Authors: Lawrence Kushner, Thomas Moore
ISBN-13: 9781580230421, ISBN-10: 1580230423
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing
Date Published: October 1998
Edition: (Non-applicable)
With incomparable ability to blend scholarship, imagination, psychology, mysticism, history and great writing, Rabbi Kushner offers something unique to both the spiritual seeker and the committed person of faith. With samplings from each of his books and a generous amount of previously unpublished material, "The Lawrence Kushner Reader" explores personal meaning in the sacred that animates each of our lives.
For the past 25 years, Kushner (The Book of Letters) has been helping readers understand the connection between the sacred and the ordinary. This collection contains samples from each of Kushner's books along with a generous amount of new and previously unpublished material. Some samples are deeply academic, some are written for children and some reflect Kushner's mysticism. While a portion of the pieces are aimed primarily at a Jewish audience, the message of others will appeal to people of all faiths. For example, Kushner tells an old Hasidic story of the disciples who had gathered to learn from their rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov. After evening prayers, the rebbe would speak late into the night. One evening, as the students left, one after another apologized for monopolizing so much of Baal Shem Tov's attention. Each had felt as if the teacher had spoken personally to him. So it is when we read Scripture, says Kushner; the text speaks intimately and demands an intensely personal response. Kushner's blend of scholarship, imagination, psychology, mysticism and humor will make readers feel that he is speaking personally to them. (Nov.)
Author's Preface | xi |
Introduction by Thomas Moore | xv |
1 Amazing Grace | |
The Letter Aleph | 5 |
Blessing as Awakening | 6 |
A Glistening Thread | 7 |
Awareness | 9 |
Entrances to Holiness | 17 |
This Is Your Life | 22 |
"Into The Sea on Dry Ground" | 24 |
My Father and "The Thing" | 27 |
2 Words of Fire | |
The Letter Lammed | 35 |
The Law is a Way | 36 |
An Orchard of Holy Words | 37 |
Like Ones in a Dream | 39 |
Fog | 48 |
Reflections on the Holy Language | 53 |
On The Visual Array of Sacred Text | 54 |
Reciting Psalms | 55 |
3 Arguing with Heaven | |
The Letter Kaf | 61 |
Yeast in the Dough | 62 |
The Hands ofGod | 63 |
The Wilderness of Preparation | 66 |
God in the Midst of Evil | 67 |
Bats | 80 |
A House of Cardboard | 84 |
4 Creation's Blueprint | |
The Letter Kof | 91 |
When Life Is a Story | 92 |
The Blueprint inside Creation | 94 |
The Body of the Universe | 96 |
"Not You, but God" | 102 |
Wool Pants | 106 |
5 Acting like the World Depends on It | |
The Letter Tsadi | 112 |
Politics of Repair | 113 |
Repairing the World | 114 |
Messengers of the Most High | 116 |
Reconsidering Rabbinic Power | 121 |
Two Jewish Mothers | 125 |
Stranger on the Bus | 133 |
Rewriting the Past | 135 |
6 A God Who Looks like Nothing | |
The Letter Hay | 143 |
Breathing the Name of God | 144 |
"I" Is the Lord Your God | 145 |
Self-Reflection at Sinai | 154 |
It's All God | 161 |
Silencing the Inner Voice(s) | 163 |
Hershey with Almonds | 169 |
"Open My Lips" | 171 |
7 Eyes Remade for Wonder | |
The Letter Ayin | 177 |
The Amnesia of Unio Mysticia | 178 |
Being Where You Are | 179 |
Higher Worlds | 181 |
The Light of Creation | 188 |
You Are Here | 201 |
Meditation before The Song of Songs | 203 |
I Believe in the Coming of the Messiah | 205 |
Epilogue | |
Michael's Bar Mitzvah | 211 |
Why I Am a Jew | 213 |
A Teacher's Blessing, Berakhot 17a | 217 |
Books by Lawrence Kushner | 219 |
Contributions to Books | 220 |
Notes | 221 |