Authors: Eugene B. Borowitz, Frances W. Schwartz
ISBN-13: 9781580234160, ISBN-10: 158023416X
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing
Date Published: December 2009
Edition: (Non-applicable)
For the first time, Dr. Eugene Borowitz, the "dean" of liberal Jewish theologians, opens his heart as well as his mind as he talks about the mix of faith and doubt, of knowing and not-knowing-the elements of Jewish belief-in an easily accessible style.
In these pages, Borowitz shares with you his rich inner life, which draws from both the rational and mystical Jewish thought that have inspired two generations of rabbis, cantors, and educators, and will now inspire you. With him, you will explore:
Seeking the Sacred One
Doing Holy Deeds
Creating Sacred Community
Reading Sacred Texts
Thinking about Holiness
Learning from Holy Thinkers
And much, much more...
Leading Jewish theologian Borowitz (Hebrew Union College, Liberal Judaism) and coauthor Schwartz (The Jewish Moral Virtues) present a much-needed book. As they note, there are many fine books about Jewish holidays and Jewish history, but too few about Jewish theology-especially liberal Jewish theology-that are accessible to the general reader. Borowitz and Schwartz open with a discussion of how we can talk about God, and then traverse everything from interfaith dialogue to the Psalms to religious authority to Jewish ideas about evil and life after death. Throughout, the authors underscore "humankind's significant role as God's partner." They provocatively suggest that in recent decades, many Jews have become increasingly humble about what they can and cannot know; this philosophical reserve has helped liberal Jews cease trying to be "hardheaded rationalistic types" and to become more open to God and spirituality. Sketches of seven people who have influenced modern Jewish thought, including Hermann Cohen and Judith Plaskow, are useful. The book is marred only by its somewhat confusing organization. Indeed, the authors themselves explain the book can be read in any order and "wasn't written with one in mind"-but that proves to be a weakness, not a boon. (Jan.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationAcknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
Part I Seeking the Sacred One
1 We Can't Talk about God but We Must 3
2 Where Is God? Answering a Nine-Year-Old 7
3 God and Mystery 11
4 The Many Meanings of "God Is One" 15
5 IsOur God Experience Authentic? 18
6 The Jewish Idea(s) of God 21
7 Relating to God: Substance or Style? 25
8 Accepting the World God Willed 29
Part II Doing Holy Deeds
9 Being Close to God 35
10 The Act and Art of Praying 39
11 Moses' Prayer for Healing-and Ours 43
12 How Shall We Comfort the Mourner? 47
13 Traditional Words of Condolence 50
14 A New Phase in Jewish Piety 53
15 The Power of Creating New Religious Customs 57
16 Fanaticism and Zeal 61
17 Who is a Mentsh? 65
Part III Creating Sacred Community
18 A Mystical Model for Leaders 71
19 How an Agnostic Community Came to Seek Spirituality 74
20 The Appeal of Transdenominational Judaism 79
21 A Conflict over Interfaith Dialogue 83
22 How Liberal and Orthodox Jews Can Coexist 88
23 The Special Risk of Liberalizing Judaism 91
24 Catholic-Jewish Dialogue: An Autobiographical Note 95
25 The Historical Case for Interfaith Dialogue 99
26 Building a Community of "God-Fearers" 103
Part IV Reading Sacred Texts
27 Letting the Psalms Speak to You 109
28 Reliving the Sinai Experience Each Year 114
29 "Weighing" the Texts That Instruct Us 118
30 Putting Texts in Context 122
31 Religious Authority in Judaism 126
32 Integrating Jewish Law and Jewish Ethics 131
33 Jewish Decision Making 135
34 Innovation in Judaism: Yesterday and Today 139
Part V Thinking about Holiness
35 Why Do We Need Theology? 147
36 Theology as an Afterthought 151
37 WhyHistorical Theology Won't Do 154
38 Jewish God-Talk's Four Criteria 158
39 The Brain-Heart Interplay in Faith 161
40 Four Ways to Understand "God Says ..." 165
41 Clarifying Some Feminist Ideas 168
42 Jewish Beliefs about Evil 172
43 The Messianic Hope Today 176
44 Life after Death 180
Part VI Learning from Holy Thinkers
45 Why I Am a Theologian Rather than a Philosopher 187
46 Seven People Who Shaped Modern Jewish Thought 191
47 Rationalist Thinkers and What They Can Teach Us 196
48 Two Misunderstood Messages of Martin Buber 200
49 Mordecai Kaplan: Ethnicity in Modern Judaism 204
50 The Greatest Contemporary Orthodox Jewish Philosopher 208
51 The Ethics "Mystery" and Abraham Joshua Heschel 213
52 Covenant Theology: An Autobiographical Note 218
Glossary 222
Bibliography of Titles Mentioned in This Book 228