Jewish Spirituality : A Brief Introduction for Christians

A window into the Jewish soul--written especially for Christians.

"I invite you to explore with me some of the rich and varied expressions of the Jewish spiritual imagination. It is a tradition that may at times, for Christians, feel strangely familiar and will, for Christians and Jews, always challenge you to see yourself and your world through a new lens." --from the Introduction

Jewish spirituality is an approach to life that encourages us to become aware of God's presence and purpose, even in unlikely places. "This world and everything in it is a manifestation of God's presence," says Rabbi Lawrence Kushner. "Our challenge and goal is to find it and then act in such a way as to help others find it too."

In this special book, Kushner guides Christians through the rich wisdom of Jewish spirituality. He tailors his unique style to address Christians' questions, and, in doing so, opens new windows on their own faith.

Jewish Spirituality is a window into the Jewish soul that people of all faiths can understand and enjoy. From the Talmud and Torah, to "repentance" (teshuva) and "repairing the world" (tikkun olam), Kushner shows all of us how we can use the fundamentals of Jewish spirituality to enrich our own lives.

This intriguing book offers an entry into the center of Jewish spirituality. Kushner explains its key elements and the ways in which Christians--and people of all faiths and backgrounds--can bring them into their everyday lives.

In Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians you will explore:

* Holy things that happen around us every day
* Invisible lines of relation that connect us to each other and to God
* Torah--a blueprint for all of creation
* Everyday, holy deeds that mend the world
* God's Oneness
* How the Jewish experience of Teshuva is similar to the Christian experience of Jesus

...and much more.

One of the defining religious trends of our time is the gradual reconciliation of Christianity and Judaism, which usually takes the form of churches (most notably, the Vatican) accepting responsibility for the anti-Semitic aspects of their worship, theology, and history. No amount of official proclamation, however, can reconcile these religions until individual Christians and Jews recognize their common religious heritage and learn to respect the differences between their traditions. Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians is an important resource for cultivating such awareness. The author, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, has long been known for his sophisticated, accessible books on Jewish spirituality (including Honey from the Rock and God Was in This Place and I, I Did Not Know). His definition of spirituality, which loops and spirals in rabbinic fashion, includes the following observations: "Spirituality is religion experienced intimately.... Spirituality is where you and God meet--and what you do about it." And Jewish spirituality, he writes, is distinguished as "an approach to life in which we strive to become aware of God's presence and purpose--even and especially in what might strike the casual observer as gross or material things." This, he points out, is a fact that bridges the gap between Judaism and Christianity: the incarnation of Christ, as one pastor explains to Kushner, demands that believers "continuously seek to find God in every person." Beginning with a summary of Jewish ideas about Creation, and then exploring topics such as the Torah, the Commandments, and the nature of God, Kushner expertly defines many of the similarities and differences between the religions. His lively, storytelling style makes Jewish Spirituality a pleasurable and challenging book that would serve well as a personal devotional, a Bible-study or Sunday-school text, or an occasion for Jewish and Christian friends to set aside time to learn more about each other's faith. --Michael Joseph Gross