Celia Gurevitch Jewish Community Library

Isaacs, Ron. Have a Good Laugh: Jokes for the Jewish Soul. Illus. by Franklin Feldman. Jersey City , NJ : Ktav, 2009. 185 p. Paperbound. (ISBN-978-1602801301).

In seven chapters the author groups jokes by subject: Israel , Theology and God, Family, Bible, Rabbis, Humor from Chelm, and last but longest, Potpourri of Jewish humor. Though many of the jokes are well-worn and familiar to older readers, there is always a new generation to entertain and surprise. When you sit in your armchair all by yourself and read funny stories, they may not seem so funny, but if you are a good story-teller, you may add some of these to your repertoire and use them at an appropriate moment in a social setting or to enliven an otherwise serious speech. Illustrations are few but inject sparkle into this volume.

Recommended for collections in need of more anthologies of jokes.

Susanne M. Batzdorff, Celia Gurevitch Jewish Community Library, Congregation Beth Ami, Santa Rosa , CA .

Kaplan-Mayer, Gabrielle. The Creative Jewish Wedding Book. 2d ed.; a Hands-on Guide to New and Old Traditions, Ceremonies & Celebrations. Woodstock , VT : Jewish Lights,
2009. paperbound. 261p., illus. $19.99 (ISBN-13: 978-1580233989).

This is a very complete overview of the many varieties of Jewish weddings, from orthodox to barely religious, from traditionally Jewish to marriage of two people belonging to different faiths, but also not shying away from marriage between two persons of the same sex. Traditions and customs are explained, writing your own texts for wedding rituals is encouraged.  Altogether the author empowers the marrying couple to decide what style of wedding is best for them and their family situation. A step-by-step plan facilitates what could be a daunting process. Choice of foods, music, chuppah, decorations are discussed in detail, with many suggestions included. Besides the general index, the book includes a14 page list of websites and (how old-fashioned!) a 4 page bibliography for further study. This title should be a welcome addition to your collection as a very practical and up-to-date guide to this important life-cycle event.

Susanne M. Batzdorff, Celia Gurevitch Jewish Community Library, Congregation Beth Ami, Santa Rosa , CA

Susanne M. Batzdorff read the following book, reviewed it for the AJL Bulletin and donated it to the library.

Schulweis, Harold M. Conscience: The Duty to Obey and the Duty to Disobey. Woodstock , Vt. : Jewish Lights Publishing, 2008. 131p. $19.99 (ISBN-13: 978-1-58023-375-0, ISBN-10: 1-58023-375-9).

Through examples taken from Biblical, Talmudic and Midrashic sources, Rabbi Schulweis demonstrates how Judaism encourages questioning authority, even when it is the highest authority, i.e. God. Obedience should never be blind, and when moral rectitude and authoritarian law are in conflict with one another, a person must do what is right and not what is commanded. Abraham confronted God to reason with Him before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah . Moses often reminded God of His covenantal commitment to give the people another chance. If God’s actions can be questioned by mortals, how much more should they stand up to fallible secular governments and other authorities. The author cites examples of righteous people who took risks in the name of justice and morality, particularly in the Holocaust. His final chapters describe ways in which we can rear children whose conscience is well enough developed to respond fearlessly to instances of injustice, racism, or bigotry. Listen to your children’s questions respectfully and answer them honestly. Teach them kindness and consideration. Judaism encourages questioning rather than accepting dictates from above. Protecting the stranger, the orphan and the widow, and pursuing justice are important Jewish values.

In a world where the weak are all too often crushed and might prevails over right, where the lessons of the Holocaust are not remembered, where genocides occur almost everywhere, the lessons contained in this book are urgent and very timely. This volume contains notes but neither bibliography nor index. The reviewer must mention one serious error. In writing about the Commandant of Auschwitz, the author calls him Rudolf Hess. Actually, it was Rudolf Hoess, an entirely different individual. This book is recommended for academic and synagogue libraries.

Rabbi Dr. Michael J. Shire had put together a daring, beautiful and inspiring book titled “The Jewish Prophet: Visionary Words from Moses and Miriam to Henrietta Szold and A.J. Heschel”. It is daring because it extended the concept of prophets and prophecies from the traditional biblical period throughout history, to our days. The first of the three main parts of his books introduces eight prophets from the Tanakh, but also three post-canon sages: Hillel, Yohanan ben Zakai and Akiva. The second section covers 9 individuals in the period between the 11th and the 19th century. The third part lists 10 people whose active period was in the 20th century. On page 11 Shire justifies his choice to name prophets those who traditionally are not considered such,

“Each of the men and women in this book has been described as a prophet by biographers or by the historians of their own time. Some may perceive this as a controversial appellation but I believe it has been used for these individuals because of the special category of holiness and direct actions that they demonstrated.”

The book is also daring to include women amongst prophets. According to the Talmud (Tractate Megillah) seven prophetesses preached to Israel… Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, Esther. Shire includes only Miriam from these seven and two more women for each of the other two parts of his book. I, with my egalitarian views, was happy to see these inclusions; particularly that I was not aware of the activities of these wise women.

The book is beautifully designed, printed on high quality paper that is a joy to look at. Almost every page includes an illustration taken from the manuscripts and early prints of the Hebrew Section of the British Library, selected by the collection’s curator, Ilana Tahan. At the end of the book there is a detailed list of the illustrations and their sources. I think that these images are so rich and remarkable that could stand on their own as the basis for an art book.

But all of these were only about the structure and the design of the book. The essential content is about the life and words of the prophets from various ages of human/ Jewish history. Fore each of the 30 prophets we are given their names, a single phrase conveying their significance (e.g. Barukh Spinoza as the “defender of truth”), the period they lived in, a short quote from/of them, a few biographical pages with description of their thinking and activities as well. Furthermore there are 3-4 extensive quotes from their works, or in the rare cases, when they themselves did not leave much written material behind then about them. These were remarkably inspiring people. Having read the whole book in one sitting from beginning to end I am inspired by them. Such a wide range of circumstances they lived in, but how uniformly passionate reactions they produced. They were all passionate I their quest for justice and morality. I recommend this book to anybody who needs a motivation in any area.

Here is the full list of prophets covered in this book:

• IN THE BEGINNING: Moses, Miriam, Samuel, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Hillel, Yohanan ben Zakkai, Akiva
• FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION: Solomon ibn Gabirol, Bachya ibn Pakuda, Moses Maimonides, Isaac Abravanel, Dona Gracia Mendes, Manasseh ben Israel, Barukh Spinoza, Baal Shem Tov, Hannah Werbermacher
• EVEN IN OUR OWN TIME: Theodor Herzl, Henrietta Szold, Rav Kook, Leo Baeck, Lily Montagu, Stephen S. Wise, Martin Buber, Janusz Korczak, David Ben-Gurion, Abraham Joshua Heschel

Please allow me a personal note. In the early 1990′s I attended the Leo Baeck College in London for one year. Rabbi Shire was teaching there at the time, but I did not have a chance to take any of his classes. I only listened to a few of his shiurim. My recollection is that I was impressed not just by the depth of his knowledge, but also his friendliness to the audience. He had a direct and warm presence. Some time since I was studying there he deservedly became the College’s vice principle.

I just read from beginning to end Ronald H. Isaacs‘ Miracles: A Jewish Perspective. It was a great read and gave me a quick overview of the topic. However I think the primary use of this book will be a reference guide, because it contains such a comprehensive list of miracles. The miracles are listed according to their source, thus the book’s main body is divided into sections like miracles in the Bible, Talmud, philosophy, quotations, short stories, and prayerbook.

• The Biblical part is further subdivided to miracles demonstrating the wrath of G-d and then the Love of G-d, finally stories related to Elisha and Elijah.

• The Talmud part starts off with 7 specific extended quotes (all explained) positioning the roles of miracle within Talmudic thinking, then lists 37 individual stories and finishes of Elijah related examples.

• The Jewish philosophy part begins with the medieval period, describes nine rabbis’ position on miracles (from Saadia Gaon to Moses Mendelssohn) and then devotes two pages to three 20th century thinkers (Rosenzweig, Heschel, Kaplan.)

• The next part includes 25 short quotes on six pages gathered from the Bible, Talmud and Midrash.

• The four short stories, each of them being two pages long, in the next part appear without sources cited.

• The last (“prayerbook”) section takes specific prayers from Jewish liturgy (e.g. Modeh Ani, Asher Yatzar, Mi Kamocha, Amidah…), summarizes their content one by one and analyzes the miracle related points. I particularly liked that this part included blessings for seeing a rainbow, trees blossoming, creatures of unusual beauty, lightning, and hearing thunder.

Now that I covered the content of the majority of the book I need to point out the two short introductions. The first examines the question what a miracle is, or more precisely what ti was for the Jewish people throughout the ages. The analysis includes etymology of the Hebrew words for miracles, historical comparison and differentiation between hidden and revealing miracles. The second introduction introduces the differences between Christian and Jewish understanding of miracles. It does not go too deep into the former, because that is not the topic of this book, but provides quick list of 46 miracles of Jesus and the references in the New Testament.

The two things I most appreciated in this book were its expansive coverage and precise citing of the source. Not being an expert on the topic I cannot tell you whether the author left out any important miracle related writing from Jewish authors, but the list certainly seems comprehensive enough for me to start off the journey to learn more. As Isaacs devotes only a page or two at most to any giving miracle, it is very much a beginners’ book. That is why I am so grateful for specifying the sources. I can go off and find out more about any of them. I admit, I am a bit dizzy, as jumped from one miracle/story/context to the next as I turned the pages. But if you want to have a generic overview of the Jewish perspective on miracles this is an excellent the first book to read. (If you want more there is a short bibliography of further reading at the back of the book.)

Like a lot of people I was familiar with the basic concept and story of the Golem. After reading though Chayim Bloch‘s “The Golem: Mystical tales from the Ghetto of Prague” I have a much deeper appreciation of where it came from and what it means. Reading the five introductory writings helped in the process too. First we have a two page long introduction by Paul M. Allen from 1971. It mentions later literary expression of the Golem and provides to alternative analysis: Golem as a symbol for the collective soul of (the Jewish) people and/or Golem as the ‘double’ of its creator. He also posits the Golem as someone who is” demanding to be released from his servitude by us who have shaped him to the thing he is.” Next we have an untitled, unsigned four page piece about the birth of the first edition of the book. How a 1917 German edition was welcomed in 1923-24 in New York. It also contains a few words attempting to discover the authenticity of the story with the help of literary detective work. The third piece in the book was written by Harry Schneiderman about “Chayim Bloch, an interpreter of the East to the West; the story of Chayim Bloch who has created a sensation in Literary Europa [sic!].” It is worth knowing more about the life of the person who revitalized (and to some extent reinterpreted) the story for modern use. Fourth, we have four pages of literary analysis, titled, “Prefatory” by Hans Ludwig Held. Finally we have the author’s seven page introduction itself. Bloch talks about the sources he used (Hebrew manuscripts) and yet another interpretation of the possible hidden meaning s of the legendary figure.

Then we finally arrive to the bulk of the book: 33 individual chapters, almost all of them containing a single story related to the Golem, from the birth of Judah Loew to his death. A better title for the book,–if we believe that titles should reflect the contents of books–would be Rabbi Judah Loew, because he stories convey his virtues, powers, wisdom and passion. The Golem doesn’t even appear in about fourth of the chapters. This provides a much wider context (in terms of period of time, geography and social relations) than most Golem books that are strictly focusing on the trouble he was called to solve for and his dissolution. Here we see the Golem working in an extended period of time, used by his master over decades for the protection of Prague Jews both communally and individually. I won’t detail these narratives, but they really are where the action is happening and the learning for our age derives from. They display a fascinating mixture of personal wit, historical anecdotes, societal observations, and mystical words and deeds. I will surely need to reread them to get a comprehensive understanding, as for a first reading I just followed them as the captivating tales they were.

I cannot stop wondering what the story and its layers of meanings signify for the publisher. The volume was published by Steinerboooks, which was established to serve the work of Rudolph Steiner and anthroposophy. The Golem was published in their “spiritual Sciences” paperback series, along with such titles as From Sphinx to Christ, Ancient mysteries of Greece, Rognarok, Atlantis, Vril, Tarot … In other words the esoteric nature of these topics must have some an important connection to anthroposophy. But I believe this connection is rather different than the Golem story plays within Jewish context. I cannot indulge in a thorough comparison because I am not familiar enough with anthroposophy.

Tisha B’Av starts Saturday night. I would like to recommend five items for this commemoration.

First, for those who would like to learn the trope we have a tape of the cantillation of Eikhah (Lamentations).

Second, instead of the various copies of the Tanakh–that of course includes Lamentations—why not pick up a copy of The five scrolls, edited by Herbert N. Bronstein. The advantage of reading this is the short introductory/explanatory chapter about Eikhah itself.

Third, we have several copies of Siddur Tishah B’Av, a prayer book containing the complete service, readings for erev Tishah B’Av and for Tishah B’Av day, the full text of Eikhah, selected kinot with commentary, poetry, songs, as well as interpretive essays.

The fourth item is an issue of the biannual journal Focus dedicated to the holiday. It is titled “A Tisha B’Av Reader”, published by the Jewish Study Network in the Bay Area and is edited by Yisroel Gordon. If you want to you can download the whole volume from their website in PDF format. After a short preface and introduction it includes 6 high quality essays that combine scholarly accuracy with rabbinical insights. I just read and learned a lot from them. I encourage you to do the same. Here are the very brief abstracts of the essays.

• Rabbi Joey Felsen: From Tammuz to Av: Fixing the Tablets in Twenty-Two Days
  Details the five historical tragedies that happened on the 17th of Tammuz and how that dates starts the three week cycle of preparation for Tisha B’Av.
• Rabbi Yaacov Benzaquen: The State of the Union in Exile
  Analyzes and compares the reasons for the destruction of the two Temples, based on the Talmud. Hints: #1: idol worship, adultery and murder (Yoma 9b) , #2: baseless hatred.
• Rabbi Daniel Steinberg: It’s My Party… The Tragedy of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza
  Through the aggadah of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza we learn more about what baseless hated means. It is a fascinating exposition of a short cryptic Talmudic story.
• Rabbi Yisroel Gordon: Of Man, Temple and Divine Desire
  Explains the significance of the Mishkan and the Temple. Posits that G-d desired to live amongst us and the Shechina accompanies the Jews even in exile. Talks about what is needed for reconciliation.
• Rabbi Avi Lebowitz: Is it a Mitzvah to Live in Israel? A Survey of Rabbinic Responsa
  Provides halachic support, drawing from a variety of sources throughout the centuries of why living in Israel, particularly observing the mizvot there is a mitzvah.
• Rabbi Zev Jacobs: Mourning for Jerusalem: A Halachic Guide
  Guides us what to do in these in 9 chapters, 28 points and 59 footnotes. The chapters are: the three week leading up to Tisha B’Av, the first through the ninth of Av (“The Nine Days’), the day before Tisha B’Av, mourning on Tisha B’Av, bathing and footwear, Toray study, in the synagogue, talit and tefillin, The Tenth of Av.

The fifth book I would like point your attention to is Kenneth Roseman‘s The Tenth of Av. It is an excellent book for young adults to learn about life in the first and second century. It starts with the day after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE and follows the path of people who survived it. They may opt to stay in the ruined city or escape to various parts of the then known world, including places like Egypt, Spain, Yavneh, Mesopotamia. They may meet and join famous rabbis. Or they may make different occupational choices. Some of them even change their religion. With all these varieties of lifestyles and places we get an overview of post-Temple life and a sense of what is lost with the dispersion.

Now, forget most of what I wrote in the previous paragraph. There are no real characters in the book, if we discount the historical figures, such as sages and rabbis. This book is a “Do/choose-your-own-adventure style book.” For those of you who are not familiar with this style: every page is a vignette size entry, that stands on its own. They describe an event, tell a story, or pose a moral dilemma. At the end of the page the reader can choose between 2-3 options what to do, depending on the temperament and understanding of the text read. This is a great tool to teach decision making, analytical thinking, and dealing with potential consequences. As the whole book is written in second person singular (“you”) if read correctly it becomes rather personal book. YOU make the choices and end up living with them.

(My only aversion wit the book is that about third of the possible paths include Jesus and Christianity one way or another. I am not sure whether that proportion is accurate for 1st/2nd century life. I thought that at that point in history the new religion was not as widespread as to warrant such a heavy representation in a volume about Jewish life.)

Let me close this post with a Talmud (Taanit 30b) quote,

“Those who mourn the loss of Jerusalem will be privileged to witness the city’s joy.”

May your fast be meaningful this weekend.

Today I read the children at Camp Chai Michelle Markel‘s Dreamer from the Village: The Story of Marc Chagall. This beautifully drawn book recounts Marc Chagall’s life—the famous Russian/Jewish painter– through words and pictures. Emily Lisker‘s illustrations are variations on Chagall’s painting themselves. They are simpler, using less number of colors, making the imagery more palatable for children, for whom the book was produced. The palette might have been more limited, but I really enjoyed how each page in the book had a different dominant/ background color that defined the mood for the whole scene. That range helped to engage the kids to whom I was reading the story and showing the book.

I had only a few caveats about the book. I would have preferred not to mention the word “Louvre” in it. The biography was simplified to a skeleton version and many aspects of Chagall’s life were unmentioned. I had a difficult time explaining to the children what the Louvre is, and why was it a big deal for Chagall to get in there. It was superfluous for the target audience. The typography matched nicely Chagall’s painting style. The only problem is that it is hard to read, both for young people and in a setting where the story is read aloud.

Having said the above this is a recommended book. I appreciated that the illustrator actually painted paintings with oil on canvas for this book, providing a rich experience. The author note, mini-glossary and additional information about Chagall at the end of the book made the book whole. Borrow the book if you want to introduce your child to this genius painter.

Buy @ Amazon.com

I admit I did something I was not supposed to with Jacob Neusner‘s Learn Talmud: I read it instead of using it as intended for studying. It was fun and great experience, but did not benefit from it as much as if I had followed the author’s instructions. This book is a “teach yourself how to learn Talmud” kind of book, with the great advantage of having an expert guide to do so. After two short introductory chapters about what the Talmud is and why/how it should be studied the following 21 chapters are divided into four parts as shown in the table below. I drew the table of contents into a table format to point out the similarities of the structures of the parts.

Each chapter starts off with defining the subject of the lesson and points our attention to specific question to keep in mind while reading a particular Mishnah or Talmud section. Those are presented in their original Hebrew/Aramaic with vowels along with a line-by-line translation. As the objective of the book is to teach, each of these quotes have their vocabulary collected afterward for easier reference.

Each of the four major parts takes one Talmud page and helps the student learn it form beginning to end. This is designed to make you understand how a Talmud page is built up. In the chapters titled “The Talmud all together” you will be presented the whole Talmud page put together without vowels. By the time you get to those you are supposed to be able to read an understand it.

Based on the vocabulary of the author’s text, the design of the book and the nature of the selected Talmud sections I believe this book is designed for older children or young adults. Anyone can learn from it of course, but it is important that even younger people can do so. By the design of the book I refer not just to the drawings on the front and back cover (clearly showing younger students, but the similarly designed initial letters of most English only sections.

The book can be studied on its own but it is even more beneficial if you studied first Neusner’s “Learn Mishnah,” because this book is using the very same passages that one did. (Unfortunately I was not aware of this when I read this book. Now I will have to go back to Learn Mishnah.)

While I haven’t studied the book as I should have but I did collect some favorite quotes from it. Let me share them with you, hoping that it would encourage you to find out the context I grabbed these quotes out of and read the whole book.

• The Talmud is (1) the Mishnah and (2) the Talmudic commentary to, explanation of, the Mishnah. (page 7)
• The Talmud does not merely tell stories. It makes points. (13)
• The Talmud has kept the attention of the Jewish people for hundreds of years and not only because it is a holy book. The Talmud has fascinated Jews because it is a fascinating book. (14)
• What makes the Talmud “Talmudic” is its power to see the complicated sides of a simple problem. (18)
• We must be able to take the rule and find its general principle, then apply that general principle to a wide variety of cases. Otherwise we are stuck with useless facts. (28)
• Aggadah and halakhah when properly brought together and made into neighbors, talk to one another. (67)
• The Talmud represents a series of careful and deliberate choices, among many possibilities of how someone wanted things to be. (82)
• Judaism is a religion about keeping your word because it speaks about ordinary, everyday circumstances, moments when you say something you later regret. (84)
• We are what we do. But we do what we believe. (86)
• We cannot enjoy anything of this world without saying a blessing. (93)
• Supposed contradictions [in scriptures] may be solved by reference to different times or different situations. (98)
• Saying a blessing is a way of expressing our thanks to G-d. (102)
• If you work for a living, when will you ever find time to study Torah? (105)
• The Talmud is concerned with a life of holiness, but we live in a world uninterested in what is holy. (118)
• A paradox exists. The world belongs to G-d, but we must work to gain the benefits that should come freely if we serve G-d. (119)
• When the Mishnah tells us what to do, the Talmud asks why we should do it. (121)
• The conception of the Mishnah and the Talmud is that we can discover rules that will apply everywhere and to all the Jewish people. (125)
• The Day of Atonement will do us no good if we do not do our share of the work of repentance. (128)
• You have to make yourself available to the party against whom you have a grievance. (138)
• The Talmud is put together with amazing care. We se there is close attention to form and formality. (140)
• We must always discover for ourselves those things that in the end, we shall affirm and believe. (151)
• Part of the right reason to study Torah s that it is a joy and fun! […] The other part is that G-d wants us to study. (164)

If you study this book it will help you learn to think, it will hone your mental capabilities. Or as Neusner wrote,

The Talmud is important for Judaism today not because it was important a long time ago, but because it teaches us to think about the world in which we live. (42)

Having read three of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan‘s book in the past I was happy to discover in our library a volume I was not familiar with. It was as titled “The Real Messiah? A Jewish response to missionaries.” (A side note: I had a discussion about the book’s title in a LibraryThing forum. This social cataloging site had two entries for the same book and I asked them to combine them. When they did the “?” was missing from the joined title. I insisted that they add that back, because it really makes a difference in the meaning of the title.) As I read on the book’s inner cover the publication was sponsored by an organization called “Jews for Judaism.” Their declared goals are to create “preventive counter-missionary education program that instill a greater appreciation and commitment to Jewish values and beliefs” and “winning back those Jews who have been influenced by Christian missionaries.”

As I learned from the pages of the book itself that their undeclared aim is to counteract the activities of Jews for Jesus. The book attempts to support these objectives through ten chapters, three of which were not written by Aryeh Kaplan. Before I would share my own opinion about the book let me summarize these chapters.

The introduction consists of 10 advices for Jews what to do with/how to react to the missionary problem caused by Christians who proselytize Jews. These include, learn Torah, d not argue with missionaries, do not debate, do not be taken by the “Jewish Christian” ploy, do not lose your cool, get the facts, plan strategy, focus on the teenagers and create opportunities for youth participation.

The second chapter, titled “Why aren’t we Christians?” takes four basic teachings of Christianity and explains why they Jews cannot accept them. These tenets are Jesus was the Messiah predicted by the prophets; man is evil and sinful; the Jews are no longer G-d’s chosen people, those who accept Jesus are; there is only one law: love.

The third chapter answers the question “What can a Jew lose by embracing Christianity? The answer is: Everything.” In detailing the answer Kaplan takes the differences to the concept of trinity, incarnation and meditation. In addition he also has suggestions how to find spirituality within Judaism in case that is missing for the Jewish person.

The fourth chapter compares the Jewish concept of Messiah to that of the Christian. The Jewish Messiah will “bring the world back to G-d, and make it a place of peace justice and harmony”. Christians on the other hand when Jesus did not accomplish these had to radically alter the concept and introduce the notion of a second coming. Kaplan rejects it as it extraneous to the original idea.

The fifth chapter, written by Berel Wein, looks at the history of ecumenicism. Taking one particular incident, a dialogue in 1263 CE, under the rule of James I of Aragon of Spain between Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman) and Dominican monks Wein recounts the arguments of both sides and posist that there were and are no long term advantages of such “dialog.”

Pinchas Stolper, in chapter six, compares the historical Jesus’ activities with the Biblical prophecies regarding the Messiah. He takes 24 specific examples and shows how Jesus did not fulfill them, therefore he could not have been the Messiah.

Kaplan examines the missionaries’ most common, Tanakh based arguments in chapter seven and dissects them one by one. Through careful analysis he proves how the very quotes proselytizers attempt to use from Jewish resources for their agenda are misguided, misunderstood or deliberately misinterpreted.
Chapter eight is an unfavorable comparison of Jesus words and acts, based on New Testament quotes. For example it gives examples how he did not “turn the other cheek” when attacked, how he was vindictive, and vengeful, did not practice love all the time.

The penultimate and longest chapter of the book specifies the characteristics of Messianic age as known through Jewish sacred writings. The fact that the state of Israel has been reestablished is considered a foretold sign that the Messianic age is getting closer. The accelerated pace of technological and social changes in the last few hundred years are also interpreted in similar manner. The human free will, the process of divine creation is synthesized in the Messianic age with the statement that “the ultimate goal of the historic process is the perfection of society. Since everything was created by G-d, all must eventually be perfected.” (page 84) The significance and nature of miracles is considered in relation to our worthiness for them. The return of all Jews to the land of Israel, the rebuilding of the Temple, and worldwide peace are all covered in this context. The consequence of the coming of the Messiah, both as a human person and as an embodiment of the Messianic age is separated from the Jesus figure’s second coming.

The last chapter presents yet another approach to help Jews to fight the urge to listen to Jews for Jesus group’s message. It is a retelling of a story of a Jewish girl (yes, not young woman), who joined Jews for Jesus group for a while, but under the influence of articulate rabbis, communal feeling of a Shabbaton and learning she rediscovered and returned to Judaism.

As you can see from the above summary there is plenty of mental ammunition for Jews to counter proselytizers’ arguments. That is the best point of the book in my opinion. However I found it repetitive, because some arguments appear over and over in almost every chapter. To be fair, there are plenty points, which are covered only once.

As a Jew I understand and emphasize with the goals of the Jews for Judaism group. I think a different version of this book, however, would have been an even better tool to promote them. I think the focus of their agenda has clouded their otherwise rational thinking. There is quite a bit of unnecessary hostility venom in the writing. I believe in order to provoke your points and discredit your opponents it is not necessary to depict your adversary as evil. Uncovering their agenda and operational mechanics is more than enough. I understand and share the emotional reaction bursting out when meeting with Jews for Jesus. However in a book intended for everyday usage and for academic purposes I would have preferred a more neutral tone, that still respects the other side’s faith and humanity even if vehemently disagree with them.

I also found it ironic that on one hand the authors of the book admonish Christians for using Hebrew Scriptures in their efforts to convert Jews, but on the other hand they are using New Testament quotes to disprove Jesus’ qualities that are important for Christians. I believe similarly as the authors accuse proselytizers to using and misinterpreting Hebrew sentences out of context, they would be accused by Christians of doing the very same from the Gospels. I do not think it is the best tactic, while I recognize that for a Jew being familiar with the New Testament itself is already a sign of respect.

Having raised these observations about the book I am still happy that I read it. I learned a lot from it about the Messiah/Messianic age and ho to defend Jewish belief. I would like to close this essay with the sentence from page 85 that keeps reverberating in my mind needing more work to get fully expound.