Being God's Partner: How to Find the Hidden Link Between Spirituality and Your Work [Paperback]

Jeffrey K. Salkin (Author), Norman Lear (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997

A book that will challenge people of every faith to reconcile the cares of their work and the strivings of their souls and restore the hidden link between them. By exploding our assumptions that work and spirituality are irreconcilable, Salkin explores how spirituality can enhance our 9-to-5 lives, offering us ways to smuggle religion into our workplace.

Thought-provoking, practical, and exhilarating, Being God s Partner goes beyond just talking about the subject to give the reader specific actions to take right now to find greater meaning in their work, and see themselves continuing God s work in the world.

1996 Award of Excellence, Body Mind Spirit Magazine

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

According to Rabbi Salkin, the spiritual lives of many Jews are often divorced from their working lives. Salkin sets out to heal this split by using Torah and rabbinic literature to demonstrate that the integration of work and spirituality is central to the theological heritage of Judaism. The best moments of the book are found in Salkin's incisive indictments of the spiritually debilitating forces of workaholism, careerism and consumerism. In a final chapter, Salkin offers eight steps (e.g., daily prayer, making room for God as partner in success) toward restoring the balance between work and spirit in our lives. Although the book often has the hollow ring of some of M. Scott Peck's spiritual psychology, Salkin's work will challenge readers to reconsider their work as a way of being God's partner in the world.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

One of the greatest difficulties religious people face is integrating their faith with their work. Taking his cue from biblical texts that portray God at the center of humankind's work, Rabbi Salkin offers gentle suggestions for incorporating religious life into the workaday world. In addition, Salkin criticizes the spiritually debilitating attitudes of the contemporary marketplace that elevate career and consumption over eternal values. Salkin argues that too often believers allow their identities to be defined by their jobs or careers. Instead, the rabbi argues, believers need to rediscover elements of the religious life like prayer and Sabbath worship that call them into a spiritually fulfilling partnership with God. A useful purchase for most libraries.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879045656
• ISBN-13: 978-1879045651
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,130,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a bit too elementary for me ..., January 16, 2005

By 

Michael Lewyn (Forest Hills, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Being God's Partner: How to Find the Hidden Link Between Spirituality and Your Work (Hardcover)

since I could have guessed many of the book's points without reading it. But if I hadn't read numerous similar books (most notably Joseph Telushkin's book on Jewish values) I would have gotten more out of it, so I would definitely recommend it for people who have not read those books.

Basic points were as follows:

1. Classical Judaism generally favored work as opposed to monasticism.
2. Some jobs are socially constructive and thus spiritual in their own right. (Though Salkin picks some very easy examples such as medicine; I think he would have done better to pick some less obvious examples- for example, what's spiritual about being an investment banker?)
3. A brief discussion of Jewish business ethics. (One-sentence summary: honesty is good).
4. Workaholism is bad.