The Skeptic and the Rabbi

The Skeptic and the Rabbi PDF Author: Judy Gruen
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1631523031
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Get Book Here

Book Description
As Judy Gruen walked down the aisle and into her Orthodox Jewish future, her bouquet quivered in her shaky hand. Having grown up in the zeitgeist that proclaimed, “If it feels good, do it,” was she really ready to live the life of “rituals, rules, and restraints” that the Torah prescribed? The Skeptic and the Rabbi is a rare memoir with historical depth, spirituality, and intelligent humor. Gruen speaks with refreshing honesty about what it means to remain authentic to yourself while charting a new yet ancient spiritual path at odds with the surrounding culture, and writes touchingly about her family, including her two sets of grandparents, who influenced her in wildly opposite ways. As she navigates her new life with the man she loves and the faith she also loves—surviving several awkward moments, including when the rabbi calls to tell her that she accidentally served unkosher food to her Shabbat guests—Gruen brings the reader right along for the ride. Reading this wry, bold and compelling memoir, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and when you’re finished, you may also have a sudden craving for chicken matzo ball soup—kosher, of course.

The Skeptic and the Rabbi

The Skeptic and the Rabbi PDF Author: Judy Gruen
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1631523031
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Get Book Here

Book Description
As Judy Gruen walked down the aisle and into her Orthodox Jewish future, her bouquet quivered in her shaky hand. Having grown up in the zeitgeist that proclaimed, “If it feels good, do it,” was she really ready to live the life of “rituals, rules, and restraints” that the Torah prescribed? The Skeptic and the Rabbi is a rare memoir with historical depth, spirituality, and intelligent humor. Gruen speaks with refreshing honesty about what it means to remain authentic to yourself while charting a new yet ancient spiritual path at odds with the surrounding culture, and writes touchingly about her family, including her two sets of grandparents, who influenced her in wildly opposite ways. As she navigates her new life with the man she loves and the faith she also loves—surviving several awkward moments, including when the rabbi calls to tell her that she accidentally served unkosher food to her Shabbat guests—Gruen brings the reader right along for the ride. Reading this wry, bold and compelling memoir, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and when you’re finished, you may also have a sudden craving for chicken matzo ball soup—kosher, of course.

The Skeptic and the Rabbi

The Skeptic and the Rabbi PDF Author: Lawrence Kroll
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781523477449
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 146

Get Book Here

Book Description
Graphic Novel of a Skeptical Jew and a Renewal Rabbi. I was raised as a Jewish Conservative with a bar-mitzvah and all, but I rejected my upbringing, questioning everything I had been taught. People with blind faith in a personal God seem irrational to me. A Rabbi moved nearby and wouldn't allow me to escape my Jewish roots. This book is a humorous yet deep record of our interaction.

The Skeptic and the Rabbi Go to Israel

The Skeptic and the Rabbi Go to Israel PDF Author: Lawrence Kroll
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781540419514
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 88

Get Book Here

Book Description
Graphic Novel of a Skeptical Jew and a Renewal Rabbi. I was raised as a Jewish Conservative with a bar-mitzvah and all, but I rejected my upbringing, questioning everything I had been taught. People with blind faith in a personal God seem irrational to me. A Rabbi moved nearby and wouldn't allow me to escape my Jewish roots. We fantasized what it would be like if we travelled to Israel with our wives.

The Transformation of a Skeptic

The Transformation of a Skeptic PDF Author: Walter Orenstein
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Get Book Here

Book Description
To find out more information about Rowman & Littlefield titles please visit us at www.rowmanlittlefield.com.

Not in God's Name

Not in God's Name PDF Author: Jonathan Sacks
Publisher: Schocken
ISBN: 0805243356
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Get Book Here

Book Description
***2015 National Jewish Book Award Winner*** In this powerful and timely book, one of the most admired and authoritative religious leaders of our time tackles the phenomenon of religious extremism and violence committed in the name of God. If religion is perceived as being part of the problem, Rabbi Sacks argues, then it must also form part of the solution. When religion becomes a zero-sum conceit—that is, my religion is the only right path to God, therefore your religion is by definition wrong—and individuals are motivated by what Rabbi Sacks calls “altruistic evil,” violence between peoples of different beliefs appears to be the only natural outcome. But through an exploration of the roots of violence and its relationship to religion, and employing groundbreaking biblical analysis and interpretation, Rabbi Sacks shows that religiously inspired violence has as its source misreadings of biblical texts at the heart of all three Abrahamic faiths. By looking anew at the book of Genesis, with its foundational stories of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Rabbi Sacks offers a radical rereading of many of the Bible’s seminal stories of sibling rivalry: Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, Rachel and Leah. “Abraham himself,” writes Rabbi Sacks, “sought to be a blessing to others regardless of their faith. That idea, ignored for many of the intervening centuries, remains the simplest definition of Abrahamic faith. It is not our task to conquer or convert the world or enforce uniformity of belief. It is our task to be a blessing to the world. The use of religion for political ends is not righteousness but idolatry . . . To invoke God to justify violence against the innocent is not an act of sanctity but of sacrilege.” Here is an eloquent call for people of goodwill from all faiths and none to stand together, confront the religious extremism that threatens to destroy us, and declare: Not in God’s Name.

Eliezer Eilburg

Eliezer Eilburg PDF Author: Joseph Davis
Publisher: Hebrew Union College Press
ISBN: 0878201688
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 403

Get Book Here

Book Description
Before the Enlightenment, before Spinoza had rejected traditional beliefs about the Bible, came the humanistic skeptics of the Renaissance. Alongside oft-cited Christian thinkers, Eliezer Eilburg now takes his rightful place. Comparable in view to Christopher Marlowe or Noel Journet, Eilburg perhaps uniquely represents the possibilities of Jewish skepticism in his day. Eliezer Eilburg: The Ten Questions and Memoir of a Renaissance Jewish Skeptic makes available for the first time a bilingual edition of two key works by the Jewish rationalist skeptic, kabbalist, and memoirist, Eliezer Eilburg. The Ten Questions-addressed to the Maharal of Prague and two of his colleagues-is one of the most radical statements of Jewish skepticism authored during the sixteenth century. Published here in its entirety, this text is especially remarkable for its critical approach to the Bible, foreshadowing later intellectual trends. Although many of his opinions were considered heretical by Jewish authorities, Eilburg argued that his doubts were innocent, and that there was room within Judaism for his skepticism. He presented himself as a penitent whose eyes had been opened through the study of medicine and philosophy and who had merited angelic visions and kabbalistic dreams. The second text, Eilburg's experimental memoir, is one of the very first modern Jewish efforts at autobiography. Put together from many smaller pieces, this patchwork of brag and bile is a unique document of sixteenth-century Jewish life. It is a testimony, if not to the "emergence of the individual" in this period, then at least to the emergence of new Jewish ways of imagining and writing about the self. Eilburg was an enigmatic man, a unique and as yet mostly unstudied Jewish thinker. Though his works are directed to audiences of Jews, and argue for the improvement of Judaism, this volume will appeal to historians and scholars of intellectual traditions both in and outside of Jewish studies. /Interview with Joseph Davis- Ten Questions of Eliezer Eilburg

Modern Jews Engage the New Testament

Modern Jews Engage the New Testament PDF Author: Rabbi Michael J. Cook, PhD
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 1580236219
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Get Book Here

Book Description
An honest, probing look at the dynamics of the New Testament—in relation to problems that disconcert Jews and Christians today. Despite the New Testament’s impact on Jewish history, virtually all Jews avoid knowledge of its underlying dynamics. Jewish families and communities thus remain needlessly stymied when responding to a deeply Christian culture. Their Christian friends, meanwhile, are left perplexed as to why Jews are wary of the Gospel’s “good news.” This long-awaited volume offers an unprecedented solution-oriented introduction to Jesus and Paul, the Gospels and Revelation, leading Jews out of anxieties that plague them, and clarifying for Christians why Jews draw back from Christians’ sacred writings. Accessible to laypeople, scholars and clergy of all faiths, innovative teaching aids make this valuable resource ideal for rabbis, ministers and other educators. Topics include: The Gospels, Romans and Revelation— the Key Concerns for Jews Misusing the Talmud in Gospel Study Jesus’ Trial, the “Virgin Birth” and Empty Tomb Enigmas Millennialist Scenarios and Missionary Encroachment The Last Supper and Church Seders Is the New Testament Antisemitic? While written primarily with Jews in mind, this groundbreaking volume will also help Christians understand issues involved in the origin of the New Testament, the portrayal of Judaism in it, and why for centuries their “good news” has been a source of fear and mistrust among Jews.

A Full-Figured Faith

A Full-Figured Faith PDF Author: Perry Rank
Publisher: Bookbaby
ISBN: 9781543984811
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Get Book Here

Book Description
A Full-Figured Faith is a collection of essays on traditional Jewish values and practices that Jews have sometimes found less than convincing or compelling. God wrote the Bible--really? Miracles are a fact of life--is that so? Jews must marry Jews--but, isn't that a little racist? Tapping into his almost 40 years of experience in the pulpit, Rabbi Rank delves into many such and similar issues with a light-hearted style and a logic that is easy to follow. Among the topics discussed are the existence of God, the messiah, the chosenness of the Jewish people, sexual mores, and Zionism.The thrust of the book is not to reject the skepticism of doubters, but to encourage it as a way of legitimate engagement with one's heritage. The questions that people may pose about the values and rituals that an ancient tradition promotes, far from undermining faith, may just serve to enhance it. The best of faith is not a place of narrowness, but to the contrary, an expansive space. And though one may never fully figure what faith is all about, an honest and contemporary faith allows for lots of questions and skepticism and doubts. That is what might be referred to as a full-figured faith.

Organizational Ethics

Organizational Ethics PDF Author: Craig E. Johnson
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1412987962
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 481

Get Book Here

Book Description
Equipping students so they can act as change agents who encourage ethical transformation in corporations, small businesses, government, social service agencies, religious groups, the military and other organizations, this text blends theory and practice as it introduces readers to important ethics theories, concepts and skills (tools) drawn from a variety of academic disciplines and outlines implementation strategies (tactics). Self-assessments, case studies and chapter end exercises foster skill development, discussion and analysis.

On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz

On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz PDF Author: Arthur Kurzweil
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781953829030
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Get Book Here

Book Description
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz was internationally regarded as one of the most brilliant and influential rabbis of our time. He was lauded by Time magazine as a "once-in-a-millennium scholar" and by Ted Koppel of Night Line as "one of the very few wise men that I've ever met." Arthur Kurzweil -- himself a Jewish scholar, author, teacher, and publisher -- a disciple of Rabbi Steinsaltz's for more than 35 years, as well as the rabbi's designated chauffer in the United States. While stuck in countless traffic jams and attending the rabbi's lectures at universities, government agencies, synagogues and seminars, Arthur Kurzweil has had the rare opportunity of personally learning from his inspired teacher and has become intimately familiar with the rabbi's wisdom and teachings. On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz presents an intimate portrait of this wise and holy man as he has never been seen before as Kurzweil shares the rabbi's most personal, humorous, and inspiring tales. You will feel like a backseat passenger in Arthur's car as he and Rabbi Steinsaltz discuss provocative issues such as: How can we develop a personal relationship with God? What are some of the sublime ideas contained in Kabbalah? Why has God created a world with so much suffering in it? Can we be religious and live fully in the world? How can we tell what is important and what is unimportant in this life? Can we be religious and keep our sense of humor? Throughout the book Arthur Kurzweil also shares Rabbi Steinsaltz's views and teachings on Jewish identity and the role of Jews in modern society. So grab your overcoat and come along for a ride with Rabbi Steinsaltz and Arthur Kurzweil-a ride that could very well change your life.