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Jewcy Book Club

This week:
My Jesus Year
and
Dumbfounded
My Jesus YearDumbfounded
Welcome Authors
Benyamin Cohen
 &
Matthew Rothschild
who are posting all week.
Coming up:
  • 12/08:
    Seth Greenland

Culture
The New Jew Canon: When Bad Things Happen to Good People

The New Jew Canon: When Bad Things Happen to Good People
The ultimate guide to the books every Jew needs to own
Vanessa Ochs

by Vanessa Ochs, March 24, 2008

1 comments
 
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The New Jew Canon is a long-term project that seeks to canonize essential Jewish (and some Non-Jewish) reads as recommended by extraordinary rabbis, experts, and cultural leaders. Suggestions are welcome via comments or email.

Author:
Harold Kushner
Description:
I didn't read this book when it first came out and everyone was talking about it and saying it changed their lives—it was a best seller and I was a snob. When I grew up and finally did read it, it changed my life too: I assign it every time I teach interfaith chaplains or medical students, when I teach Jewish biomedical ethics or theology to undergraduates. It answers the BIG theological questions from a feeling Jewish perspective: No, God does not give us suffering because God wants to teach us a lesson. No, God does not decide to make certain airplanes stay up in the sky and others crash. Yes, God is present when our community helps us to mourn and to heal.
Recommended By:
Vanessa Ochs is an associate Professor of Religious Studies at UVA and author of Inventing Jewish Ritual, (2007 JPS), winner of a National Jewish Book Award.

The New Jew Canon is a long-term project that seeks to canonize essential Jewish (and some Non-Jewish) reads as recommended by extraordinary rabbis, experts, and cultural leaders. Suggestions are welcome via comments or tips.



1 comments | leave a comment
 
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Yaakov

04/01/08 9:58 am
Alternative to Rabbi Kushner

I read Rabbi Kushner's book years ago and was not satisfied. It seemed inconsistent with traditional Judaism in a way that I could not readily explain. Years later I read a book by Rabbi Benjamin Blech that put it in context.

Rabbi Blech's directly explains the traditional Jewish approach to suffering and how it differs from Rabbi Kushner's view. Rabbi Blech has posted excerpts at http://www.benjaminblech.com