This book explores the life and work of Issac Orobio de Castro, a converso who returned to Judaism openly and became one of the Sephardic Jewish leaders in Western Europe in the seventeenth century. His personal fate and work embody the fate of the whole community with its problems, internal conflicts, aspirations and dreams. The study of his image brings to the surface the problematics of the Marranos who re-embraced the doctrine of their forefathers and established a model community in Amsterdam, one of the important cultural centers of the time. Orobio's way of blending in with the normative Judaism in the time of Spinoza's excommunication, his ideological and spiritual doubts, his constant arguments with those who break through the fence from within and with his Christian surroundings from outside - all represent the vitality of a particular community, which was called to the test and stood many trials at the turning point of the history of Jewish people in the modern era.

The Acts of the Apostles is the second part of Luke's masterpiece history of the life of Yeshua and the first generation of the Church and its leaders such as Paul and Peter. Besides being a book of history, however, it is also a Spirit-inspired work that contains many important lessons for the Church of today, especially for those believers seeking the Restoration of the Church with its Jewish Roots. This commentary will help the scholar or layperson seeking to navigate the colorful cultures and contexts of the ancient Mediterranean world to which the apostles spread the message of Yeshua and understand the "how" and the "why" of their methods of spreading an essentially Jewish faith to a pagan world. Shulam and LeCornu especially highlight the importance of the Diaspora Jewish context and its influence on the early Body of Messiah through comparing the beliefs and statements found in Acts to other ancient Jewish sources and ideas. As the reader journeys through the complexities and cultural contexts of the ancient world portrayed in Acts, he discovers that it still contains a wealth of parallels and lessons for our own time and culture. A deeper and richer understanding of the first followers of Yeshua the Messiah awaits those who truly investigate the Acts of the Apostles in this two volume set that will stir anyone's thirst for greater knowledge of the Bible and its Jewish context. Two volumes

This is an edition of two texts by Abū ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī (d. 412/1021), one of the most important Ṣūfī authors. Al-Sulamī combined thorough knowledge of tradition (ḥadīth) with the Ṣūfī heritage. He paved the way for the gradual acceptance of Ṣūfism into the mainstream of Islamic thought, by endeavouring in much of his work to prove that Ṣūfism and Islam were mutually compatible. The texts in this edition present two important aspects of al-Sulamī’s writings. In the Jawāmi‘ adāb al-Ṣūfiyya (“A collection of Ṣūfī rules of conduct”), al-Sulamī provides us with what is apparently the first comprehensive documentation of Ṣūfī customs and practices. Most of the Jawāmi‘ consists of Ṣūfi sayings representing the views of five generations of thinkers. The subjects dealt with cover a wide range and reflect the preoccupations of Ṣūfī society. The second work is a handbook of spiritual discipline entitled ‘Uyūb al-nafs wa-mudāwātuhā (“The defects of the soul and their remedy”). As its title suggests, the ‘Uyūb deals with one of the central motifs of Ṣūfism, the constant struggle against the nafs, or the “lower soul”. The attitudes and beliefs expressed are on the whole characteristic of the early ascetics, who regarded the conduct of the Prophet as the supreme example. In both style and content, this work occupies the middle ground between the worlds of ḥadīth, adab, and ethics. The two texts contribute not only to a better appreciation of al-Sulamī’s work, but also to our understanding of a crucial phase in the history of Ṣūfism.

Le présent numéro de Perspectives , consacré aux interférences culturelles judéo-arabes, s'est proposé de rassembler des textes ayant pour thème commun les rapports entre ces deux entités que sont le monde juif et le monde arabo-musulman. Les deux termes choisis, mosaïque et arabesque, dans leur polysémie et leur ambiguïté, nous ont paru les plus adéquats pour rendre compte des relations complexes qu'entretiennent, entre elles, ces deux civilisations.