The book presents a broad and varied picture of Islam. It covers a wide range of topics, including faith and jurisprudence, theology and philosophy, mysticism, culture and society, from the dawn of Islam in the seventh century to contemporary times. Geographically, the book encompasses such regions as the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent, East Asia and Europe/West . The book traces lines of continuity and change in Islam throughout the ages on such complex and sensitive issues as religion and state, the concept of jihad, Islamic attitudes to religious minorities or to Western Christian culture. These issues became hotly debated in the modern era, especially from the late 18th century, when Muslim societies were forced to contend with European colonialism, political upheavals, social and economic schisms, and identity crises . There is a clear need for a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction book in Hebrew for students and readers alike so that the appearance of the book is timely. Apart from containing new materials, the book also contains many insights, and in some cases reexamines and revisits prevailing scholarly approaches.

Mesopotamian and biblical societies in antiquity were characterized by their patriarchal structure. The father was head of the family unit, and his rule extended over many areas of life. He had broad legal authority over the members of his household, including his offspring. It is therefore expected that in the ancient sources a dominant father figure would be mentioned alone or almost alone. And yet, in Mesopotamian and biblical texts, particularly legal writings, the exclusivity of the father is not always explicit. In many of the Mesopotamian and biblical writings, especially legal texts, the mother is mentioned in various contexts and in a range of realms, mainly those pertaining to her offspring. This intriguing phenomenon raised the question whether the mother in the ancient Near East and ancient Israel had legal authority in the household. The book The Legal Status of the Mother in the Ancient Near East and the Bible sheds light on the world of the ancient mothers and their status within the households and the societies in which they lived. This study demonstrates that the mother acted by virtue of the legal status she possessed in matters related to her sons and daughters’ marriages and their behavior towards her. This book is for those walking in the fields of Mesopotamian and biblical research, and for readers interested in the universal subject in question - the relations between the mother and her offspring.

All cultures, religions, and ethical or legal systems struggle with the role intention plays in evaluating actions. The Talmud compellingly elaborates on the notion of intention through the radical concept that “A sin committed for the sake of God [ averah li-shmah ] is greater than a commandment fulfilled not for the sake of God [ mi-mizvah she-lo li-shmah ].” The Babylonian Talmud attributes this concept, which challenges one of rabbinic Judaism’s most fundamental dogmas, the obligation to fulfill the commandments and avoid sin—to R. Nahman b. Isaac (RNBI), a renowned 4th century Amora. Considering the normative character of the rabbinic culture in which Halakhah (Jewish religious law) plays such a central role, this concept, seems almost like a foreign body in the Talmudic corpus. The book reveals the origins of this radical idea, its accurate meaning and use in the time this concept was formulated and the movement of this radical idea from the margins culture to mainstream - into the Babylonian Talmud, the canonic book of Rabbinic Judaism. The findings of this research provide substantial insight into our understanding of the interpretive process and of conceptual adaptation in rabbinic culture.

Restorative justice is a social Mechanism used to replace or complement the criminal, legal process. It is designed to bring together offenders and victims, to meet in a safe and respectful environment in order to discuss the crime, the pain and suffering that it entailed - and look together for ways to repair these harms. Restorative Justice Conferences operate under state supervision and control. For over twenty years, restorative justice conferences have been practiced in Israel. Changes in the Israeli Youth Criminal Law have increased the number of such offender-victim conferences in recent years . Recent reforms in adult criminal justice law are also likely to encourage greater use of restorative justice conferences in cases of crimes conducted by adult, confessing offenders. Restorative justice theory and practices have facilitated and encouraged the emergence of Restorative Discourse programs. Such developments are important as they facilitate effective discussions and decision making among the different, sometime conflicting groups in Israel. Furthermore, restorative discourse promotes understanding between these groups and local and national authorities. Restorative Discourse enables people to discuss their exigencies, their wishes and preferences not only among themselves but with government agencies and officials as well. Such discourse is helpful and effective in improving the quality of life of individuals and communities in Israel. From Wrongdoing to Righting the Wrong is the first book addressing theoretical and practical aspects of Restorative Justice and Restorative Discourse in a unique Middle East context. The different chapters in this book were written by prominent scholars, practitioners and professionals who lead restorative justice and discourse programs in Israel.

A great intellectual revolution took place in the Lithuanian Yeshivoth towards the end of the 19th century. The multitude of students who filled up the study halls, invested their time and energy to study the Talmud and its interpretations in a new study method, which focused on the legal sphere of the Talmud and advocated the development of analytical-conceptual way of thinking that facilitated more exact definitions of legal-halakhic norms and concepts in Talmudic literature. The main effort in the new method was no longer devoted to the interpretation of the textual level of the Talmudic debate, but to the understanding of the form of legal thinking which could be deduced from the Talmud, to the clarification of legal-halakhic concepts and to revealing the fundamental elements of the law. The successful combination of intensive study of Talmudic law and analytical scrutiny of legal concept turned the Lithuanian yeshivoth into "academies for Talmudic legal studies" and led to the development of "legal thinking". Rabbi Simeon Shkop (1859-1939) who was one of the most original and influential leaders of the Lithuanian yeshivoth, and a proponent of the new method. Rabbi Shkop upgraded the analytical examination of legal concepts, and in spite of the very individual nature of his method, his work is a faithful representation of the Lithuanian Yeshivoth as a whole. The first part of the book (chapters 1-2) includes a biography of Rabbi Shkop, and a historical review of the intellectual revolution that took place at the Lithuanian Yeshivoth . It also describes the exceptional characteristics of the new study method, and substantiates the claim that "legal thinking" was indeed developed in the Lithuanian Yeshivoth . The second part of the book (chapters 3-5) deals with a number of topics from the comprehensive works of Rabbi S. Shkop, and analyze them with jurisprudential instruments. The research method was based on a combination of historical and jurisprudential aspects, and the book is readily comprehensible for the educated reader without legal training or a Yeshiva background.

The book Mah Nishtannah: The Passover Night in the Sages' Discourse seeks to provide novel answers, based upon up-to-date methods of scholarly Talmud analysis, to ancient questions raised by the Seder Night, a night at the focus of Jewish culture from time immemorial. The book analyzes the focal points of this night – the Passover meal and its commandments on one hand, and the foundation of the Haggadah and the development of its design and history of its structure on the other.

This study examines the concept of United Nations peacekeeping operations and their execution in Cambodia, Former Yugoslavia and Somalia from 1988 to 1995. The research is anchored primarily in United Nations documents, which were produced following the diplomatic discussions that took place in the organization on the subject of peacekeeping in general and in the cases of Cambodia, Former Yugoslavia and Somalia in particular This research demonstrates, using the records of diplomatic discourse at the United Nations, that although there was an attempt to change the concept of peacekeeping operations, it eventually failed. The best explanation for this outcome is that international politics at the United Nations – at least as it concerns peacekeeping operations – is still conducted according to the principles of each state’s realpolitik. The states formed their stance on a case by case basis, while calculating power relations in order to advance their own national interests. Therefore their position on each topic did not necessarily match the declared position of any particular political alliance. Furthermore, many multi-functional operations were still executed in accordance with the traditional concept. The main objective of these operations was international mediation between belligerent sides in order to form sovereign governments and to deploy a 'peacekeeping force' in accordance with the traditional principles of international and local consent, impartiality and the non-use of force. Traditional objectives were preferred over new objectives such as democratization, human rights, and economic development.

The book focuses on the deviant behaviors of troubled Israeli youth, including juvenile delinquents, their accounts for their behaviors, and the steps taken by the agencies responsible for their treatment. The articles were written by experts in the various fields and academics who have an intimate familiarity with the reality of the subjects about which they write.

“For my dear grandson, David, this book in which he will not always recognize – and not incorrectly - the God of his fathers”: Levinas’ dedication encapsulates the issues he addresses in the thirteenth essays collected in De Dieu qui vient à l’idée ( Of God who comes to mind ). In contrast with a whole tradition of Jewish and Christian philosophy (Juda Halevi, Blaise Pascal), Levinas’ God is nor “The God of the philosophers”, neither “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. “God” is not an object of thought or of faith, He cannot be approached nor by rational knowledge, neither through dialogue, or religious and mystical experience. Basing himself on Husserl’s phenomenology as well as on Talmudic tradition and on the writings of Rabbi Haim Voloziner, Levinas focuses on the ethical meaning encapsulated in the word “God”. Despite his quasi absence, “God” - or the absolute transcendence signified by this word - is never indifferent to the “here below”, he is never detached from “terrestrial existence and from human society”, from the place where infinite responsibility for the other is incumbent on me. In addition to his insights on “God”, Levinas deals with issues such as politics, religion and language, the Marxist concept of ideology, death, hermeneutics, the concept of evil, the philosophy of dialogue. He addresses the thought of Husserl, Heidegger, Rosenzweig, Buber, Bergson, Kierkegaard, Marx, Ernst Bloch, and Derrida.

This study is devoted to three interrelated subjects: We seek to understand the theory of Jewish criminal punishment, we shall endeavor to describe the role of pain and suffering in punishment, and we wish to present an encyclopedic view of Jewish penology, the history of criminal punishment among the Jews throughout history. We intend to point out that there was more than one system of Jewish penology. We will elaborate upon the existence of a classical system – retributory and expatiatory – related to a self-perfecting society. Only such a society would ordain a painless penalty for death for criminals guilty of the most serious crimes with malice and forethought and a painful punishment with immediate restoration to one's community for criminals guilty of lesser crimes. Criminal penalties for the purposes of deterrence (private or public) or of social rehabilitation are minor considerations. In addition to and alongside the classical penological system, we will be detailing other systems of a more practical nature: one governed by the King's law and others emerging from rabbinical ad hoc jurisdiction and communal legislation. These systems are less governed by the classical motivations of strict retribution and religious expiation (which continue to play a role – albeit a relatively minor one); deterrence and social rehabilitation, law and order, are their dominant considerations. Moreover the varying degrees of judicial autonomy granted to the Jewish community by the non-Jewish governments resulted in variations in penal practices among the various communities themselves. A summery in English at the end of the book.

Mental health professionals are constantly expected to check their professional approach, their relationships with their patients and their personal experiences from their ethical perspectives, in order to ensure responsible treatment that take into consideration the patients’ needs, their rights and benevolence, while avoiding as much as possible any harm to their patients or any others involved. In spite of the existence of many detailed ethical codes that are meant to assist and navigate professionals in their professional behaviors in a complicated therapeutic realm, it is very often difficult to choose the right pathway. Through our understanding the complexity of ethical dilemmas in therapy, evaluation, supervision and research we relate with a strong emphasis on the standardization of the process of identification of ethical dilemmas and their resolving, as auxiliary tools in coping with them. The Seven Steps Model for the solution of ethical dilemmas we hand in this book, we developed while taking into serious account both the potentials and the weaknesses of existing similar models, and on the basis of the professional expertise, we gained while our long services as members and chairpersons of the Israel Psychologists Association Ethics committee. After a presentation of the model and its professional roots, we present fifteen examples for ethical misconducts in various fields in clinical psychology, implementing the Seven Steps Model.