DA’AT INSTITUTE PUBLICATIONS by SIMCHA RAPHAEL, Ph.D.
If you are ordering more than 3 books, please email Simcha at drsimcha@daatinstitute.net for a discounted shipping price.
NEWLY-PUBLISHED COLLECTION OF POETRY!
MUSINGS WITH THE ANGEL OF DEATH:
Poems of Love, Life, and Longing
MUSINGS WITH THE ANGEL OF DEATH:
Poems of Love, Life, and Longing
Intense and deeply personal, this compilation of poetry grapples with the reality of death, loss, and finding meaning in the face of life’s finitude in contemporary times. For over three decades, Simcha Paull Raphael has written scholarly books on death and the afterlife, including his groundbreaking study Jewish Views of the Afterlife. Through this collection of 36 poems, Raphael invites us into the inner sanctum of his intimate wrestling with death and loss. As Rabbi Jill Hammer writes in the Foreword: “Raphael has done the brave work of exposing his own emotional life, the inner workings of his drive to address mortality and immortality. In a sense, he has let us know the behind-the-scenes of his academic and spiritual work.”
The poems herein reflect and wrestle with a spectrum of topics: the gamut of Jewish death rituals (funeral and shiva, Kaddish and Yizkor);, personal tributes to the author’s deceased parents; his journey of making meaning in the face of grief and loss; challenges of love and marriage; the vicissitudes of family life; and thoughtful poetic reflections on the state of the world today. As a book mirroring the universal journey of awakening to the reality of life’s finality and eternity, Musings with the Angel of Death speaks to the heart and soul.
— Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, Ph.D., Author of The Receiving: Reclaiming Jewish Women’s Wisdom, and Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma
“Simcha Paull Raphael’s poetic voice is personal, intimate, courageous, and inviting. Each poem is a doorway inside the thirty-six room mansion of his soul as he gently takes us on a tour of his own inner life. The poems have the feel of a good friend inviting the reader to meet his family members, and inspiring us to reflect upon our own. Each poem lights up a unique mirror neuron so that we end up seeing ourselves, our families, our lives, our deaths through his. His conversational voice about death transforms fear into the desire to live life even more fully at every moment. Like a good collection of memorabilia, this anthology is one to save and savor.”— Rabbi David Zaslow Havurah Shir Hadash, Ashland, OR, Author of Reimagining Exodus: A Story of Freedom
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Paperback – $15 |
Hardcover – $22 |
A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS AND LITURGIES
EXPLORING END-OF-LIFE CARE IN A VIRTUAL AGE
JEWISH END-OF-LIFE CARE IN A VIRTUAL AGE:
Our Traditions Reimagined
Edited by Dayle A. Friedman, David Levin, Simcha Paull Raphael
This newly-released book is a rich collection of resources for clergy, spiritual caregivers, helping professionals, and families confronting death and mourning in unprecedented times. It offers historical insight on the evolution of Jewish death rituals in times of crisis; provides guidelines for online spiritual care and death rituals; outlines approaches to bioethical dilemmas in a time of scarce medical resources; and features an appendix of innovative new end-of-life liturgies. This volume meets the needs of our present era and offers wise direction for the unknown future of Jewish end-of-life care.
— Rabbi Jack Riemer, author, Finding God in Unexpected Places
“Rarely has a Jewish anthology been needed so urgently or so immediately. This profoundly sensitive, compassionate, insightful, practical and useful companion for Jewish clergy, caregivers and mourners offers innovative solutions to the problems we face in honoring the dead in an era of social distancing.” — Rabbi Jill Hammer, author, Return to the Place: The Magic, Meditation and Mystery of Sefer Yetzirah
$16.95
THIRD EDITION OF JEWISH VIEWS OF THE AFTERLIFE
THE CLASSICAL STUDY OF LIFE AFTER DEATH IN JUDAISM!
JEWISH VIEWS OF THE AFTERLIFE
Originally published in 1994, JEWISH VIEWS OF THE AFTERLIFE is a classic study of ideas of afterlife and postmortem survival in Jewish tradition and mysticism.
This newly released twenty-fifth-anniversary edition presents new material on little-known Jewish mystical teachings on reincarnation, a chapter on “Spirits, Ghosts and Dybbuks in Yiddish Literature”, and a foreword by the renowned scholar of Jewish mysticism, Rabbi Arthur Green.
Both historical and contemporary, this book provides a rich resource for scholars and laypeople and for teachers and students and makes an important Jewish contribution to the growing contemporary psychology of death and dying.
“Jewish Views of the Afterlife is a profound and comprehensive guide to the multiplicity of Jewish perspectives on death, the soul, and eternal life. The book includes Jewish perspectives on heaven and hell, ancestors and the underworld, reincarnation and resurrection. A cornucopia of primary sources and commentary illuminate the development of a variety of Jewish beliefs about the afterlife, spanning centuries of Jewish history. Raphael’s book is both well-organized and sensitive to the power of this topic. There is no other book like this—it is a treasure.”
— Rabbi Jill Hammer, director, Spiritual Education at the Academy for Jewish Religion
“While many modern Jews may not realize it, Judaism has an extensive mythology about the afterlife. Simcha Raphael has devoted himself to exploring the geography, traditions, and rituals of heaven-and-hell-related Jewish myth found in the Bible, the Talmud, and many rabbinic, kabbalistic and Hasidic texts. Jewish Views of the Afterlife is the most extensive in English to describe these realms of the afterlife, and a revelation to those unaware of these traditions. This new edition presents a fascinating exploration of images of afterlife and the world beyond in Yiddish literature. This book is a masterpiece of scholarship, worthy reading for everyone curious about these once widely known Jewish traditions.”
— Howard Schwartz, author of Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism
$45.00
A COLLECTION OF
POETRY AND PHOTOGRAPHY
ECHOES FROM THE ASHES:
Holocaust Poems of Life, Death, and Re-Birth
ECHOES FROM THE ASHES – Holocaust Poems of Life, Death and Re-Birth is a collection of poetry and photographs from the March of the Living – an annual pilgrimage tour to Polish concentration camps, ghettos and killing fields of the Holocaust –depicting not only the ravages of the Holocaust but a profound vision of the renewal of the Jewish spirit. The poignancy of both the poems and the accompanying photographs makes a powerful statement of the need to affirm the power of love over hate, and compassion over cruelty in these difficult times.
”On virtually every page of this deeply touching work, Raphael implores us to remember the rich Jewish life that existed in Poland for millennia and to rededicate ourselves to preserving the legacy, values and deep devotion of our holy ancestors. He also reminds us that our response to these unimaginable crimes is to never be silent, to stand up against injustice, and to bring more light into the world, after encountering such infinite darkness.
In our troubled times, Simcha Raphael’s powerful message is certainly one worth heeding.”
— Eli Rubenstein, National Director of March of the Living Canada
$18.00
MAY THE ANGELS CARRY YOU:
Jewish Prayers and Meditations for the Deathbed
MAY THE ANGELS CARRY YOU – Jewish Prayers and Meditations for the Deathbed is a collection of traditional and contemporary Jewish prayers, meditations and sacred readings designed to offer comfort and solace for those wrestling with dying and the approach of death. This unique book is a simple, practical and functional deathbed manual for people on an end-of-life journey, family members who accompany them, and professional caregivers in search of practical tools for Jewish patients that honors the legacy of Jewish deathbed practices and is inspired by the spiritual insight of Jewish renewal.
In this book of deathbed prayers and meditations, Dr. Simcha Paull Raphael provides us with powerful insights into Jewish tradition. His look at the role and power of prayer as life ebbs provides the reader with a foundation for comfort, compassion and caring that links us with a sense of the sacred. His desire to have us ritually engaged with life’s last passage serves as a practical tool for the mysterious journey at the end of life. May The Angels Carry You guides one’s soul with a sense of dignity and celebration of the gift that is our life
— Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min, Director, Jewish Sacred Aging
$10.00
MAY THE ANGELS CARRY YOU:
Jewish Songs of Comfort for Death, Dying, and Mourning
A CD of original music by Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael
MAY THE ANGELS CARRY YOU – Jewish Songs of Comfort for Death, Dying and Mourning is a collection of songs and prayers by Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael and a companion to the deathbed manual of prayers and meditations by Simcha Raphael. With original compositions based upon traditional Jewish motifs of death and mourning, this collection offers spiritual solace for those dealing with dying and walking mourners’ journey of bereavement and healing. These songs can also be incorporated into funeral and shiva rituals. A unique collection of contemporary liturgical songs for cantors, rabbis, members of the hevra kaddisha, chaplains, caregivers and others involved in this holy work.
Click here to purchase a digital download copy
$12.00
LYRIC SHEET BOOKLET for MAY THE ANGELS CARRY YOU
Jewish Songs of Comfort for Death, Dying, and Mourning
A complete selection of lyrics from the CD of music for death, dying and mourning.
May be used as liturgical poetry. [8.5 x 11″ booklet, 14 pages]
$5.00
MAY THE ANGELS CARRY YOU – SPECIAL OFFER!
Book, CD and Lyric Sheet Booklet available as a package
$24.00
LIVING AND DYING IN ANCIENT TIMES:
Death, Burial, and Mourning in Biblical Tradition
LIVING AND DYING IN ANCIENT TIMES: Death, Burial and Mourning in Biblical Tradition is both historical and contemporary in outlook, and explicates views of dying, death, burial and afterlife characteristic of ancient Hebrew and Israelite civilization. Exploring the rich tapestry of deathbed experiences of our Biblical ancestors, this book also presents contemporary reflections on dealing with human mortality and end-of-life issues in our ever-changing twenty-first-century society. Both scholarly and practical in orientation, LIVING AND DYING IN ANCIENT TIMES provides valuable wisdom for clergy, care-givers, family members and those wrestling with the human encounter with death.
In this brilliantly researched and clearly articulated treatise, Simcha Paull Raphael takes us on a journey into our ancient past and gives us back our instinctual capacity to understand and do honor to end-of-life experience and practice. This is one aspect of human experience which does not beg to be improved upon with technological advances, but rather to be restored to the realms of mystery and intuition.
— Rabbi Nadya Gross, Director, Hashpa’ah: Aleph Training Program for Jewish Spiritual Directors
Simcha Paull Raphael combines over three decades of therapeutic experience with careful readings of biblical texts to produce a well-crafted book that brings ancient insights into our own contemporary questions about death and dying.
— Tamar Kamionkowski, Ph.D., Professor of Biblical Studies, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
$10.00
THE GRIEF JOURNEY AND THE AFTERLIFE:
Jewish Pastoral Care for Bereavement
THE GRIEF JOURNEY AND THE AFTERLIFE: Jewish Pastoral Care for Bereavement presents a contemporary psychological approach to grief and bereavement which integrates an understanding of both Jewish death rituals and Kabbalistic teachings on the afterlife journey of the soul. It is designed to be a resource for both care-givers and those walking the mourner’s path.
Simcha Paull Raphael is a skilled and compassionate guide to the terrain of grief. His elegant weaving of Jewish customs, psychological wisdom and visions of the afterlife provides an invaluable resource for anyone caring for Jewish mourners on their path from loss towards wholeness.
— Rabbi Dayle Friedman, author of Jewish Wisdom for Growing Older
This is a book that will be an invaluable resource, not only for pastoral counselors, but for all of us who are facing our mortality. In it, Simcha Paull Raphael unpacks the wisdom that is contained within the Jewish tradition of death and dying, and teaches us how these insights can bring health and healing in our time. This is a wise and a helpful book, and should be cherished.
— Rabbi Jack Riemer, editor of Jewish Reflections on Death
$10.00
If you prefer to order by mail, please contact me at: drsimcha@daatinstitute.net
Postage and handling $4.50 for first book, $2.50 each additional book.
Postage and handling $3.00 for CD and booklets.
Bundled shipping available for multiple orders.