Reviews for Essential Judaism in a Nutshell

The average rating for Essential Judaism in a Nutshell based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-06-20 00:00:00 Carlos Morales Years ago I enjoyed reading Rabbi Kushner's When Bad Things Happen to Good People. "Living a Life that Matters" follows in a similar approach; short and concise, but coherent and realistic. A recurring theme throughout the book is the life of the biblical patriarch Jacob, who lived a most interesting life. Early in life he was disengenuous, "stealing" his brother's birthright and then deceiving his father, Isaac. But, what goes around comes around, when he wanted to marry Rachel, and instead his future father-in-law switched Leah in her place. (It is the first instance in the Bible, where it is mentioned that someone marries for love." Kushner peppers his book with interesting anecdotes, gathered from his years as the leader of a congregation. He writes about a feminist who was about to be married. Kushner was surprised that she would take her fiance's surname after marriage. But she said that "if I'm to be known by some guy's name, I'd rather it be the guy I chose than the guy my mother chose." Kushner writes a lot about victims of crimes wanting vengeance. But instead, he submits that harming criminals is not the real objective. Instead, victims really want to reclaim their dignity, to tell their story and be acknowledged, and to reclaim control over their lives. This is embodied within a movement known as "Restorative Justice". Kushner writes, "Forgiveness, I try to tell them, is a favor we do ourselves, not a favor we do the other party." It is not that a criminal deserves forgiveness, but the victim deserves "better than to be permanently mired in the bitterness of the past. As long as your soul is corroded by hatred, you are still their [victim]." I enjoyed reading about Aaron Feuerstein, as an example of someone who has great integrity. He was the owner of a factory that suffered a big fire in 1995. He could have collected the insurance, and restarted his company in a region where labor costs were lower. But instead, he kept three thousand employees on the payroll while the factory was rebuilt in the original location. In the meantime, he battled insurance agents, competitors, government officials, and his own managers. Feuerstein is not a saint, but he is a "good" person. Kushner writes about ethical dilemmas. Sometimes the "right" thing to do is ambiguous, especially when weighing which of two options is best. He writes that "The rule should be: When facing a dilemma, choose the more morally demanding alternative." Kushner also writes about friendship. Friendship is extremely important, because it is voluntary. People are friends because they want to be, not because they are family or work colleagues, and they meet emotional needs that might not be satisfied elsewhere. Kushner maintains that true friendship is more difficult for men than for women. Men may have "buddies", but have difficulty opening up emotionally to others. Kushner also writes a lot about God; he sees that God is not in people, but in the social relationships between people. This is quite an interesting viewpoint. So, how does one live a life that matters? It's sort of trite, but quite apropros for Kushner to discuss the movie It's a Wonderful Life. He admits that the movie is corny, but it really gets to the heart of the matter. After describing the movie, he brings up a parallel story, a true story about a scientist who faced a terminal illness, and felt that he had wasted his life. But he didn't realize the medical devices he had invented had truly saved lives, removing terrible suffering, and allowed people with chronic illness to live normal lives. In the climax of the story, the scientist was invited to a dinner party, where he met some of the people who benefitted from his inventions. The author maintains that the prospect of death does not frighten most people. What really frightens them is the "dread of insignificance." People don't want to live forever--they desperately want to "live long enough to get it right, to feel that they have done something worthwhile with their lives, however long." Kushner ends his book with, "The Talmud recordsthis exchange between two of the sages: "Our ancestor Jacob never died." "How can you say that? The Bible describes him as dying in Egypt and being buried in Hebron." "A good person, even in death, is still alive." This is a marvelous book. It is short, and kept my interest throughout. It is not preachy. The book is inspiring, and was well worth my atention.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-03-26 00:00:00 Donald Woods This was a very lovely way to spend a Saturday morning during a tough time of year. I sort of like to think of Harold Kushner as my spiritual advisor since When Bad Things Happen to Good People helped me so much after my dad died. This one is a meditation on what it means to be a "good person", which was more relevant reading for this stage of grief, and in general a topic I like to think about, learn about, challenge my brain with. This was the third book I've ready by Kushner and I have loved them all. I finish each one feeling very emotionally and intellectually stimulated, and inspired to be a better person. While he is a Rabbi and writes from his religious perspective, I'd venture to say that his books are accessible to anyone of any religion (or no religion). With this one in particular, if you're a fan of The Good Place not just for the jokes but for the moral philosophy theme, this book might scratch some of that itch after the show ends in a few weeks. Also perhaps good companion reading for someone who recently finished East of Eden. I do love that theme of "what does it mean to be human?" This is definitely one for the "to eventually buy" list.