Title:
Judaism is about love : recovering the heart of Jewish life
Author:
Edition:
First edition.
Publication Date:
2024
Publication Information:
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024.
Physical Description:
viii, 546 pages ; 24 cm
ISBN:
9780374192440
Abstract:
A dramatic misinterpretation of the Jewish tradition has shaped the history of the West: Christianity is the religion of love, and Judaism the religion of law. In the face of centuries of this widespread misrepresentation, Rabbi Shai Held recovers the heart of the Jewish tradition, offering the radical and moving argument that love belongs as much to Judaism as it does to Christianity. Blending intellectual rigor, a respect for tradition and the practices of a living Judaism, and a commitment to the full equality of all people, Held seeks to reclaim Judaism as it authentically is. He shows that love is foundational and constitutive of true Jewish faith, animating the singular Jewish perspective on injustice and protest, grace, family life, responsibilities to our neighbors and even our enemies, and chosenness.
Contents:
The self facing a loving God. We are loved ; The gifts of God flow through you: grace, gratitude, and generostiy ; Sacred indignation: on protest -- Widening circles: whom should we love?. Learning to love and be loved: the family ; Loving our neighbor: Judaism's "great principle," but what does it mean? ; Loving our own, and everyone else too: Judaism's particularist universalism -- Human dignity and solidarity: Judaism's other "great principle" ; Loving the stranger: the Bible's moral revolution ; Must we love our enemies too? -- Hesed: bringing God's love to other people. Imitating God: the beginning and end of Judaism is love ; Love in the ruins: responding to devastation ; Waiting for God -- Theology of a loving God. The God of Judaism (and of the "Old Testament") is a god of love ; Engaging chosenness: what it does and doesn't mean ; Loving a loving God -- Conclusion: Judaism is about love.
Language:
English
