A Time For Change [Paperback]

Asher Keren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2005

This moving and compelling tour de force will not leave a single reader unaffected, as every individual who reads this book will embark on a personal journey of struggle and inner confrontation. The author acts as the readers’ personal guide, examining society’s most private basic assumptions, as well as life’s most fundamental values and doctrines. Several of the issues revealed, include: Have our most natural and passionate understandings of masculinity and femininity been entirely swapped in today’s world for a life that is ‘politically correct’ and numb? Is secular Jewry as unfettered and liberal as they claim and are the religious truly following Judaism and not Christianity? How is it that Peace Now and the religious settlers are actually moving towards the same goal, despite the apparent polarity of opinions? And which side is making the wrong assumptions, thereby delaying the common objective? What does science, if anything, have to do with Judaism, and why is it that almost all those that ask questions about the relationship between the two are missing the point? Why is love and hate the perfect partners, and how is it possible to accomplish love through hate? After exploring the root causes of the various personal and societal trends within the Jewish world today, Keren presents a fresh entry into a Judaism that has been forgotten by most, religious and secular alike. For those courageous enough to enter, the author offers a brave, passionate and embracing new Jewish world and the opportunity for a time to change. This book pulls no punches and not many sacred cows emerge unscathed. Warning: Not for the timid. Chapter Headings Introduction Chapter 1: A time to dance (freedom) Section 1 Chapter 2: A time to rend (intellectual idolatry) Chapter 3: A time to pluck up that which has been planted (political Zionism) Chapter 4: A time to break down (religious relativism) Chapter 5: A time to speak (intellectual fear) Chapter 6: A time to refrain from embracing (Torah and science) Chapter 7: A time to seek (superstition and astrology) Section 2 Chapter 8: A time to embrace (the purpose of Jewish law) Chapter 9: A time to cast away (Torah of Exile versus Torah of the Land of Israel) Chapter 10: A time to sew (Rabbinic Judaism in the Land Of Israel) Chapter 11: A time to build up (basic morality versus legal morality) Chapter 12: A time to mourn (loss of prophecy and the Temples) Chapter 13: A time to laugh (self esteem) Chapter 14: A time to die (physical and sexual abuse of children and women) Section 3 Chapter 15: A time to lose (misconceptions of basic sexual issues) Chapter 16: A time to heal (homosexuality) Chapter 17: A time to keep silence (on the differences between the sexes) Chapter 18: A time to weep (prostitution) Chapter 19: A time to be born (abortion and polygamy) Chapter 20: A time to throw stones (sexual modesty) Section 4 Chapter 21: A time to plant (Jewish mutualism) Chapter 22: A time to keep (the Kosher dietary Laws) Chapter 23: A time to gather stones together (anti- Semitism and Jewish particularity) Chapter 24: A time to love (contraction as a paradigm for love) Chapter 25: A time to kill (the Israel Defense Forces “purity of arms” policy) Chapter 26: A time of war (the Seven Noachide laws) Chapter 27: A time of peace (Jewish universalism) Chapter 28: A time to hate (necessary hatred)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Asher Keren moved to Israel from the United States over twenty years ago. He has been involved in education and community leadership and works as a scientist and adviser in Israel’s biotechnology industry. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Gefen Publishing House (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9652293547
• ISBN-13: 978-9652293541
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,472,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars a must for all thinking people, March 3, 2004

By 

dan miller - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Time for Change (Paperback)

dan miller, a jewish book collector, November 14, 2003,

This book is probably the most brazen, penetrating, honest and sensitive books about and for the Jewish people written in years. The initial going is a bit slow, but afterwards this book encaptures the reader with depth, sensitivity, courage and sheer power. The range of topics discussed is just unbelievable and there is something of interest to most anybody. Yet somehow, the author keeps it all together with a couple of threads that pass throughout the entire book. A must read. Simply a must. Not only will it make you think and rethink, it will open you up to possibilities you never dared explore before.