Overview

"A Precious Heritage is, ""A brilliantly conceived and carefully annotated retrospective on American and Jewish events through the stormiest years of the twentieth century. Before Internet (and, for a while, even TV), the sermons of great rabbis were our weekly window to the world, and Rabbi Sidney Ballon epitomized that greatness. Here, then, lovingly compiled by his son, is a set of enlightening reflections available nowhere else: lessons from World War I; the foreboding atmosphere of 1939; the birth of a Jewish state; the Civil Rights era; the spiritual significance of landing on the moon. The author's accompanying commentary looking back on the sermons from the perspective of today is itself extraordinary. And the sermons themselves are literary masterpieces--eloquent, passionate, even profound -- and representative of the rabbinic best."" RABBI LAWRENCE A. HOFFMAN, PH.D ""A Precious Heritage captures the essence of Rabbi Sidney Ballon's character, his relationship with his congregation, and his intellectual passions -- including his engagement from the pulpit with the great religious and social justice issues of his time. This is also the story of a father and son. Yesh Ballon immersed himself in Sidney Ballon's life work. Yesh traveled a path that greatly deepened his relationship with his father and his Judaism. This is an excellent book; it demonstrates why all rabbis should archive their work, leaving to future generations the legacy of their wisdom."" RABBI DAVID SAPERSTEIN, Director"

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9780999505106

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Reviews

A brilliantly conceived and carefully annotated retrospective on American and Jewish events through the stormiest years of the 20th century... lovingly compiled by his son... enlightening reflections... The author's commentary... is itself extraordinary... And the sermons themselves are literary masterpieces--eloquent, passionate, even profound--and representative of the rabbinic best. RABBI LAWRENCE A. HOFFMAN, PH.D., The Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professor of Liturgy, Worship and Ritual, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion A Precious Heritage captures... Rabbi Ballon's character... his engagement... with the great religious and social justice issues of his time. This is also the story of a father and son... Yesh traveled a path that greatly deepened his relationship with his father and his Judaism. This is an excellent book. RABBI DAVID SAPERSTEIN, Director Emeritus, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; Former U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom This book is a beautiful testimony to a life well-lived and messages that are eternal... Rabbi Sidney Ballon's story and sermons [help people struggle with faith] in timeless ways. What a gift to the Jewish world--and a beautiful sharing of soul with family and friends. RABBI NAT EZRAY, Congregation Beth Jacob, Redwood City, California I recognize... [Rabbi Ballon's] wisdom and brilliance, his insightful social commentary, and his deep Jewish knowledge. He framed the concerns of the day with faith and shared the wisdom of generations past to provide a path to the future. RABBI AMY B. EHRLICH, Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York In respectfully editing his father's sermons, [Yesh Ballon] not only brings honor to Rabbi Ballon's memory, he loves him into life such that together, they formulate their shared legacy and deed it to the future. RABBI NADYA GROSS, Congregation Pardes Levavot, Boulder, Colorado; Director, The Sage-ing(c) Mentorship Program Rabbi Ballon personified the great generation of reform rabbis. He was dignified; Judaically and secularly highly educated. Most of all, he stood for something and was not afraid to speak his mind to high and low alike. That generation will not come again. RABBI EMERITUS JAMES L. MIREL, Temple B'nai Torah, Bellevue, Washington Rabbi Ballon taught me that we continue in life by the deeds we perform and the lessons that we teach... Rabbi Sidney Ballon continues to live. His memory alone is a blessing. RABBI ROBERT LOEWY, Congregation Gates of Prayer, Metairie, Louisiana

Author Information

SIDNEY BALLON (1912-1974) was an American rabbi in the Reform Judaism movement. Born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, raised and educated in nearby Providence, he graduated with high honors from Brown University in 1932. He was ordained in 1938 from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio, and had pulpits in South Carolina, Kentucky, New York, and Georgia. In his thirty-six years in the pulpit he delivered approximately eight hundred sermons. The topics he gravitated to included belief in God, living in accordance with the principles of Judaism, love of the Jewish homeland, concern for the survival of Jewish life, and a vast number of topical issues reflecting social, political, and cultural issues of America and the world. YESH BALLON is Co-Director of Yedidya Center for Jewish Spiritual Direction and Morei Derekh Jewish Spiritual Direction Training Program. He is a Mashpia Ruchani (Spiritual Director) and Vatik (Sage-ing(R) Mentor), certified by ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Yesh is a teacher, artist, writer, and a retired architect. He spent over thirty years working in corporate real estate departments in Silicon Valley and around the world, as trainer, meeting facilitator, and an award-winning design and construction project manager. He also bakes a pretty decent challah. http: //www.yeshindeed.com/.

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