Authors: Arthur Green
ISBN-13: 9781580231305, ISBN-10: 1580231306
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing
Date Published: April 2003
Edition: REV
Rabbi Arthur Green leads us on a journey of discovery to seek God, the world, and ourselves. One of the most influential Jewish thinkers of our time, Green has created a roadmap of meaning for our lives in the light of Jewish mysticism, using the Hebrew letters that make up the divine name:
Yod-Reality at the beginning. God as the oneness of being at the outset, before it unfolds into our universe. Heh-Creation and God's presence in the world. A renewed faith in God as Creator has powerful implications for us today. Vav-Revelation, the central faith claim of Judaism and the claim it makes on our lives. Heh-Redemption and our return to God through the life of Torah and by participating in the ongoing repair of the world.
A personal and honest framework of understanding for the seeker, this revised and updated edition of a classic sheds new light on our search for the divine presence in our everyday lives.
Preface | ||
Acknowledgments | ||
Introduction | ||
Pt. 1 | God and the Ways of Being | |
The Secret of the Sh'ma | 3 | |
God Above, God within | 8 | |
The Two and the One | 11 | |
God as Y-H-W-H: "Is - Was - Will Be" is One! | 16 | |
Speak My Name | 19 | |
Seeking God: Look First to Love | 23 | |
In God's Own Image: Seek My Face | 27 | |
Face to Face | 34 | |
Male and Female: An Excursus | 36 | |
One and Two | 41 | |
Pt. 2 | Creation | |
One God, Two Ways | 47 | |
Creation and the Jewish Question | 49 | |
Creation and the Struggle for Faith | 53 | |
What Comes "First"? | 55 | |
Two Tales | 58 | |
The One and the Many | 60 | |
Who is at the Center? | 64 | |
Evolution: An Ongoing Process | 68 | |
From Aggadah to Halakhah | 72 | |
The First Mitzvah: Be Aware | 75 | |
In God's Image | 77 | |
Celebrating Creation: The Mitzvah of Shabbat | 80 | |
"To Work It and Guard It": Preserving God's World | 82 | |
Vegetarianism: A Kashrut for Our Age | 85 | |
Human Love and Human Pain | 89 | |
The Human Being: Bearer of Divine Compassion | 92 | |
Pt. 3 | Revelation | |
Y-H-W-H and Language | 97 | |
Before the Mountain | 99 | |
Human Understanding and Divine Speech | 103 | |
The Inner Mountain | 106 | |
Torah as the Name of God | 110 | |
Revelation and the Inward Journey | 113 | |
The Role of Covenant: A Reinterpretation | 115 | |
Revelation and Torah | 119 | |
Revelation, Will, and Law | 122 | |
The Personal, Path: Accepting the Yoke | 127 | |
Sinai and Language | 131 | |
Sinai and Study | 133 | |
Sinai and Community | 136 | |
The Three Festivals: Sinai and the Sacred Cycle | 138 | |
The Word in Our Day | 143 | |
Pt. 4 | Redemption | |
The Light of the First Day | 149 | |
Crying Out for the Light | 151 | |
Redemption as Coming Home | 154 | |
The Bible: A Tale of Exile | 158 | |
Homecoming and Teshuvah | 164 | |
Teshuvah and the Sacred Year | 166 | |
The Redemptive Task, Getting to Work | 170 | |
Redemption and the Messianic Dream | 174 | |
Messiah: Actor or Herald? | 177 | |
Seeking Out Our Sparks of Light | 181 | |
Notes | 184 | |
Glossary | 265 | |
About Jewish Lights | 270 |