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A book that charts a clear path to a more spiritually rich practice of Judaism—from the coauthor of the best-selling Jewish Catalog volumes.
For all the cycles of life, best-selling author Rabbi Michael Strassfeld presents traditional Jewish teachings as a guide to behavior and values. Where the tradition is replete with rituals (for example, the Sabbath), he describes them and shows how they can enrich spiritual living. Where rituals are sparse or nonexistent (for example, returning home at the end of the workday), he suggests new ones gleaned from his own study and experience.
"'Shwer Tzu zine a yid,' our parent's generation used to say: it's hard to be a Jew. But we Jews living today are so lucky," writes Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. "Being Jewish is safer now than at any other time in history."
But that still doesn't mean it is easy. "Our challenge today," he continues is to be Jewish in a way that fills our lives with meaning. We want to be Jewish with awareness, 'to do Jewish' in a way that satisfies our souls. We want our Yiddishkeit to enrich the world in which we live."
Rabbi Michael Strassfeld, who became famous as one of the coauthors of The Jewish Catalgue in the 1970s, takes a more handbook type of tone in his A Book of Life: Embracing Judaism as a Spiritual Practice. This was published in hardcover by Schocken Books in 2002, but is soon to be released in paperback by Jewish Lights ($19.99).
The book resembles many, other introduction-to-Judaism books in covering personal behavior, holidays, and so forth. But his goal is similar to Schachter-Shalomi's.
"Rituals should not be observed because we are 'supposed to' observe them, but rather because they help us achieve the real goal: awareness," he writes. "A spiritual practice of Judaism strives for awareness of the moment, every moment, helping us to live life to the fullest."
"Doing Jewish with awareness" certainly includes intellectual awareness as well as sensual or spiritual awareness.
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Part One AWAKENING TO THE DAY
Dawning 3
Speech 22
Work 37
Eating and Food 66
The End of the Day 94
Shabbat: A Day for Walking Softly Through the World 103
Part Two THE THREE PATHS
Torah: The Path of Study 139
Avodah: The Path of Prayer 176
Gemilut Hesed: The Path of Loving-kindness 206
Part Three LIVING THROUGH THE YEAR: THE FESTIVALS
The Festivals 227
The Jewish Calendar 229
Pesah/Passover 231
The Omer 244
Shavuot 253
The Three Weeks and Tisha be-Av 256
High Holidays: Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur 260
Sukkot 274
Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah 281
Hanukkah 284
Tu Bishvat 290
Purim 293
Part Four LIVING A LIFE OF HOLINESS
Genesis/Bereishit: Beginnings and Birth 304
Genesis/Bereishit: Conversion 324
Genesis/Bereishit: Parents and Children 337
Exodus/Shemot: Bar/Bat Mitzvah 345
Exodus/Shemot: On Being a Mentsch 353
Leviticus/Va-Yikra: Relationships and Sexuality 357
Leviticus/Va-Yikra: Marriage 373
Numbers/Be-midbar: Living in the Desert 396
Deuteronomy/Devarim: Aging 425
Deuteronomy/Devarim: Death 440
Part Five AFTER DEUTERONOMY: LIVING IN THE PROMISED LAND
Israel: Toward a Torah of Zion 467
Ecology 475
After the Words: God 487
A Note on Sources/Glossary 505