Overview

The book that will set the next stage in the development of Jewish theological thought. At every critical juncture in Jewish history, Jews have understood a dynamic theology to be essential for a vital Jewish community. This important collection sets the next stage of Jewish theological thought, bringing together a cross section of powerful new voices from all movements in Judaism to inspire and stimulate discussion both now and in the years to come. Provocative and wide-ranging, these invigorating and challenging insights from a new generation's thought leaders create a coherent and inspiring picture of Jewish belief. Together, they explore the breadth and depth of contemporary Jewish theological thinking: * Foundation of belief: How is it informed by sacred texts, and how does it inform life experience? * Limits of Jewish belief: What can a Jew believe and still call it Jewish theology? Who or what determines an authentic or coherent Jewish theology? * The role of the non-Jew in Jewish theology: Can one affirm a unique relationship between God and the Jewish people, yet validate the integrity of another theological system? * Israel: To what degree has the creation of a modern State of Israel forced a re-orientation of Jewish theology? How has the actualization of this longstanding theological category changed Jewish theology as a whole? * What's next: Does the contemporary Jewish condition insist on any other new questions when it comes to Jewish theology? Does the new atheism suggest a new challenge to belief?

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9781580234139

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Reviews

Demonstrates that there is not only a future to the Jewish theological enterprise in America but an exciting, fully realized, and challenging future. Abraham Joshua Heschel and Mordecai Kaplan would be thrilled. This book belongs on the shelf of every serious student of Jewish thought. Rabbi Neil Gillman, PhD, Aaron Rabinowitz and Simon H. Rifkind Emeritus Professor of Jewish Philosophy, The Jewish Theological Seminary; author, Doing Jewish Theology: God, Torah and Israel in Modern Judaism The Jewish conversation about God has continued for thousands of years. The wonderful collection of new voices represented in [this book] enriches not only the conversation but also the reader who will discover how rich, varied, and meaningful that conversation can be. Rabbi Laura Geller, senior rabbi, Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills Intellectually and spiritually exhilarating. Indeed, it augurs well for the future of American Judaism. Paul Mendes-Flohr, PhD, professor of Jewish thought, University of Chicago Divinity School; professor emeritus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Demonstrates that there is not only a future to the Jewish theological enterprise in America but an exciting, fully realized, and challenging future. Abraham Joshua Heschel and Mordecai Kaplan would be thrilled. This book belongs on the shelf of every serious student of Jewish thought. Rabbi Neil Gillman, PhD, Aaron Rabinowitz and Simon H. Rifkind Emeritus Professor of Jewish Philosophy, The Jewish Theological Seminary; author, Doing Jewish Theology: God, Torah and Israel in Modern Judaism The Jewish conversation about God has continued for thousands of years. The wonderful collection of new voices represented in [this book] enriches not only the conversation but also the reader who will discover how rich, varied, and meaningful that conversation can be. Rabbi Laura Geller, senior rabbi, Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills Intellectually and spiritually exhilarating. Indeed, it augurs well for the future of American Judaism. Paul Mendes-Flohr, PhD, professor of Jewish thought, University of Chicago Divinity School; professor emeritus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Author Information

Rabbi David J. Wolpe is rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, and author of Why Faith Matters, among other books. Rabbi Carole B. Balin, PhD, is professor of Jewish history at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She is currently working on an updated version of the 1984 edition of Liberal Judaism with Dr. Eugene B. Borowitz and Frances W. Schwartz. Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, DHL (www.bradartson.com), an inspiring speaker and educator, holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is vice president of American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He is a member of the philosophy department, supervises the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program and mentors Camp Ramah in California. He is also dean of Zecharias Frankel College in Potsdam, Germany, ordaining rabbis for the European Union. A regular columnist for the Huffington Post, he is author of many articles and books, including God of Becoming and Relationship: The Dynamic Nature of Process Theology and Passing Life's Tests: Spiritual Reflections on the Trial of Abraham, the Binding of Isaac (both Jewish Lights). Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, DHL, is available to speak on the following topics: * Almighty? No Way! Loving the God You Actually Believe in * What I Learned Ordaining and Installing Uganda's First African Rabbi (and Sailing up the Nile!) * All God's Children: Sharing Life with My Autistic Son * Embracing the World: Science and Religion * Jewish Continuity: What's in It for Me? Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, PhD, is a rabbi and scholar who was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and earned a PhD in Jewish philosophy at The Jewish Theological Seminary. She is the Shalom Hartman Institute's director of lay leadership education and co-director of its North American Scholars Circle. She is also a member of the faculty of HUC-JIR, Jerusalem, and teaches in communities throughout North America. She is co-author of two books, Striving Toward Virtue and Preparing Your Heart for the High Holidays, and author of many articles and rituals. She lives outside Jerusalem with her husband, Rabbi Ofer Sabath Beit-Halachmi, and their children, Tehillah and Yedidya. Rabbi Daniel M. Bronstein, PhD, serves as congregational scholar at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, New York. He received his PhD in Jewish history from The Jewish Theological Seminary of America and was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Rabbi Bronstein has taught in a variety of forums, from synagogues to the Association for Jewish Studies, the Center for Jewish History, and The Jewish Theological Seminary. His writing has been featured in popular and academic publications, including The Forward, JEWCY, Central Conference of American Rabbis Journal, and Jews and American Popular Culture and The Cambridge Dictionary of Jewish Religion, History, and Culture. Simon Cooper, PhD, earned his doctoral degree in contemporary covenantal thought at King's College, London. He is a teaching fellow at the London School of Jewish Studies and is also editorial assistant for the Journal of Jewish Studies. Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove, PhD, is rabbi at Park Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan. He received his masters of Hebrew letters from American Jewish University, studied at the Schechter Institute of Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and was ordained at The Jewish Theological Seminary. He received his doctorate in the history of Judaism from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Rabbi Jonathan Crane, PhD, a former Wexner Graduate Fellow at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, is a visiting instructor at the University of Toronto. His scholarship focuses on contemporary Jewish thought, law, and ethics. Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum is interim rabbi serving alongside Rabbi Gordon Tucker at Temple Israel Center in White Plains, New York. She is the designated associate dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem; former rabbi of congregation Magen Avraham Omer in the Israeli Negev; former vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel; serves on the boards of several organizations working to achieve religious pluralism in Israel; and is a writer of contemporary Hebrew poetry and thought. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and two daughters. Eitan Fishbane, PhD, a frequent scholar-in-residence and guest speaker at congregations across North America, is assistant professor of Jewish thought at The Jewish Theological Seminary; author of As Light Before Dawn: The Inner World of a Medieval Kabbalist (Stanford University Press); and co-editor of Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections (Jewish Lights). Eitan Fishbane is available to speak on the following topics: Shabbat Prayer Spirituality God and Theology Mysticism Ethics Torah Jeremy Gordon is rabbi of New London Synagogue, England. He blogs at www.rabbionanarrowbridge.blogspot.com. Rabbi Shai Held is cofounder, rosh ha-yeshiva, and chair in Jewish thought at Mechon Hadar in New York City. He is completing a doctoral dissertation on the religious thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel at Harvard University. He contributed to Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections and Jewish Theology in Our Time: A New Generation Explores the Foundations and Future of Jewish Belief (both Jewish Lights). Rabbi James Jacobson-Maisels teaches Jewish thought, mysticism, spiritual practices, and meditation at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Chicago in Jewish mysticism and has taught Judaism, Jewish mysticism, and Jewish spiritual practices in a variety of settings in America and Israel. Jeremy Kalmanofsky is rabbi of congregation Ansche Chesed in New York City. He was ordained at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America. His articles have appeared in a variety of Jewish journals, as well as in Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections and Jewish Theology in Our Time: A New Generation Explores the Foundations and Future of Jewish Belief (both Jewish Lights). He serves on the editorial board of Conservative Judaism, and is a member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative movement. Rabbi Naamah Kelman is dean of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. Born and raised in New York City, she has lived in Israel for over three decades. She is active in feminist causes and a staunch advocate of a Progressive, pluralistic, democratic Israel. Rabbi Asher Lopatin is the spiritual leader of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation, a modern Orthodox synagogue in Chicago. On a Rhodes Scholarship, he completed an MPhil in medieval Arabic thought from Oxford University and did doctoral work at Oxford on Islamic fundamentalist attitudes toward Jews. He was ordained by Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, Yeshivas Brisk, and Yeshiva University. He is the incoming president of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, succeeding Rabbi Avi Weiss. Rabbi Michael Marmur, PhD, is assistant professor of Jewish theology and vice president for academic affairs at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). He served for over ten years as dean of HUC-JIR's Jerusalem School, and he is still based there. He specializes in the thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel. Rabbi Evan Moffic is senior rabbi of Congregation Solel in Highland Park, Illinois. He was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and graduated from Stanford University. In addition to Jewish thought, he has written on American Jewish history, on Zionism, and responsa related to conversion. Leon A. Morris is the rabbi of Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor, New York. He is the founding director of the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan. He has contributed essays to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun, Sh'ma, Jewish Week and Beliefnet, and has contributed a chapter entitled Beyond Autonomy in Platforms and Prayer Books: Theological and Liturgical Perspectives on Reform Judaism. Rabbi Daniel Nevins is the Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School of The Jewish Theological Seminary and is the chairman and a senior lecturer in its Department of Professional Skills. He serves on the executive council, joint placement commission, and law committee of the Rabbinical Assembly. Previously he served as senior rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Rabbi William Plevan is a graduate of the Rabbinical School of The Jewish Theological Seminary and is currently a pursuing a doctorate in religion at Princeton University, where he is writing his dissertation on Martin Buber's philosophical anthropology. In addition to Jewish thought, his interests include interfaith dialogue, ethics, and political theory. Rabbi Or N. Rose is an associate dean at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College. He is the coauthor of God in All Moments: Mystical and Practical Spiritual Wisdom from Hasidic Masters and coeditor of Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice; Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections and Speaking Torah: Spiritual Teachings from around the Maggid's Table, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (all Jewish Lights). Benjamin Sax, PhD, is assistant professor in the Department of Religion and Culture and director of the Malcolm and Diane Rosenberg Program in Judaic Studies at Virginia Tech. He received his MA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and PhD from the University of Chicago. Marc B. Shapiro, PhD, is the Weinberg Chair of Judaic Studies at the University of Scranton. He is author of Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy and The Limits of Orthodox Theology, both of which were National Jewish Book Award finalists. Benjamin D. Sommer, PhD, is professor of Bible and ancient Semitic languages at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Previously, he served as director of the Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies at Northwestern University and as a visiting faculty member at Hebrew University and the Shalom Hartman Institute. He is currently working on the Jewish Publication Society commentary on the book of Psalms. His first book, A Prophet Reads Scripture: Allusion in Isaiah 40-66, was awarded the Salo Wittmayer Baron Prize by the American Academy for Jewish Research. His second book, The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel, received the Jeremy Schnitzer Prize from the Association of Jewish Studies. Rabbi Eliyahu Stern is assistant professor of modern Jewish intellectual and cultural history at Yale University. He is an American fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute and received rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University. He is currently writing a book on Elijah of Vilna.

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