Updated and Revised! Includes Glossary of Popular Religious Symbols

We North Americans live in a remarkably diverse society, and it's increasingly common to be invited to a wedding, funeral or other religious service of a friend, relative or coworker whose faith is different from our own. These can be awkward situations ...

What will happen?
What do I do? What do I wear? What do I say?
What should I avoid doing, wearing, saying?
Is it okay to use a video camera?
How long will it last? What are their basic beliefs?
Will there be a reception? Will there be food?
Should I bring a gift? When is it okay to leave?

These are just a few of the basic questions answered in How to Be a Perfect Stranger. This easy-to-read guidebook, with an Everything You Need to Know Before You Go checklist, helps the well-meaning guest to feel comfortable, participate to the fullest extent possible and avoid violating anyone's religious principles--while enriching their own spiritual understanding. For people of all faiths, all backgrounds.

African American Methodist Churches - Assemblies of God - Bahá'í Faith - Baptist - Buddhist - Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) - Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) - Churches of Christ - Episcopalian and Anglican - Hindu - Islam - Jehovah's Witnesses - Jewish - Lutheran - Mennonite/Amish - Methodist - Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) - Native American/First Nations - Orthodox Churches - Pentecostal Church of God - Presbyterian - Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) - Reformed Church in America/Canada - Roman Catholic - Seventh-day Adventist - Sikh - Unitarian Universalist - United Church of Canada - United Church of Christ

A celebration of Jewish men's voices in prayer--to strengthen, to heal, to comfort, to inspire from the ancient world up to our own day.

An extraordinary gathering of men--diverse in their ages, their lives, their convictions--have convened in this collection to offer contemporary, compelling and personal prayers. The words published here are not the recitation of established liturgies, but the direct address of today's Jewish men to ha-Shomea Tefilla, the Ancient One who has always heard, and who remains eager to receive, the prayers of our hearts.
--from the Foreword by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, DHL

This collection of prayers celebrates the variety of ways Jewish men engage in personal dialogue with God--with words of praise, petition, joy, gratitude, wonder and even anger--from the ancient world up to our own day.

Drawn from mystical, traditional, biblical, Talmudic, Hasidic and modern sources, these prayers will help you deepen your relationship with God and help guide your journey of self-discovery, healing and spiritual awareness. Together they provide a powerful and creative expression of Jewish men's inner lives, and the always revealing, sometimes painful, sometimes joyous--and often even practical--practice that prayer can be.

Jewish Men Pray will challenge your preconceived ideas about prayer. It will inspire you to explore new ways of prayerful expression, new paths for finding the sacred in the ordinary and new possibilities for understanding the Jewish relationship with the Divine. This is a book to treasure and to share.

Contributors:

Israel Abrahams - Aharon of Karlin - Daniel S. Alexander - Alexandri (third century CE) - Bezalel Aloni - Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, DHL - Rabbi Samuel Barth - Hillel Bavli (1893-1961) - Shye Ben-Tzur - Chaim Nachman Bialik (1873-1934) - Sheldon H. Blank (1896-1989) - Ben Zion Bokser (1907-1984) - Harold Braunstein - Daniel S. Brenner - Eliezer Bugatin - Shlomo Carlebach - (1925-1994) - Avraham Chalfi (1904-1980) - Rabbi Howard Cooper - Rabbi Menachem Creditor - Abraham Danziger (1748-1820) - Harry K. Danziger - Elazar (end of first century CE) - Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717-1787) - Dov Peretz Elkins - Abraham ibn Ezra (1089-1164) - Morley T. Feinstein - Edward Feld - Adam D. Fisher - Ira Flax - Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021-1058) - Elihu Gevirtz - Jeffrey Goldwasser - James Stone Goodman - Rabbi Arthur Green - Sidney Greenberg (1917-2003) - Judah HaLevi (1075-1141) - Rabbi Jules Harlow - Rabbi Shai Held - Rabbi Hayim Herring - Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) - Lawrence A. Hoffman - Rabbi David A. Ingber - Rabbi Ben Kamin - Yehuda Karni (1884-1949) - Rabbi Paul J. Kipnes - Eliahu J. Klein - Cantor Jeffrey Klepper - Rabbi Michael Knopf - Harold Kohn - Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935) - Rabbi Andy Koren - Rabbi Cary Kozberg - Rabbi Elliot Kukla - Rabbi Irwin Kula - Harold S. Kushner - Rabbi Lawrence Kushner - Rabbi Robert N. Levine - Rabbi Stan Levy - Immanuel Lubliner (1923-1997) - Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) - Mar the son of Rabina (fourth century) - Rabbi Craig Marantz - Danny Maseng - Daniel C. Matt - Hershel Jonah Matt (1922-1987) - Rabbi Ralph D. Mecklenburger - Andrew Meit - Rabbi Joseph B. Meszler - Jay Michaelson - Rabbi James L. Mirel - Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) - Louis Newman - Dan Nichols - Reb Noson (1780-1844) - Rabbi Avi S. Olitzky - Rabbi Jesse Olitzky - Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky - Natan Ophir (Offenbacher) - Bachya ibn Pakuda (eleventh century) - Daniel F. Polish - Andrew Ramer - Avrom Reyzen (1876-1953) - Haim O. Rechnitzer - Rabbi Jack Riemer - Rabbi Albert Ringer - Rabbi Brant Rosen - James B. Rosenberg - Joel Rosenberg - Robert Saks - Jeffrey Salkin - Rabbi Neil Sandler - Zalman Schachter-Shalomi - Rabbi Robert Scheinberg - Harold M. Schulweis - Rabbi Arthur Segal - Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro - Rabbi Rick Sherwin - Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812) - Yaakov David Shulman - Danny Siegel - Rifat Sonsino - Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz - Chaim Stern (1930-2001) - Rabbi Arnold Stiebel - Rabbi Warren Stone - Rabbi Neil A. Tow - Roy A. Walter - Simkha Y. Weintraub - Rabbi David Wolpe - Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (1740-1809) - Hillel Zeitlin (1871-1942) - Rabbi Reuben Zellman - Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel - Rabbi Shawn Zevit - Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman - Rabbi Mishael Zion - Rabbi Raymond A. Zwerin

Based on the Award-Winning How to Be a Perfect Stranger: A Guide to Etiquette in Other Peoples's Religious Ceremonies

Wedding day jitters aren't reserved for brides and grooms!

A wedding is a joyous event--but you can feel awkward while everyone else is enjoying the wedding if you're unfamiliar with the religious tradition and customs involved. You want to be sure that you know how to behave and what to expect. There's no need to enter an unfamiliar atmosphere unprepared, wondering:

• What will happen?
• What should I wear?
• How long will it last?
• Is it okay to take pictures?
• Will there be a reception?
• Should I bring a gift?
• When is it okay to leave?

The Perfect Stranger's Guide to Wedding Ceremonies helps to answer these questions and many more, telling you everything you need to know to avoid embarrassment, relax, and have a good time.

Covers all the major (and many minor) denominations and religions found in North America: African American Methodist Churches - Assemblies of God - Baha'i - Baptist - Buddhist - Christian and Missionary Alliance - Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) - Christian Congregation - Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) - Church of the Brethren - Church of the Nazarene - Churches of Christ - Episcopalian and Anglican - Evangelical Free Church - *Greek Orthodox - Hindu - International Church of the Foursquare Gospel - International Pentecostal Holiness Church - Islam - Jehovah's Witnesses - Jewish - Lutheran - Mennonite/Amish - Methodist - Mormon - (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) - Native American/First Nations - Orthodox Churches - Pentecostal Church of God - Presbyterian - Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) - Reformed Church in America/Canada - Roman Catholic - Seventh-day Adventist - Sikh - Unitarian Universalist - United Church of Canada - United Church of Christ - Wesleyan

Updated and Revised! Includes Glossary of Popular Religious Symbols

We North Americans live in a remarkably diverse society, and it's increasingly common to be invited to a wedding, funeral or other religious service of a friend, relative or coworker whose faith is different from our own. These can be awkward situations ...

What will happen?
What do I do? What do I wear? What do I say?
What should I avoid doing, wearing, saying?
Is it okay to use a video camera?
How long will it last? What are their basic beliefs?
Will there be a reception? Will there be food?
Should I bring a gift? When is it okay to leave?

These are just a few of the basic questions answered in How to Be a Perfect Stranger. This easy-to-read guidebook, with an Everything You Need to Know Before You Go checklist, helps the well-meaning guest to feel comfortable, participate to the fullest extent possible and avoid violating anyone's religious principles--while enriching their own spiritual understanding. For people of all faiths, all backgrounds.

African American Methodist Churches - Assemblies of God - Bahá'í Faith - Baptist - Buddhist - Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) - Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) - Churches of Christ - Episcopalian and Anglican - Hindu - Islam - Jehovah's Witnesses - Jewish - Lutheran - Mennonite/Amish - Methodist - Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) - Native American/First Nations - Orthodox Churches - Pentecostal Church of God - Presbyterian - Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) - Reformed Church in America/Canada - Roman Catholic - Seventh-day Adventist - Sikh - Unitarian Universalist - United Church of Canada - United Church of Christ

Based on the How to Be a Perfect Stranger: A Guide to Etiquette in Other People's Religious Ceremonies.

The handbook for how to respond in an appropriate way when someone dies--no matter what their faith or denomination.

Few of us are ever prepared for the loss of a relative, friend or colleague. This stressful situation can be made worse if we are unfamiliar with the practices and rituals of the deceased person's religious tradition.

This complete guide provides all the answers you need to express your condolences and show your respect in the appropriate way regardless of the religious tradition involved, addressing many common concerns, including:

Will there be a ceremony--what will it be like, and how long will it last? What should I wear? What should I avoid doing, wearing, saying? Are flowers appropriate? What is the appropriate behavior if viewing the body?

These are just a few of the basic, very practical questions answered in this unique etiquette guide covering all the major (and many minor) denominations and religions found in North America--from Hindu to Presbyterian, from Mennonite to Sikh--helping you to do the right thing in a difficult situation.

Covers all the major (and many minor) denominations and religions found in North America: African American Methodist Churches - Assemblies of God Baha'i - Baptist - Buddhist - Christian and Missionary Alliance - Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) - Christian Congregation - Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) - Church of the Brethren - Church of the Nazarene - Churches of Christ - Episcopalian and Anglican - Evangelical Free Church - Greek Orthodox - Hindu - International Church of the Foursquare Gospel - International Pentecostal Holiness Church - Islam - Jehovah's Witnesses - Jewish - Lutheran - Mennonite/Amish - Methodist - Mormon - (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) - Native American/First Nations - Orthodox Churches - Pentecostal Church of God - Presbyterian - Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) - Reformed Church in America/Canada - Roman Catholic - Seventh-day Adventist - Sikh - Unitarian Universalist - United Church of Canada - United Church of Christ - Wesleyan