Non­fic­tion

Nine Essen­tial Things I’ve Learned About Life

  • Review
By – November 11, 2015

The lat­est vol­ume from Rab­bi Harold Kush­n­er has a title that describes only the sur­face of the insights con­tained there­in. In this com­pact book, the read­er is treat­ed to the author’s reflec­tions on God (and what God” does and doesn’t mean), the roles that rab­bis need to play today, the impor­tance of com­mu­ni­ty, and the cen­tral­i­ty of people’s ques­tions in defin­ing what it means to be Jew­ish in the twen­ty-first cen­tu­ry. As always, Rab­bi Kush­n­er writes in a way that makes deep reli­gious thought acces­si­ble to the casu­al read­er while giv­ing the more sophis­ti­cat­ed read­er a great deal to ponder. 

Through­out the book, both per­son­al expe­ri­ences as well as texts from Jew­ish sources and beyond are brought to bear on each of the nine things” that the author has learned. Regard­less of your per­son­al the­ol­o­gy, and whether or not it aligns per­fect­ly with Rab­bi Kushner’s, this is a book that will stim­u­late your mind and encour­age you to exam­ine what are the last­ing lessons in your life.


Relat­ed Content:

Rab­bi Arnold D. Sam­lan is a Jew­ish edu­ca­tor and rab­bi liv­ing in Mia­mi, Flori­da. He serves as exec­u­tive direc­tor of the Orloff Cen­tral Agency for Jew­ish Edu­ca­tion of Broward County.

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