Why do cultures commit suicide? Why are we witnessing a new great extinction of peoples? Why is the economic crisis really a spiritual crisis? Probing the inner workings of civilization in a tour d'horizon of cultural decline, Spengler argues that Europe's postnational, secular dystopia is a death trap, that the onslaught of modernity has plunged Islam into an even greater crisis, and that the destiny of nations is decided in the human heart, by religion. Christian America, in spite of its follies and gullibility, has the spiritual strength to restore the faith of the West. This book presents, in one comprehensive volume, the wide scope of Spengler's theories on Christianity, Islam, America, the financial crisis, horror movies, modern art, Israel, Tolkien's Middle Earth, tribalism, the global balance of power, demography, and sex in the twenty-first century. he global balance of power, demography, and sex in the twenty-first century. These highly original essays may provoke you, even frighten you-but never bore you. "In the more than twenty years I've known David Goldman, he's always had an original take on the big picture and frequently has spotted key turning points well in advance of the herd. He's an indispensable voice on financial television and a must-read observer of politics and economics.” -Lawrence Kudlow CNBC Television "Ask anyone in the intelligence business to name the world's most brilliant intelligence service, and we'll all give the same answer: Spengler. David P. Goldman's 'Spengler' columns provide more insight than the CIA, MI6, and the Mossad combined.” -Herbert E. Meyer Meyer served during the Reagan Administration as Special Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence and as Vice Chairman of the CIA's National Intelligence Council.

It's Not the End of the World, It's Just the End of You: The Great Extinction of the Nations

History

Goldman, David P.

Americas

RVP Publishers

China’s 5,000 year-old empire has become the world’s largest economy, with a plan to control the decisive technologies of the 21st century—and the United States is in danger of being left behind. America has finally recognized China’s bid for world dominance—but we’re still losing ground. Domination of the next generation of mobile broadband is just the tip of the spear. Like the Borg in Star Trek , China will assimilate you into a virtual empire controlled by Chinese technology. China is taking control of the Fourth Industrial Revolution—the economy of artificial intelligence and quantum computing—just as America dominated the Third Industrial Revolution driven by the computer. Long in planning, China’s scheme erupted into public awareness when it emerged as the world leader in 5G internet. America is on track to become poor, dependent, and vulnerable—unless we revive the American genius for innovation. Trade wars and tech boycotts have failed to slow China’s plans. David P. Goldman watched China unfold its imperial plan from the inside, as an investment banker in China and strategic consultant, and as a principal of a great Asian news organization, the Asia Times. This is an eyewitness, firsthand account of the biggest turning point in world affairs since the Second World War, with a clear explanation of what it means for America and for you—and what America can do to remain the world’s leading superpower.

You Will Be Assimilated: China's Plan to Sino-form the World

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Bombardier Books

“Whither Turkey?” is a question that has become one of the most pressing national security topics of our time. The available evidence – including notably the increasingly overt ambition of Recep Tayyip Erdogan to become the Caliph of a neo-Ottoman empire, his naked hostility toward the United States and the damage being done by Turkey to America’s vital interests and those of the rest of NATO and other allies like Israel and the Kurds – suggests the answer is alarming. That evidence is thoughtfully assessed in Ally No More, including in essays about the presence of Turkish influence operations and infrastructure that could bring here the threat posed to this country by Erdogan, as well, making it required reading for policy-makers and the public, alike.

Ally No More: Erdogan’s New Turkish Caliphate and the Rising Jihadist Threat to the West

Pipes, Daniel

Lopez, Clare M.

Hull, Christopher C.

Rhode, Harold

Weiss, Deborah

Bekdil, Burak

Bulut, Uzay

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Different branches of Judaism can be distinguished by the degree to which they identify either with the rational or with the mystical schools within Jewish philosophy. In this edition, we focus on these two distinct types of thought but also examine how they are often found in tandem, merged in the minds and works of great thinkers. “Pahad Yitzhak: A Joyful Song of Affirmation” studies the classic work of Rav Yitzhak Hutner which combines the Brisker approach with the mysticism of Maharal and Hassidic Masters to “produce a theological/psychological system that incorporates elements of many strands of Jewish thought” that “form the essential elements of an optimistic, humanistic message.” In “Kabbalah—Escape from Reality or Affirmation of Life?” the author responds to a well-argued article that claims that Jewish mysticism poses dangers to contemporary Jewish society with the counter argument that “Jewish mysticism in the hands of an ethical genius such as a Rav Kook… invigorates rather than vitiates our existence.” Two articles in a special section on free choice argue that the rationalism of science complements man’s search for answers that are in the realm of the mystical. In “God, Man, Chaos and Control: How God Might Control the Universe” the author posits that modern scientific theory can be used to explain the mechanism by which G-d allows for free choice. The author writes, “As our scientific knowledge grows, we have faced criticism and concern from some religious thinkers who believe that science is an affront to religion. However, an educated approach to these big questions reveals that not only is there a history of using scientific lenses to better understand religion, an advanced knowledge of the complexities of our world magnifies the awesomeness of God.” Another essay, entitled “The Jewish Idea of Freedom,” maintains that the Jewish concept of freedom, rooted in creation and man’s free choice, is the first such concept in human history “and still the most radical.” The author goes on to explain how, in the modern era, the Jewish idea of freedom was reborn in the political sphere through the 17th-century revolution in political thought that preceded the American Revolution. But more surprisingly, he demonstrates “the contribution of biblical and rabbinic thought to the contemporaneous scientific revolution.” The importance of understanding the difference between scientific principles and mystical ideas is investigated in “Misinterpreting Rabbi Judah Ha-Levi,” where the author shows that charges of racism against R. Yehudah Ha-Levi are based on confusing the concept of “inyan Eloki” with modern genetics. The misinterpretation of the views of R. Yehuda Ha-Levi is central to another article, “What Must a Jew Believe? Dogma and Inadvertent Heresy, Revisited,” where the author notes that Ha-Levi accepts the view that Jewish identity is defined by belief in certain key principles. “In fact, not only staunch rationalists like Rambam, but also ‘anti-rationalists’ like Ha-Levi, Nahmanides, and Maharal expounded what they saw to be the principles of Judaism.” Tradition and Innovation is the focus of other articles in this volume. In our History of Halakhah section, in an essay entitled “A Short History of the Jewish Fixed Calendar,” the author presents evidence against the traditional view that the Jewish calendar was fixed 1800 years ago, detailing how the discovery of new documents in the Cairo Genizah seemingly disproves this belief, and demonstrates the changes that he believes occurred in different eras until the calendar came into its present form. A Jewish Law article, “Torah Authority,” examines the sources of authority that allow the Rabbis to legislate the calendar as well as other decrees. Similarly, “The Mysterious Origin of Lag Ba-Omer” claims that the holiday was a late innovation, not an age-old tradition related to Rabbi Akiva and Rav Shimon ben Yochai.

Hakirah: The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought

Religion & Spirituality

Elman, Yaakov

Buchman, Asher Benzion

Kadish, Alan

Strickman, H. Norman

First, Mitchell

Leibowitz, Aryeh

Naor, Bezalel

Krakowski, Eliyahu

Ajdler, J. Jean

Judaism

Hakirah

In "Rav Soloveitchik’s New World View," the author reviews Western philosophy, explaining that it fails to answer philosophical questions raised by modern mathematics. In a reading of The Halakhic Mind, he then demonstrates that, from his youth, the Rav felt that the key to dealing with man's encounter with the infinite lies in the dalet ammot shel halakhah. In "Historical Revisionism by the Families of Rav Kook’s Disciples" the author describes how some children of Rav Kook's students sought to distance their fathers from their teacher to ensure that their fathers' works would be accepted in Haredi circles and their reputations would remain intact. In "Rav Hildesheimer’s Response to Ultra-Orthodoxy" the author analyzes an historical document to contrast two responses to the then-budding Reform movement: that of a group which came to be called the Haredi camp, with the more moderate response of Rav Hildesheimer. In the chapter from the book on the Hazon Ish, "The Gaon of Vilna, the Hatam Sofer, and the Hazon Ish: Minhag and the Crisis of Modernity," the author argues that the Hazon Ish, considered by many to be the father of the modern Haredi movement, was not acting in response to modernity, but was motivated by a desire to find each law's intent and to follow the letter of the law. In the timely article in the Minhag section entitled "Our Salty Tears: The History and Significance of an Interpretation of Dipping in Salt Water at the Seder," the author bears out the Hazon Ish's skepticism of minhagim, showing how hallowing practices of the past sometimes distorts the reasoning behind a custom. Our Jewish History section includes the essay "Adversity and Authorship as Revealed in the Introductions of Early Hebrew Books," which recounts how, in fact, adversity was often the catalyst for the genesis of these works. In "A Tour of the Osler Library of the History of Medicine through Jewish Eyes," we get a glimpse of great Jewish doctors who, throughout history, dedicated themselves to curing the ills of all mankind. In "Teaching Musar at the FBI," a rabbi involved in kiruv explains how, at the request of the FBI, he helped those employed in the difficult job of law enforcement by giving them spiritual tools. In the other article, "Why is there no kosher meat or poultry that is certified humane?" the issue of our obligation of ve-halakhta bi-derakhav is raised. This mitzvah, which obligates us to perform acts of hesed, is also the subject of a detailed Hebrew article on the mitzvah of bikkur holim. In the Jewish Law section, "Parve Cloned Beef Burgers: Health and Halakhic Considerations" applies ancient halakhic principles to the technology of the future, while a letter to S. Y. Agnon from a rabbi, describing the rabbi's attitude towards the idea of human possession by a reincarnated soul, shows how some ancient beliefs resist the advances of science. In our Talmud Torah section, "In Search of Nimrod: Nimrod and Esau as Parallel Figures" merges modern methodology with traditional Biblical sources in an attempt to understand Hazal's attitude toward Esau. "Reinterpretation and Resistance to the Mitzvah of Tefillah" argues that the mitzvah that the Rav so often expounded upon, and that he said "was redeemed" by Rambam, was not considered of Biblical origin even by great Rishonim who followed Rambam. In "Apprehending the Divine through the Religious Act: Rabbi Yaakov Anatoli’s Introduction to Malmad Ha-Talmidim," we see how an almost forgotten medieval scholar from Provence toiled to define a religious philosophy.

Zelcer, Heshey

Reichman, Edward

Brown, Benjamin

Friedman, Cary A.

Student, Gil

Heller, Marvin J.

Henkin, Eitam

Dysert, Anna

Zelcer, Malky

Ḥakirah is honored to present lectures given approximately 70 years ago by Ha-Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt”l on the opening verses of the Torah. In the five lectures presented here as the first of three installments, the Rav’s focus is on the question raised by the Amora Rav Yitzḥak as to why the Torah dwells on the story of creation and what philosophical truths we are to learn from it. Further delving into the Rav’s philosophical works is a review essay on Nietzsche, Soloveitchik and Contemporary Jewish Philosophy. The reviewer argues that “R. Soloveitchik took secular philosophy as a foil rather than as a foun-dation for his own hashkafa, which was deeply rooted in Jewish sources.”While the Rav’s work was often dedicated to harmonizing Torah hashkafa and halakha, in our Jewish Thought section we deal with two other twentieth-century Jewish thinkers who emphasized one above the other and who consequently are considered on the fringes of Orthodoxy. In an “Introduction to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Philosophy” we see that for Heschel the values and philosophy of Judaism overshadowed the importance of halakha. On the other hand, in “Sanctifying Our Choices: The Solution to the Paradox of Orthodoxy,” an essay on the thought of Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz, we see that his thinking was the reverse, that all emphasis should be placed on halakha.The thought of another famous thinker who dealt with the challenges of modernity is explored in “Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on Jews in a Non-Jewish World,” which features the first English language translation of a book review by Rav Hirsch where he expounds about the appreciation Jews can get about Judaism itself from reading works that deal with Christian life. And in “The Life and Work of Dr. Menachem Mendel Yehudah Leib Sergei: A Torah U-Madda Titan in the Early Twentieth Century” we are introduced to and inspired by a unique but overlooked Jewish physician “who combines Torah, fear of G-d, and wisdom in an extraordinary way.”Several articles deal with censorship. In our Forum section, two scholars debate whether ArtScroll censored Rashi to disguise a non-traditional opinion of his, and present differing views on Rashi’s inter-pretation of the term tikun soferim. In “The Brothers Tugendhold &amp; Jewish Censorship in the Nineteenth Century: Addition and Subtrac-tion in the Warsaw 1853 Ḥumash,” the author examines the motives and guidelines behind Jewish self-censorship a century ago. In “The Ban on R. Yeḥiel Michal Pines in Jerusalem and his relationship with his brother-in-law, Rabbi David Friedman of Karlin,” we read of another type of “censorship” targeting what the Zealots of Jerusalem considered the intrusion of foreign influences into the Holy City of Jerusalem. In our Minhag section in an article entitled “Is it Permissible to turn one’s back to the Hekhal or Kotel During Qabbalat Shabbat?” the author objects to what he considers an errant new custom.A Hebrew article on Halakha looks at the RCA’s prenuptial agreement, calling for its wider acceptance, while an English-language article “A Prenuptial Agreement by and for the Ḥaredi Community” presents a new such agreement that has haskamot from the Ḥaredi world.Apropos of the season of Teshuva, a comprehensive article on “Rehashing The Free Will Question” examines all the explanations that have been put forth over the generations to deal with this challenging issue. In our Torah and Medicine Section “Epigenetics Revolution: The Power to Self-regulate and Control Human Behavior” issues of halakha and hashkafa are addressed, as the authors use the latest advances in science to propose “that there might be a molecular/cellular understanding, based on epigenetics, of how a lifestyle devoted to doing mitzvot can enhance this capacity to control behavior.”

Hakirah: The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought: (Volume 27)

Bedzow, Ira

Shapiro, Marc B.

Triebitz, Meir

Herczeg, Yisrael Isser Zvi

Loike, John D.

Tendler, Moshe D.

Hakirah: The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought (Volume 29)

Greenspan, Ari

Jotlowitz, Alan

Brody, Shlomo

Adams, Steven H.

Grossman, Yitzhak

In a lecture series titled “The Relationship between Halakhah, Aggadah, and Kabbalah” delivered at Bernard Revel Graduate School ca. 1950, Rav Yosef B. Soloveitchik, ztz”l, defines these three branches of Torah study, explains their relationship to each other, and sheds light on the religious experience that emerges from their study. In this volume of Ḥakirah, a special section keynoted by these lectures is augmented by additional essays dealing with the relationship between Halakhah, Aggadah, and Kabbalah. An essay titled “‘Truth’ and Authorial Intent in the Study of Torah”shows that some Torah scholars believed that they could interpret the works of earlier rabbis loosely, in a manner not in accord with their author’s intent. An accompanying article titled “Learning” argues that such an approach is not in accord with the mainstream of Halakhic interpretation, bringing evidence from the Rav’s analysis of Halakhah as presented in the above-mentioned lecture series. Another essay on Western philosophy’s sources in the Lurianic Kabbalah reviews a recent book on tsimtsum and shows how Christian thinkers in particular misunderstood the Arizal’s philosophical concept, quoting the following crucial passage from the Rav’s lectures to prove his point: “The Kabbalistic perspective rests on Halakhah. Even theology was Halakhic to the Jewish mystic: his fulcrum is to be found in Halakhic law. The religious commandment was interpreted by the Kabbalistic mystic not allegorically, but as Divine order impregnated with transcendental and cosmic significance and endowed with meaning of cosmic proportions.”\nIn our Jewish Law section, we deal with matters of increasing contemporary relevance. “Halakhic Approaches to a Man-made Epidemic: Opioids and Narcan” deals with a pressing issue as the use of dangerous drugs has made its way into our communities.In “Examining a Controversial Heter: A Woman Who Converted as an Infant Marrying a Kohen?” the authors explain and provide the sources for a psak of the noted posek Rav Ephraim Greenblatt, z”l. In “‘Are We Your First Choice?’: Is it proper to ask this question to a student applying to a yeshivah/seminary, and must they answer honestly?” the author deals with a common question relevant both to our Torah youth and Torah organizations.\nOur Talmud Torah section yields interesting insights from the analysis of two parshiyot in the Torah. “The Geographical Context of Devarim and Its Significance” argues that “establishing the book of Devarim on the ruins of Sodom symbolizes the dichotomy between the culture of Sodom and a society predicated on the precepts of the Torah and dedicated to the pursuit of justice.” And “Did the Israelites Eat Matzah While They Were Slaves?” contends that leḥem oni was not eaten by Jewish slaves in Egypt, and nothing in the Torah implies that they did.\nOur Jewish Thought section deals with fundamental issues. In one essay titled “Imitations and Semblances,” the author identifies how several Rishonim, including Rambam and Ralbag, explain the purpose of many mitzvot as directing us to explore the reality of the physical world. A review of Strauss, Spinoza and Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith introduces us to a new work composed of essays by modern Jewish writers dealing with faith. Closing out this section is a hesped by Rav Soloveitchik of an outstanding European Chassidic Rosh Yeshivah who taught Torah in America for almost 50 years. Here the Rav gives us insight into the nature of our ba’alei mesorah.

Hakirah: The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought (Volume 33)

Broyde, Michael J.

Zelcer, Mark

Hakirah: The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought (Volume 35)

Bush, Asher

Oppenheimer, Steven

Lelonek, Gary

Farkas, Aviva

Restoring American Manufacturing: A Practical Guide (Claremont Provocations Monograph Series)

Business & Money

Industries

Independently published

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