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I'm God; You're Not: Observations on Organized Religion and Other Disguises of the Ego »

Authors: Lawrence Kushner
ISBN-13: 9781580234412, ISBN-10: 1580234410
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing
Date Published: September 2010
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Lawrence Kushner

Book Synopsis

Flashes of insight surprising, entertaining, inspiring from one of the most creative spiritual thinkers in America. Tapping the experiences and wisdom of his career as a spiritual leader, Lawrence Kushner delights, surprises, challenges and inspires us. With his signature candor, wit and compassion, he helps us reconnect with the why and how of our spiritual lives. He encourages us to find new perspectives on the life-stuff that shapes them, and gently reminds us of the Source of it All.

Publishers Weekly

In a breezy, accessible, and colloquial style, Kushner brings together excerpts from stories, reviews, essays, and speeches written during his 28 years as a congregational rabbi and his current tenure as scholar-in-residence at Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco. He has grouped the material into six categories: rabbi, Judaism, family, world, mysticism, and holiness. Although Kushner was educated as a Reform rabbi, he cites Orthodox and Conservative sources as well as a number of other traditional authorities. His interest in Jewish mysticism is a further indication of his deviation from the customary intellectual and spiritual sources of a Reform rabbi. Disguising the profundity of his thoughts by lighthearted presentation, Kushner tackles such complicated issues as the role of the rabbi, intermarriage, observance of the Jewish dietary laws, parent-child relationships, Jewish-Gentile differences, Kabbalah, prayer, and death. In each instance, his wisdom, his realism, and the sources he calls upon demonstrate the depth and perceptiveness of his approach to difficult problems. One essence of genius is to make complex issues simple. Kushner superbly passes this test. (Oct.)

Introduction

1 Rabbi

Who Am I? 3

We'll Wait Back Here 8

The Calling 15

My Other Father Died 18

The Tent Peg Business 22

The Human Pyramid 30

The Rabbi Business 38

Being Somebody Else 47

The Last Gift 49

2 Judaism