, but it's best not to confuse them with the ancient traditions.

Anyway, much of Kabbalah derives from the Zohar. Daniel C. Matt is a wonderful scholar, and has a book with selections of the Zohar translated called Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment. He also has a book called The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism which presents translated primary sources to explain many concepts in Kabbalah. It's a pretty book, and a fun read. Also, here is a video of Daniel C. Matt speaking, just to give you a taste of who he is.

Daniel C. Matt's Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment has a forward by Rabbi Arthur Green. Green is a leader in Reconstructionist Judaism and Neo-Hasidism, and a scholar of Jewish mysticism. He has a book called Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Tradition which outlines a liberal and panentheistic Judaism deriving from Hasidic Kabbalah. Green is a theologian while Matt is a scholar, so Green is presenting a cohesive spiritual view while Matt is simply presenting documents. Green's book is pretty short. I think some of his ideas are nice, but some of them didn't do anything for me. Maybe it's the kind of thing you'd like to check out.

Green's book is based on Hasidism which is a mystical Jewish movement which is derived from Lurianic Kabbalah. I have a few books on my reading list for Hasidism waiting to be read. Of what I've read, I greatly enjoyed Ellie Wiesel's Souls on Fire: Portraits and Legends of the Hasidic Masters. Wiesel's book is a collection of tales and descriptions of the different Hasidic leaders. Stories and the character of different leaders have been very important in Hasidism, so this is a good book to give you a feel of Hasidism. Many of the tales invoke a sense of ecstasy, love, and awe. There's also Martin Buber's Tales of the Hasidim, but I found it a little drier than Wiesel's book.

The Chabad is a well known Hasidic organization. Their website offers a lot of information on regular Jewish concepts, but they also have articles on a whole range of mysticism. Further, the Chabad also has a digital library with many books relevant to their Hasidic philosophy. Their website has a lot to offer, but I have some qualms about the Chabad and am wary to be overly reliant on them. Still, they're certainly a resource you should be aware of.

As /u/juden-shikker points out, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan is a great resource on meditation, Kabbalah, and mysticism. Further, Gershom Scholem is considered the father of academic study of Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism. Scholem has numerous books on a range of mystical topics in Judaism. Moshe Idel was a student of Scholem and in some ways a successor to him. Idel has published many works. Significantly, he has written on Abraham Abulafia and Prophetic Kabbalah (as opposed to Theosophical Kabbalah which is what most people saying, "Kabbalah," refer to). These authors would all serve as great resources for you.

If you're interested in more earth-based spirituality and feminist themes, Rabbi Jill Hammer has a website called Tel Shemesh devoted to these themes. She's also written a beautifully poetic book called The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons. For each day of the Jewish Year she quotes a verse from the Tanakh and a related quote from Midrash or Talmud. She then writes about the importance of that day in the Jewish Year or discusses a seasonally appropriate Jewish legend. It's interesting and beautifully written, however sometimes you have to take what she writes with a grain of salt. I also disagree with some of her sources. Still, though, she's a beautiful writer with something a little different to offer.

And finally there's Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Jewish Renewal. Gosh, what can one even say about Rabbi Zalman and Jewish Renewal? Some love them, some hate them. For some they're purely a phenomenon of one generation which is on its way out. Who knows? Maybe some of his works and the Jewish Renewal organization will be of some value to you. Also, Rabbi Zalman is one of the rabbis who traveled to meet the Dalai Lama in the first book I mentioned.

For the past few months I've been doing a lot of study on Jewish mysticism. So that's why I'm so ready and willing to throw books at you. I have other books as well, but the ones I've listed here give a wide variety of different views in Jewish mysticism and spirituality. Plus, I found all these ones to be pretty fun reads. Hope this could help!

>I wouldn't have thought the Sufism of Rabbeinu Avraham Ben HaRambam would be a neat fit, but I haven't really studied his works at all

I think if you read the More Nevukhim with Hamadpiq le-Ovdei Hashem (The Guide to Serving God, by R. Abraham ben Harambam), there is a clear picture about the purpose of the mitzvoth, which is perfecting the self and society, and to encounter the divine in this world (i.e. "nevoua"). That ties in with both Shaddal's view that compassion is the divine trait the Torah means to instill and Benamozegh's universality in what he calls "Hebraism." I'm sure people would disagree with my take away.

>Benamozegh I've heard before but don't really know anything about

Israel and Humanity is the work that encapsulates his worldview.

>Sabato Morais not at all

He was the minister of Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia, one of the founders of JTS (at the time, an Orthodox institution), the only Orthodox rabbi to support Abolition, and a major proponent of Sephardic religious Humanism. He was also Livornese, like Benamozegh.

>Shadal I feel I know something about, but perhaps not very much.

I suggest Compassionate Judaism, which is a study of Shaddal's thought.

>Lol, that's a fun mix of cultures, I like the idea of humans beating the boxes and labels. African ancestry, S&P minhagim but Teimani nusach (and it seems you draw from the rest of the spectrum of 'Sephardim' too) and now you're culturally yekke and a fan of Hirsch? If anyone still thinks they can put you in a simple box... (Aside from Jewish, which perhaps includes all these for each person.) Hope this isn't offensive in any way.

The Portiguese and Yemenite have to do with the history of Judaism in West Africa and the diaspora. I've spent a lot of time studying both African-American religious use of Judaism and historically documented communities.

The German thing is just due to my approach to services (mainly Shabbat and Yom Tov): begin on time, comport yourself with dignity, for the love of all that's holy, don't rush through prayers; I enjoy the ceremony of it all. And of course, TIDE. The Portuguese rite, like the German, is formal, even the hazzanut leans toward Baroque, Classical, and Romantic. Both Portuguese and German rites are very western, and when if you compare them to their respective eastern counterparts, I think you'd see why the Germans are the Portuguese Ashkenazim and the Portuguese the German Sephardim.

And no, I'm not offended at all.

I was the "Jewish Mom" of my college friends, so hosted seders every years for my Jewish friends, and we invited some non-Jewish friends who were interested in coming, too.

Here's what I did: Find a grocery store near you that has the Maxwell House Haggadah. It's pretty basic, all the prayers are transliterated, so everyone can read along, and it has all the fun things that your Jewish friends, practicing or not, will probably remember from when they were kids. I'm pretty sure they are free, but if not, you can get them online for $2 per book. Go through the Haggadah first, if you're leading the seder, and decide which portions you'll do and which portions you'll leave out, this will make things run more smoothly. If you're looking for something with a bit more depth, but still approachable, I'd also recommend The New American Haggadah. It's got commentary from 4 different authors who all approach Judaism from different angles, so there's something in it for (almost) everyone.

You can find seder plates pretty cheap, but if you don't have one/can't afford one/don't want to buy one, no problem. My first year hosting, I used a normal dinner plate with a bunch of ramekins arranged around it. You can also get a bone for the seder plate pretty cheap or free from the butcher section of your grocery store.

As far as food goes, I'm not much help, but I will say there's no shame in making the dinner part of things potluck-style. Assign people certain dishes to make or bring. Cooking for 10 people when you're not used to it can be expensive and difficult and there's no reason to carry all of that yourself.

Finally, enjoy yourself. It sounds like the group attending the seder will not be very familiar with anything that goes on. Follow the ritual of the seder, use the Haggadah, tell the story, but don't make it into a serious, formal affair. Actually choose your youngest friend to ask the 4 questions usually assigned to the youngest child. We used to have our non-Jewish friends search for the Affikomen, but you can hide it yourself and have everyone go search for it.

I'd be happy to answer any more specific questions you may have. Like I said, I hosted on a college budget, so you can do it, too!

Raziel is probably most famous for the book he gave to Adam. There are many versions of the story, including one where angels steal the book back from Adam out of jealousy. It supposedly passed through the hands of Enoch, Noah, and Solomon, inspiring the Book of Enoch, teaching Noah how to build the Ark, and granting Solomon great knowledge and power in magic respectively. Source

The origin of this story is pretty interesting: "The myth of the Book of Raziel grows out of a midrash attempting to explain the verse, This is the book of the generations of Adam (Gen. 5:1)." Source, also a good read

Raziel is mentioned in Targum Ecclesiastes 10:20 - "Do not speak evil of the king in thy conscience, nor in the secret of thy heart, nor in the most hidden place in thy house, curse not a wise man; for Raziel calls daily from heaven upon Mount Horeb, and his voice goes through the whole world; and Elijah, the great priest, goes, flying through the air like a winged eagle, and publishes the words which are spoken in secret by all the inhabitants of the earth." The Targumim are pretty old - they date back to the 1st to 7th centuries. This page offers an interesting theory about Raziel's early role in Jewish mysticism - not as the keeper of secrets but rather the revealer.

According to Maimonides (1135-1204) in his Mishneh Torah, Raziel is the chief of the order of Erelim, also the herald of God and preceptor of Adam.

Now, there is a 13th century medieval grimoire known as "Sefer Raziel HaMalakh". The true author is unknown, but it's commonly attributed to Eleazer of Worms or Isaac the Blind, medieval writers of the time. It draws heavily on Sefer Yetzirah and Sefer Ha-Razim, the former being the oldest and probably the most important Qabalistic text.

As for the Sefer Raziel itself, you can read it online here. Steve Savedow's translation is unfortunately not great, the amazon reviews sort of speak for themselves, but it's better than nothing. You may find something interesting there.

tl;dr Raziel is a very old and important angel, considering he derives from Genesis 5:1. If you are trying to connect to angels in a Qabalistic context, I'd highly recommend starting with the books they originated from, like Sefer Raziel and its predecessors. Hope this helps.

So you're legally Jewish. Welcome to the tribe.


Shabbos is still on so you're going to get more answers in a short while. Don't feel weird, a few of us roam the chats on Shabbos.


>I am familiar with the Tanakh, since I read the Old Testament as a Christian.

So the Old Testament of the Christian bible is an entirely different beast from the Tanakh.

Some of the translations are corrupted in the Christian version and they are only using half of the actual document.

The Torah is comprised of two documents. The first half is the Written Torah which are the stories that most people are familiar with. The second half is the Oral Torah. This encompasses all of the Rabbinical commentaries and interpretations and guidelines which establish Jewish philosophy and practice.

The Christians are using half of a document so you actually have a lot of stuff you look into. You'll be fine though, it's reading and study and discussion with Jewish leaders. Nothing you can't handle.

Sefaria.org is a great online resource
-

It contains a vast amount of Jewish religious texts which you can access online. It's great if you can't get your hands on a physical book to study.

I'm going to suggest a shortlist of books and some online materials which I think will really help you out in establishing a foundation of Jewish knowledge. I used this myself when I got into Judaism in college. They are really helpful.

1. Essential Judaism: Updated Edition: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs & Rituals - This is a great book for establishing basic knowledge of Jews ideas and concepts and creating a foundation to build off of.
   
   
2. Living Judaism: The Complete Guide to Jewish Belief, Tradition, and Practice - This book is within the same theme as the first with a few different bits of information for study. Both are great options to read and build yourself up with. I own both, myself.
   
   
3. Hidabroot TV (YouTube Channel) is a Jewish online video resource for studying Jewish concepts and philosophies. These are great if you have 10 or 15 minutes to kill and want to use it to study a Jewish idea. They have great topics from respected and knowledgable Rabbis and leaders.
   
   This is a great way to just "wet your feet in the Mikvah" so to speak. It's all easily digestible and accessible information which you can access on your own at your own schedule.
   
   I would do the basic research yourself and allow this to buildup and digest for a month or so before you finally decide to visit the synagogue. The Rabbis can help you in correctly executing Jewish practice and taking on more advanced levels of knowledge.
   
   You shouldn't do that until you feel comfortable though. There's no need to rush it unless you feel totally ready and prepared. They're cool people and they'll be extremely pleased to see someone took an interest in their history.
   
   Also remember something
   -
   
   There are going to be a lot of people who try and drag you down their specific path of Judaism. Some of these will be Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or something in-between.
   
   You're part of this regardless of your observance level. Observance is important but it doesn't dictate your Jewish status. Once you're born of a Jewish mother, you're 100% Jewish regardless. No one can argue otherwise.
   
   I don't want you to allow someone else to dictate your Jewish experience. There are a lot of different Jews and they all have their own ideas and philosophies about proper observance. Do not allow anyone to drag you down a path you are uncomfortable with.
   
   I run Orthodox/Conservadox, myself, but you may not be Orthodox. You define your Jewish experience. No one else gets to do that beyond sharing their opinion with you.
   
   Blessings and enjoy the ride. It's a cool thing to be a part of.

>I think Gordimer has been pretty on point throughout these back and forths...

Others have taken him to task for various incidents of hypocritical dishonesty and misrepresentation of the sources and quotes, but Cross-Currents's goal is to present a very right wing viewpoint for a right wing audience (preaching to the choir to make the choir feel better about itself), not honest discourse.

>both this and maharat.... It is making me nuts to see the face of modern orthodoxy attempt to maintain such weak and secular based positions.

YCT is not actually Modern Orthodoxy. They have labeled themselves Open Orthodoxy and broken away from mainstream Modern Orthodoxy, but for our purposes let's consider it "left wing" Modern Orthodoxy while YU is the "right wing" of Modern Orthodoxy. I'm not such a fan of YCT overall in a number of things, but there are ways to defend much of what they do/believe.

>one is that it's ideal, superior to chareidi judaism for those who can handle it...

This is a considerable misunderstanding. I recommend reading Rabbi Lamm's Torah Umadda if you want to get a sense of where Modern Orthodoxy is really coming from.

>That it's for you if your character is strong enough...

This is true of any movement really. I can say the same for Reform and I can say the same for Lakewood guys. Anyone who thinks about the movement they belong to and doesn't just float around the community because that's what they're used to.

>The other is that it's for people who are inclined to be religious, but do not have the devotion to do it 'all the way' as the chareidim do. That they are less devoted and conflicted....

Doesn't sound like you've met the devoted of Modern Orthodoxy. They're quite devoted, religious and spiritual, but there is a greater openness to modernity and secular culture. That doesn't mean that it is held above Torah, but the belief in a synthesis is part of the movement.

The other side of things of course is that Modern Orthodoxy embraces the people who aren't observant in a way that more right wing movements can't and won't (with the exception of Chabad) so they stick around rather than disappearing or being hidden. In more right wing expressions there is simply no place for such people, so they fall off the map, rather than remain a part of the community.

>it seems like their agenda is set from the talking points of secular (and in most cases atheist) academia,

The fact that many scientists are atheist has very little relevance beyond ad hominem to discuss what their findings are worth and how they impact our views regarding religion.

>focusing primarily and feminist issues...

A movement where women play a more prominent role (for a host of reasons beyond feminism) will naturally have more of an interest in women's issues. The fact that this is presented as a negative alongside atheism and heresy is part of the problem.

>with some heresy tossed in...

Please point out anything inherently heretical in Modern Orthodoxy and what basis you have to call it such. There are many things that are interpreted as heretical by more right wing movements, but the fact is that their ideas of what constitute heresy are really just anything that is outside their own modern viewpoint, even if it comes from Torah itself.

You should read the Torah, but it won't quite teach you how to pray----though a lot of our prayers come from there as well as from Psalms and other books in the Bible. :)

There's a few things you could do. You could pick a daily prayer from a siddur and focus just on making that one prayer part of your practice. For ex. the bed-time Shema.

It might take time for you to "feel" it. It takes time. Prayer is ultimately a meditative practice. Give yourself a few quiet moments to just concentrate on the text you're going to read. Try to pay attention for those couple minutes, on the words, on your body, your thoughts and intent.

You should probably check out the local community and stop by for Shabbat. Communal settings definitely add to the prayer experience. Everyone will suggest you visit a Chabad at some point. I suppose I won't be the exception. They are experts at doing outreach and if they do anything right it's modeling a joyful traditional experience. Of course, Chabad will be very different than what you're used to------but don't get scared they won't judge you or try to brainwash you.

Other options: You could check out the various pages on prayer from the movements. (e.g. Reform Judaism's website) My personal favorite, though it may be a bit conservative for your taste is the independent NY based Mechon Hadar.

Note: On Jewish prayerbooks, they differ a bit depending on the movement. You can probably read articles on this. As for what to use at home. You could see if a congregation will lend you a siddur. You could buy one too. Here's links to old versions of both the Reform & Conservative movements' siddurim.

• Reform: Gates of Prayer
  
  
• Conservative: Sim Shalom
  
  

Hey! I've been reading a bit about Rebbe Nachman. What is the general opinion on him? (sorry if this is ignorant)

Also, I want to pick up some books by him, they look really interesting!

https://www.amazon.com/Outpouring-Soul-Rabbi-Nachmans-Meditation/dp/0930213149

https://www.amazon.com/LIKUTEY-MOHARAN-Rebbe-Nachman-Breslov/dp/0930213920

Has anyone read either of these? (For context I'm a Modern Orthodox 19 yr old slowly becoming more observant again and I've been buying a decent amount of books, also feel free to recommend anything!) Thanks!!!

Edit: I absolutely love the fact that this subreddit exists. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to reply!

This book might be helpful, especially if you aren't ready to discuss this with your rabbi yet.

It also depends on your family's attitude towards your being observant. I have heard many unfortunate, negative stories, and am grateful that my siblings are also observant, and my parents accepted our respective decisions (though they don't always agree with them). That's not to say that there aren't differences in our (my siblings and my) approaches to observance; there's always a spectrum, and sometimes that makes it even more difficult when one says something is not ok and the other says it is fine and that the first sibling is holding by a chumra.

All families have challenges. It's great that you want to be able to hold your values while not tossing away your family. However, unless you know your rabbi to be harsh/incredibly strict, most (many?) have dealt with these types of situations and can give you personal guidance in, hopefully, a compassionate manner. Good luck.

Have you read Jewish Literacy? Also, while this is written by an Orthodox Rabbi, Rabbi Aryeh Moshen's Gerus Guide may be helpful. This is my God is a popular suggestion. Here's a reading list suggested by Orthodox courts. Given your interest in Conservative Judaism, you may find Rabbinic Authority interesting, although it's a little advanced. I found Maimonides' introduction to the Talmud to be a great intro to the idea of the Oral Law.

Also, check out /r/Giyur if you need help/support.

I'm not sure. I guess the first step would be basic Jewish thought (theology, ethics, and basic principles), so I would recommend the same basic books I would recommend most Jewish adult beginning students:

• The Aryeh Kaplan Anthology, vol. 1 (volume 2 gets into material that is specifically Jewish practice)
  
  
• With Perfect Faith by J. David Bleich
  
  
• A Maimonides Reader by Isadore Twersky
  
  
• The Nineteen Letters by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.
  
  
• Sayings of the Fathers by Joseph H. Hertz (a translation of the Talmudic tractate Avos, which deals with ethics and thought, with a basic commentary).
  
  I would also recommend a good basic, one volume translation and commentary on the Torah (i.e. the five books of Moses). My personal recommendation for you would be the the Hertz Pentateuch. However the the Artscroll Stone Chumash, and the Hirsch Pentateuch are also very good.
  
  These ought to get you off to a solid start.

I think you're getting ahead of yourself if you're diving into Gemara - especially if your Hebrew is poor. I would start with something more basic, Chumash with Rashi's commentary is considered pretty basic and essential, but not in a derogatory way. If you're looking to buy sefarim I would recommend Metsuach's Chumah with Rashi :http://www.amazon.com/Metsudah-Translation-Bereishis-Leviticus-Deuteronomy/dp/1931681856 <- this is a smaller size, there's a full size edition somewhere, try eichlers.com (not enough time for me to search for it now)

EDIT: Another thing that comes to mind, not text study, but even though I've been baal teshuva for 4 or 5 years I'm in the process of reading Teshuvah: A Guide for the Newly Observant Jew by Adin Steinsaltz, a lot of it I wish I had read earlier, I definitely recommend it!

I'd recommend R' Yosef Zvi Rimon's Haggadah and not just because I edited it.

He's a brilliant Rav, and undoubtedly will be in the talks for Chief Rabbi one day. Great insights, discussion points, games to play with the kids, etc.

Your intuition is correct. The purple, blue & yellow chakras are thought to be better represented as dualistic energies under this system, that's why they appear between two nodes. As for the origination of this stuff, I'd say the jury's still out on that one. Everyone claims something different... there's reason to think it originates in Egypt, but when you get into how it interfaces with Tarot and pathworking, I'm inclined to think it has a lot of influence from the native religions of the British Isles & surrounding European cultures. If you are interested in doing a little reading, I'd strongly suggest this book. It's pretty down-to-earth as far as this stuff goes.

Thank you for getting the joke.

I would not really advise to solely look at Enochian Text for this, you might want to start looking at
A Dictionary of Angels for some good baseline info
and the Sepher Rezial Hemelach

Fifth World Books - 419 E. 2100 South, SLC, UT. Ph.(801)486-6437 Will often know where to point you as well. Rosenblum's World of Judaica on Devon St. In Chicago can direct you as well as get you some very hard to find reference books.

Hope those can give you some more diverse and accurate sources of information.

EDIT: Also of course the Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation and The Magician's Companion

As others have mentioned, there was of course the Korban Pesach (with matzot and marror), which was very different from the modern seder.
However, unlike other holidays, whose sacrifices were centralized, national, Temple rituals, Passover had an individual sacrifice -- every family was required to bring its own Paschal lamb. Plus there are the verses about children asking about the holiday and discussing the miraculous redemption. So it's fair to say that there was some sort of home celebration, even in Temple times.

I'm currently reading The Origins of the Seder by Baruch Bokser. It's very academic and a lot of it is over my head, but the general topic is how the Rabbis designed the "modern" Passover practice to give a sense of continuity with Temple practice, emphasizing non-sacrificial aspects of the holiday. Since Passover had these biblically mandated, individual rituals, it was particularly useful for the Rabbis' goal of providing that continuity.

/u/casabolg, generally the outlook toward other religions in Kabbala is the same as it is in most of Judaism. However, there is also a strain of Kabbalistic thought on this question, unique to it as a Jewish genre which is distinctly universalistic in its approach to other religions. If you're interested in it: check out the work of R. Elie Benamozegh, specifically his Israel and Humanity. In it, he puts forward an understanding of certain Kabbalistic ideas that leads to seeing all religions as having shared truths and that all are manifesting the same underlying reality in different ways.

In contemporary Jewish thought, R. Adin Steinsaltz has picked up on a lot of R. Benamozegh's ideas and integrated them into his own theological discussions, such as The Thirteen Petalled Rose

I have not read rambams sons book, I will check it out. When I googled it one of the top posts was an old reddit post where you posted a link, thanks. From what I saw though some say the apple fell far from the tree.

A lot of why I see rambam as conceiving this way is from his introduction to commentary on mishnah avos which I mentioned above, if you haven't read it I definitely recommend. I have searched for an English version online but have never found, had to order from amazon.

And I think the Rav reads this conception into rambam and is the foundation for a lot of his ideas.

I'll also recommend this book if you're interested in the Rav on Rambam

Maimonides – Between Philosophy and Halakhah: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s Lectures on the Guide of the Perplexed https://www.amazon.com/dp/965524203X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ZLE6BbHBZ9PEM

Much better specific question. :) Tarot and Kabbalah can each stand alone without the other. They also can be potent tools for deepening understanding of each other. The major arcana are said to exemplify the paths between the sephiroth on the tree of life. Understanding how the sephiroth on each end of a path relate can shed light on the cards, and vice versa. It's kinda like a two way street. That said, the scale between the two is like a bike and a car. Both can take you places. Kabbalah can go 'further' faster, but is much more complex and takes more fuel (will) to get there. Neither is 'better'. Just different.

A good intro level book on Kabbalah is ["Qabalah: A Magical Primer"] (http://amzn.com/1578632110).

Also, ["The Tarot And The Tree Of Life"] (http://amzn.com/1161499156).

I'm with you. I used to go camping all the time as a kid, but I've never tried shabbos camping since I've been frum.

I know you build your own eruv, since it's certainly not a rishus harabbim. I have a rough idea of how this works, but I need to read up more.

That's pretty standard when tent camping. I put my tent up first thing when I get there and taking it down is the last thing before I leave.

I'm mostly uncertain how to approach the cooking, especially if one wants to make sure they have hot food shabbos day.

Here's a book I've been meaning to pick up on the subject.

Not an uncommon story. The occult is so alluring because it hints at truth. I had a similar experience to find divinity. While I did play DnD a little bit, that's not what got me. I found a primer on magick and Qabbalah (not kabbalah, the real stuff. we pronounced it quaballah to differentiate.) Actually, after a little googling I found it. I had read Daniel C. Matt's Essential Kabbalah already, but my knowledge of Judaism was way too lacking at that point to get it. I dived head first into the occult and am still conversant in it. I read Aleister Crowley, collected Tarot cards, astral projection, some scary meditations, and even learned to read and cast runes. I have an Encyclopedia on all things Golden Dawn. I could still sit down and draw up a chart that had all the elements, planets, signs, and their associations from memory. The more I read, the more I critiqued. Everything in Western Occult can be boiled down the the tree of life. I found that you could cut through 5 layers of symbology as just symbols of symbols and, how I explained it, just getting lost and going in circles of symbols. If you cut through all the shit, there's a very very simple base. The more I studied the tree of life, the more I realized that the reasons for all those extra layers of symbols is to avoid having to deal directly with the tree of life, and I realized that I wasn't prepared at all to figure it out. I wasn't conversant enough in Judaism to understand the symbology. So I started studying Judaism and unlearning everything I learned in the Occult. I wasn't anywhere near approaching considering being practicing. This was all just intellectual exercises. But I learned something about Judaism. The deeper you go, the closer you get to getting somewhere. There's a truth at the bottom. With the occult, you learn the other way. You start with the tree of life, and learn it by building symbols on top of symbols and the deeper you go, the further away from the truth you go. It's all just wheel spinning.

Wow, this seems like a case of IRL typosquatting: there is a much more famous New American Haggadah which OP's friend may have intended to buy instead.

I would start with Artscroll Stone edition, which someone linked to above. The Hirsch chumash also comes in an (out of print but probably still available somewhere online) translation in one volume. I love it. Here it is: https://www.amazon.com/Pentateuch-Translation-Commnentary-Haftoroth-Megilloth/dp/0910818665/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=hirsch+chumash&qid=1558623314&s=gateway&sr=8-7

Artscroll Transliterated Daily Siddur

Artscroll Sabbath & Festival Transliterated Siddur

I'm sure there are others as well.

Yes. Even as far back as Maimonides, we have statements like this: "the account of creation is not all to be taken literally,"

Edit: Also vaccines, GMOs, global warming and a whole host of other science. Also, it should be noted that a lot of times when science was rejected in favor of religion it was more about politics, ex: Galileo

http://www.rationalistjudaism.com/2016/10/ten-questions-on-evolution-and-judaism.html

http://rabbisacks.org/great-partnership/

Also see the book, which is also my flair: Torah u'Maddah (Torah & Secular Knowledge)

I went to two seforim stores and finally picked new haggadahs for this year - Shirat Miriam by Rav Rimon and Haggaddah for the Curious. They'll suit me and my in-laws' seder pretty well this year. And I want to get Gadi Pollack's Desert Diary to read with my kids between Pesach and Shavuos.

Strongly strongly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/What-You-Mean-Cant-Home/dp/080524221X

(C) 1979 Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.
>One, the very simplest, is that 6000 years ago,
HaShem created the universe with a history. There is a
certain logic to this, and one may even find a hint of it in
the Gemara. If HaShem created a tree, did the tree have
rings or not? If it had rings, then it had a history.

>This can be extrapolated to all of life. Every creature
has to have had a parent, so that we have a history going
way, way back. HaShem could have easily created the
universe to appear as if it were no more than 6000 years
old.

>The difficulty is that one could use a similar
argument to say that HaShem created the universe five
minutes ago. There is no question that an omnipotent God
certainly could have created us all with our memories, with
all the records, and with all our histories. It is very possible to say that the world was created five minuets ago. But this weakens the above argument. If it is possible that
HaShem created the world 6000 years ago, then everything
is possible.

>Of course, it is an irrefutable argument. Therefore, if
one feels comfortable with it, I would say all well and good. But I think that it has problems. It touches almost on
intellectual dishonesty and sophism. It presents us with
more problems than it answers. It seems to make all of
Judaism depend on a glib argument.

>But there is an even more serious problem. In no
place in Torah literature do we find that HaShem created
the universe so that it should appear to be billions of years old. If not for current scientific discoveries, no one would have ever made such a statement based on Torah sources
alone. Therefore, this approach is nothing more than
apologetics.

>There is another approach that I will mention in
passing. That is, that each of the “days” of creation was
really thousands of years long. This approach is hinted at
in Rabbeinu Bechayay, who mentions it only to refute it.
He says explicitly that the world was created in six days of
twelve hours each, for a total of 72 hours. Moreover, we
keep Shabbos because there were six days of creation,
where each day was just like one of our days.

>Moreover, there is no support in classic Torah
literature for saying that the days of creation were more
than 24 hours long. Besides this, there is the problem that
plant life was created before the sun, moon, and stars, and
this would not fit into any accepted scientific cosmology. I
will admit that the Zohar states that plant life was created
after the sun, moon, and stars, but this raises other
difficulties which go beyond the scope of our discussion.

More here or in Kaplan's book.

Ok, here's an idea (I'm assuming you don't have a lot of Hebrew?):

Start with Genesis, and Rashi's commentary on. There is a nice interlinear translation (Metsudah: http://www.amazon.com/Metsudah-Translation-Bereishis-Leviticus-Deuteronomy/dp/1931681856).

See where that takes you. (You can get the volumes one at a time)

Modern orthodoxy is mostly based on Tum

Torah U'madda- founded by R' Nochum Lamm read his book describing it.


You might also like Torah Im Derech Eretz- founded Rav Shampson Rafael Hirsch, I recommend his Nineteen letters.

Temurah 16a:

שלשת אלפים הלכות נשתכחו בימי אבלו של משה אמרו לו ליהושע שאל א"ל (דברים ל) לא בשמים היא אמרו לו לשמואל שאל אמר להם אלה המצות שאין הנביא רשאי לחדש דבר מעתה

Three thousand halakhoth were forgotten during the period of mourning for Moses’. They said to Joshua: ‘Ask’; he replied: It is not in heaven. They [the Israelites] said to Samuel: ‘Ask’; he replied: [Scripture says:] These are the commandments, implying [that since the promulgation of these commandments] no prophet has now the right to introduce anything new.

Whether we are to take this aggadata literally or not, the message is that while the Oral Torah does definitely communicate content, it more importantly communicates a system. Yes, the Talmud records debates over unsettled issues and eventually the law is decided in accordance with one side. This is all in accordance with the system of Oral Torah transmitted at Sinai. We don't look directly to heaven for a halakhic decision, we don't look to a Prophet who may not issue new law - rather we look to the system of Oral Torah. If you would like to have a firmer grasp of the different elements of the Oral Law, I suggest studying Maimonides introduction to his commentary on the Mishnah. You can find it available in Hebrew here, or purchase a translation.

for an excellent treatment of this topic, check out rabbi aryeh kaplan's immortality, resurrection, and the age of the universe

I'm not a big fan of the transliteration used in these siddur but they do have English, Hebrew with vowels, and transliteration - as you requested:

Siddur Transliterated Linear - Sabbath and Festivals - Seif Edition - Nusach Ashkenaz (English and Hebrew Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1578191505/

And also:
Siddur: Transliterated Linear, Weekday https://www.amazon.com/dp/1578191513/

The three best academic books on the Haggadah that I know. All three put the haggadah into it's historical context and try to show it's development based on critical textual readings and historical context.

The origins of the Seder by Baruch Bokser (JTS Press/UC Press)

The JPS Haggadah by Joseph Tabory. (JPS Press).

If you can handle the Hebrew, then The Goldschmidt Haggadah by Daniel Goldschmidt (Mosad Bialik). It was originally written in German in 1936, and this is the Hebrew translation. I do not believe it has ever been translated into English.

I highly recommend the book Camping on Shabbat by Rabbi Ben Tanny. Covers basically every topic you need to know about camping over Shabbos.

There are three books by William Grey about the Tree of Life that you might find interesting.

• The Ladder of Lights (spheres)
  
  
• The Talking Tree (22 paths) I don't know what the difference is, but my copy has 550+ pages.
  
  
• Qabalistic Concepts

Just did it two weeks ago, over Shabbat+Shavuot. The Traveling Rabbi published a short book you can get on Amazon with a lot of useful tips.

A racoon broke in to the tent and ate my Eruv Tavshilin bread, so you might want to be careful with that.

Edit: Light source - in my case it was a solar panel with string of LEDs that turns on automatically at sunset, available here.

Most Conservative shuls I've been to use Siddur Sim Shalon

In many cases it will have two options side by side for the traditional prayer and a more modern/egalitarian prayer, ie page 300a will have the traditional Amida and page 300b will include the Imahot (the founding mothers as well as the fathers).

You need to read Breslov Khosidus. Rebbe Nachman addresses your situation specifically.

• https://www.amazon.com/Outpouring-Soul-Rabbi-Nachmans-Meditation/dp/0930213149
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Restore-My-Soul-Meshivat-Nefesh/dp/1928822959

Rabbi Rimon's Shirat Miriam Haggadah.

Modern Orthodox Judaism

Maimonides – Between Philosophy and Halakhah

Documentary on Hasidic Jews - https://www.amazon.com/What-Judaism-Tevya-Heller/dp/B01LYYRLXW/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1498927976&sr=1-2&keywords=judaism

Documentary on kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibuSPtXG5dg&t=1289s

Documentary of the history of Judaism - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW9x-Z3u2Lo

English Tanakh (Holy scripture) -https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060621796/ref=crt_ewc_title_oth_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

English Talmud (Jewish law) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465082734/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I found this on Amazon. It's called "Camping on Shabbat: How to: Build an Eruv, Bake Bread, go to the Toilet, and More"

Rabbi Arthur Green is professor and director of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in Newton, MA. His book entitled Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Tradition was featured on the cover of Tikkun magazine. So if you're implying some sort of anti-semitism, you're wrong.

Rey Lead > BB8 Roll with the Punches >> Insight >>>>>>>> BB8 Heal/Rey Self Cleanse.

That’s for the first Zeta.

As for her first Seder, this Haggadah isn’t bad.

Also, I’m disappointed you edited that typo and made my wonderful joke look insane. :(