A highly literate, thought-provoking, persuasive argument for the centrality of love in the Jewish faith.
An exploration of the role of love in Jewish scripture, ethics, and practice.
Held, president of the Hadar Institute and author of The Heart of the Torah, provides an erudite look at what lies at the heart of the Jewish faith. Noting that some view Judaism as based on justice, tradition, law, or other elements, the author argues convincingly that love is the central tenet. Held’s thesis stems from the concept of hesed, a theme in the Torah commonly translated as “lovingkindness.” Hesed is both an important aspect of God and a central command for God’s people. From it, the author identifies a wide variety of applications for love in Jewish thought as well as in daily life. Beginning with love within the family unit, he moves on to the love of neighbor, stranger, and enemy. Held explores human dignity in depth, seeing the creation of each person in God’s image as a basis for Jewish ethics. He also discusses love in the face of evil, asking how a God of love can be rationalized with the existence of widespread suffering. The author concludes that God provides us with the ability to love and, further, admonishes us to love; but in the end, he provides us with free will to do so or not. “God implants a capacity for love within us,” writes Held, “but God does not determine whether and how we exercise that capacity.” The author balances the academic strength of a scholar with the pastoral sensitivity of a rabbi. Readers will be intrigued by the dizzying array of references to Jewish teachers across the centuries, as well as philosophers, Christian theologians, and others, and he approaches topics such as family relations with practicality and nuance.
A highly literate, thought-provoking, persuasive argument for the centrality of love in the Jewish faith.Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780374192440
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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