Zohar

For the Jewish people, the strength and wisdom to arise victorious will have to come from where it has always come -- from the light, inspiration and power of our holy Torah.

Women's rights have come a very long way in a very short time. This is right and good and how things should be. It is also a facet of the plan for the ultimate unification of humanity that was foreseen centuries ago.

I first learned of the outstanding classic of Kabbalah, the Zohar, in a manner atypical even for this extraordinary topic. Rather than discovering it in metaphysical circles or the Jewish religious milieu, I saw it cited by a French surrealist poet.

What follows is the list of what I consider to be the most essential works (available in English) to engender or enhance Jewish literacy for the present generation.

The oral tradition that crystallized into the Talmud, the Midrashim and the Kabbalah is the only tool available to successfully decode the massive amount of legal, ethical and spiritual information embedded in the text.

It is widely supposed that Charles Darwin's theory of the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection is as correct and certified as the laws of g...

The Zohar, the central text of Jewish mysticism, teaches that we are all "children from the chamber of yearnings." I hope this year we listen not only to ourselves - to the echo chamber of our own dreams - but to others.