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Prominent Canadian rabbi John Moscowitz charts the shifts in his views over the years — controversial for some, exciting for others — on the issues that matter most to Jews today.
John Moscowitz spent his early twenties as an anti-Vietnam War activist. Eventually dubious about the radical left and alive with love for Israel, he entered the rabbinical seminary in search of his own people. This set him on a path to becoming, as Senator Linda Frum put it, one of Toronto’s “most cherished and effective rabbis.”
In this book, John Moscowitz charts the shifts in his thinking on the charged matters among the Jews today: the viability of peace in the Middle East; how we misjudge the nature of evil; and, once having been exposed to the savannahs of East Africa, even the relationship between evolution and the Bible.
Part memoir, part social history, this book is a deep examination of a long personal journey, one travelled in public as a prominent rabbi. Along the way, it captures what unites and divides an ancient people today.
John Moscowitz spent his early twenties as an anti-Vietnam War activist. Eventually dubious about the radical left and alive with love for Israel, he entered the rabbinical seminary in search of his own people. This set him on a path to becoming, as Senator Linda Frum put it, one of Toronto’s “most cherished and effective rabbis.”
In this book, John Moscowitz charts the shifts in his thinking on the charged matters among the Jews today: the viability of peace in the Middle East; how we misjudge the nature of evil; and, once having been exposed to the savannahs of East Africa, even the relationship between evolution and the Bible.
Part memoir, part social history, this book is a deep examination of a long personal journey, one travelled in public as a prominent rabbi. Along the way, it captures what unites and divides an ancient people today.
Price: $22.99
Pages: 280
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Imprint: Dundurn Press
Publication Date:
24 November 2015
Trim Size: 8.50 X 5.50 in
ISBN: 9781459733190
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Religious, Biography: religious & spiritual, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Social Activists, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Speeches
There is much more in this book that touches neither on politics nor on grand theological issues: a moving tribute to Moscowitz’s father; a frank, humble, thoughtful reflection on the decision to perform same-sex marriages; a powerful piece urging congregants to take Shabbat seriously. But the same unifying threads run throughout.
The book is an enjoyable and stimulating window into the mind of a wise and talented rabbi who has contributed significantly to the Jewish community of Canada and beyond.
The book is an enjoyable and stimulating window into the mind of a wise and talented rabbi who has contributed significantly to the Jewish community of Canada and beyond.
John Moscowitz, rabbi emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, is currently writing a book about his days as a young radical in Venice, California.
The Evolution of an Unorthodox Rabbi
- FOREWORD — SENATOR LINDA FRUM
- INTRODUCTION
- 1) WHERE I COME FROM
- A Second Chance (2012)
- What’s With the “Jane Fonda” Part in the Blog Title?
- Memories of Mass (2004)
- Remarks On the Installation of Rabbi John Moscowitz, Rabbi Sanford Ragins (2000)
- 2) AT THE OPEN GATE: REMARKS ON THE HIGH HOLY DAYS
- When Change Is Religious (2013)
- On Gratitude (2007)
- We Jews Have Old Eyes (2004)
- Surfing Against The Tide: Judaism and the Information Age (1995)
- Joy and Anxiety (1995)
- Understanding Despair (1993)
- Herodotus and History (1994)
- 3) ISRAEL: WHEN YOUR LOVE REMAINS THE SAME AND YOUR VIEWS CHANGE
- Kol Nidre and Truth (2012)
- No Messiahs, Please, Just Peace (2010)
- Of Rabbis and Imams (2009)
- A False Symmetry (2003)
- The Beginning of Hope? (2003)
- Consolation and Destiny (2002)
- Anguish and Hope (2002)
- 4) THE TORAH SPEAKS IN ITS LANGUAGE AND IN OURS
- What Do I Believe Happened at Sinai? (2009)
- The Secret of Life (2011)
- Noach: What Kind of Father Was Lamech?
- The Haughty of Heart (1995)
- Remembering Amalek Thinking About Schindler (1994)
- Absolutes and Ambiguities (1993)
- 5) ABOUT THAT MATTER OF EVIL … (AND OUR EAST AFRICAN HOME)
- The Reach of Our Imagination (2001)
- Evil — and Goodness (2001)
- Making Good Out of Evil (2000)
- The School Massacre Was Human Evil, Not Tragedy (2012)
- Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik on the Nature of Adam (2010)
- 6) JEWISH PRINCIPLES AND PUBLIC MATTERS
- Rabbis at Gay and Lesbian Weddings: How I Changed My Mind (2012)
- Barack Obama: Role Model for the Jews (2010)
- Why “Munich” Still Matters (2006)
- Terri Schiavo: A Personal View (2005)
- Repentance: Learning from Clinton and Rambam (1998)
- Listening to McLuhan: A Suggestion for Getting Shabbat Right (1996)
- 7) REMEMBRANCES
- Remembering David Hartman
- Watching Christopher Hitchens (2010)
- Eulogy for Joseph Rotman
- Eulogy for Morris Moscowitz
- Eulogy for Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut
- Her Character and Ours (On Jackie O) (1994)
- Standing at Babi Yar (1994)
- 8) APPRECIATIONS
- Introduction by Richard Rotman
- Rabbi Aaron Flanzraich
- Dr. Michael B. Oren
- Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch
- Cantor Benjamin Maissner
- Rabbi Naomi Levy
- Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin
- Rabbi Daniel Gordis
- Laurie Sapir
- Rabbi Karen Thomashow
- Rabbi John Rosove
- Yossi Klein Halevi
- BOOKS I LOVE
- AFTERWORD— DR. NORMAN DOIDGE
- NOTES
- INDEX