UDM Libraries Book of the Week

A film by Jean-Paul Jaud

Over 50 years have passed since Jacques Cousteau won world-wide acclaim and a Palme d’Or at Cannes for his film The Silent World – one of the few important environmental films to ever come out of France. If the preservation of the marine world was an invaluable cause, that of sustainable, safe food production and a healthy diet for our children is even more urgent. Now, from director Jean-Paul Jaud comes FOOD BEWARE: THE FRENCH ORGANIC REVOLUTION.

For the first time ever, our children are growing up less healthy than their parents. As the rate of cancer, infertility and other illnesses which have been linked to environmental factors climb ever upward each year, we must ask ourselves: why is this happening? What can we do to save our children’s health – and our own? The problem is hard to address, because it is invisible. Most of our food has been sprayed with pesticides and grown with fertilizers that have contaminated the soil, by industrial food producers that put profits above our health. But is there another way? Can a modern society feed itself without contaminating land and livestock?

FOOD BEWARE follows an experiment in a small village in the mountains of France, where – in opposition to powerful economic interests – the town’s mayor has decided to make the school lunch menu organic, with much of it grown locally. Featuring interviews with children, parents, teachers, health care workers, journalists, farmers, elected officials, scientists and researchers, we learn about challenges and rewards of their stand – both the abuses of industry as well as the practical solutions at hand. What will it take to save our health? This moving testament to one community’s answer is food for thought, and provides a blueprint for a growing revolution.

CATALOG PAGE

Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, editors

Although major New Testament figures–Jesus and Paul, Peter and James, Jesus’ mother Mary and Mary Magdalene–were Jews, living in a culture steeped in Jewish history, beliefs, and practices, there has never been an edition of the New Testament that addresses its Jewish background and the culture from which it grew–until now. In The Jewish Annotated New Testament, eminent experts under the general editorship of Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler put these writings back into the context of their original authors and audiences. And they explain how these writings have affected the relations of Jews and Christians over the past two thousand years.

An international team of scholars introduces and annotates the Gospels, Acts, Letters, and Revelation from Jewish perspectives, in the New Revised Standard Version translation. They show how Jewish practices and writings, particularly the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, influenced the New Testament writers. From this perspective, readers gain new insight into the New Testament’s meaning and significance. In addition, thirty essays on historical and religious topics–Divine Beings, Jesus in Jewish thought, Parables and Midrash, Mysticism, Jewish Family Life, Messianic Movements, Dead Sea Scrolls, questions of the New Testament and anti-Judaism, and others–bring the Jewish context of the New Testament to the fore, enabling all readers to see these writings both in their original contexts and in the history of interpretation. For readers unfamiliar with Christian language and customs, there are explanations of such matters as the Eucharist, the significance of baptism, and “original sin.”

For non-Jewish readers interested in the Jewish roots of Christianity and for Jewish readers who want a New Testament that neither proselytizes for Christianity nor denigrates Judaism, The Jewish Annotated New Testament is an essential volume that places these writings in a context that will enlighten students, professionals, and general readers.

CATALOG PAGE

Rodger K. Newman, editor in chief

The 165 signed essays in this four-volume set are arranged chronologically and highlight the Constitution’s 7 articles and 27 amendments. They offer clear explanations of political, social, and judicial issues and cover important Supreme Court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education. Abortion, the right to die, and censorship are also discussed. Black-and-white photographs, illustrations, and political cartoons accompany nearly every article, breaking the text into digestible sections. Terms are defined in sidebars, which cumulatively create the glossary found in the fourth volume.

CATALOG PAGE

by Kent Roach

This book critically and comparatively examines the responses of the United Nations and a range of countries to the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. It assesses the convergence between the responses of western democracies including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada with countries with more experience with terrorism including Egypt, Syria, Israel, Singapore, and Indonesia. A number of common themes – the use of criminal law and immigration law, the regulation of speech associated with terrorism, the review of the state’s whole of government counter-terrorism activities, and the development of national security policies – are discussed. The book provides a critical take on how the United Nations promoted terrorism financing laws and listing processes and the regulation of speech associated with terrorism but failed to agree on a definition of terrorism or the importance of respecting human rights while combating terrorism. It also assesses the failures of the American extra-legal approach and departures from criminal justice and the challenges of transnational cooperation and accountability for counter-terrorism.

CATALOG PAGE