Jewish Themes In Star Trek

Rabbi Gershom takes you where no rabbi has gone before! You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy this well-researched and reader-friendly journey into Jewish themes, actors, writers, in-jokes and subtexts in the Star Trek Universe. Inspired by a class he taught at the Minneapolis Talmud Torah, the book explores such things as: The Jewish origin of the Vulcan salute; How Vulcan culture is based on rabbinical Judaism; "Who is a Jew" among Trek characters in episodes, movies and the novels; How Talmudic logic helped expand the Star Trek universe; Why Ferengi values are NOT Jewish values -- and much more!

This volume analyzes Jewish tropes in popular science fiction including Star Trek, Marvel, and other top franchises. The essays examine representations of Jewish characters and culture in the genre that range from poignant metaphor to banal tokenism.

For 50 years, Star Trek has been an inspiration to its fans around the world, helping them to dream of a better future. This inspiration has entered our culture and helped to shape much of the technology of the early 21st Century. The contributors to this volume are researchers and teachers in a wide variety of disciplines; from Astrophysics to Ethnology, from English and History to Medicine and Video Games, and from American Studies to the study of Collective Computing Systems. What the authors have in common is that some version of Star Trek has inspired them, not only in their dreams of what may be, but in the ways in which they work - and teach others to work - here in the real world. Introduced with references to Star Trek films and television shows, and illustrated with original cartoons, each of the 15 chapters included in this volume provides insights into research and teaching in this range of academic fields.

In the five decades since Richard Schwartz first became a religious Jew, he has watched the mainstream Jewish community shift more and more to the Right, often abandoning the very values that originally attracted him to Orthodox Judaism. In this soul-searching book, Schwartz examines the ways in which he believes his religion has been "stolen" by partisan politics, and offers practical suggestions for how to get Judaism back on track as a faith based on peace and compassion. Tackling such diverse issues as U.S. politics, Israeli peace issues, the misuse of the Holocaust, antisemitism, U.S. foreign policy, Islamophobia, socialism, vegetarianism, environmentalism, Schwartz goes where many Jews fear to go -- and challenges us to re-think current issues in the light of positive Jewish values. (With photos, notes, action ideas, resource lists, and annotated bibliography. Also includes appendix materials with Rabbi Yonassan Gershom.)

An unseen Watcher lives in the land of the Kepke. He resides in the inner forest -- the Forest of Thought and Creation. He was sent by the Great Everywhere Father to observe and judge the Kepke people. Every Kepke man is warned not to venture too far a

Every year, right before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, there is a cultural war in certain Jewish neighborhoods over a ceremony called Kapporos, in which a chicken is slaughtered just before the holy day. The animal rights people show up claiming, "Meat is murder!" while the Orthodox and Hasidic Jews who practice this ceremony accuse the activists of antisemitism and violating their freedom of religion. Epithets fly and confrontations occur across the barricades, but nobody is really listening to each other. Rabbi Gershom seeks to build a bridge of understanding between these two warring camps. On the one hand, he opposes using live chickens as Kapporos, and, like many other religious Jews before him, advocates giving money to charity instead. But on the other hand, he is himself a Hasid who understands and believes in the kabbalistic principle of ""raising holy sparks"" so central to the ceremony. In fact, he says, it is that very mysticism that has led him not to use chickens for the ritual.

Within the reader is provided with enlightened versions of selected and some even beloved segments of the Bible that have been previously either translated based on Semite legends, (due to the fact that at the time of translation those were the only historical references available,) or considered unknowable. The creation of the universe, earth, and humanity are presented in a manner that falls closer in line with the historical and archeological record as known today, instead of being based on ancient legends and fairy tales. Elements of the Book of Exodus, with passages concerning the 10 commandments and the role of Jethro in the establishment of a democratic form of government, provide the reader with new origins for the judicial and representational branches within our own form of government. The unknowable elements of the Book of Job, concerning the Lords reply to Job in the last few chapters of the book, are presented in a manner that not only suggests that it is indeed knowable, but also reasonable and logical as well, providing a description of the universe and earth that belies the level of knowledge available to humanity at its inception. Certain controversial passages of the New Testament are addressed, such as the Magi, the intent behind the Feast at Cana, and Mary Magdalenes true role in Jesus life and ministry, and this is followed with an interpretation of the symbolism found within the Book of Revelations. All in all, the author provides the reader with a new and different take on certain elements of old scriptures.

Essay by Donald Kuspit The first monograph by famed actor and director Leonard Nimoy, this eerily beautiful photographic study of the female form reveals Nimoy's intrigue with Old Testament mythology and ancient spirituality. The Shekhina, described by the Kabbala as God's feminine counterpart, is understood by mystics to be a crucial element of both divine and human spirit, symbolising the creativity and wisdom without which no being is complete. Here, Nimoy uses 50 duotone photos as an exhaustive investigation of his own spirituality.