Search

An A-to-Z reference guide to the major figures, concepts, and events factoring into antisemitic hatred and violence across history. In The War Against the Jews, Dagobert D. Runes presents a scholarly account of antisemitism across centuries of war, slander, atrocities, and bigotry as it has manifested around the world. Concise entries cover everything from major figures of the Catholic Church who endorsed hate to code names for little-known Nazi plans. Here, readers can learn how Russian emperor Alexander I expelled Jews from Russian towns in the nineteenth century, a fifteenth-century Franciscan friar travelled through Europe spreading fear of Jews as baby killers, the ominous prayer recited by Protestant and Catholic bishops on Hitler's fiftieth birthday, and much more.

An in-depth introduction to the ancient work of Jewish law and theology. One of the world's supreme works of religious literature, the Talmud has been unjustly neglected by a civilization that is rightly proud of its Judeo-Christian heritage. In The Talmud of Jerusalem, Dagobert D. Runes offers a fascinating and scholarly overview of its evolution and the rabbis who taught and contributed to it. The Talmud came into being in the centuries after Jerusalem fell to the Roman Empire, when the people of Palestine were scattered to the four corners of the earth. To preserve their faith amid the strange customs of Pagan lands, the wandering Israelites turned to their teachers for a fresh interpretation of the Torah, the ancient book of Moses. The Oral Laws formulated by the sages were eventually codified in the Talmud.

This work of philosophical soul-searching explores the mysteries of human life and consciousness.In this fascinating work of spiritual philosophy, Dagobert D. Runes sets out on a contemplative journey unencumbered by the traditional manner and terminology of philosophical writing. His purpose here is to articulate the true essence of humanity and human thought. By turns inspiring and melancholy, Runes peels back the layers of quotidian life to explore its deepest meaning. As Runes puts it in this volume: “What goes on in the core of our mind, this tumult created of our vexation with the business of animal living, lies just in our mind. Our mind is our whole world; the whole world is in our mind.”

The eminent philosopher presents a summation of his views on an encyclopedic range of topics from abstract art to Zionism.Culled from years of research and introspection, the diverse observations discussed in Handbook of Reason by Dagobert D. Runes are bound to stimulate, challenge, and at times force upon the reader a shock of recognition grounded in universal truths. In a style that moves from the aphoristic to the metaphorical, Runes offers countless gems of wisdom, often irresistibly quotable, and always profoundly moving. A humanitarian theme evolved partly from personal tragedies permeates his lifelong search for “a life of God the Spirit and the Giver/(Of) God unbound and unencumbered/By hate or prejudice/A god to love by Deeds/Not hollow hymns and vows.”

A scholar embarks on a journey into the philosophical issues that concern him most in this profound and deeply personal essay collection. It is late in the evening and a philosopher wants to get words on paper. No grand project or treatise, just an attempt to get some things off his chest. Certain phrases become touchstones for his thoughts: the nature of man, the art of living, God and religion, Jews and anti-Semitism, crime and punishment, arts and science, language and literature, history and the state, education, and thinking itself. Believing that hesitancy in judgment is the true mark of the thinker, Dagobert D. Runes interrogates each of these themes as he wrestles with the question: If you hesitate in your judgments, how can you arrive at certainty? The result is a touching document of a philosopher who investigates many areas of man's endeavors, and who seeks to characterize what he judges to be the pure, true nature of these realms.

This A-to-Z reference volume presents definitions, propositions, and explanations of Spinoza's thought—all in the philosopher's own words. The seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza remains one of the most significant thinkers of our time. Yet his works, written in a rigidly geometric form of argumentation, are notoriously difficult to navigate. Expertly edited by Dagobert D. Runes, Spinoza Dictionary presents an alphabetical selection of Spinoza's own writings, making essential definitions, concepts, and passages immediately accessible. In his introduction, Runes sheds new light on Spinoza's private, political, and religious life, and exposes and explains the dramatic story of his apostasy. If the reader despairs of finding his way through Spinoza's works, here he will find a reliable guide speaking in Spinoza's own words. “The grand ideas of Spinoza's Ethics are brought out clearly in this book: not less than the heroic illusions of this great and passionate man.” —Albert Einstein

The ethical teachings of Judaism and Christianity are presented in distilled form in this concise volume of Biblical writings. A Bible for the Liberal is not a new book. It is, rather, a selection of the principles of ethics, taken from all biblical literature, including the Hebrew Books of Wisdom and The Apocrypha, without the usual mythological and ritualistic framework. In these selections, philosopher Dagobert D. Runes presents what he calls “the essence of true Judaism and Christianity.” The believer, as well as the non-believer, will be able to find in this book the essential ethics of the great law-givers and prophets of biblical times.

This volume of letters, articles, and speeches displays the deep wisdom and varied concerns of this influential yet little-known Founding Father. A physician and humanitarian from Pennsylvania, Benjamin Rush was both a learned intellectual and a radical revolutionary. He was a signatory to the Declaration of Independence and a Continental Congress attendee. And unlike many of his more famous contemporaries, he was a early and vehement opponent of slavery and the death penalty. This collection of Rush's writings shows a wide range of interest and knowledge embracing agriculture and the mechanical arts, chemistry and medicine, political science, and theology. Included are letters he wrote in an effort to dispel prejudice, to fight oppression, and to elevate the lot of the lowly.

This wide-ranging anthology examines the enduring cultural impact of the Jewish people and their many contributions to the creation of modern society.Edited by philosopher and intellectual historian Dagobert D. Runes, The Hebrew Impact on Western Civilization is a scholarly and authoritative account of the many spheres in which the Jews have impacted Western civilization. A diverse collection of eminent scholars consider how the Jews altered the course of the contemporary world and helped raise the standard of human values. William B. Ziff's “The Jew as Soldier, Strategist and Military Adviser” delineates the successes of Jewish military forces throughout history. Dr. Abraham I. Katsh discusses the “Hebraic Foundations of American Democracy,” noting the influence of Hebrew Scriptures on standards of conduct in western civilization. These and other essays offer a fascinating and expansive look at the far-reaching impact Jews have had on Western life.

An enlightening selection of writings by the US president who defined the American way as he led the country through the twentieth century's darkest days.As the thirty-second president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt navigated the country out of the Great Depression through an extraordinary agenda of public works and financial reforms known as the New Deal. He then inspired the American people to stand up to tyranny by speaking out against fascist regimes abroad during the Second World War. These were defining moments for America, and Roosevelt brilliantly articulated their significance in a series of speeches and other public addresses. The American Way presents a selection of his historic writings, which established the ideological foundations of contemporary American democracy.

It is late in the evening and a philosopher wants to get words on paper. No grand project. No grand system of thought, just an attempt to get some things off his chest. Where would he turn his attention? Where would his thoughts lead him? Several catch phrases become crystallization points for his thoughts: thinking, the nature of man, the art of living, God and religion, Jews and anti-Semitism, crime and punishment, education, arts and science, language and literature, history and the state. Dagobert D. Runes put in much effort to avoid the pursuit of false ideas. In fact, the preface to From My Writings and My Evenings reads: “Hesitancy in judgment is the true mark of the thinker. Men think quite alike as they desire alike; if they were different, they could not co-exist even for a day. But most people judge by traditional or imitated judgment patterns, and snap judgments are the rule and the rulers.” How is one to avoid the pitfalls apparent in such judgments, and still contribute to one's personal philosophy? If you are hesitant in your judgments, then what can you state that you believe to be unquestionably true? The result is a touching document of a philosopher who investigates many areas of man's endeavors, and who seeks to characterize what he judges to be the pure, true nature of these realms.

This Bible is not a new book. It is, rather, a selection of the principles of ethics, taken from all biblical literature, including the HebrewBooks of Wisdom and TheApocrypha, without the usual mythological and ritualistic framework. Liberals of our time will find in this selection the essence of true Judaism and Christianity. The purpose of this anthology is to help those with critical, with even prejudicial eyes, to get a view of the majestic panorama that unfolds in the writings of the great Hebrew and Christian Men of God. The believer, as well as the non-believer, will be able to find in this book the essential ethics of the great law-givers and prophets of biblical times.

Philosopher Dagobert D. Runes introduces readers to the philosophical movements throughout the ages—traveling back to the time of the ancient Greeks, all the way up to the twentieth century, with philosophies such as Existentialism—in this groundbreaking guide, Philosophy for Everyman from Socrates to Sartre. Readers will appreciate Runes'careful breakdown of concepts and his historical approach to philosophy. His engaging prose, written for the general reader, makes philosophy enjoyable and accessible.

An eye-opening classic volume on the enduring cultural impact of the Jewish people This authoritative work considers the creative and cultural influence of the Jews throughout our time. At more than 800 pages, D. D. Runes has complied a mid-twentieth century account of the various contributions in many spheres in which the Jews have had an impact on western civilization. Eminent scholars consider the ways in which the Jews contributed toward the making of modern society and helped in raising human standards and values. Richard Van Dyck, in “The Jewish Influence on Journalism,” observes that the preponderance of Jewish newspapermen disproves the commonly held belief that Jewish journalism is “necessarily subversive.” William B. Ziff's “The Jew as Soldier, Strategist and Military Adviser” delineates the successes of Jewish military forces throughout history. Dr. Abraham I. Katsh discusses “The Hebraic Foundations of American Democracy,” noting the influence of Hebrew Scriptures on standards of conduct in western civilization. Curtis Lubinski's “The Jew in Drama, Theatre, and Film” traces the success of Jewish performers and dramatists. The essays compiled in this volume are a fascinating and expansive look at the far-reaching impact Jews have had on Western life.

An analytical examination of the role emotional elements play in the formulation of logical propositions. The widely known philosopher traces underlying motivations in precepts, concepts and attitudes of modern man. Motivated thinking infiltrates, often dominates, prevailing patterns of thought in social, religious, cultural and even scientific organizations.

This insightful work, from the pen of the well-known philosopher, is offered as an attempt to define the borderlines of human thinking and human morality. Dr. Runes, in his search for verities and true humanity, takes the reader on an arduous voyage through the depths of the mind. This type of soul-searching philosophy, unburdened by traditional manner and terminology, is sometimes baffling, frequently of melancholy character, but almost always fascinating and inspiring.

In his most recent philosophical work, one of the modern world's pre-eminent thinkers offers a summation of his views on a wide range of topics of first and last importance, beginning with abstract art and ending with Zionism. Culled from years of patient research and fruitful introspection, his observations are bound to stimulate, challenge, and at times force upon the reader a shock of recognition grounded on timeless but at times obscured universal truths. Dr. Runes'word magic, now aphoristic, now cadenced and metaphorical, creates countless gems of wisdom, frequently poetic, often irresistibly quotable, always profoundly moving. A humanitarian theme evolved partly from personal tragedies permeates his lifelong search for “a life of God the Spirit and the Giver/(Of) God unbound and unencumbered/By hate or prejudice/A god to love by Deeds/Not hollow hymns and vows.”

This volume is truly and doubly a “Treasury.” With its easy to read structure of brief entries in alphabetic order, it is a treasure house of observations on life and death, civilization and savagery, the universe and beyond—the Great Topics which have challenged man's thought, whether in passionate public debate or in the lonely stillness of his nights, ever since he first raised his eyes to the stars. At the same time, this is a “personal treasury” of the intimate thoughts of an outstanding modern philosopher on these Great Topics.

Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. He lived in Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and devout Christian, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Rush was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence and attended the Continental Congress. Later in life, he became a professor of medical theory and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania. Despite having a wide influence on the development of American government, he is not as widely known as many of his American contemporaries. Rush was also an early opponent of slavery and capital punishment. Despite his great contributions to early American society, Rush may be more famous today as the man who, in 1812, helped reconcile the friendship of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams by encouraging the two former Presidents to resume writing to each other. The editor of the preface of this book gives an in-depth look into Benjamin Rush's life. The writings of Rush, which are contained in this book, show a wide range of interest and knowledge embracing agriculture and the mechanical arts, chemistry and medicine, political science, and theology. Included are letters he wrote in an effort to dispel prejudice, to fight oppression, and to elevate the lot of the lowly.

In this work, Baruch Spinoza, one of the cardinal thinkers of all times, answers the eternal questions of man and his passions, and God and nature. In the deepest sense, this dictionary of Spinoza's philosophy is a veritable treasury of sublime wisdom. In his introduction, Dagobert D. Runes, a life-long student of the philosopher, sheds new light on Spinoza's private, political and religious life, and exposes and explains the dramatic story of his apostasy. If the reader despairs of the business of finding his way through Spinoza's works, here he will find a reliable guide speaking in Spinoza's own words. “The grand ideas of Spinoza's Ethics are brought out clearly in this book: not less than the heroic illusions of this great and passionate man.” —Albert Einstein

How a great American president communicated a changing worldview What made Franklin Delano Roosevelt an effective leader? His policies and decisions changed our nation's and the world's history. But more than his skill as a savvy politician and progressive thinker, FDR's ability to directly and eloquently voice his thoughts on national concerns, social change, and humanity spoke to and reached the hearts of his people. In this selection of quotes drawn from his speeches and papers, FDR's observations and opinions cover everything from faith, war, and peace, to religion, freedom, and the very definition of what it is to be an American. Essays include “The Four Freedoms,” “We Belong to Many Races,” “True Education,” “The Rights of the Common Man,” “Dynamic Democracy,” and “Government with a Soul.”