Jewish Life - General & Miscellaneous

God Was Not in the Fire

Name: God Was Not in the Fire
Author: Daniel Gordis
ISBN: 9780684803906

by Daniel Gordis

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Overview

At a time when Americans are turning to alternative forms of spiritual fulfillment, Rabbi Daniel Gordis finds what many are looking for in the context of a several-thousand-year-old religion. God Was Not in the Fire argues that Jewish life does merit serious attention. It is Judaism's insistence on asking life's most important questions (which helps us define precisely who and what we are) that enables it to play an enriching role in our lives. Because Judaism maintains that we feel God's presence through the experiences of daily life, the author takes us through the traditions of ritual, prayer, study, mitzvah, and ethics. Gordis illustrates that by developing a relationship with God through Judaism, one can achieve the heightened sense of self essential for finding connectedness, continuity, and, ultimately, transcendence and spirituality. It is not, Gordis argues, through blind faith that Jews come to understand the world and their place in it, but through "spiritual discipline" and a ceaseless round of investigations that a sense of belonging is attained. A why-to rather than a how-to, God Was Not in the Fire suggests that the religion of one's youth can deepen in adult life. It can give us, if we search to understand it, the most powerful way we know of expressing our humanity.

Rabbi Daniel Gordis, a dynamic new voice on the American Jewish scene, addresses what lies at the heart of modern Jews' frustration with Jewish life--namely, the apparent absence of spirituality in traditional Jewish expression.

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Editorials

Jewish Book World

The author, a Conservative rabbi and a professor at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, addresses the problems of reaching the assimilated and assimilating Jews who have difficulty regarding their Jewishness as relevant to their lives. He offers compelling arguments for maintaining ties to the Hewish religion and writes of the spiritual as well as the legal and ethical underpinnings of the religion.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gordis's message is simple: Judaism merits the attention of modern Jews by virtue of its potential role as a compelling and enriching enterprise that helps define who and what Jews are. But to reach American Jews who have dismissed Judaism as a path to spirituality is a more complex undertaking. Gordis, who teaches at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, explores belief in God, sacred texts, ritual, mitzvoth, prayer and ethics. The entry point of his argument is that Judaism doesn't demand blind faith. ``Doubt is what fuels the journey,'' he writes. ``Jewish tradition validates the part of humanity that is always wondering.'' Sacred texts, he contends, act as teachers that allow us to join a profound and timeless conversation. The experimental nature of Judaism, coupled with its built-in discipline, is key to achieving a sense of connection, continuity and transcendence. The title, taken from the passage in Kings that describes the prophet Elijah's encounter with God, reflects Gordis's philosophy that Judaism's distinctive way of life is geared toward creating relationships with God and with human beings. A why-do instead of a how-to. (Sept.)

George Cohen

Alarmed by the fact that American Jews are abandoning Judaism at an unprecedented rate, Rabbi Gordis examines the reasons for the apathy this development seems to indicate. He finds that American Jews' defection is not merely because of society's openness, but rather because for many the old ties to Jewish life have eroded and most Jews see no plausible justification for preserving them. Modern Jewish communities have failed to tailor a message about Judaism's meaning for bright, educated, and sophisticated Jews. To those Jews, therefore, Judaism seems outmoded, confining, and often utterly incomprehensible. Gordis' ultimate aim is to portray Jewish life as far more meaningful and spiritually enriching than it has seemed in the recent past.

From Barnes & Noble

Endorsed by leaders from all walks of Jewish life, this important work provides ample reason to get involved in a religion that can provide the meaning of life and a sense of belonging so many of us seek.