Jewish Spiritual Guidance: Finding Our Way to God (Jossey-Bass Religion-In-Practice Series) [Hardcover]

Carol Ochs (Author), Kerry M. Olitzky (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0787910597 | ISBN-13: 978-0787910594 | Publication Date: October 10, 1997 | Edition: 1

A Map for the Inner Journey, for Seekers and Guides Alike

Written with warmth, compassion, and deep understanding, this book offers a map of the inner journey for exploring the time-honored practice of spiritual guidance. Carol Ochs and Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky speak both to those who seek a Jewish perspective on the spiritual life and those who wish to guide others in this search. Drawing deeply on the riches of the Torah and other important Jewish sources, Jewish Spiritual Guidance offers wisdom and insight to all religious seekers?lay and ordained, Jewish and non-Jewish.

They examine the broad principles of spiritual guidance, describing it as the journey of two people?seeker and guide?through the wilderness toward God. The central relationship is not between the seeker and the guide but between the seeker and God. The guide is a companion who helps the seeker discover patterns, articulate insights, and remain faithful. All the lessons that the guide teaches the seeker are lessons that the guide is also learning, again and again.

This much-needed resource will not only nourish the seeker-guide relationship but also inspire discussions in adult education classes, minyanim, and prayer groups. All religious seekers will find wisdom and understanding through this illuminating book.

CONTENTS

Introduction: Seeking and Guiding on the Spiritual Way

1. Finding Our Spiritual Maps

2. Meeting God Through Prayer

3. Listening with Spiritual Attentiveness

4. Recognizing the Spiritual Path

5. Understanding Our Fears

6. Revisiting Our Images of God

7. Engaging God Through the Study of Sacred Texts

8. Encountering Temptation and Sin

9. Enduring the Spiritual Desert

10. Drawing from and Giving to Community

11. Continuing the Spiritual Journey

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In engaging fashion, Ochs and Olitzky combine interviews, case studies, stories from ancient Jewish texts and Jewish practices to illustrate the various ways in which people may "find their way to God." (Publishers Weekly)

"This book is so caring, thoughtful, constructive, and healing that it will touch and inspire individuals of every denomination and faith." (Rabbi Irving Greenberg, president, National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership)

"Ochs and Olitzky have written a wonderful book that is both grounded in the tradition and responsive to the spiritual and social needs of a new generation. They show how seeker and guide can draw nourishment from our sacred tradition. This book brings Jewish spirituality into maturity. [It is] an invaluable tool." (Rabbi Lawrence S. Kushner, rabbi of Congregation Beth El of Sudbury, MA, and author of God Was in This Place and I, I Did Not Know)

"Interweaving classical Jewish texts with personal narrative, Ochs and Olitzky offer fresh insight into the transformative nature of the human-divine encounter. This enormously helpful guide provides inspiration and illumination to those willing to embark on, or help navigate, a lifelong spiritual journey." (Ellen M. Umansky, coeditor of Four Centuries of Jewish Women's Spirituality)

"The authors have joined rays of heavenly light and globs of earthly dust to fuse a Jewish spirituality that is both transcAndental and yet firmly grounded in reality. This excellent handbook makes a significant contribution to those who want to understand and practice spiritual guidance in the framework of Jewish tradition." (Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, spiritual leader of the Jewish Center, Princeton, NJ, and coeditor of Jewish Chicken Soup for the Soul)

"Each verse of an ancient psalm, each story of a spiritual seeker in our lives today, spoke to me. I found myself reading the book not as a report about spiritual direction, but as itself an opportunity to seek and begin to find new spiritual direction in my own life." (Rabbi Arthur Waskow, a Pathfinder of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal and author of Down-to-Earth Judaism)

"An inspiring guide for all those who seek a full and rich life. Jewish Spiritual Guidance offers words of challenge and comfort drawn from the great religious teachings of Judaism, and addresses itself to the complexities and confusions of contemporary society." (Susannah Heschel, author of Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus)

From the Inside Flap

This sensitively written book explains the process of spiritual guidance, encourages us to seek it out, and helps prepare those who feel called to become spiritual guides. Drawing from their personal and professional experience, as well as a rich array of traditional Jewish sources, the authors explore what Judaism has to say about the spiritual journey and the ways in which spiritual guidance can help us open more fully to God's presence in our lives.Carol Ochs and Kerry M. Olitzky examine the broad principles of spiritual guidance, describing it as the journey of two people?seeker and guide?through the wilderness toward God. The central relationship is not between the seeker and the guide, they say, but between the seeker and God. The guide is a companion who helps the seeker discover patterns, articulate insights, and remain faithful. All the lessons that the guide teaches the seeker are lessons that the guide is also learning, again and again.Using the book of Exodus, the Song of Songs, and the psalms as roadmaps?and sharing stories of contemporary Jews engaged in their own spiritual explorations?Ochs and Olitzky explore prayer as a relationship with God, listening as a key to recognizing all that is holy, and discernment as a way to distinguish the real from the apparent. They identify fear as an inherent part of the spiritual life and show how, through study, we can re-form our childhood image of God with adult understanding.With caring and insight, the authors help us consider temptation, sin, and repentance, and show us that the spiritual life is not a single challenge or heroic feat, but the shape of a lifetime and the ongoing Andurance of "the desert." The individual journey toward God leads ultimately, they say, to an active spiritual life grounded in community.Jewish Spiritual Guidance draws deeply from a wellspring of traditional sources, including the Torah; rabbinical texts such as the Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, codes, and medieval et

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (October 10, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787910597
• ISBN-13: 978-0787910594
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,059,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable, February 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Jewish Spiritual Guidance: Finding Our Way to God (Jossey-Bass Religion-In-Practice Series) (Hardcover)

As a reader with no biblical training apart from being brought up in a Judeo-Christian culture, I found this book accessible and relevant. It helps make the bible seem more like metaphors for modern life than I would have expected. This book could even be viewed as a self-help book with a "god" spin on it. There is thoroughness and simplicity in the presentation, with digestible sections addressing different aspects of the topic.