In We Jews, Rabbi Steinsaltz explores the most important issues that concern Jews today as Jews. He provides wise and uplifting answers to Jews everywhere, whether they are secular and assimilated or orthodox-Are we a nation or a religion? Are the stereotypes of Jews really true? Why are Jews so controversial? How can we navigate the opposing forces of diversity, culture, and politics? Can we survive intermarriage and the loss of tradition? Do we still worship the Golden Calf? In this book, Rabbi Steinsaltz sees causes and consequences, achievements and failures, looks at the contemporary world, and observes the dreams and longings of modern Jewish people. Written as an intimate and inspiring internal memo to the whole Jewish family, We Jews answers these questions and many more in a way that is at once insightful and inspiring.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
thought provoking, many deep insights:
Steinstalz is the greatest living Talmud scholar, an Israeli born into a secular family, and a mystic and Kabbalist. The two things that stick with me most from this book - or perhaps I'll expand that to a few things:
-he makes the argument that from the supposed 5 million Jews of the beginning of the CE, there should be 300 million from natural increase. Therefore the surviving 15 million descendents have undergone a tremendous selection pressure, both physical and mental, including those with... more info
Disappointment:
If I was disappointed by this book, it was only because the bar was set so high. Rabbi Steinsaltz is a legend and this book was far from legendary. The rabbi argues that Judaism is not a religion, nor a nation nor an ethnic group, nor a race. Well then what are we? According to the rabbi, we are a family. This immediately raises the question, are we a dysfunctional family? The rabbi declines to provide an answer, saying only "I'm not sure." In a previous chapter he hints that we are, but this question... more info
interesting but uneven:
This book is a collection of a dozen essays, each of which can easily be read without reference to the others. The essays fall into three categories: 1. Some essays were, I think, very well thought out. I was especially impressed by his essay on Jews as a family, in which he points out that Jews are far too racially diverse to be a "race" in the conventional sense of the term, are too geographically scattered to be a conventional nation, and too ideologically diverse to be a conventional religion.... more info
We Jews:
We Jews is an excellent read . Rabbi S. has distilled Jewish thought and life both religious and secular.
