- Table View
- List View
Zen's Chinese Heritage
by Tenshin Reb Anderson Steven Heine Andy FergusonZen's Chinese Heritage traces twenty-five generations of inlightened Buddhist teachers, supplementing their core teachings with history, biography, and poetry. The result is an intimate and profound human portrait of the enlightened Zen ancients, and an unprecedented look into the depths of the rich cultural heritage. In this new edition with even more valuable material, Ferguson surveys generations of Zen masters, moving chronologically through successive generations of ancestral teachers, supplementing their core teachings with history, biography, and starkly beautiful poetry. In addition to giving the reader the engaging sense of the "family history" of Zen, this uniquely valuable book paints a clear picture of the tradition's evolution as a religious, literary, and historical force.
Zephaniah / Haggai (Thru the Bible #31)
by Vernon McgeeRadio messages from J. Vernon McGee delighted and enthralled listeners for years with simple, straightforward language and clear understanding of the Scripture. Now enjoy his personable, yet scholarly, style in a 60-volume set of commentaries that takes you from Genesis to Revelation with new understanding and insight. Each volume includes introductory sections, detailed outlines and a thorough, paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of the text. A great choice for pastors - and even better choice for the average Bible reader and student! Very affordable in a size that can go anywhere, it's available as a complete 60-volume series, in Old Testament or New Testament sets, or individually.
Zero-G
by Alton L. GanskyPoised to make history, SpaceVentures, Inc. hovers on the brink of launching the first space tourists into flight. The competition escalates as rich customers clamor to pay the exorbitant ticket prices . and it's about to turn deadly. Benjamin 'Tuck" Tucker's skill and reputation have thrust SpaceVentures into the forefront in this powerful new space race. A veteran astronaut and reluctant national hero, Tuck accepts the coveted honor-and the risk-of piloting the Legacy on her maiden space voyage. The danger is far greater than just the perceived risks. The real threat, a plot far deadlier than anyone could have imagined, is exposed as the Legacy reaches the suborbital regions of space. Suspended seventy miles above Earth, Tuck has no choice but to place his life in God's hands-a God he has found it hard to trust since a deadly tragedy in space over a year before-as he desperately fights an unknown enemy who will not hesitate to kill again
The Zero-G Headache (AstroKids #2)
by Robert ElmerMeet the AstroKids--DeeBee, Buzz, Miko, Mir, and Tag--five friends learning biblical truth through out-of-this-world adventures aboard space station CLEO-7. "'DeeBee's a GEEN-ius.' Suffering satellites, that's all I ever hear! So I understand basic quantum theory. I mean, who doesn't, right? "Anyway, can you believe it? Zero-G, The most popular band in the galaxy, was coming to perform at CLEO-7. Now. . . I think Zero-G's music is pretty lame -- but don't tell that to the other AstroKids! I was more interested in finding out why my geeky cousin Phil was on Zero-G's shuttle. . . and what exactly he was hiding in that mysterious blue plasma barrel".
Zero Hour America: History's Ultimatum over Freedom and the Answer We Must Give
by Os GuinnessAmerica has lost its way. And America will fall—unless.Revolution? Oligarchy? Or homecoming? Americans are approaching a "zero hour" for the republic and its distinctive view of ordered freedom. America is caught between two revolutions and alternately suppresses and squanders freedom with a prodigal carelessness, with little understanding of the responsibilities that freedom requires.Os Guinness warns that if America abandons its distinctive ideals and ideas, we will have carved into the chronicles of history yet another example of the failure of a free society. Like other crucial times in world history, the present crisis is a "civilizational moment" and also a pivot point that could lead to national renewal. Outlining seven key foundation stones of freedom, Guinness lays out a pathway for defining and ordering freedom, righting national wrongs, and passing freedom's baton from generation to generation.Human freedom is precious and rare, and citizens who prize it must do what it takes to renew and sustain societies that are free for all of their members. America's window of opportunity is brief, and the alternative to renewal is bleak. The present moment must not be missed.
Zero Kelvin
by Richard NormanPresent-day astronomy, vast, complex, is looking through darkness to distant objects and times. Yet its discoveries aren't exclusively scientific: from the moons of Pluto to the Doppler effect, the night sky screens a place where math meets myth. Now, in Zero Kelvin, in scenes that shift from the mountains of Goma to the mountains of the moon, from galaxies that feast upon their neighbours to a solar sail unfurling above Earth's orbit, Richard Norman's poetry probes both newly glimpsed corners of the universe, and the myths which bring them into focus. Experiment. It is a human urge-to orbit backwards at great speed.Experimentally, you do itand then the crack of lightning, the open-ended snowflake, splits the sky. Just as the sculptor cut the fat off space,you going backwards renders time. Seconds drop like filings when a magnet is turned off.
Zero Limits Living: The Three Essential Pillars to Achieving All Your Life's Goals
by Joe VitaleUnlock the life you&’ve always dreamed of! New from Dr. Joe Vitale—recipient of the 2024 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, bestselling author, and star of the hit movie The Secret—comes a groundbreaking, inspiring, and unforgettable book that will revolutionize your life.Unravel the secrets to shifting your mindset, building unstoppable momentum, and living a meditative life. Discover how to break free from limiting beliefs that have held you back from achieving real and lasting results in all areas of your life.Dr. Vitale knows struggle. While living in poverty, he devoured every self-help book he could find, searching for answers. Today, as a successful author, actor, inspirational coach, and world-renowned speaker, he&’s sharing the transformative practice that delivered him both material results and spiritual awakening. He developed the three pillars of Mindset, Motion, and Mysticism, and wants to share them with the world.Zero Limits Living is your gateway to a world of unlimited possibilities. With Dr. Vitale&’s easy-to-understand and actionable methodology of hope, transformation, and results, you&’ll build a foundation of easy, practical daily tools that lead to enlightenment and the life you've always desired. Rise above your struggles with Dr. Vitale&’s breakthrough approach to living.
Zero Visibility
by Sharon DunnStranded on a mountain—with criminals in pursuitMerci Carson doesn’t have a clue why she’s a target—but she knows she owes her life to the quiet man who roared to her rescue in his snowmobile. EMT Nathan McCormick is used to handling challenging situations, but between the unexpected blizzard that stranded the lovely student and the desperate men chasing after her, he has his hands full! Yet for Nathan, failure is not an option. Merci’s bravery and kindness challenge his guarded heart, bringing every protective instinct forward and making him start to hope for the future. Together, they could be something special—if they can solve the mystery in time.From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.
Zeus Syndrome: A Very Short History of Religion-Based Masculine Domination (Rape Culture, Religion and the Bible)
by Joachim KüglerZeus Syndrome: A Very Short History of Religion-Based Masculine Domination is a critical assessment of the biblical concepts of gender hierarchy and the intersection of sex/gender, power, and religion. Starting with #MeToo and the abuse of religious power in the Catholic Church, it also presents a concise selection of historical case studies. In doing so, the book demonstrates how a specific construction of the relationship between sex/gender, power and religion not only excludes women and every person conceived as feminine or effeminate from power but also produces – almost automatically – a rape culture, which uses and excuses violent sexuality as an appropriate manifestation of masculine power. Biblical studies is increasingly interdisciplinary and frequently focuses on contextualising the reading of biblical texts. This volume focuses on how: The Bible is intertwined with other religio-cultural traditions in the Mediterranean world Biblical and extra-biblical ancient concepts of gender hierarchy have left traces in the cultural memory, particularly of the Western world The Bible is received and applied in the contemporary world, above all in the politics, news media, and churches of Western post-Christian societies and African Christianity Throughout this text, religious history and biblical tradition are linked with recent conflicts to show how traces of these concepts continue to resonate and influence the world of today even in post-Christian societies.
The "Zhenzheng lun" by Xuanyi: A Buddhist Apologetic Scripture of Tang China (Monumenta Serica Monograph Series)
by Thomas JülchThe Zhenzheng lun 甄正論 (T 2112, Treatise of Revealing the Correct) is a Chinese Buddhist apologetic treatise with a distinct anti-Daoist stance in three juan. It is organized as a dialogue between a Daoist, the "Venerable Obstructed by Customs" (zhisu gongzi 滯俗公子), and the Buddhist "Master Revealing the Correct" (zhenzheng xiansheng 甄正先生) in which the former is gradually led towards an orthodox Buddhist understanding by the latter through the refutation of his various arguments against Buddhism. Composed in the late 7th century, the text was authored depending on the political interests and strategies of Wu Zhao武曌 (624–705), who in 690 was enthroned as Empress Wu Zetian 武則天. This study of Thomas Jülch offers a richly annotated and complete translation of the Zhenzheng lun along with an introductory part that focuses on reconstructing the political and propagandistic circumstances relevant to the understanding of the Zhenzheng lun.
Zhije: Essential Teachings of the Eight Practice Lineages of Tibet, Volume 13 (The Treasury of Precious Instructions)
by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro TayeJamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye presents the Zhije (Pacification) teachings of some of Tibet's most historically significant and influential teachers in this next volume of the Treasury of Precious Instructions series, Kongtrul's great collection of teachings from all of Tibet's Buddhist lineages.The Treasury of Precious Instructions by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye, one of Tibet's greatest Buddhist masters, is a shining jewel of Tibetan literature, presenting essential teachings from the entire spectrum of practice lineages that existed in Tibet. In its eighteen volumes, Kongtrul brings together some of the most important texts on key topics of Buddhist thought and practice as well as authoring significant new sections of his own.In this volume, Kongtrul presents a diverse corpus of texts from the Zhije (Pacification) tradition that trace especially to the South Indian master Dampa Sangye (d. 1117), whose teachings are also celebrated in the Chöd (Severance) tradition. It includes source scriptures by Dampa Sangye, empowerments by Lochen Dharmashrī, and guidance by Dampa Sangye, Lochen Dharmashrī, and Sönam Pal. Also included are lineage charts related to the transmission of Zhije teachings as well as detailed notes and an orientation to the texts by translator Sarah Harding.
Zhouyi: A New Translation with Commentary of the Book of Changes (Durham East Asia Series)
by Richard RuttModern research has revealed the Book of Changes to be a royal divination manual of the Zhou state (500100 BC). This new translation synthesizes the results of modern study, presenting the work in its historical context. The first book to render original Chinese rhymes into rhymed English.
Zhu Xi: Basic Teachings
by Xi ZhuZhu Xi (1130–1200) was the preeminent Confucian thinker of the Song dynasty (960–1279). His teachings profoundly influenced China, where for centuries after his death they formed the basis of the country’s educational system. In Korea, Japan, and Vietnam as well, elites embraced his inspired and authoritative synthesis of Confucian thought.In Zhu’s eyes, the great Way of China was in decline, with its very survival threatened by external enemies and internal moral weakness. In his writings and teaching, Zhu took as his mission the revival of the Confucian tradition, the source of China’s greatness, and its transmission to future generations. For him, restoring Confucianism to its rightful place required drawing on the tradition’s whole sweep, from the sacred texts of the sages and worthies of antiquity to the more recent writings of the great thinkers of the tenth and eleventh centuries.This book presents the essential teachings of the new Confucian (“Neo-Confucian”) philosophical system that Zhu Xi forged, providing a concise introduction to one of the most important figures in the history of Chinese thought. It offers selections from the Classified Conversations of Master Zhu (Zhuzi yulei), a lengthy collection of Zhu’s conversations with disciples. In these texts, Zhu Xi reflects on the Confucian teachings of the past, revising and refining his understanding of them and shaping that understanding into a cohesive system of thought. Daniel K. Gardner’s translation renders these discussions and sayings in a conversational style that is accessible to new and more advanced readers alike.
Zhuangzi and Early Chinese Philosophy: Vagueness, Transformation and Paradox (Ashgate World Philosophies Series)
by Steve CoutinhoThe Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi (also known as Chuang Tzu), along with Confucius, Lao Tzu, and the Buddha, ranks among the most influential thinkers in the development of East Asian thought. His literary style is humorous and entertaining, yet the philosophical content is extraordinarily subtle and profound. This book introduces key topics in early Daoist philosophy. Drawing on several issues and methods in Western philosophy, from analytical philosophy to semiotics and hermeneutics, the author throws new light on the ancient Zhuangzi text. Engaging Daoism and contemporary Western philosophical logic, and drawing on new developments in our understanding of early Chinese culture, Coutinho challenges the interpretation of Zhuangzi as either a skeptic or a relativist, and instead seeks to explore his philosophy as emphasizing the ineradicable vagueness of language, thought and reality. This new interpretation of the Zhuangzi offers an important development in the understanding of Daoist philosophy, describing a world in flux in which things themselves are vague and inconsistent, and tries to show us a Way (a Dao) to negotiate through the shadows of a "chaotic" world.
Zhuangzi: Basic Writings (Translations from the Asian Classics)
by ZhuangziOnly by inhabiting Dao (the Way of Nature) and dwelling in its unity can humankind achieve true happiness and freedom, in both life and death. This is Daoist philosophy's central tenet, espoused by the person—or group of people—known as Zhuangzi (369?–286? BCE) in a text by the same name. To be free, individuals must discard rigid distinctions between right and wrong, and follow a course of action not motivated by gain or striving. When one ceases to judge events as good or bad, man-made suffering disappears, and natural suffering is embraced as part of life.Zhuangzi elucidates this mystical philosophy through humor, parable, and anecdote, using non sequitur and even nonsense to illuminate truths beyond the boundaries of ordinary logic. Boldly imaginative and inventively written, the Zhuangzi floats free of its historical period and society, addressing the spiritual nourishment of all people across time. One of the most justly celebrated texts of the Chinese tradition, the Zhuangzi is read by thousands of English-language scholars each year, yet, until now, only in the Wade-Giles romanization. Burton Watson's conversion to pinyin in this book brings the text in line with how Chinese scholars, and an increasing number of other scholars, read it.
Zhuangzi Speaks: The Music of Nature
by Tsai Chih ChungDuring a period of political and social upheaval in China, the unconventional insights of the great Daoist Zhuangzi (369?-286? B.C.) pointed to a way of living naturally. Inspired by his fascination with the wisdom of this sage, the immensely popular Taiwanese cartoonist Tsai Chih Chung created a bestselling Chinese comic book. Tsai had his cartoon characters enact the key parables of Zhuangzi (pronounced jwawngdz), and he rendered Zhuangzi's most enlightening sayings into modern Chinese. Through Tsai's enthusiasm and skill, the earliest and core parts of the Zhuangzi were thus made accessible to millions of Chinese-speaking people with no other real chance of appreciating this major Daoist text. Translated into English by Brian Bruya, the comic book is now available to a Western audience. The classical Chinese text of the selections of the Zhuangzi is reproduced in the margins throughout. Evoked by the translation and the playful cartoons is the spontaneity that Zhuangzi favors as an attitude toward life: abandon presuppositions, intellectual debates, and ambitions, he suggests, and listen to the "music of nature." With the writings attributed to Laozi, the Zhuangzi contributed to an alternative philosophical ideal that matched Confucianism in its impact on Chinese culture. Over the centuries classical Daoism influenced many aspects of Chinese life, including painting, literature, and the martial arts. It had a particularly strong effect on Chan Buddhism (Japanese Zen). For this book, Donald Munro has written an afterword that places Daoism and the Zhuangzi in historical and cultural context.
Zhuangzi's Critique of the Confucians: Blinded by the Human (SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture)
by Kim-chong ChongThe Daoist Zhuangzi has often been read as a mystical philosopher. But there is another tradition, beginning with the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian, which sees him as a critic of the Confucians. Kim-chong Chong analyzes the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi, demonstrating how Zhuangzi criticized the pre-Qin Confucians through metaphorical inversion and parody. This is indicated by the subtitle, "Blinded by the Human," which is an inversion of the Confucian philosopher Xunzi's remark that Zhuangzi was "blinded by heaven and did not know the human." Chong compares Zhuangzi's Daoist thought to Confucianism, as exemplified by Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi. By analyzing and comparing the different implications of concepts such as "heaven," "heart-mind," and "transformation," Chong shows how Zhuangzi can be said to provide the resources for a more pluralistic and liberal philosophy than the Confucians.
Zig: The Autiobiography of Zig Ziglar
by Zig Ziglar"Zig Ziglar epitomizes determination, perseverance, excellence, and a loving Christian spirit more than anyone I know! The world would be a better place if more of us were just like him. " --Kenneth H. Cooper, M. D. , The Cooper Clinic, Dallas, Texas Zig Ziglar, the motivational speaker who has galvanized audiences around the world and written more than a dozen perennially popular books, brings that same unbounded energy and clarity of vision to this candid, inspiring account of his own life and the forces that shaped it. Every year, Zig Ziglar travels all over the world delivering a resounding message of hope and commitment in forums ranging from high-powered business conferences and church leadership assemblies to youth conventions and educational gatherings. InZig, Ziglar chronicles another kind of journey: his own transformation from a struggling, not terribly successful salesman to the sales champion of several different companies, and finally to his current position as one of the world's best-known and most highly regarded motivational speakers and trainers. As he describes his experiences, he brings to life the essence of his teachings: “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want. ” At the heart of Ziglar's story are the people who taught him the importance of balancing a commitment to hard work with compassion for others. His first teacher was his mother, who raised him alone after the early death of his father, and introduced him to the principles and values he has honored for the rest of his life. Her lessons were reinforced by many others–from the men and women who became his business mentors to the friends and spiritual leaders who comforted and supported him when things got tough. Paying tribute to each of them, Ziglar zeroes in on the philosophy and traits that have enabled him to achieve success in business and in his personal life: discipline, hard work, common sense, integrity, commitment, and an infectious sense of humor. Ziglar's speaking engagements and seminars along with a wide array of audio and video materials, books, and training manuals, have helped to trigger positive changes in small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, U. S. government agencies, nonprofit associations, religious organizations, schools, and prisons. At once engaging and enlightening,Zigprovides a riveting portrait of the man who has achieved so much by embracing the simple but profound goal of helping others.
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and Development in Zimbabwe
by Ezra ChitandoThere is a growing realization that religion plays a major role in development, particularly in the Global South. Whereas theories of secularization assumed that religion would disappear, the reality is that religion has demonstrated its tenacity. In the specific case of Zimbabwe, religion has remained a positive social force and has made a significant contribution to development, particularly through the Zimbabwe Council of Churches. This has been through political activism, contribution to health, education, women’s emancipation, and ethical reconstruction. This volume analyzes the contribution of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches to development in the country.
Zimzum: God and the Origin of the World (Jewish Culture and Contexts)
by Christoph SchulteThe Hebrew word zimzum originally means “contraction,” “withdrawal,” “retreat,” “limitation,” and “concentration.” In Kabbalah, zimzum is a term for God’s self-limitation, done before creating the world to create the world. Jewish mystic Isaac Luria coined this term in Galilee in the sixteenth century, positing that the God who was “Ein-Sof,” unlimited and omnipresent before creation, must concentrate himself in the zimzum and withdraw in order to make room for the creation of the world in God’s own center. At the same time, God also limits his infinite omnipotence to allow the finite world to arise. Without the zimzum there is no creation, making zimzum one of the basic concepts of Judaism.The Lurianic doctrine of the zimzum has been considered an intellectual showpiece of the Kabbalah and of Jewish philosophy. The teaching of the zimzum has appeared in the Kabbalistic literature across Central and Eastern Europe, perhaps most famously in Hasidic literature up to the present day and in philosopher and historian Gershom Scholem’s epoch-making research on Jewish mysticism. The Zimzum has fascinated Jewish and Christian theologians, philosophers, and writers like no other Kabbalistic teaching. This can be seen across the philosophy and cultural history of the twentieth century as it gained prominence among such diverse authors and artists as Franz Rosenzweig, Hans Jonas, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Harold Bloom, Barnett Newman, and Anselm Kiefer.This book follows the traces of the zimzum across the Jewish and Christian intellectual history of Europe and North America over more than four centuries, where Judaism and Christianity, theosophy and philosophy, divine and human, mysticism and literature, Kabbalah and the arts encounter, mix, and cross-fertilize the interpretations and appropriations of this doctrine of God’s self-entanglement and limitation.
The Zimzum of Love: A New Way of Understanding Marriage
by Rob Bell Kristen BellThere is a mysterious, indescribable, complex exchange that can happen in the space between you and your partner. You find each other. Your centers of gravity expand as your lives become more and more entwined. You create space for this other person to thrive while they're doing the same for you. This creates a flow of energy in the space between you. This energy field is at the heart of marriage. It flows in the space between you, space that exists nowhere else in the universe. You can become more familiar with how this energy field works. You can develop language between you to identify what's happening in the space between you. You can sharpen your abilities to assess it. You can act in certain ways to increase the flow. You can identify what's blocking the flow, and then you can overcome those barriers. Years into your marriage, you can continue to intensify this energetic flow between you.It is risky to give yourself to another. There are no guarantees, and there are lots of ways for it to fall apart and break your heart. But the upside is infinite.--from The Zimzum of LoveNew York Times bestselling author Rob Bell and his wife, Kristen Bell, explore a whole new way of understanding our most intimate and powerful relationship: marriage. The concepts behind The Zimzum of Love open ways for us to transform and deepen how we love.
Zionism: An Emotional State (Key Words in Jewish Studies)
by Derek J. PenslarEmotion lies at the heart of all national movements, and Zionism is no exception. For those who identify as Zionist, the word connotes liberation and redemption, uniqueness and vulnerability. Yet for many, Zionism is a source of distaste if not disgust, and those who reject it are no less passionate than those who embrace it. The power of such emotions helps explain why a word originally associated with territorial aspiration has survived so many years after the establishment of the Israeli state. Zionism: An Emotional State expertly demonstrates how the energy propelling the Zionist project originates from bundles of feeling whose elements have varied in volume, intensity, and durability across space and time. Beginning with an original typology of Zionism and a new take on its relationship to colonialism, Penslar then examines the emotions that have shaped Zionist sensibilities and practices over the course of the movement’s history. The resulting portrait of Zionism reconfigures how we understand Jewish identity amidst continuing debates on the role of nationalism in the modern world.
Zionism and Melancholy: The Short Life of Israel Zarchi (New Jewish Philosophy and Thought)
by Nitzan LebovicNitzan Lebovic claims that political melancholy is the defining trait of a generation of Israelis born between the 1960s and 1990s. This cohort came of age during wars, occupation and intifada, cultural conflict, and the failure of the Oslo Accords. The atmosphere of militarism and conservative state politics left little room for democratic opposition or dissent. Lebovic and others depict the failure to respond not only as a result of institutional pressure but as the effect of a long-lasting "left-wing melancholy." In order to understand its grip on Israeli society, Lebovic turns to the novels and short stories of Israel Zarchi. For him, Zarchi aptly describes the gap between the utopian hope present in Zionism since its early days and the melancholic reality of the present. Through personal engagement with Zarchi, Lebovic develops a philosophy of melancholy and shows how it pervades Israeli society.
Zionism and Revolution in European-Jewish Literature (Literary Criticism and Cultural Theory)
by Laurel PlappZionism and Revolution in European-Jewish Literature examines twentieth-century Jewish writing that challenges imperialist ventures and calls for solidarity with the colonized, most notably the Arabs of Palestine and Africans in the Americas. Since Edward Said defined orientalism in 1978 as a Western image of the Islamic world that has justified domination, critics have considered the Jewish people to be complicit with orientalism because of the Zionist movement. However, the Jews of Europe have themselves been caught between East and West —both marginalized as the "Orientals" of Europe and connected to the Middle East through their own political and cultural ties. As a result, European-Jewish writers have had to negotiate the problematic confluence of antisemitic and orientalist discourse. Laurel Plapp traces this trend in utopic visions of Jewish-Muslim relations that criticized the early Zionist movement; in post-Holocaust depictions of coalition between Jews and African slaves in the Caribbean revolutions; and finally, in explorations of diasporic, transnational Jewish identity after the founding of Israel. Above all, Plapp proposes that Jewish studies and postcolonial studies have much in common by identifying ways in which Jewish writers have allied themselves with colonized and exilic peoples throughout the world.
Zionism and the Biology of Jews
by Raphael FalkThis book offers a unique perspective on Zionism. The author, a geneticist by training, focuses on science, rather than history. He looks at the claims that Jews constitute a people with common biological roots. An argument that helps provide justification for the aspirations of this political movement dedicated to the return of the Jewish people to their homeland. His study explores two issues. The first considers the assertion that there is a biology of the Jews. The second deals with attempts to integrate this idea into a consistent history. Both issues unfolded against the background of a romantic national culture of Western Europe in the 19th century: Jews, primarily from Eastern Europe, began to believe these notions and soon they took the lead in the re-formulation of Jewish and Zionist existence. The author does not intend to present a comprehensive picture of the biological literature of the origins of a people and the blood relations between them. He also recognizes that the subject is emotionally-loaded. The book does, however, present a profound mediation on three overlapping questions: What is special or unique to the Jews? Who were the genuine Jews? And how can one identify Jews? This volume is a revised and edited English version of Tzionut Vehabiologia shel Hayehudim, published in 2006.