Healing Psalms: The Dialogues with God That Help You Cope with Life [Hardcover]

Joshua O. Haberman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0471264741 | ISBN-13: 978-0471264743 | Edition: 1

A prominent rabbi shows how to apply the wisdom of the Psalms in our daily lives

Traditionally attributed to King David, among others, the book of Psalms collects 150 songs in praise of the Lord-songs that contain some of the Bible's most beautiful and inspiring verses. Now, one of America's most esteemed rabbis elucidates the meaning of the Psalms and explains how their healing wisdom can help us in our everyday lives. Examining each of the Psalms in turn, Rabbi Joshua Haberman shows how these "dialogues with God" offer comfort in our struggles to cope with adversity and improve our lot in life, whether we're seeking deliverance from suffering, giving praise for our good fortune, or commemorating a special occasion. Though this is the only mainstream book on the Psalms written by a rabbi, the book is for people of all spiritual traditions-Jews, Christians, and people of any tradition who want to tap into the healing power of the Psalms.

Joshua O. Haberman (Washington, DC) is President of the Foundation for Jewish Studies. The former Senior Rabbi at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, he has preached at the White House and at the nationally televised memorial service to honor victims of 9/11.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471264741
• ISBN-13: 978-0471264743
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #757,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I wouldn't exactly call it "Healing" Psalms, June 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Healing Psalms: The Dialogues with God That Help You Cope with Life (Hardcover)

I looked forward to having this book in my resource library, because I am in training as a hospital chaplain and this sounded fabulous.

What I found, unfortunately, was not a dialogue with God about healing, but a diatribe by the author about evil-doers getting what's coming to them. I felt like I was learning how to be a better finger-wagger or how to keep my feet steady upon the Moral High Road.

This will be a good fit for people who want black-and-white, us vs. them answers to difficult questions. For me, working as I do with people of different faiths, different social backgrounds, and different illnesses, this was not a match.

It's not healing, but there's lots of moralizing. If you want proof of why you're better than your neighbor, this is the book for you.

Two stars because it does include all the Psalms and the author wrote a clear message. It also has a great Table of Contents, which I found to be more helpful to me in applying the Psalms than the author's comments.