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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In 11 short chapters and a little more than 200 pages, Harold Schulweis poses, and then attempts to resolve, the major faith dilemmas of the modern believer. Is the Bible fact or fiction? How can God speak? What is the role of conscience in religion? What is the meaning of suffering? In asking and answering such questions, Schulweis manages to include almost every basic aspect of Judaism . He shows that either/or questions e.g., Are miracles true or false?) are forced, simplistic options and then proceeds to offer alternatives generated from within religious tradition. Instead of questioning the existence of God, for instance, he suggests that readers ask whether they believe in godliness? In healing the sick? In feeding the hungry, pursuing peace, loving their neighbors? It is in such refocusing of the questions of conventional theology that Schulweis's wisdom lies. Unfortunately, despite his sympathetic style and sermonic skills (he's rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, Calif.), the Schulweis wisdom sometimes lies buried in passages that lack energy and verve. Readers who persist to Rabbi Schulweis's inspiring conclusions, however, will find that persistence worthwhile. Recommended for all who are exploring the boundaries of their religious identities, for believer and nonbeliever, Jew and non-Jew alike.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
A sincere but largely unconvincing attempt to answer the questions posed by Jewish skeptics and nonbelievers. As spiritual leader of Congregation Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, Calif., Schulweis (In God's Mirror, not reviewed) is perturbed by the indifference--often bordering on hostility--that characterizes so many Jews' relationship to their faith. To his credit, he does not dismiss their complaints but sees them, in fact, as justifiable and even ``honorable.'' He insists that debating the existence of a supreme benevolent omnipotent being is firmly rooted in Jewish tradition. For those who question God's ability to answer prayers, the rabbi responds that we cannot expect magical answers from God. The purpose of prayer is ``to open a two- way bridge,'' and to ``depend on miracles is to belittle our divinely given intelligence as well as our moral responsibility.'' In grappling with the Jobian-Kushnerian question of why bad things happen to good people, Schulweis suggests that there are two dimensions of divinity representing two complementary faces of the one God, as represented by two of God's Hebrew names: Elohim is the source of nature, while Adonai is the source of morality. Inexplicable tragedies are the work of Elohim. By accepting these events and transforming them, he argues, we express the wholeness of one God. Schulweis is more successful in responding to the universalists' charge that Judaism is parochial. Rather than betraying humanity with loyalty to the Jewish people, he argues, commitment to one's own family allows one to be more generous to others. Schulweis also scores points in defense of ritual, which he credibly presents as providing a ``rooted connection between the ache and emptiness of the present, the reverence for the past, and the promise of the future.'' Though there is some inspiration here, the book is, in the end, too logically sophisticated (as in sophistry) to reach the heart of the nonbeliever. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews
In 11 short chapters and a little more than 200 pages, Harold Schulweis poses, and then attempts to resolve, the major faith dilemmas of the modern believer. Is the Bible fact or fiction? How can God speak? What is the role of conscience in religion? What is the meaning of suffering? In asking and answering such questions, Schulweis manages to include almost every basic aspect of Judaism . He shows that either/or questions e.g., Are miracles true or false?) are forced, simplistic options and then proceeds to offer alternatives generated from within religious tradition. Instead of questioning the existence of God, for instance, he suggests that readers ask whether they believe in godliness? In healing the sick? In feeding the hungry, pursuing peace, loving their neighbors? It is in such refocusing of the questions of conventional theology that Schulweis's wisdom lies. Unfortunately, despite his sympathetic style and sermonic skills (he's rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, Calif.), the Schulweis wisdom sometimes lies buried in passages that lack energy and verve. Readers who persist to Rabbi Schulweis's inspiring conclusions, however, will find that persistence worthwhile. Recommended for all who are exploring the boundaries of their religious identities, for believer and nonbeliever, Jew and non-Jew alike.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
A sincere but largely unconvincing attempt to answer the questions posed by Jewish skeptics and nonbelievers. As spiritual leader of Congregation Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, Calif., Schulweis (In God's Mirror, not reviewed) is perturbed by the indifference--often bordering on hostility--that characterizes so many Jews' relationship to their faith. To his credit, he does not dismiss their complaints but sees them, in fact, as justifiable and even ``honorable.'' He insists that debating the existence of a supreme benevolent omnipotent being is firmly rooted in Jewish tradition. For those who question God's ability to answer prayers, the rabbi responds that we cannot expect magical answers from God. The purpose of prayer is ``to open a two- way bridge,'' and to ``depend on miracles is to belittle our divinely given intelligence as well as our moral responsibility.'' In grappling with the Jobian-Kushnerian question of why bad things happen to good people, Schulweis suggests that there are two dimensions of divinity representing two complementary faces of the one God, as represented by two of God's Hebrew names: Elohim is the source of nature, while Adonai is the source of morality. Inexplicable tragedies are the work of Elohim. By accepting these events and transforming them, he argues, we express the wholeness of one God. Schulweis is more successful in responding to the universalists' charge that Judaism is parochial. Rather than betraying humanity with loyalty to the Jewish people, he argues, commitment to one's own family allows one to be more generous to others. Schulweis also scores points in defense of ritual, which he credibly presents as providing a ``rooted connection between the ache and emptiness of the present, the reverence for the past, and the promise of the future.'' Though there is some inspiration here, the book is, in the end, too logically sophisticated (as in sophistry) to reach the heart of the nonbeliever. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews
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