Reviews for A Man in Three Worlds

The average rating for A Man in Three Worlds based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-04-25 00:00:00 Chen Chen This was a pretty interesting book about how various Jewish sects have responded to modern technology using biblical principles to decide whether the new technologies should be kosher or not. We considered everything from whether a pig that could chew cud would be kosher to whether women should be tested for the BRCA genes to whether fetuses should be tested for tay sachs and aborted if they have it. There are even Jews who will not accept DNA evidence that someone has died if 3/4ths of their face is not available for viewing, which was important after 9/11. My main complaint with this book is that it spent probably 3/4ths of its time talking about how the science worked and only 1/4th on the issue of whether Jews could use the technology. Most of the reasons for the decisions were known things, like healing taking precedence over anything including shabbat, or not causing harm to animals. I don't think there was anything that really surprised me, at least not from reform or conservative Judaism. Occasionally the orthodox still make me side eye them a little. But the basic thesis is that there is nothing new under the sun, and ancient words can continue to dictate how we respond to the modern world through new interpretations.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-11-05 00:00:00 Daniel Myers Highly recommended for anyone interested in Jewish law as it relates to modern-day science. You know how sometimes you read a non-fiction book and then you finish and you feel kind of empty, like there was no actual information contained in the book? Well, this is the opposite. Plus, the author has an engaging writing style which makes this an easy read.