Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Academic Studies Press is pleased to announce the publication of four new titles in September and October! Jewish Philosophy: Perspectives and Retrospectives Edited by Raphael Jospe and Dov Schwartz ISBN 978-1-618111-60-9 327 pp. (cloth) $105.00 In a lecture titled "Jewish Philosophy: An Obituary," Paul Mendes-Flohr observed that "Jewish philosophers seem to be a dying breed." However tongue in cheek the statement may have been at the close of the twentieth century, by a scholar of modern Jewish thought, a similar pessimistic observation was made quite seriously at the beginning of the twentieth century by Isaac Husik. In his History of Medieval Jewish Philosophy (1916) Husik sadly concludes with the words, "There are Jews now and there are philosophers, but there are no Jewish philosophers and there is no Jewish philosophy." This volume, as one modest contribution to the exponentially increasing publications, in Hebrew and in other languages, of original thought and of scholarly analysis, proves that obituaries for Jewish philosophy and thought are exaggerated, premature, and ultimately far off the mark. Husik's own work helped start the revival of a field for which he-like nineteenth century scholars of Wissenschaft des Judentums-mistakenly thought he was writing an epitaph for. Series: Emunot: Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah Gone To Pitchipoi: A Boy's Desperate Fight for Survival in Wartime By Rubin Katz ISBN 978-1-618112-34-7 326 pp. (cloth) $65.00 Gone to Pitchipoi is the true and remarkable story of one Jewish boy's constant struggle for survival during the Holocaust in wartime Poland. Rubin Katz had just turned eight years old when the Second World War began and the outbreak of hostilities shattered his secure and idyllic childhood. When the Nazis embarked on the Final Solution, Katz, too young to be deemed fit for slave labor, was classed as "unproductive" and consequently marked for certain death. Over the next few years he was forced to evade the Nazis snares, moving in and out of the shadows in his daily quest for food and shelter. Katz lived on the run, forced to flee and hide while taking on different roles to fit desperate situations. Incessantly hounded, Katz ultimately made his way to Warsaw to join his elder sister Fela. Together they experienced one narrow escape after another from the perils of the Gestapo, as well as the Warsaw Uprising. This enthralling account of struggle and survival is a true testament to the human will to live and courage to endure. Review: "[Katz's] story is compelling, drawing you in with each twist of fate and ingenuity as he defies detection and death time and time again. Beautifully and insightfully told, his story takes us behind the scenes. We see the normality of life for those who were not under threat and simultaneously the hostility and treachery that threatened those who were marked for death."-Dr. Stephen D. Smith, OBE Executive Director, USC Shoah Foundation Institute Series: Jews of Poland Between Heschel and Buber: A Comparative Study By Alexander Even-Chen and Ephraim Meir ISBN 978-1-936235-72-8 270 pp. (cloth) $85.00 Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Buber were giant thinkers of the 20th century who greatly contributed to the understanding of religious consciousness and of Judaism. They wrote on various subjects, such as the Bible, the commandments, Hasidism, Zionism and Christianity. Though they had much in common, they also differed on substantial points. To this date scholars have not undertaken a comparative analysis of Buber and Heschel as eminent contemporary interpreters of the Jewish tradition. In this volume, Meir and Even Chen have taken upon themselves the challenge of monitoring their agreements and disputes. Review: "This comparative study of Heschel and Buber is a pioneering work on two of the most creative and influential Jewish thinkers of the Twentieth Century. Alexander Even-Chen and Ephraim Meir have given us a well documented account of these pivotal thinkers who continue to hold a profound place in the intellectual and spiritual conversations of our time. It is a marvelous achievement." -Harold Kasimow George Drake Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, Grinnell College Series: Emunot: Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah Babel in Context: A Study in Cultural Identity By Efraim Sicher ISBN 978-1-936235-95-7 270 pp. (cloth) $80.00 Babel in Context: A Study in Cultural Identity by Efriam Sicher is the first English book to study the intertextuality of Isaak Babel's work, while simultaneously offering biographical insight into Babel the man. Raised in Odessa, one of the most vibrant centers of east European Jewish culture, Babel wrote in Russian and become a rising star of soviet literature, only to fall into silence when the heightening of repressive conditions under Stalin made his work unpublishable. Babel in Context explores Babel's tumultuous life up to his untimely death, while taking into account his cultural identity as a case study in the contradictions and tensions of literary influence, personal loyalties, and ideological constraint. The book considers the dual influences of Jewish and Russian culture on Babel's life and work, revealing how the complex and often ambivalent relations between the two cultures continue to raise controversial issues that touch on the reception of Babel and other Jewish intellectuals in Russian literature, as well as attitudes towards the "Jewishness" of their work. Series: Borderlines: Russian and East European-Jewish Studies **To order, please visit our website at <http://www.academicstudiespress.com/> www.academicstudiespress.com, alternatively you can always order online at Amazon or through most major retailers including Ingram and Baker &Taylor** Have a wonderful week! Best, Lauren Taylor Lauren Taylor Sales and Marketing Coordinator Academic Studies Press 28 Montfern Avenue Brighton, MA 02135 Tel: 617.782.6290 Fax: 857.241.3149 www.academicstudiespress.com Check us out on Facebook! <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Academic-Studies-Press/166726100027151> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Academic-Studies-Press/
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