This first installment of Historical Sketches, focuses on the organizational skills of the Chabad-Lubavitch leaders, describing their far-reaching efforts on behalf of the social and communal well-being of their brethren, beginning with the founder of the movement, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, known as the Alter Rebbe.

The Essential Talmud is a masterful introduction by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz to the great repository of Jewish wisdom, the Talmud. A book of profound scholarship and concise pedagogy, The Essential Talmud succinctly describes the Talmud's history, structure, and methodology. It summarizes the Talmud's main principles, demonstrates its contemporary relevance, and captures the spirit of this unique and paradoxical sacred text as a human expression of divine law.

In 1843, when Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, third Lubavitcher Rebbe, was called upon to join the government's Rabbinical Commission in Czarist Russia, the Rebbe showed unswerving determination in opposing any changes to Jewish practice and custom proposed by the Haskalah Movement. Penned by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Tzemach Tzedek and the Haskalah Movement presents the background and story of this critical period in Russian Jewish history.

This biography uncovers the roots of the dedication and sacrifice that nurture the current Lubavitch movement. Rich with details, it provides perspective, inspiration, courage, and insight into the towering personality of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, Rabbi of Yekatrinoslav, Ukraine, father of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson.

“In Good Hands” is a profound collection of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s letters and talks, offering guidance on faith and trust. These writings delve into Bitachon, a blend of trust and optimism, providing solace and strength in times of solitude and struggle. The Rebbe’s compassionate responses in his letters, often referencing Shaar HaBitachon, encourage a steadfast trust in G-d.

The Great Mission presents authentic accounts of the Baal Shem Tov's life and teachings, culled from the vast oral and written tradition of chabad-chasidic literature. Divided into six sections, the audiobook begins by telling the story of his youth. We witness as the Baal Shem Tov, still a young man, discovers the special qualities of his soul, and joins with a secret band of mystics.

Part biography, part memoir, part manual for great leadership, My Rebbe explores the evolution of Chabad's global success, its central beliefs and practices, the Rebbe's personal history, and his vision to inspire change. This moving narrative, written by one of today's most influential Jewish thinkers, will motivate listeners to contemplate their own mission in the world and aspire toward meaningful living.

Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was 23 and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age 38. Richard Bushman, an esteemed cultural historian and a practicing Mormon, moves beyond the popular stereotype of Smith as a colorful fraud to explore his personality, his relationships with others, and how he received revelations.

From his modest headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the Rebbe advised some of the world's greatest leaders and shaped matters of state and society. Statesmen and artists as diverse as Ronald Reagan, Robert F. Kennedy, Yitzchak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Elie Wiesel, and Bob Dylan span the spectrum of those who sought his counsel.

Saxum - the Latin word means rock - is a term that St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, sometimes used in letters to Alvaro del Portillo to describe him. Don Alvaro, as he came to be known, was for many years the founder's closest associate as well as his successor and first Prelate of Opus Dei after it became a personal prelature-a foundational rock for this dynamic international Catholic group devoted to promoting sanctity in ordinary life.

The Lubavitcher Rabbi's Memoirs are a veritable treasure chest of Chasidic learning and lore, of anecdotes, historical annotations and commemorations, and represent the very best of informal writing from the profile pen of the sixth leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Rabbi Yosef Y. Schneersohn, of blessed memory. Known and unknown figures from the past, scholars and cobblers, princes and dreamers, and giants of the spirit rise before our eyes to convey the message of inspiration, wholehearted devotion and all-out dedication that characterized Chasidic Jewish life in the small and large centers of Eastern Europe.

The Lubavitcher Rabbi's Memoirs are a veritable treasure chest of Chasidic learning and lore, of anecdotes, historical annotations and commemorations, and represent the very best of informal writing from the profile pen of the sixth leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Rabbi Yosef Y. Schneersohn, of blessed memory.

This book contains stories told from the point of view of those who experienced the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants, giving us insight into their meaning. While the section headings provide context for the revelations, they don't tell the complete story. What questions prompted the revelations? What did the Lord's responses mean to those He addressed? How did they respond? Perfect for study with the Doctrine and Covenants.

Stories of Maria of Agreda's exceptional attributes spread from her cloistered convent in seventeenth-century Agreda, Spain, to the court in Madrid, and beyond. Without leaving her village, the abbess impacted the kingdom, her church, and the New World. Based upon her transcendent visionary experiences, Sor Maria chronicled the life of Mary, mother of Jesus of Nazareth, in the Mystical City of God. This work was temporarily condemned during the Spanish Inquisition.

The engrossing, moving biography of one of China's better-known Christians, the dedicated evangelist and gifted Bible teacher Watchman Nee.