A Light Unto My Path (Hardcover)

Alexander Poltorak was born and raised as an atheist in the former Soviet Union. Both he and his wife were university educated physicists who found their way back to their Jewish roots and sought to immigrate to the United States where they could live freely as Jews and practice the traditions of their people.

As a Jewish activist and political dissident, Poltorak was stripped of his degrees and forced to flee with his family to the (then) Soviet Republic of Georgia, where some remnants of Jewish life remained. As they lived in (the Georgian capital) Tbilisi as refuseniks, the Poltoraks found their first Mezuzah - a rarity in an atheistic and anti-Semitic country. They saw this Mezuzah as a symbol of hope and Jewish identity, as they waited for two years before finally receiving permission to leave.

When he immigrated to the U.S. in 1982, Alexander Poltorak brought his love for the Mezuzah with him, and spent over 10 years researching material for this book while serving on the faculty of Cornell University and Touro College.

In his unique and comprehensive anthology, Dr. Alexander Poltorak explores every aspect of the Mezuzah, including:

* Meaning and Significance
* Contents of the Mezuzah
* History and Customs
* Symbolism
* The Protective Power of the Mezuzah
* Kabbalistic and Chassidic Interpretations
* The Mezuzah and Astrology
* The Mezuzah in Letters and Numbers
* Laws and Customs
* Mezuzah in Literature

Poltorak uses this iconic Jewish symbol as a portal into Judaism and, through the prism of Mezuzah, explores important concepts in Jewish thought and mysticism. He carefully explains each Hebrew term and each new concept so that even the most novice reader can absorb the material without difficulty. This wealth of information, assembled for the first time under one cover, will also prove useful and enlightening to Rabbis, Jewish scholars, and all readers of Jewish interest, culture and tradition.