Non­fic­tion

Jew­ish The­ol­o­gy in Our Time: A New Gen­er­a­tion Explores the Foun­da­tions & Future of Jew­ish Belief

Rab­bi Elliot J. Cos­grove, ed.; Rab­bi David Wolpe, fwd.
  • Review
By – October 10, 2011
A diverse col­lec­tion of view­points in Jew­ish the­ol­o­gy, from a rea­son­ably well-mixed group of rab­bis and thinkers: all the major move­ments are account­ed for; men and women; Amer­i­can, Israeli, and even British voic­es. Although some­what uneven — in any assem­bled col­lec­tion of essays, some will be stronger, and some weak­er — the strong pieces are quite strong, the high­lights includ­ing works of Rab­bis Jere­my Gor­don, Ash­er Lopatin, and Tamar Elad-Appel­baum. The col­lec­tion presents a fas­ci­nat­ing range of opin­ions regard­ing halakhah and prac­tice, anthro­po­mor­phic god­lan­guage, and the future of Jew­ish prayer and rit­u­al life, among oth­er philo­soph­i­cal and social issues. Whether the the­ol­o­gy offered here is tru­ly ground­break­ing is debat­able, but it is incon­tro­vert­ibly thought­ful and often nov­el: the work of a new generation.
Ami­tai Adler is a Con­ser­v­a­tive rab­bi. He teach­es and writes in Los Ange­les, CA, and has been pub­lished in Sh’­ma and Jew­ish Bible Quarterly.

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