The papacy of Pius XII (1939-1958) has been a source of near-constant criticism and dispute since his death half a century ago. Central to the dispute is the alleged 'silence' of the Pope during the years of the Holocaust. By examining the often little studied pre-papal life of Eugenio Pacelli, much can be found to understand the policies, actions and statements of Pius XII during the war. When examining the Holocaust, it is imperative to place it within the contexts of Christian Judeophobia, modernity and the many intersections between the two. Powerful myths have been created about this man.Pius XII was not an antisemitic villain; nor a 'lamb without stain'. The opening of the Vatican German archives up to 1939 helped add detail and nuance to the author's writing. His methodology depended upon contextual interpretation of documents and material from many sources over the man's entire professional religious life up to 1943. This led the author to the conclusion that Pius XII did, in fact, act in a consistent manner towards the persecuted Jews of Europe, and had done so since the advent of National Socialism in the 1920s. Pacelli's behaviour during the war confirms his essential consistency, but also reveals the tragic flaw that relegated the Jews to be 'lesser victims'. His failure points to the moral crisis within many parts of the fractured Christian Commonwealth, as well as the personal culpability of Pacelli, the man and pope. 392pp.
Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd., 2008, Paperback, Book Condition: New, Jacket Condition: No d/j as Published. . . 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

ISBN: 9781877058714

Inventory #23883

Price: £ 11.50 GBP ($ 18.17 approx. - € 13.89 approx.)

This is a family celebration book, with enough material for all eight days of Hanukkah. It offers factual material about the laws and customs of Hanukkah, as well as historical perspectives on how Hanukkah is celebrated by Jewish communities around the world. Of special interest are the first person accounts and narratives describing some of the obstacles that Jews have faced when trying to celebrate Hanukkah in different lands during the last century. 253pp.
Pitspopany Press, 2000, Cloth/Laminated Boards, Book Condition: As New, Jacket Condition: As New. . Heavy Item Postage Quote. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.

ISBN: 1930143257

Inventory #7952

Price: £ 12.50 GBP ($ 19.75 approx. - € 15.10 approx.)

The challenge of this book has been to rethink prevailing ideas about the social map of Jewish society during the rabbinic period in Israel. New insights were made possible by using anthropological theories and tools. The book explores the rich and complex relationships among the sages, priests, and laymen who competed in social, cultural, and political arenas for hegemony. It demonstrates that this struggle was not a simple case of displacement of the priestly elite by a new scholarly elite.In the process of constituting a counter-hegemony of the sages, there was a complex push-pull process: attraction-rejection, imitation-denial, and co-operation-confrontation. They undermined the old order by using the old hegemonic priestly discourse. Whereas the sages proposed a new order based on intellectual achievement, they nevertheless created on top of the earlier hegemonic order a new order of group nepotism, endogamy, ritual purity, and secret knowledge and education provided only to the proper social classes. Ben-Zion concludes that even in the process of resistance and disengagement from the priestly hegemony, the sages could not free themselves from the bondage of the priestly discourse and praxis. 349pp.
Academic Studies Press, 2009, Cloth, Book Condition: As New, Jacket Condition: As New. First Edition. . 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

ISBN: 9781934843147

Inventory #21484

Price: £ 35.00 GBP ($ 55.30 approx. - € 42.28 approx.)

Verbal attacks against Israel for human rights violations have turned into physical attacks against the Jewish community worldwide. How has that happened? This book attempts to explain the phenomenon. Anti-Zionists, whose primary goal is destruction of the State of Israel, use accusations of the worst forms of human rights violations against Israel to delegitimise the state. These accusations criminalise the Jewish population worldwide for actual or presumed support of the State of Israel. The contemporary international human rights system and the existence of the State of Israel are twin legacies of the Holocaust. The failure of the human rights system to prevent attacks on Israel and the Jews is an aftershock of the Holocaust.256pp.
Dundurn Group, The, 2005, Paperback, Book Condition: New, Jacket Condition: No d/j as Published. . . 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

ISBN: 1550025538

Inventory #17340

Price: £ 10.00 GBP ($ 15.80 approx. - € 12.08 approx.)

This book, a first attempt to analyse German Zionism in a global Zionist context, sheds new light on the role of German Zionism in the German-Jewish community. It traces the emergence of a small component of the Zionist movement which regardless of size played a distinctive part in both German-Jewish and Zionist history on the eve of World War II. Positioned strategically between East and West, German Zionism was open to influences from both sides. Although post-assimilationist, it was affected by the encounter with East European Jewry. The product was a unique form of Zionism that combined Western ideas with radical 'Palestinocentrism'.292pp.Slight creasing to top section front d/j.
The Magnes Press the Hebrew University, 1998, Cloth, Book Condition: As New, Jacket Condition: Very Good. Second Edition. . 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

ISBN: 0814326730

Inventory #17342

Price: £ 20.00 GBP ($ 31.60 approx. - € 24.16 approx.)

Using the Bible as primary evidence, with the finest modern scholarship as supporting evidence, Arthur Blech lucidly demonstrates that anti-Semitism is no accident of history, no tragic consequence of ignorance, or the influence of a few contemporary figures of unique evil. Blech argues that both Christianity and Judaism are responsible for anti-Semitism in claiming divine revelation as the source of their scriptures. By assuming divine authority, members of both religions felt justified in persecuting non-believers. In the case of Judaism, non-Jews were rejected as inferior to the "chosen people"; and in the case of Christianity, Jews in particular became the object of contempt because Christians believed that Jews had spurned divine revelation in the form of God's son. Blech carefully explores the foundations of both major faiths, surgically dismantling their claims to divinity. Since more than a century of scientific research shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Bible was not divinely inspired, but composed by all-too-human authors, Blech makes clear that the hatred and contempt these human authors preached have irreparably misled Christians and Jews alike. "The Causes of Anti-Semitism" shows that the curse of anti-Semitism has been kept alive by inventions and myths - artificial props to support the evil agenda of corrupt individuals throughout history. This paperback edition contains substantial new additions to the original hardcover edition of the book. 462pp.
Prometheus Books, 2006, Paperback, Book Condition: New, Jacket Condition: No d/j as Published. Revised Edition. . 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

ISBN: 1591024463

Inventory #17439

Price: £ 10.00 GBP ($ 15.80 approx. - € 12.08 approx.)

The writings of Yehezkel Kaufman (1889-1963), late Professor of Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, fall into three main categories: Bible studies, of which the four-volume "History of the Religion of Israel" is the magnum opus; socio-historical analysis of Jewry's fate and existence as a diaspora-nation community, with the two-volume "Golah ve-Nekhar (Exile and Estrangement)" being its most outstanding scholarly undertaking in this regard; finally topical articles dealing with immediate socio-political problems of Zionism and the emerging State of Israel. This book comprises three successive chapters from Yehezkel Kaufman's "Golah ve-Nekhar" which, though intrinsically related to the central topic of that work, constitute a distinct unit of its own. The basic difference between Judaism and Christianity is here defined as two forms of covenant being in conflict with each other.
The Magnes Press the Hebrew University, 1996, Cloth, Book Condition: As New, Jacket Condition: Fine. Second Edition. . 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

ISBN: 9652236942

Inventory #17343

Price: £ 14.00 GBP ($ 22.12 approx. - € 16.91 approx.)

This is the controversial story of a Jewish community founded in one of the furthermost corners of the world. Suzanne Rutland charts this community's history from its convict origins through the turmoil of the twentieth century which saw numerous waves of Jewish immigrants reach Australia's shores. Jews fleeing Nazism arrived in the thirties. They were followed by survivors of the Holocaust and then by refugees from Hungarian Communism in the fifties. More recent waves have brought Soviet and South African Jews. "Edge of the Diaspora" documents the story of this vibrant community that has integrated but maintained its Jewish identity.485pp.
Holmes & Meier Publishing, 2001, Paperback, Book Condition: New, Jacket Condition: No d/j as Published. . . 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

ISBN: 0841914249

Inventory #17645

Price: £ 12.50 GBP ($ 19.75 approx. - € 15.10 approx.)

This breakthrough children's book by Sydelle Pearl will quickly find itself a place among Jewish holiday traditions. In five original tales, each relating to an important Jewish holiday, Elijah aids those who are in need while challenging those who have lost their faith. The young prophet finds himself summoned by God to wander the earth for a three month period in order to observe the Jewish people's handling of the Torah. Read along in 'Leaves', as he rewards a poor family that has sold their most prized possession for food; in 'The Tallis', witness the poignant circumstances concerning an old, dishevelled man and a young boy who writes a prayer on his behalf. Each tale, accompanied by rich illustrations, provides young readers with a beautifully crafted introduction to Elijah, God's great messenger for the Jewish people. 63pp.
Pelican Publishing Company, Inc, 2004, Cloth, Book Condition: As New, Jacket Condition: As New. . . 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

ISBN: 1589801784

Inventory #19426

Price: £ 5.00 GBP ($ 7.90 approx. - € 6.04 approx.)

Since the Jewish Diaspora, the stereotype of the Wandering Jew has haunted the Jewish understanding of identity. In "Finding Home", author Jill Culiner has uncovered a largely forgotten corner of Jewish history. The Fusgeyers (the Yiddish word for 'foot-goers' - wayfarers) were Jews who fled persecution in Romania in the early 1900s in order to find refuge, ultimately, in the New World. One hundred years later, Culiner retraces their steps in search of remnants of this lost epic journey. Culiner is a keen observer of eastern European culture, and her acerbic wit and stunning lyrical style have created a compelling chronicle of loss and discovery. The focus on Holocaust studies can sometimes tend to obscure the fact that the roots of anti-Semitism go back long before the Second World War. Culiner's astute perceptions reveal the origins and persistence of European anti-Semitism. Her encounters with the past and the present of the Jewish presence in Europe are both chilling and illuminating.N.B.Bottom right corner front cover slightly creased.
Sumach Press, 2004, Paperback, Book Condition: As New, Jacket Condition: No d/j as Published. . . 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

ISBN: 1894549406

Inventory #17643

Price: £ 10.00 GBP ($ 15.80 approx. - € 12.08 approx.)