From Publishers Weekly
In a breezy, accessible, and colloquial style, Kushner brings together excerpts from stories, reviews, essays, and speeches written during his 28 years as a congregational rabbi and his current tenure as scholar-in-residence at Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco. He has grouped the material into six categories: rabbi, Judaism, family, world, mysticism, and holiness. Although Kushner was educated as a Reform rabbi, he cites Orthodox and Conservative sources as well as a number of other traditional authorities. His interest in Jewish mysticism is a further indication of his deviation from the customary intellectual and spiritual sources of a Reform rabbi. Disguising the profundity of his thoughts by lighthearted presentation, Kushner tackles such complicated issues as the role of the rabbi, intermarriage, observance of the Jewish dietary laws, parent-child relationships, Jewish-Gentile differences, Kabbalah, prayer, and death. In each instance, his wisdom, his realism, and the sources he calls upon demonstrate the depth and perceptiveness of his approach to difficult problems. One essence of genius is to make complex issues simple. Kushner superbly passes this test. (Oct.) (c)
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Admirers of Kushner will enjoy this vastly entertaining collection of writings by the popular rabbi that spans nearly three decades, encompassing eulogies, essays, speeches, keynote addresses, sermons, reviews, and radio commentaries. Divided into six sections (the business of being a rabbi, Judaism, family, the larger world, mysticism, and holiness), the book is full of Kushner’s wonderful insights and gentle humor as well as ample doses of compassion toward his fellow humans, despite their many foibles. The work contained here follows a particular theme: the goal, says Kushner, of the spiritual life is to get rid of one’s ego. As evidenced by this collection, Kushner’s spirituality is rooted in the here and now, in the everyday experiences of daily life. Whether trying to understand the logic behind buying airline tickets or pondering the fate of the musicians on the Titanic, he manages to reveal the dignity and piety that form the foundation of even the most mundane of human experiences. --June Sawyers
