Overview

This book explains the process of spiritual guidance, encourages us to seek it out, and helps prepare those who feel called to become spiritual guides. Drawing from their personal and professional experience, as well as a rich array of traditional Jewish sources, Dr. Carol Ochs and Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky explore what Judaism has to say about the spiritual journey and the ways in which spiritual guidance can help us open more fully to God's presence in our lives. Using the Book of Exodus, the Song of Songs, and the psalms as roadmaps-and sharing stories of contemporary Jews engaged in their own spiritual explorations-Ochs and Olitzky explore prayer as a relationship with God, listening as a key to recognizing all that is holy, and discernment as a way to distinguish the real from the apparent. The hardcover edition of Jewish Spiritual Guidance was first published in 1997 by Jossey Bass.

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9781439223550

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Reviews

In engaging fashion, Ochs and Olitzky combine interviews, case studies, stories from ancient Jewish texts and Jewish practices to illustrate the various ways in which people may find their way to God. (Publishers Weekly) This book is so caring, thoughtful, constructive, and healing that it will touch and inspire individuals of every denomination and faith. (Rabbi Irving Greenberg, president, National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership) Ochs and Olitzky have written a wonderful book that is both grounded in the tradition and responsive to the spiritual and social needs of a new generation. They show how seeker and guide can draw nourishment from our sacred tradition. This book brings Jewish spirituality into maturity. [It is] an invaluable tool. (Rabbi Lawrence S. Kushner, rabbi of Congregation Beth El of Sudbury, MA, and author of God Was in This Place and I, I Did Not Know) Interweaving classical Jewish texts with personal narrative, Ochs and Olitzky offer fresh insight into the transformative nature of the human-divine encounter. This enormously helpful guide provides inspiration and illumination to those willing to embark on, or help navigate, a lifelong spiritual journey. (Ellen M. Umansky, coeditor of Four Centuries of Jewish Women's Spirituality) The authors have joined rays of heavenly light and globs of earthly dust to fuse a Jewish spirituality that is both transcAndental and yet firmly grounded in reality. This excellent handbook makes a significant contribution to those who want to understand and practice spiritual guidance in the framework of Jewish tradition. (Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, spiritual leader of the Jewish Center, Princeton, NJ,and coeditor of Jewish Chicken Soup for the Soul) Each verse of an ancient psalm, each story of a spiritual seeker in our lives today, spoke to me. I found myself reading the book not as a report about spiritual direction, but as itself an opportunity to seek and begin to find new spiritual direction in my own life. (Rabbi Arthur Waskow, a Pathfinder of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal and author of Down-to-Earth Judaism) An inspiring guide for all those who seek a full and rich life. Jewish Spiritual Guidance offers words of challenge and comfort drawn from the great religious teachings of Judaism, and addresses itself to the complexities and confusions of contemporary society. (Susannah Heschel, author of Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus)

In engaging fashion, Ochs and Olitzky combine interviews, case studies, stories from ancient Jewish texts and Jewish practices to illustrate the various ways in which people may find their way to God. (Publishers Weekly) <p> This book is so caring, thoughtful, constructive, and healing that it will touch and inspire individuals of every denomination and faith. (Rabbi Irving Greenberg, president, National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership) <p> Ochs and Olitzky have written a wonderful book that is both grounded in the tradition and responsive to the spiritual and social needs of a new generation. They show how seeker and guide can draw nourishment from our sacred tradition. This book brings Jewish spirituality into maturity. [It is] an invaluable tool. (Rabbi Lawrence S. Kushner, rabbi of Congregation Beth El of Sudbury, MA, and author of God Was in This Place and I, I Did Not Know) <p> Interweaving classical Jewish texts with personal narrative, Ochs and Olitzky offer fresh insight into the transformative nature of the human-divine encounter. This enormously helpful guide provides inspiration and illumination to those willing to embark on, or help navigate, a lifelong spiritual journey. (Ellen M. Umansky, coeditor of Four Centuries of Jewish Women's Spirituality) <p> The authors have joined rays of heavenly light and globs of earthly dust to fuse a Jewish spirituality that is both transcAndental and yet firmly grounded in reality. This excellent handbook makes a significant contribution to those who want to understand and practice spiritual guidance in the framework of Jewish tradition. (Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, spiritual leader of the Jewish Center, Princeton, NJ,and coeditor of Jewish Chicken Soup for the Soul) <p> Each verse of an ancient psalm, each story of a spiritual seeker in our lives today, spoke to me. I found myself reading the book not as a report about spiritual direction, but as itself an opportunity to seek and begin to find new spiritual direction in my own life. (Rabbi Arthur Waskow, a Pathfinder of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal and author of Down-to-Earth Judaism) <p> An inspiring guide for all those who seek a full and rich life. Jewish Spiritual Guidance offers words of challenge and comfort drawn from the great religious teachings of Judaism, and addresses itself to the complexities and confusions of contemporary society. (Susannah Heschel, author of Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus)

Author Information

Dr. Carol Ochs is director of graduate studies at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York, where she also teaches and serves as spiritual guide for rabbinic and cantorial students. She is the author of eight books, including Our Lives as Torah: Finding God in Our Own Stories and Reaching Godward: Voices from Jewish Spiritual Guidance. Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky is the executive director of the Jewish Outreach Institute. Among his numerous publications are The Rituals and Practices of a Jewish Life: A Handbook for Personal Spiritual Renewal, with Dan Judson; The Complete How-to Handbook for Jewish Living, with Ronald H. Isaacs; and the pioneering Recovery from Codependence: A Jewish Twelve Steps Guide to Healing Your Soul.

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