Kosher Living: It's More Than Just the Food [Hardcover]

Rabbi Ron Isaacs (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0787976423 | ISBN-13: 978-0787976422 | Publication Date: March 25, 2005 | Edition: 1

Kosher Living is an essential guide to Jewish ethics and morality for your everyday life. Rabbi Ron Isaacs offers a warm, humorous, and eminently useful book that shows what is really kosher, proper, and appropriate in all aspects of our lives. Kosher Living includes comprehensive entries organized into practical categories of daily life practices¾business, hospitality, relationships, care of the body, and more¾it gives advice from all aspects of Jewish religion, custom, ritual, and tradition. This book is an invaluable source of inspiration; and a definitive reference work for every Jewish family. Written in an easy-to-use format, Kosher Living is a perfect tool for teaching Jewish values and tradition. 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Food is just one of the 44 topics in this broad-based approach to what's kosher and what's not for Jews. "The word kosher has come to mean... the correct way to do something according to Jewish law and tradition," explains Isaacs. The book not only covers the expected Jewish topics—circumcision, marriage, prayer, Shabbat, synagogue behavior and more—but also intriguing items of general interest, such as employer-employee relations, shopping and even war. The alphabetical q&a format makes the book easy to navigate and explore. Each section is divided into two parts: "What's kosher" and "What's not kosher," followed by "expert" and primary sources. Isaacs acknowledges that his guide in no way constitutes a definitive code of Jewish law, but his succinct answers clarify thorny issues from abortion to stem cell research, presenting views from differing branches of Judaism and concluding with his own "modern traditional view." Thought-provoking sections on subjects with far-reaching ethical ramifications should fascinate both Jewish and non-Jewish readers: Is there a kosher way to argue? Is it kosher for a Jew to be a conscientious objector? Is it kosher to own a gun store, or for a liquor store owner to sell beer to a person who he knows is an alcoholic? Is it kosher to donate one's organs? This resource offers timeless wisdom through a contemporary lens. (Apr.)
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Review

Isaacs, a busy popular writer on Jewish subjects (e.g., Every Person's Guide to Hanukkah) as well as a rabbi, has written an extremely useful and wide-ranging guide to kosher. Arranged alphabetically by broad topic (e.g., "Celebrating a Wedding" or "War"), these sections feature the likeliest questions ("Is it kosher to give gifts at Hanukkah?") and conclude with "What the Experts Say," a kind of minianthology of Jewish scriptural and post-scriptural sources. A very helpful book, likely to get lots of use in many households and libraries. (from the Spiritual Reading column by Graham Christian) (Library Journal, May 1, 2005)

Food is just one of the 44 topics in this broad-based approach to what's kosher and what's not for Jews. "The word kosher has come to mean...the correct way to do something according to Jewish law and tradition," explains Isaacs. The book not only covers the expected Jewish topics—circumcision, marriage, prayer, Shabbat, synagogue behavior and more—but also intriguing items of general interest, such as employer-employee relations, shopping and even war. The alphabetical q&a format makes the book easy to navigate and explore. Each section is divided into two parts: "What's kosher" and "What's not kosher," followed by "expert" and primary sources. Isaacs acknowledges that his guide in no way constitutes a definitive code of Jewish law, but his succinct answers clarify thorny issues from abortion to stem cell research, presenting views from differing branches of Judaism and concluding with his own "modern traditional view." Thought-provoking sections on subjects with far-reaching ethical ramifications should fascinate both Jewish and non-Jewish readers: Is there a kosher way to argue? Is it kosher for a Jew to be a conscientious objector? Is it kosher to own a gun store, or for a liquor store owner to sell beer to a person who he knows is an alcoholic? Is it kosher to donate one's organs? This resource offers timeless wisdom through a contemporary lens. (Apr.) (Publishers Weekly, March 14, 2005)

“…guides the reader through Jewish ethics and morality in everyday life.” (Publishers Weekly, February 14, 2005)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (March 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787976423
• ISBN-13: 978-0787976422
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #333,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Quick and Enjoyable Read, October 30, 2005

By 

Stephanie Manley (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kosher Living: It's More Than Just the Food (Hardcover)

Perhaps like you, I have always wondered what makes something Kosher. I chose this book from a non-Jewish perspective. I really liked how this book was divided into sections such as Business Practices, Arguing with Others, Righteous Giving, Commitments, Animals, and so much more. I didn't realize that Kosher was something more than the food that you ate.

The book is broken down into a variety of chapters. Each chapter asks several common questions that you may already have, and answers them. Then the book goes over things that would not be Kosher in a particular circumstance. The chapter finishes with referces from a variety of sources such as the Bible, the Talmud, and much more.

While this book may not be the complete and definitive resource on whether all things are Kosher or not, I think this book will provide most with a great deal of information on what may be Kosher. I really liked reading this book because it gave me a greater knowledge and more respect on what may or may not be Kosher.