Customer Reviews

Jacob the Baker: Gentle Wisdom For a Complicated World

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book, the first in a trilogy, is a great collection of stories, thoughts, penses and ideas. It is a book in the great Jewish wisdom tradition. Jacob is a baker, and each day on his way to the bakery after his prayers he thinks and reflects on God and life. While the ovens are warming up, he jots down his thoughts. One day by accident, one of his scraps of thoughts gets baked into a loaf of bread. The lady who finds it is overwhelmed by its insight and wisdom. She asked the owner of the bakery if Jacob will share more of his ideas by baking one in each of some rolls for a dinner party for her. Reluctantly, Jacob agrees and his peaceful life is shattered.

Soon Jacob has no time for himself. When he goes home people are awaiting him, in the morning they are on the path to work, and every day they are in the bakery, asking him questions, seeking advice and wisdom. They soon desire to make Jacob their Tzadik, their wise man. These stories will warm your heart, and open your eyes to the divine in yourself and in others. It will teach you to live with love and grace and mercy towards others.

Great words of wisdom, thoughts to ponder. I love the messages of remembering to enjoy the moment as well as others. This book is a real keeper - highly recommeded!

This is a small-beautiful book. Full of profound aspects of life. The Jewish baker tell his stories and answer the questions form the people passed by.
Noah Ben Shea is a thinker who knows how to use the word and combine them back smoothly. The book splits into many small sesstions and leave the space for the reader to think along.
I would say this is a kind of simplified-philosophy book. But it ain't heavy at all. In contrast, it's ready for reader to digest.

Sorry, you won't be able to learn baking from this book, instead, you may find it's something more like Zen.

This little poetic story lead us to a place where we can have perfect peace of mind. The reason why Human Being are Human Being is we can better utilize our thinking power.

Jacob is a humble yet great influencer.
Each of the little stories inside the book sounds or looks very simple, but there are always great thoughts behind.

A must have for the ones who embrace life and humanity.

This book, the first in a trilogy, is a great collection of stories, thoughts, penses and ideas. It is a book in the great Jewish wisdom tradition. Jacob is a baker, and each day on his way to the bakery after his prayers he thinks and reflects on God and life. While the ovens are warming up, he jots down his thoughts. One day by accident, one of his scraps of thoughts gets baked into a loaf of bread. The lady who finds it is overwhelmed by its insight and wisdom. She asked the owner of the bakery if Jacob will share more of his ideas by baking one in each of some rolls for a dinner party for her. Reluctantly, Jacob agrees and his peaceful life is shattered.

Soon Jacob has no time for himself. When he goes home people are awaiting him, in the morning they are on the path to work, and every day they are in the bakery, asking him questions, seeking advice and wisdom. They soon desire to make Jacob their Tzadik, their wise man. These stories will warm your heart, and open your eyes to the divine in yourself and in others. It will teach you to live with love and grace and mercy towards others

This book is great. Some people may be reluctant to buy the book because the fact that it is somewhat a religious book, or the fact that it has some "Christian" teachings installed into it, but that should not turn you away from this great book of life lessons. It is a book of many proverbs that the author claims to thought up of himself. That in itself is impressive. Each proverb can be applied to daily life and we can easily apply it to our own lives. One proverb states "A fish cannot describe water until it is caught." It has a lot of depth but is a very light read. It is like "chicken soup for the soul" book series. There are stories that accompany these proverbs. Stories that at first glance may seem pointless, but analyzed, can give you a lot from it. Why not try this book?

I am a sucker for pithy, wise-sounding little books like this, because despite the great philosopher Whitehead's statement, "Seek simplicity but mistrust it," I continue to believe that profound philosophical ideas need not necessarily be complex or difficult to understand by those not philosophically trained.

This short work falls into an interesting category of philosophy books, as it is really a philosophy of life worked out by means of practical examples through the story of Jacob. Jacob is a humble but wise baker whose profound insights and timeless wisdom about life, spirituality, and other subjects confound and amaze the people of his small town. Altogether a well-done little book that is wise beyond its pretentions.

Easily digestible brain and soul food. This book would make a great gift for anyone on your "wonder what to buy for" list. I can also see it as a discussion opener for parents with older children. Many short lessons that can open up conversations that teach values. I short changed this marvelous book one star because I felt cheated by the last lesson. It just seemed as if someone else wrote it. But go ahead, you read it and see what you think.

This book, the first in a trilogy, is a great collection of stories, thoughts, penses and ideas. It is a book in the great Jewish wisdom tradition. Jacob is a baker, and each day on his way to the bakery after his prayers he thinks and reflects on God and life. While the ovens are warming up, he jots down his thoughts. One day by accident, one of his scraps of thoughts gets baked into a loaf of bread. The lady who finds it is overwhelmed by its insight and wisdom. She asked the owner of the bakery if Jacob will share more of his ideas by baking one in each of some rolls for a dinner party for her. Reluctantly, Jacob agrees and his peaceful life is shattered.

Soon Jacob has no time for himself. When he goes home people are awaiting him, in the morning they are on the path to work, and every day they are in the bakery, asking him questions, seeking advice and wisdom. They soon desire to make Jacob their Tzadik, their wise man. These stories will warm your heart, and open your eyes to the divine in yourself and in others. It will teach you to live with love and grace and mercy towards others

This book has been a great influence on my friends and I. We had to read it for our Theology class and our teacher taught this book in such away that this book left a lasting impression on me. This book is full of great short stories and ideas that are put forward by the Baker himself.