The thesis examines texts that indicate how Jews of Early and Late Antiquity dealt with a world ruled by an omnipotent God who governed a cosmos where disorder vied with order. God's bounty reflected his good will towards those faithful to his laws, and disobedience resulted in the infliction of misfortune. A state of disorder, labelled “the ways of the Emorites”, was perceived by Judaeans as the realm of superstition and foreign practices, typified by idolatry, incest and bloodshed. Sacrifice in the Temple allowed people to fulfil God's commandments, drawing near to him by means of animal or cereal offerings. When the Temple was destroyed, prayer rituals replaced the sacrifices. The absence of priestly authority allowed Rabbis to take control of everyday religious laws and customs. Concepts such as the sacred and mundane, and ritual purity and impurity, are integral to the scriptural texts. Later texts retained paradoxical notions relating to these older traditions concerning ambiguity or ambivalence associated with purification and pollution, and these notions remained within the ambit of the rabbinic purview. The transformation of public sacrifice into communal prayer was accompanied by aspirations to draw near to God, no longer simply as an act of obedience, but to attain aspects of his wisdom and power. God was no longer present in his Temple, but had taken on the role of King of Heaven, seated upon his Throne in the celestial heights, and the power attained by some Rabbinic sages in mystical ascents enabled them to perform miraculous feats. Ideas of the sacrificial cult and notions of ritual purity retained their influence in prayers, and esoteric Rabbinic traditions were appropriated by exponents of private magical rituals. Angels and demons inhabited the Talmudic cosmology, and angelic forces summoned in God's name might control the misfortune resulting from demonic intrusions.

Wellbeing is increasingly emerging within discussions of teacher effectiveness. Teacher quality and health has an impact on pupil learning. In an increasingly varied secondary teaching landscape where academies and free schools outnumber ‘state’ schools and where market forces and policy reform have created a new and dynamic working experience; there are benefits and opportunities, but also occupational risks to wellbeing. This study fills a research gap by engaging in a focussed analysis of secondary school teachers’ wellbeing. It offers theoretical contributions and practical recommendations relating to wellbeing and its management in emerging secondary school settings. It informs leadership and management practice towards managing wellbeing proactively through environment, community and personal / transcendental experiences. The research suggests that wellbeing as a performance management criterion and a key measure for school self-improvement could support best practice in innovative and infinite ways. A 61 item Likert questionnaire and 6 semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore 66 secondary teachers’ perceptions of their wellbeing. The data delivered illuminating testimony on the secondary teachers’ work lives and wellbeing. The results uncovered that environmental conditions (such as working with young people, the ability to take lunch breaks and access to resources) and communal conditions (such as the ability to work as a team, to be consulted, to collaborate, be supported and feel trusted) at work impacted teachers’ overall personal wellbeing. Personal wellbeing (overall wellbeing) represented how far teachers were able to develop personally and professionally, how far they experienced agency, control, fulfilment commitment and motivation. What was revealing was the emergence of transcendental wellbeing which arose as a component of personal wellbeing. Transcendental wellbeing represented the unique, personal framework that individuals ascribe to what they do. It encompassed the purpose, meaning and drive that enabled secondary teachers to work through daily events and challenges with resilience.

This is a study of religious identity in Kathmandu, Nepal. The aim is to establish the circumstances and conditions that define religious identity and the contexts in which it is expressed. Religious identity operates on various levels. At the macro-level, the Muslims are defined by the state as a marginal group. At the same time, the Hindu state has also shown itself to be tolerant of Muslims: the Hindu state not only intervened in communal clashes between Hindus and Muslims but also showed its support for Muslims at a time of crisis, which then affirmed the loyalty of the Muslims to the state. However, the acquiescent attitude of the Muslims towards the Hindus does not hide the subtle attempts to differentiate themselves from the Hindus, and their response and resistance to Islamic reform clearly show that their secular interests are closely linked to their religious ones. Finally, this thesis also shows that religious identity is changeable. It presents case studies of religious conversion from one religion to another, from one sect to another or from one level of commitment to another.

The objective of this study is to describe and analyze the management of communal conflict in the Middle East, focusing on the Kurds. To this end, an effort is made to examine (1) the means that have been used to manage the Kurdish conflict by Middle Eastern countries; (2) the degree of success or failure of applied measures and (3) possible explanations for the first two questions.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / In this research, I present critical facts about Land Tenure Systems and Poverty Reduction processes in Mafela Resettlement community. I focus mainly on the Post-Fast Track Land Reform (2004 ; 2011) period and the interactive processes in this new resettlement area. The research - premised on the rights approach - sought to explore land tenure rights systems and poverty reduction mechanisms seen by the Mafela community to be improving their livelihoods; it also sought to find out if there is evidence linking tenure rights to poverty reduction and how land tenure rights governance systems affect their livelihoods. Suffice to say in both the animal kingdom and human world, territorial space and integrity, its demarcation as well as how resources are used within the space, given the area - calls for a - defined system of rights by the residents themselves. Whilst it is true that there is no one story about Zimbabwens land reform (Scoones et al 2011) the contribution of this research towards insights emanating from the newly resettled farmers adds another invaluable contribution in the realm of rural development issues. The oft rigidified perceptions about the land reform in Zimbabwe as having dismally failed draw contrasting findings from this research. The findings, themselves drawn mainly through interviews, seem to suggest that there are indeed improved livelihoods for resettled farmers more than what is generally believed from a distance. The perception that secure tenure rights (among other myths) determines livelihoods improvement also revealed otherwise with Mafela community. The resettlers dynamic socio-economic milieu presents opportunities and challenges which only the resettled farmers can solve if given adequate support and empowerment in terms of decision making processes. The power basis wielded by the war veterans and the culture of top-down decision making processes as lamented by the resettled farmers suggest that the evolution of resettlements is still far from over. This research therefore hopes to challenge its readers and other stakeholders to engage with issues and recommendations raised here in order for a rethink about land tenure rights and poverty reduction initiatives associated with the new resettlement areas in Zimbabwe in general. / South Africa

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / This study focuses on women's perceptions of land rights in the communal areas of Namaqualand in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Here women farm land which they can access only through their relationships with male kin. Women's use rights are dependent on their relationships with fathers, husbands and sons; and it is virtually impossible for women to obtain land in their own names. Women's own views of rights, of access, of control and authority over land display a significant gender bias in favour of men. This study explores women's understandings and perceptions of land rights and agriculture and other forms of land use. The objectives of the study are to explore the links between patriarchal social systems and women's conservative attitudes towards holding land; and to show how current policy processes and legislation – aimed at strengthening the rights of existing landholders in communal areas – allow local customs to continue to entrench gender discriminatory practices. A small study was conducted through in-depth interviews with sixty-five women and two focus group discussions with women in Namaqualand. The scope of the study was limited to exploring the nature of women's land rights in five of the communal areas of Namaqualand; formal and informal "rules" around women's land rights; women's practices of asserting or realising land rights; challenges and opportunities that women experience in claiming their land rights; the views and understandings of women in relation to land use and its contribution to livelihoods; and how women understand the impact of current land reform policies on their access to land. For the purpose of this thesis, literature on land tenure, gender and land rights as well as on the history of the former Coloured rural reserves of Namaqualand was considered. The key findings of the study indicate that women are disadvantaged by historical norms, values and attitudes, which afford them only secondary rights to land. Yet, informal land practices – however limited – show that in some cases women are creating opportunities to gain access to land independently. For this to become the norm rather than an exception, these practices need recognition and support within the on-going land reform transformation process in Namaqualand.

Six livestock owners, who are commonly used as demonstrators, participated in the study of which three were from communal areas and three from freehold farms in the Ganyesa area. The livestock production potential in communal areas was compared with that of freehold farms. Information on livestock production, veld condition, Dry matter, crude protein- content of natural grasses and extension services were determined and evaluated for each study area. The result of this study revealed that because of variation in climate, Ganyesa is classified as semi- arid and is mainly suitable for livestock production. The result further revealed that there were major constraints in livestock production in the study area and these were related to land tenure system and poor livestock production. In both communal areas and freehold farms, farmers were unable to invest in infrastructural development and this immensely affected production, and led to over-grazing. The performance of the herds (calving %) in communal areas was low (54%) as compared to that on the freehold farms (6 %). However, the results revealed that more calves that were born lived up to weaning (85% in communal areas, 90 % on freehold farms) and this compared favourably with results from other areas. Herd mortality rates for both communal (2%) and freehold farms (2%) were reported to be low. The performance of smallstock was somehow lower than expected for both communal and freehold farms. The lambing kidding percentage was low (62% and 69%, respectively) and mortality rates were somewhat high (to % and 23% respectively). This means that many lambs/kids died due to diseases and malnutrition and thus did not reach a weaning age. Forage DM production was reported to be higher on freehold farms than in communal areas, and this supported the argument that the latter areas are over-stocked. The CP¬content of forage was high for freehold farms during December - January and low during July - August. The CP -values of forage for freehold farms were higher than those for communal areas with the highest figures recorded during January. The veld condition score was reasonable on freehold farms with a high percentage of desirable grass species (28 % ) and low in communal areas (22 %) with high percentage of undesirable grass species (52 %) recorded by the latter. The results of this study revealed that all samples recorded high strontium (Sr) values, indicating likely contamination of the borehole sites. The high levels of titanium (Ti) and barium (Ba) on freehold farms may indicate a possibility of industrial pollution of boreholes. Most of the water sources sampled may also be utilised by humans for drinking, food preparation and drinking purposes with detrimental effects. In view of these constraints, some recommendations were made. / Dissertation (M Inst Agrar (Animal Production))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Animal and Wildlife Sciences / unrestricted

This thesis deals with a employee catering system in the Czech Republic. The first part provides a brief history of catering and identify ways to ensure catering for employees in the Czech Republic. The thesis focuses on the use of vouchers. It analyzes the attitude of employees, employers and owners of restaurants on the vouchers. At the end are defined effects on employees, employers and restaurant, in case the tax advantage of meal voucher was cancelled. The thesis includes an illustrative example of the impact of a particular restaurant.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Agric) Extension)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

Challenging experiences abound in everyday life. Research on relational transgressions predominately favors investigating the nature and outcomes of the experience and how the victim and transgressor respond following the experience. However, individuals are embedded within social networks that provide perceived and enacted support during relational challenges. Research on supportive communication documents the social support process within various contexts by highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of seeking and providing particular kinds of supportive messages. It is likely that social network members play an influential role in an individual's coping process following an experience of feeling wronged by something someone said or did. Literature on coping processes describes coping occurring on levels from individual to communal. If social network members feel wronged or hurt by what happened to the transgressed individual, then coping might occur at the network level. Little research to date has investigated the communicative coping processes within social networks following relational transgressions experiences. In the present study I argue that conversations about coping with relational transgressions influence transgressed individuals' and social network members' perceived stress, feelings about the transgression, forgiveness, and perceived ownership and responsibility of the transgression. Fifty pairs of transgressed individuals and their social network members came to a communication research laboratory and completed a pre-interaction questionnaire, talked with each other about the transgression experience, and completed a post-interaction questionnaire. Participants and third-party observers evaluated the quantity and quality of supportive behaviors during the interaction. Results suggest that participants' perceptions of stress, negative emotions, and motivations for avoidance and revenge related to the transgression experience decreased from pre to post-interaction. Although many of my predictions about the associations between the amount of types of support and quality of support were not supported, results revealed several insightful findings. The amount of emotion support had a negative indirect effect on primary participants' perceptions of stress related to the transgression because of quality of support. I discuss the theoretical and research implication for this and other findings. The communicative coping processes within social networks following relational transgression experiences work in complex and layered ways to influence individual and relational well-being. The present study opens avenues for extending research on communicative coping and repair processes following challenging life experiences.