For an entity that claims to have no name, God sure has a lot of names: El, Elohim, Havaydah, Adonoi, Ehyeh, Shadai, Kadosh, Tsur, Av, Melekh, to name a few. Ways in which Jews refer to God represent the Almighty’s attributes, how God relates to the world and to humankind, according to Rabbi Orenstein, a former professor of Jewish studies at Yeshiva University and a noted author and lecturer.
His book deeply explores the mystery and essence of God’s names in the contexts in which they appear, including the lives of Adam, Noah, the patriarchs, Moses, major Prophets, and the Book of Psalms. This intense and meticulously footnoted volume seems geared toward the serious student of Jewish spirituality — a natural addition to a rabbinical student’s reading list. Teach Me About God is enlightening, to be sure, but it is not light reading.
