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Judaism Is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life
A profound, startling new understanding of Jewish life, illuminating the forgotten heart of Jewish theology and love.
A dramatic misinterpretation of the Jewish tradition has shaped the history of the Christianity is the religion of love, and Judaism the religion of law. In the face of centuries of this widespread misrepresentation, Rabbi Shai Held―one of the most important Jewish thinkers in America today―recovers the heart of the Jewish tradition, offering the radical and moving argument that love belongs as much to Judaism as it does to Christianity. Blending intellectual rigor, a respect for tradition and the practices of a living Judaism, and a commitment to the full equality of all people, Held seeks to reclaim Judaism as it authentically is. He shows that love is foundational and constitutive of true Jewish faith, animating the singular Jewish perspective on injustice and protest, grace, family life, responsibilities to our neighbors and even our enemies, and chosenness.
Ambitious and revelatory, Judaism Is About Love illuminates the true essence of Judaism―an act of restoration from within.
A dramatic misinterpretation of the Jewish tradition has shaped the history of the Christianity is the religion of love, and Judaism the religion of law. In the face of centuries of this widespread misrepresentation, Rabbi Shai Held―one of the most important Jewish thinkers in America today―recovers the heart of the Jewish tradition, offering the radical and moving argument that love belongs as much to Judaism as it does to Christianity. Blending intellectual rigor, a respect for tradition and the practices of a living Judaism, and a commitment to the full equality of all people, Held seeks to reclaim Judaism as it authentically is. He shows that love is foundational and constitutive of true Jewish faith, animating the singular Jewish perspective on injustice and protest, grace, family life, responsibilities to our neighbors and even our enemies, and chosenness.
Ambitious and revelatory, Judaism Is About Love illuminates the true essence of Judaism―an act of restoration from within.
546 pages, Hardcover
Published March 26, 2024
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1966 people want to read
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March 28, 2024
Wow. Just wow. This is an incredible work, a tour de force which offers the reader, out people, and the world a different lens through which to view and live in our world as Jews, or in relationship to the Jewish community and tradition. Bravo!
July 4, 2024
Is not Judaism a religion of law? That's what many Christians believe, thinking that Jesus offered something traditional Judaism lacked. Marcion made that point quite clear, suggesting that the God of Jesus and the God of Judaism were different gods. Paul at times gave fodder to such a belief by contrasting law and gospel. Interestingly, many Jews believe that Judaism is a religion of law and not love. But what if that isn't true? What if love is the heart of Jewish life?
Rabbi Shai Held, the President and dean of the Hadar Institute in New York City, has written a major tome that challenges the idea that love is not a central component of Judaism. This book has its roots in conversations with students years ago, that addressed the question of Judaism and love. When he suggested that Judaism is "built on the idea that God loves us and beckons us to love God back," the students objected, suggesting that this sounded like Christianity. (p. 3). This book is a response to that sentiment. It's not that Christianity does not affirm the centrality of love, but that this does not mean it is not central to Judaism. In fact, as a Christian, reading this book, I am reminded that Jesus' vision and the Christian vision have their roots in Judaism, including its teachings on the centrality of love to its theology. So, what starts out as a response to popular belief ends with a rich discussion of the importance of love to Judaism and by extension, Christianity.
Rabbi Held notes that part of the misperception about Jewish ideas of love and grace is rooted in Jewish belief in the centrality of concrete action. What he seeks to do here is reclaim and recover the interrelationship of emotion and action. He writes that he aims in this book to "tell the story of Jewish theology, ethics, and spirituality through the lens of love, and therefore to restore the heart --- in both senses of the word --- of Judaism to its rightful place." (p. 6). He wants the reader to understand the Jewish commitment, for example, to justice is rooted in love. In his view, love is both emotion and action. As for the relationship of Judaism and Christianity, they may share many similarities for both are religions of love, but Judaism is not the same as Christianity. While written for Jews, throughout the book Held addresses Christian thinkers, especially biblical scholars, so he hopes it can be useful to Christians so that we can better understand and appreciate Jewish spirituality.
Held divides his book into four parts, each of which describes and develops a Jewish theology of love. He begins in Part I, titled "The Self Facing a Loving God," with three foundational chapters. In Chapter 1, titled "We Are Loved," he roots the ability to love in God's love for God's people. He writes that one does not earn God's love, but it is something one should strive to live up to. Thus, he suggests a "good definition of Judaism's vision of the spiritual life: the attempt to live up to God's love." (p. 23). The foundation here is that humans matter to God. With that foundation, in Chapter 2, Held speaks of "The Gifts of God Flow Through You." Here he connects love with grace, such that while we do not earn God's love, but rather it is a gift of grace, it does not stop with us. It flows through us to others through generosity and kindness. While a life rooted in love should express gratitude, it can also involve protest, as described in Chapter 3, "Sacred Indignation." It is a posture that we see exhibited by Abraham and Moses, who both protest to God, as do the Psalmists. He writes that an honest religious life requires both gratitude to God and a willingness to protest.
Part II, "Widening Circles: Whom Should We Love," is made up of six chapters. Each of these chapters describes how God's love and one's love are expressed. Chapter 4 focuses on the family as the place where we learn to love and are loved. That leads in Chapter 5, to a discussion of "Loving Our Neighbor," which is subtitled "Judaism's 'Great Principle' but What Does It Mean?" For Christians, this is the second great command instituted by Jesus, but rooted in the Book of Leviticus. This chapter is of great importance, because it gives us a particular Jewish interpretation. He addresses the question of whether love can be commanded, especially if understood as an emotion. He discusses the options present in Jewish thought, including the question that many Christians wrestle with, and that is the identity of the neighbor. Held suggests that for Judaism, generally, the neighbor is not a stranger --- there is another command about the stranger --- but rather fellow Jews. Here we have a question of particular and universal, a question that will continue to pop up. So Chapter 6, titled "Loving Our Own, and Everyone Else Too," addresses "Judaism's Particularist Universalism," which involves a series of concentric circles that speak to the question of what is owed to whom. This is actually quite illuminating because it proves helpful to help us prioritize our lives. If loving one's neighbor has a particulist dimension, Held addresses "Judaism's Other 'Great Principle'" in Chapter 7: "Human Dignity and Solidarity." Here he makes a distinction between love and respect, with both being positive obligations. This is really a matter of concentric circles, which leads in Chapter 8 to "Loving the Stanger." This is another important chapter that can help us better appreciate our obligations to others. For Jews, that is rooted in memory-- for they too were once strangers in a strange land. So, Jews are called to love their neighbor and the stranger, but what out one's enemies, the topic of Chapter 9. This is where many Christians have drawn a line, suggesting that Judaism teaches loving one's neighbor but Jesus goes further with loving the neighbor. While he finds this question difficult to answer, it is not fair to make a clear distinction between Judaism and Jesus. As he writes, there may be no clear ethical argument against hating another, but there is a theological one: "If human beings --- even awful, murderous ones -- are created in God's image, then perhaps we are forbidden --- for religious reasons -- from hating them. If we love God, we cannot hate what God has made." He's not certain about this, but it's worth contemplating (p. 221).
We turn in Part III to defining and expressing Hesed, which involves Bringing Bod's Love to Other People." Here we have three chapters that dive deeply into this concept of Hesed, a word that many of us, including Christians, have adopted. He begins this discussion with a chapter (10) on "Imitating God." To love (Hesed) is to walk in God's way. First he defines Hesed as love manifested in acts of kindness. That is "an internal state concretely expressed in external action." (p. 228). This goes beyond being a good person. While acting with kindness is not uniquely Jewish, it is authentically Jewish. Building on this chapter we move to "Love in the Ruins" (chapter 11). Here he describes how one responds to evil and suffering, and whether we "help God bring love and compassion to places of darkness and affliction." (p. 254). The third chapter in this section is titled "Waiting for God" (Chapter 12). Here he invites us to ponder the fact that God's presence is not yet fully manifest in the world. There is a chasm between the confession that God loves us and the realities of life. Thus, "to live in the chasm, to wait for God, is to catch glimpses, to create glimpses, of a world in which human dignity is real and the presence of God is manifest." (p. 261).
Part IV is titled "Theology of a Loving God." Here we reach the apex of Rabbi Held's argument. We have explored the many dimensions of this idea that Judaism is a religion of love. Now, he brings together a specific Jewish theology. Here again, there are three chapters. The first of the three chapters is titled "The God of Judaism (and of the 'Old Testament') Is a God of love" (chapter 13). Here Held explores what it means to say that God is love. He answers the question by declaring "What makes God God, in other words, is the depth, steadfastness, and extent of God's love." He roots this theology in Scripture -- especially Isaiah and Hosea. As he does so he addresses important questions such as descriptions of God's wrath and judgment. He acknowledges the tension here, a tension that many Christians struggle with. As described here, "God's love can, ultimately necessitate God's judgment. God's judgment can ultimately flow from God's love." (p. 283). In all this is a very helpful discussion of descriptions of divine anger and even violence. Ultimately, he writes that Judaism tells us of a God of love who summons us to lead lives of love; we are called both to feel love and act lovingly." (p. 307). Chapter 14 addresses another area of concern for many, and that is the issue of Chosenness. Held helpfully describes both what chosenness involves and what it doesn't. He addresses God's special love for Israel, noting that it is an act of grace and is not simply being chosen for a purpose/vocation. He also addresses the question of whether God is indifferent to the non-elect. That is, if God loves Israel does that mean God doesn't love anyone else? He demonstrates that God also chooses others, but differently. Finally, in Chapter 15, he speaks of "Loving a Loving God." If God loves Israel, then how might Israel respond? Here he discusses, among other things, Jewish obedience to the commandments. It is done out of love for God. The commandments are not oppressive but are descriptive of ways to show love to God. But this love is not just one of actions, it is also emotional. It is an expression of intimacy with God. To love God is to love with God. That means loving what God loves. That includes creation. It also involves becoming God's hands -- thus we see it in loving the stranger.
In his conclusion, Rabbi Held writes not only of God's faithfulness but God's faith in humanity. He writes here a word I find very comforting and empowering: "God knows who we are --- knows of the cruelty and callousness of which we are capable; knows how trapped many of us are within the prisons of our own egos; knows how far we often stray from the divine ideals of love and compassion and the pursuit of justice --- and yet, in the face of all that, God believes in us. God believes in our capacity for love." (p. 376). That is a powerful word, one that is definitely needed at this moment. This may be a discussion directed specifically at Jews who may not have understood how central love is to its theology, but what he shares in this book is not only insightful but at points inspiring, even for one who is not a Jew. This is a very powerful book.
Rabbi Shai Held, the President and dean of the Hadar Institute in New York City, has written a major tome that challenges the idea that love is not a central component of Judaism. This book has its roots in conversations with students years ago, that addressed the question of Judaism and love. When he suggested that Judaism is "built on the idea that God loves us and beckons us to love God back," the students objected, suggesting that this sounded like Christianity. (p. 3). This book is a response to that sentiment. It's not that Christianity does not affirm the centrality of love, but that this does not mean it is not central to Judaism. In fact, as a Christian, reading this book, I am reminded that Jesus' vision and the Christian vision have their roots in Judaism, including its teachings on the centrality of love to its theology. So, what starts out as a response to popular belief ends with a rich discussion of the importance of love to Judaism and by extension, Christianity.
Rabbi Held notes that part of the misperception about Jewish ideas of love and grace is rooted in Jewish belief in the centrality of concrete action. What he seeks to do here is reclaim and recover the interrelationship of emotion and action. He writes that he aims in this book to "tell the story of Jewish theology, ethics, and spirituality through the lens of love, and therefore to restore the heart --- in both senses of the word --- of Judaism to its rightful place." (p. 6). He wants the reader to understand the Jewish commitment, for example, to justice is rooted in love. In his view, love is both emotion and action. As for the relationship of Judaism and Christianity, they may share many similarities for both are religions of love, but Judaism is not the same as Christianity. While written for Jews, throughout the book Held addresses Christian thinkers, especially biblical scholars, so he hopes it can be useful to Christians so that we can better understand and appreciate Jewish spirituality.
Held divides his book into four parts, each of which describes and develops a Jewish theology of love. He begins in Part I, titled "The Self Facing a Loving God," with three foundational chapters. In Chapter 1, titled "We Are Loved," he roots the ability to love in God's love for God's people. He writes that one does not earn God's love, but it is something one should strive to live up to. Thus, he suggests a "good definition of Judaism's vision of the spiritual life: the attempt to live up to God's love." (p. 23). The foundation here is that humans matter to God. With that foundation, in Chapter 2, Held speaks of "The Gifts of God Flow Through You." Here he connects love with grace, such that while we do not earn God's love, but rather it is a gift of grace, it does not stop with us. It flows through us to others through generosity and kindness. While a life rooted in love should express gratitude, it can also involve protest, as described in Chapter 3, "Sacred Indignation." It is a posture that we see exhibited by Abraham and Moses, who both protest to God, as do the Psalmists. He writes that an honest religious life requires both gratitude to God and a willingness to protest.
Part II, "Widening Circles: Whom Should We Love," is made up of six chapters. Each of these chapters describes how God's love and one's love are expressed. Chapter 4 focuses on the family as the place where we learn to love and are loved. That leads in Chapter 5, to a discussion of "Loving Our Neighbor," which is subtitled "Judaism's 'Great Principle' but What Does It Mean?" For Christians, this is the second great command instituted by Jesus, but rooted in the Book of Leviticus. This chapter is of great importance, because it gives us a particular Jewish interpretation. He addresses the question of whether love can be commanded, especially if understood as an emotion. He discusses the options present in Jewish thought, including the question that many Christians wrestle with, and that is the identity of the neighbor. Held suggests that for Judaism, generally, the neighbor is not a stranger --- there is another command about the stranger --- but rather fellow Jews. Here we have a question of particular and universal, a question that will continue to pop up. So Chapter 6, titled "Loving Our Own, and Everyone Else Too," addresses "Judaism's Particularist Universalism," which involves a series of concentric circles that speak to the question of what is owed to whom. This is actually quite illuminating because it proves helpful to help us prioritize our lives. If loving one's neighbor has a particulist dimension, Held addresses "Judaism's Other 'Great Principle'" in Chapter 7: "Human Dignity and Solidarity." Here he makes a distinction between love and respect, with both being positive obligations. This is really a matter of concentric circles, which leads in Chapter 8 to "Loving the Stanger." This is another important chapter that can help us better appreciate our obligations to others. For Jews, that is rooted in memory-- for they too were once strangers in a strange land. So, Jews are called to love their neighbor and the stranger, but what out one's enemies, the topic of Chapter 9. This is where many Christians have drawn a line, suggesting that Judaism teaches loving one's neighbor but Jesus goes further with loving the neighbor. While he finds this question difficult to answer, it is not fair to make a clear distinction between Judaism and Jesus. As he writes, there may be no clear ethical argument against hating another, but there is a theological one: "If human beings --- even awful, murderous ones -- are created in God's image, then perhaps we are forbidden --- for religious reasons -- from hating them. If we love God, we cannot hate what God has made." He's not certain about this, but it's worth contemplating (p. 221).
We turn in Part III to defining and expressing Hesed, which involves Bringing Bod's Love to Other People." Here we have three chapters that dive deeply into this concept of Hesed, a word that many of us, including Christians, have adopted. He begins this discussion with a chapter (10) on "Imitating God." To love (Hesed) is to walk in God's way. First he defines Hesed as love manifested in acts of kindness. That is "an internal state concretely expressed in external action." (p. 228). This goes beyond being a good person. While acting with kindness is not uniquely Jewish, it is authentically Jewish. Building on this chapter we move to "Love in the Ruins" (chapter 11). Here he describes how one responds to evil and suffering, and whether we "help God bring love and compassion to places of darkness and affliction." (p. 254). The third chapter in this section is titled "Waiting for God" (Chapter 12). Here he invites us to ponder the fact that God's presence is not yet fully manifest in the world. There is a chasm between the confession that God loves us and the realities of life. Thus, "to live in the chasm, to wait for God, is to catch glimpses, to create glimpses, of a world in which human dignity is real and the presence of God is manifest." (p. 261).
Part IV is titled "Theology of a Loving God." Here we reach the apex of Rabbi Held's argument. We have explored the many dimensions of this idea that Judaism is a religion of love. Now, he brings together a specific Jewish theology. Here again, there are three chapters. The first of the three chapters is titled "The God of Judaism (and of the 'Old Testament') Is a God of love" (chapter 13). Here Held explores what it means to say that God is love. He answers the question by declaring "What makes God God, in other words, is the depth, steadfastness, and extent of God's love." He roots this theology in Scripture -- especially Isaiah and Hosea. As he does so he addresses important questions such as descriptions of God's wrath and judgment. He acknowledges the tension here, a tension that many Christians struggle with. As described here, "God's love can, ultimately necessitate God's judgment. God's judgment can ultimately flow from God's love." (p. 283). In all this is a very helpful discussion of descriptions of divine anger and even violence. Ultimately, he writes that Judaism tells us of a God of love who summons us to lead lives of love; we are called both to feel love and act lovingly." (p. 307). Chapter 14 addresses another area of concern for many, and that is the issue of Chosenness. Held helpfully describes both what chosenness involves and what it doesn't. He addresses God's special love for Israel, noting that it is an act of grace and is not simply being chosen for a purpose/vocation. He also addresses the question of whether God is indifferent to the non-elect. That is, if God loves Israel does that mean God doesn't love anyone else? He demonstrates that God also chooses others, but differently. Finally, in Chapter 15, he speaks of "Loving a Loving God." If God loves Israel, then how might Israel respond? Here he discusses, among other things, Jewish obedience to the commandments. It is done out of love for God. The commandments are not oppressive but are descriptive of ways to show love to God. But this love is not just one of actions, it is also emotional. It is an expression of intimacy with God. To love God is to love with God. That means loving what God loves. That includes creation. It also involves becoming God's hands -- thus we see it in loving the stranger.
In his conclusion, Rabbi Held writes not only of God's faithfulness but God's faith in humanity. He writes here a word I find very comforting and empowering: "God knows who we are --- knows of the cruelty and callousness of which we are capable; knows how trapped many of us are within the prisons of our own egos; knows how far we often stray from the divine ideals of love and compassion and the pursuit of justice --- and yet, in the face of all that, God believes in us. God believes in our capacity for love." (p. 376). That is a powerful word, one that is definitely needed at this moment. This may be a discussion directed specifically at Jews who may not have understood how central love is to its theology, but what he shares in this book is not only insightful but at points inspiring, even for one who is not a Jew. This is a very powerful book.
March 15, 2025
Listened to this on audio. Wish I had picked it up in paper copy or on kindle. In fact, I will be doing precisely that, because this is the kind of book I needed to highlight and underline and mark up. It's that good.
It's the sort of book I immediately want to put into the hands of everyone I talk to as well. The way it unpacks the essential nature of Judaism and Jewish life is often profound, and even more importantly relevant and necessary. It's not just that it's a necessary corrective to common misconceptions, sadly much of which has been perpetuated by us Christians, it's a fervent reminder of why this ancient Tradition and story remains so vitally important to our present times.
And yes, I came into this book as a Christian. Held approaches this book not in an exclusionary way, but as an invitation. Yes, Held is Jewish, and he sees certain distinctives of his Jewishness whcih set him in conversation with Christianity, but he also allows us to see the shared story. We do not arrive at Christianity apart from Judaism. This is as much a part of who we are as it is for Held.
Which of course remains one of the more fascinating parts of this book for me personally. It helps me to both gain a renewed appreciation for Christianity's Jewish foundation, both in what that is and why it matters, especially when it comes to the central conception of love. It also helps me to gain more clarity on what it means for me to be a Christian. This is super reductive, but if I had to boil it down, I would say the distinctives are wrapped up in these two things- the notion of fulfillment, and the notion of loving ones enemy. It's on these two fronts that Christianity sees the world differently, albeit still through a distinctly Jewish lens. It is worth pointing out that these two things are intimately connected.
While Held devotes a whole chapter to unpacking the love our enemies portion (Chapter 9), the fulfillment aspect is woven into the whole. It really comes down to this central point. If the fullness of time did not arrive in Jesus, then from a Jewish perspective the story is still a story of exile. The paradigm remains one of slavery or opppression (our reality) waiting on God's promised renewal. Thus the heavy emphasis on the here and now, the preservation of this present reallity as one of enslavement, and the continued shaping of the Jewish life as a matter of expectation as opposed to a realized hope.
Likewise, it is on this front that Judaism also upholds its theology of chosenness. While Christianity anchors itself in the spirits movement out into the whole of the world (a mark of the Jewish expectation), Judaism holds to the necessary theology of Israel's election. Not over and against the world, but in a way that sees it focused on this particular story in this particular time or age. This story is being told for the sake of Israel. The fulfillment of this story will, in the fullness of time, become a story for the world. Thus chosenness does not mean at the expense of, it means in light of the present shape of things.
One of implications of this is that Judaiism does not concern itself with "evangelism". It is marked by its ability to be concerned for Jewish life and its ability to coexist within the diversity of the world. It is not its concern that Judaism go out and transform the world in this moment. It is its concern that Judaism itself continues in the need for constant and necessary reform according to love of God and love of neighbor. And it is in this sense that the Christian call to love ones enemies feels somewhat antithetical to its ability to shape this reform around their distinct awareness of the cycles of oppression and liberation. In some sense, to lose sight of this story, one in which the story of Judaism necessarily calls one to pray for God's demonstration of the good through the liberation of the Jewish people from the bad, is to lose sight of love itself. In contrast, if Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise, then love itself has been revealed in its truest form. We live as though this liberation has in fact already happen. For Held, this notion doesn't make sense to the Jewish life and the story of Judaism. The present is marked by exile.
I loved the way the initial chapters invite us into a process, not of certainty or dogmatism, but into an embodied life and story. One shaped by the intersection of faith and doubt. One shaped by what Held calls a sacred indignation and a theology of protest (chapter 3, which was one of my favorites). Judaism is about being given the language to not only make sense of what is wrong in this world, but to name it. And in naming what is wrong, we can name what is right. Equally cruicial to this is Judaism's inherent focus on the goodness of creation (as opposed to what it sees as Christianity's emphasis ont the badness or evil of creation, which its worth noting is a specific, western, protestantized portion of christianity that is not met with full agreement). We love this world, we love humanity, we love creaiton. Not because these things are the same as loving God, but because in loving God we are infused with a love for what is God's.
There are definitely points where I can see Held navigating the difficult conversation that is the relationship between Judaism and Christianity with grace and humility, albeit in ways that also try to give some form and shape of an answer. I can't help but feel that in the gaps that do exist, while the call to consider the flavor and strength and robustness of Judaism is necessary, there remains room to consider that the divide is possible to breach. There's a fine line between calling out some tendencies and turning those things into truisms. Where held looks to define some of those departure points, at each and every step of the way I found myself saying, but wait, there's room here to challenge or reconsider those points as possibly being too reductionist. As a Christian, I want what you are selling (or more accurately not selling) precisely because it feels integral to my own faith. And I'm not sure that what you are describing always reflects how I understand my Christian faith. Sure, disagreement on the fulfillment of the story is a hard point to get around. But its no small thing either to see this fulfillment as acting in line with the love of Judaism. With the story of Israel. For me, I might insist that the Christian perspective is an invitation to step into the imagination of a liberated creation, however at odds that might feel to the present state of our reality. But I require Judaism, the story of Israel, to be able to define what that means. To be able to name what is bad, and thus step into what is good (Love). That is the only reason the fulfillment means anything at all, and to that end Helds book left me wanting to run into the streets proclaiming the story that Love has indeed arrived. This story that Held is telling actually has the power to transform the world, despite his resistance to seeing that universal concern applied in the here and now. Judaism is the gift.
Here's a final thought I pulled from a particular reflection I penned in my blog space:
God is said to be Love
We (humanity) are said to be made in God’s image.
Therefore another way to state this is, we (humanity) are said to be made in Love’s image.
A further implication:
We (humanity, or in this story Israel) are said to be image bearers of God to the world
God is said to be Love
Thus we are to be image bearers of Love to the world.
Held has this powerful section where he shows how Love in aramaic shares the root word from which we get all of these additional words, like compassion and mercy and kindness. If Love is, as he says, a disposition and a posture, Held notes that in ancient Jewish practice emotion and practice are held together as one in the same. From this angle, all such formative actions are ones of Love.
Held further describes this using the language of gift giving. Life is a gift. Without this gift we could not know love or be able to (image) love in response. We have been given this gift, and we have been tasked with this act of giving. This is at the root of understanding Love as a formative and transcendent truth. Not one that removes us from our present context, but one which finds us in our present context with an invitation to both be shaped by this grander story of Love and to participate in the particulars of its function. The way to the universal story of Love is through the particulars of love in action. This is how knowledge of Truth, or Wisdom, comes about- through participationist theology. This is what lies at the heart of Judaism, and thus at the heart of Christianity. To know God is to participate in Love.
It's the sort of book I immediately want to put into the hands of everyone I talk to as well. The way it unpacks the essential nature of Judaism and Jewish life is often profound, and even more importantly relevant and necessary. It's not just that it's a necessary corrective to common misconceptions, sadly much of which has been perpetuated by us Christians, it's a fervent reminder of why this ancient Tradition and story remains so vitally important to our present times.
And yes, I came into this book as a Christian. Held approaches this book not in an exclusionary way, but as an invitation. Yes, Held is Jewish, and he sees certain distinctives of his Jewishness whcih set him in conversation with Christianity, but he also allows us to see the shared story. We do not arrive at Christianity apart from Judaism. This is as much a part of who we are as it is for Held.
Which of course remains one of the more fascinating parts of this book for me personally. It helps me to both gain a renewed appreciation for Christianity's Jewish foundation, both in what that is and why it matters, especially when it comes to the central conception of love. It also helps me to gain more clarity on what it means for me to be a Christian. This is super reductive, but if I had to boil it down, I would say the distinctives are wrapped up in these two things- the notion of fulfillment, and the notion of loving ones enemy. It's on these two fronts that Christianity sees the world differently, albeit still through a distinctly Jewish lens. It is worth pointing out that these two things are intimately connected.
While Held devotes a whole chapter to unpacking the love our enemies portion (Chapter 9), the fulfillment aspect is woven into the whole. It really comes down to this central point. If the fullness of time did not arrive in Jesus, then from a Jewish perspective the story is still a story of exile. The paradigm remains one of slavery or opppression (our reality) waiting on God's promised renewal. Thus the heavy emphasis on the here and now, the preservation of this present reallity as one of enslavement, and the continued shaping of the Jewish life as a matter of expectation as opposed to a realized hope.
Likewise, it is on this front that Judaism also upholds its theology of chosenness. While Christianity anchors itself in the spirits movement out into the whole of the world (a mark of the Jewish expectation), Judaism holds to the necessary theology of Israel's election. Not over and against the world, but in a way that sees it focused on this particular story in this particular time or age. This story is being told for the sake of Israel. The fulfillment of this story will, in the fullness of time, become a story for the world. Thus chosenness does not mean at the expense of, it means in light of the present shape of things.
One of implications of this is that Judaiism does not concern itself with "evangelism". It is marked by its ability to be concerned for Jewish life and its ability to coexist within the diversity of the world. It is not its concern that Judaism go out and transform the world in this moment. It is its concern that Judaism itself continues in the need for constant and necessary reform according to love of God and love of neighbor. And it is in this sense that the Christian call to love ones enemies feels somewhat antithetical to its ability to shape this reform around their distinct awareness of the cycles of oppression and liberation. In some sense, to lose sight of this story, one in which the story of Judaism necessarily calls one to pray for God's demonstration of the good through the liberation of the Jewish people from the bad, is to lose sight of love itself. In contrast, if Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise, then love itself has been revealed in its truest form. We live as though this liberation has in fact already happen. For Held, this notion doesn't make sense to the Jewish life and the story of Judaism. The present is marked by exile.
I loved the way the initial chapters invite us into a process, not of certainty or dogmatism, but into an embodied life and story. One shaped by the intersection of faith and doubt. One shaped by what Held calls a sacred indignation and a theology of protest (chapter 3, which was one of my favorites). Judaism is about being given the language to not only make sense of what is wrong in this world, but to name it. And in naming what is wrong, we can name what is right. Equally cruicial to this is Judaism's inherent focus on the goodness of creation (as opposed to what it sees as Christianity's emphasis ont the badness or evil of creation, which its worth noting is a specific, western, protestantized portion of christianity that is not met with full agreement). We love this world, we love humanity, we love creaiton. Not because these things are the same as loving God, but because in loving God we are infused with a love for what is God's.
There are definitely points where I can see Held navigating the difficult conversation that is the relationship between Judaism and Christianity with grace and humility, albeit in ways that also try to give some form and shape of an answer. I can't help but feel that in the gaps that do exist, while the call to consider the flavor and strength and robustness of Judaism is necessary, there remains room to consider that the divide is possible to breach. There's a fine line between calling out some tendencies and turning those things into truisms. Where held looks to define some of those departure points, at each and every step of the way I found myself saying, but wait, there's room here to challenge or reconsider those points as possibly being too reductionist. As a Christian, I want what you are selling (or more accurately not selling) precisely because it feels integral to my own faith. And I'm not sure that what you are describing always reflects how I understand my Christian faith. Sure, disagreement on the fulfillment of the story is a hard point to get around. But its no small thing either to see this fulfillment as acting in line with the love of Judaism. With the story of Israel. For me, I might insist that the Christian perspective is an invitation to step into the imagination of a liberated creation, however at odds that might feel to the present state of our reality. But I require Judaism, the story of Israel, to be able to define what that means. To be able to name what is bad, and thus step into what is good (Love). That is the only reason the fulfillment means anything at all, and to that end Helds book left me wanting to run into the streets proclaiming the story that Love has indeed arrived. This story that Held is telling actually has the power to transform the world, despite his resistance to seeing that universal concern applied in the here and now. Judaism is the gift.
Here's a final thought I pulled from a particular reflection I penned in my blog space:
God is said to be Love
We (humanity) are said to be made in God’s image.
Therefore another way to state this is, we (humanity) are said to be made in Love’s image.
A further implication:
We (humanity, or in this story Israel) are said to be image bearers of God to the world
God is said to be Love
Thus we are to be image bearers of Love to the world.
Held has this powerful section where he shows how Love in aramaic shares the root word from which we get all of these additional words, like compassion and mercy and kindness. If Love is, as he says, a disposition and a posture, Held notes that in ancient Jewish practice emotion and practice are held together as one in the same. From this angle, all such formative actions are ones of Love.
Held further describes this using the language of gift giving. Life is a gift. Without this gift we could not know love or be able to (image) love in response. We have been given this gift, and we have been tasked with this act of giving. This is at the root of understanding Love as a formative and transcendent truth. Not one that removes us from our present context, but one which finds us in our present context with an invitation to both be shaped by this grander story of Love and to participate in the particulars of its function. The way to the universal story of Love is through the particulars of love in action. This is how knowledge of Truth, or Wisdom, comes about- through participationist theology. This is what lies at the heart of Judaism, and thus at the heart of Christianity. To know God is to participate in Love.
April 25, 2024
I was a little apprehensive about the concept because it does stem from the oversimplified idea (often as a backlash to "Christianity is about love" idea) that Judaism is about actions. Well, it is; but those actions aren't blind obedience. Luckily, he develops the argument on its own merits, and not merely as a comparison to Christianity. It's also a really passionate, emotional book, and I loved that.
He does an excellent job of systematically laying out his thesis and not just drawing on traditional Jewish sources, but some Christian theologians and a lot of secular philosophers. The text is clear enough that a layperson can follow, but the notes have a lot more details and give you a lot of paths to go down.
Highly recommended, and might be of interest outside the expected jewish audience.
He does an excellent job of systematically laying out his thesis and not just drawing on traditional Jewish sources, but some Christian theologians and a lot of secular philosophers. The text is clear enough that a layperson can follow, but the notes have a lot more details and give you a lot of paths to go down.
Highly recommended, and might be of interest outside the expected jewish audience.
April 14, 2025
Review to come!
January 17, 2025
I think it’s good to read books from different religions and different denominations. You will oftentimes get some interesting insights or philosophical perspectives. At least once a year I try to read something by a Jewish scholar or Rabbi, because Judaism is so close to Christianity. (We are like siblings in many ways.) Most of the books are good, but “Judaism Is About Love” is the best one I have read in a while!
There were multiple places I took some notes for further study on a Jewish perspective of certain scriptures. Quite often I found myself raising my eyebrows and saying, “Wow” or “Ooohh that’s good”! The chapter on human dignity is worth the price of the book alone and alone could make the book 5 stars. It really is that good!
The author makes a few crazy statements that made me say, “Huh?” But most of the time he explains his crazy statement in a way that took away my “Huh”. Not every time though! He made a statement about God changing that even after his explanation I still wasn’t satisfied with his choice of words. God doesn’t change, and I don’t know how to get around that inside of the context that it is written in the Bible. It feels very direct, resolute, and well, unchanging!
There were other very high brow philosophical ideas and concepts throughout the book and despite not necessarily agreeing with all of them, I enjoyed reading them and pondering over them. A lot could even make good preaching illustrations as long as it was prefaced as a Jewish tradition.
One in particular was an Idea of God desiring a home on earth to be with us, and with each early transgression, God took a step back into a higher firmament. Then when God found Abraham there was a series of events that took place that had God taking steps back down in the firmaments. Ultimately God finds a home on the earth with the tabernacle Moses builds. It’s an interesting idea with no basis in scripture, but it’s an interesting enough story to be utilized as an illustration for God longing to dwell with us.
The greatest thing that comes from the book is that the book is a triumphant success at proving Judaism, and the Old Testament, is about love. Why is that the greatest thing? Because it proves that the Bible as a whole, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, is the greatest love story ever told. One defines love and the other expresses that defined love. One teaches the purpose of love and the other fulfills that purpose. God loves us. He always has. There is nothing better than when that is communicated in all its beauty.
Overall, I found it to be fantastic and fascinating. There were a few things in it that changed my perspective quite profoundly. I will never forget the author’s explanation of why creating images of God, idols, is a sin. But in truth the book is ultimately a nerd book. It would be a difficult read for someone not interested in religion, or biblical studies. Even for some that are interested in it, it can be a little bit too deep of waters. Still. Despite those few things, I wish you would read it!
There were multiple places I took some notes for further study on a Jewish perspective of certain scriptures. Quite often I found myself raising my eyebrows and saying, “Wow” or “Ooohh that’s good”! The chapter on human dignity is worth the price of the book alone and alone could make the book 5 stars. It really is that good!
The author makes a few crazy statements that made me say, “Huh?” But most of the time he explains his crazy statement in a way that took away my “Huh”. Not every time though! He made a statement about God changing that even after his explanation I still wasn’t satisfied with his choice of words. God doesn’t change, and I don’t know how to get around that inside of the context that it is written in the Bible. It feels very direct, resolute, and well, unchanging!
There were other very high brow philosophical ideas and concepts throughout the book and despite not necessarily agreeing with all of them, I enjoyed reading them and pondering over them. A lot could even make good preaching illustrations as long as it was prefaced as a Jewish tradition.
One in particular was an Idea of God desiring a home on earth to be with us, and with each early transgression, God took a step back into a higher firmament. Then when God found Abraham there was a series of events that took place that had God taking steps back down in the firmaments. Ultimately God finds a home on the earth with the tabernacle Moses builds. It’s an interesting idea with no basis in scripture, but it’s an interesting enough story to be utilized as an illustration for God longing to dwell with us.
The greatest thing that comes from the book is that the book is a triumphant success at proving Judaism, and the Old Testament, is about love. Why is that the greatest thing? Because it proves that the Bible as a whole, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, is the greatest love story ever told. One defines love and the other expresses that defined love. One teaches the purpose of love and the other fulfills that purpose. God loves us. He always has. There is nothing better than when that is communicated in all its beauty.
Overall, I found it to be fantastic and fascinating. There were a few things in it that changed my perspective quite profoundly. I will never forget the author’s explanation of why creating images of God, idols, is a sin. But in truth the book is ultimately a nerd book. It would be a difficult read for someone not interested in religion, or biblical studies. Even for some that are interested in it, it can be a little bit too deep of waters. Still. Despite those few things, I wish you would read it!
May 28, 2025
In this book, Rabbi Shai Held systematically explores a theme that also pervades his discussions of the weekly Torah portions in The Heart of Torah: that is, that the relationship between God and the Jewish people is one of love. By that, he does not mean it is purely emotional, or uncomplicated, or untroubled. It is a mature loving relationship that persists whether we deserve it or not, and even when God or we, or both, are angry at the other partner.
It takes place in action, but (contrary to widespread stereotypes spread in Christian circles to devalue Judaism) it is not limited to law, commandments, or even behavior. Rather, love is expressed in action, and actions cultivate the emotion of love.
Loving God also means aspiring to love other people, the way God does. That, too, is an interplay of emotion and action, whether we are talking about family members, a spouse, a Jewish community, a local heterogeneous community, the nation, the world, or all of creation.
Held draws on his teachers, like Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Buber, to stress the interdependence and dialogical relationship between God and us. He also draws on a bewildering multiplicity of sources (exegetes, theologians, and storytellers; Jewish, Christian, and other): the endnotes alone make up 130 pages of this book!
This is an important book for our time, one that I wish everyone could read. My main objection to it is the way that Held sometimes pounds a point home over and over, with citations and interpretations. Sometimes, it feels like too much (which is probably why, when I read it aloud to my wife, it took us eight months on and off). Yet I may return to this book, go over all the notes, and pick up some of the nuances I missed the first time. It is so rich that it will reward further reading and study.
It takes place in action, but (contrary to widespread stereotypes spread in Christian circles to devalue Judaism) it is not limited to law, commandments, or even behavior. Rather, love is expressed in action, and actions cultivate the emotion of love.
Loving God also means aspiring to love other people, the way God does. That, too, is an interplay of emotion and action, whether we are talking about family members, a spouse, a Jewish community, a local heterogeneous community, the nation, the world, or all of creation.
Held draws on his teachers, like Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Buber, to stress the interdependence and dialogical relationship between God and us. He also draws on a bewildering multiplicity of sources (exegetes, theologians, and storytellers; Jewish, Christian, and other): the endnotes alone make up 130 pages of this book!
This is an important book for our time, one that I wish everyone could read. My main objection to it is the way that Held sometimes pounds a point home over and over, with citations and interpretations. Sometimes, it feels like too much (which is probably why, when I read it aloud to my wife, it took us eight months on and off). Yet I may return to this book, go over all the notes, and pick up some of the nuances I missed the first time. It is so rich that it will reward further reading and study.
September 14, 2024
This book is very well written, and strikes a good balance between being accessible to regular people and being a scholarly work. There is nothing simple about the subject matter, or how Held approaches the nuance of religious exploration through Jewish text and realized tradition. I most appreciate his honesty, and at times vulnerability (even doubt) when it comes to specific biblical passages and accompanying theology.
If I were to give advice on how to approach this book, I would suggest reading the Introduction & Conclusion (both also work as stand alone pieces of writing), and then delve into the body of the book. I suspect that one would get most of what was intended by cherry picking individual chapters (they are well titled, ie- Loving Our Enemies?) if one did not want to read chronologically. It’s not a short book, but there are consistently ‘jewels’ that are very worthwhile throughout.
As a rabbi, I now consider this book to be a valuable resource for Jewish knowledge.
If I were to give advice on how to approach this book, I would suggest reading the Introduction & Conclusion (both also work as stand alone pieces of writing), and then delve into the body of the book. I suspect that one would get most of what was intended by cherry picking individual chapters (they are well titled, ie- Loving Our Enemies?) if one did not want to read chronologically. It’s not a short book, but there are consistently ‘jewels’ that are very worthwhile throughout.
As a rabbi, I now consider this book to be a valuable resource for Jewish knowledge.
November 22, 2024
Think Judaism is about laws and rules and Christianity is about love and grace? Think again! Shai Held has written a masterpiece that corrects that mistaken thinking. Before any Christian opens their mouth to comment on the Hebrew Scriptures or “God of the Old Testament”, they should have to read this book. I’m going to recommend it so much people will become sick of hearing about it. Please read.
December 23, 2025
I have often heard the received wisdom about the distinctions between Judaism and Christianity. They always tend to surreptitiously favor Christianity; Judaism is a religion of law and acts, Christianity one of belief and love: Judaism is a religion of an angry, jealous deity; Christianity is a religion centered on a God who loves and forgives unconditionally. These misconceptions are so old they haunted the early Church in the decades after Jesus’ death, sometimes breaking off into their own streams, like Gnosticism. Shai Held rightfully recenters our gaze to argue that Judaism centers loving God and loving others, contrary to common presumptions.
Its sad to hear how deeply this presumption has gone. It has even pulled the wool over modern rabbis and seminarians, who (through their own desire to distance themselves from a religion that has othered them) have accidentally pulled away from the emotive power of faith.
There were, of course, some strange bumps in the road for me here. In the wake of the genocide in Palestine, my thoughts endlessly turned there in sections discussing what we as Jews owe to our fellow human. Shai doesn’t explicitly touch Palestine here, and I wish he had, because I think his claims lead logically to solidarity with the Palestinian people. Additionally, I’m not sure if I’m filly sold on his argument for particularism in Judaism versus Universalism. I do think he has a great point, however, that universalism has had a much worse historical relationship with imperialism and subjugation. Judaism says “we have our way, and you have yours; we can live side by side as different people”. Even the kindest Christians, if they truly believe their credo, come to the table with some serious presumptions about other’s needs under the belt. As a moral perspective, it would do well to grapple with this more.
Thankful to have read, and maybe would like to own. 4 stars.
Its sad to hear how deeply this presumption has gone. It has even pulled the wool over modern rabbis and seminarians, who (through their own desire to distance themselves from a religion that has othered them) have accidentally pulled away from the emotive power of faith.
There were, of course, some strange bumps in the road for me here. In the wake of the genocide in Palestine, my thoughts endlessly turned there in sections discussing what we as Jews owe to our fellow human. Shai doesn’t explicitly touch Palestine here, and I wish he had, because I think his claims lead logically to solidarity with the Palestinian people. Additionally, I’m not sure if I’m filly sold on his argument for particularism in Judaism versus Universalism. I do think he has a great point, however, that universalism has had a much worse historical relationship with imperialism and subjugation. Judaism says “we have our way, and you have yours; we can live side by side as different people”. Even the kindest Christians, if they truly believe their credo, come to the table with some serious presumptions about other’s needs under the belt. As a moral perspective, it would do well to grapple with this more.
Thankful to have read, and maybe would like to own. 4 stars.
May 1, 2024
An incredibly important work recovering and uncovering central tenants of theology. I am still not sure how I feel/think about the connection between commandedness, covenant and love as an animating feature of Jewish practice.
here-i-halted-unfinished-so-far
November 7, 2024Heard several presentations by the author but this doesn't seem to be the time. Wanted to preview but got only to p. 26. Beaucoup competition! If you have read this book, maybe your words will be my inspiration. Thanks to my local public library for having this book.
May 31, 2025
I am not usually among the people who dig deep into Jewish theology or philosophy. But Shai Held may change my mind.
Deep and accessible. Who knew that was possible.
Deep and accessible. Who knew that was possible.
June 25, 2024
"We have all heard it a thousand times," writes Rabbi Shai Held in the Introduction of this deeply-research book. "Christianity is about love, we are told, but Judaism is about.... something else, like law, or justice, or whatever." Rabbi Held goes on to provide detailed descriptions of Torah and Midrash, and the writings of Jews and non-Jews to demonstrate that Judaism is very much about love.
A few of my favorite parts of this book:
- “Whether or not we always like to acknowledge it, as human beings we need to be seen, recognized, and appreciated. This is true of all of us, regardless of social status. Being seen is a spiritual-emotional need in the same way that being fed is a physical one–we can’t really survive, let alone flourish, without it.”
- “Human solidarity is rooted, ultimately, in a refusal to see individuals as fundamentally separate, atomized, responsible only to and for ourselves. We are… utterly unique; but, not less importantly, we are also inextricably interconnected. Human solidarity is thus believing and feeling that an assault on your dignity is also an assault on mine, that a diminishment of you also diminishes me. It is knowing, as deeply as we can know anything, that we are interdependent and responsible for one another. As one of political scientist Kristen Monroe (who studied people who had rescued Jews during the Holocaust) rescuers tells her, “You’re part of a whole…. I mean the human race, and … you should always be aware that every other person is basically you.”
- “Knowing our wounds, and working to ease them… is a fundamental requirement of the spiritual life, and of moral responsibility. On both the personal and political levels, we make choices about memory; in doing so, we reclaim our freedom. People who have been oppressed–whether politically and interpersonally–often feel imprisoned by their past sufferings, so much so that those sufferings feel like they are still taking place in the present. To turn memory into empathy, to allow suffering to teach us love, is to recover our sense of agency, to insist that despite what we have been through we will possess the ability to be the author of our own lives. But we do more than that: Having endured an assault on justice, we reaffirm that a commitment to justice, we affirm that a commitment to justice remains possible, indeed urgently necessary. And having been violated by hate, we insist that love is still possible.” (Volf, The End of Memory)
- Deuteronomy 10:12 - “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God demand of you? Only this: to fear the Lord your God, to walk in God’s ways, to love God, and to serve the Lord your Godwith all your heart and with the whole of your being.” “Notice the pattern of verbs in this verse: fear, which is an emotion; walk, which is an action; love, which is an emotion, and serve, which is an action. The interweaving of emotion and action in this all-important verse suggests something fundamental about Judaism’s vision of the good life: God asks both for our inner life and our outward deeds, for our feelings as well as our actions. Our aspiration, even if it can never be fully realized in this lifetime, is the full integration of who we are on the inside and of what we do on the outside.”
- “Learning to be more and more present with people who need comfort and support is the task of a lifetime. It is the heart of the religious life. ‘All the rest is commentary; go and learn.’”
- “Pity is a vertical posture, whereas compassion is a horizontal one. When we pity someone, we reach down for them, but when we show compassion for them, we reach across to them, keenly aware that what connects us runs far deeper than what divides us. In the first instance, we feel sorry for someone; in the second, we feel sorry with them. Pity is thus entwined with condescension, while compassion is enmeshed with equality and connection.”
- “The struggle for justice derives its energy from love. We care about the world so deeply that we are willing to fight for it; we care about other people, and especially widows and orphans, so deeply, that we work to prevent their being mistreated and exploited.” Footnote: Perhaps this is what R. Abraham Joshua Heschel means when he writes that “the logic of justice may seem impersonal, yet the concern for justice is an act of love.” The Prophets, p. 201 (p. 246)
- “Rabbi Soloveithcik writes…, ‘We ask neither about the cause of evil nor about its purpose, but rather, about how it might be mended and elevated. How shall a person act in a time of trouble? What ought a person to do so that they not perish in their afflictions?’ We cannot know why a good God permits so much excruciating suffering but, often at least, we can decide how to respond. From my perspective this is where Judaism’s emphasis on love, and specifically on kindness and compassion, comes into play. We will never know why the parent in front of us was widowed at such a young age, but we can offer them concrete assistance as well as an open heart and a listening ear; we cannot know why we have been beleaguered by lifelong illness but we can work to grow in empathy and compassion as a result.” Soloveitchik, Fate and Destiny: From the Holocaust to the State of Israel (p. 253)
- “Judaism is not just a set of abstract propositions about what is true; it is also–and arguably primarily–about a set of dreams for what will one day become true.” (p. 258)
- “We need one another. As the philosopher Mary Midgley puts it, ‘We are not self-contained and self-sufficient, either as a species or as individuals, but live naturally in deep mutual dependence.’” Midgley, “Philosophical Plumbing,” Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 33 (1992): 147. (p. 380)
A few of my favorite parts of this book:
- “Whether or not we always like to acknowledge it, as human beings we need to be seen, recognized, and appreciated. This is true of all of us, regardless of social status. Being seen is a spiritual-emotional need in the same way that being fed is a physical one–we can’t really survive, let alone flourish, without it.”
- “Human solidarity is rooted, ultimately, in a refusal to see individuals as fundamentally separate, atomized, responsible only to and for ourselves. We are… utterly unique; but, not less importantly, we are also inextricably interconnected. Human solidarity is thus believing and feeling that an assault on your dignity is also an assault on mine, that a diminishment of you also diminishes me. It is knowing, as deeply as we can know anything, that we are interdependent and responsible for one another. As one of political scientist Kristen Monroe (who studied people who had rescued Jews during the Holocaust) rescuers tells her, “You’re part of a whole…. I mean the human race, and … you should always be aware that every other person is basically you.”
- “Knowing our wounds, and working to ease them… is a fundamental requirement of the spiritual life, and of moral responsibility. On both the personal and political levels, we make choices about memory; in doing so, we reclaim our freedom. People who have been oppressed–whether politically and interpersonally–often feel imprisoned by their past sufferings, so much so that those sufferings feel like they are still taking place in the present. To turn memory into empathy, to allow suffering to teach us love, is to recover our sense of agency, to insist that despite what we have been through we will possess the ability to be the author of our own lives. But we do more than that: Having endured an assault on justice, we reaffirm that a commitment to justice, we affirm that a commitment to justice remains possible, indeed urgently necessary. And having been violated by hate, we insist that love is still possible.” (Volf, The End of Memory)
- Deuteronomy 10:12 - “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God demand of you? Only this: to fear the Lord your God, to walk in God’s ways, to love God, and to serve the Lord your Godwith all your heart and with the whole of your being.” “Notice the pattern of verbs in this verse: fear, which is an emotion; walk, which is an action; love, which is an emotion, and serve, which is an action. The interweaving of emotion and action in this all-important verse suggests something fundamental about Judaism’s vision of the good life: God asks both for our inner life and our outward deeds, for our feelings as well as our actions. Our aspiration, even if it can never be fully realized in this lifetime, is the full integration of who we are on the inside and of what we do on the outside.”
- “Learning to be more and more present with people who need comfort and support is the task of a lifetime. It is the heart of the religious life. ‘All the rest is commentary; go and learn.’”
- “Pity is a vertical posture, whereas compassion is a horizontal one. When we pity someone, we reach down for them, but when we show compassion for them, we reach across to them, keenly aware that what connects us runs far deeper than what divides us. In the first instance, we feel sorry for someone; in the second, we feel sorry with them. Pity is thus entwined with condescension, while compassion is enmeshed with equality and connection.”
- “The struggle for justice derives its energy from love. We care about the world so deeply that we are willing to fight for it; we care about other people, and especially widows and orphans, so deeply, that we work to prevent their being mistreated and exploited.” Footnote: Perhaps this is what R. Abraham Joshua Heschel means when he writes that “the logic of justice may seem impersonal, yet the concern for justice is an act of love.” The Prophets, p. 201 (p. 246)
- “Rabbi Soloveithcik writes…, ‘We ask neither about the cause of evil nor about its purpose, but rather, about how it might be mended and elevated. How shall a person act in a time of trouble? What ought a person to do so that they not perish in their afflictions?’ We cannot know why a good God permits so much excruciating suffering but, often at least, we can decide how to respond. From my perspective this is where Judaism’s emphasis on love, and specifically on kindness and compassion, comes into play. We will never know why the parent in front of us was widowed at such a young age, but we can offer them concrete assistance as well as an open heart and a listening ear; we cannot know why we have been beleaguered by lifelong illness but we can work to grow in empathy and compassion as a result.” Soloveitchik, Fate and Destiny: From the Holocaust to the State of Israel (p. 253)
- “Judaism is not just a set of abstract propositions about what is true; it is also–and arguably primarily–about a set of dreams for what will one day become true.” (p. 258)
- “We need one another. As the philosopher Mary Midgley puts it, ‘We are not self-contained and self-sufficient, either as a species or as individuals, but live naturally in deep mutual dependence.’” Midgley, “Philosophical Plumbing,” Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 33 (1992): 147. (p. 380)
March 16, 2025
Unfortunately, this book is probably preaching to the choir. In a time where antisemitism around the globe is a bad as it has been for the past eighty years, we need books like this. But the people who need it the most will probably never get past the title before they set the book aflame with another chant of "from the river to the sea..."
While the book isn't a hard read, it does seem a bit long and repetitive. But rather than critique it, why not just pull a few excerpts which can probably do a better job than I of saying what the book is about:
The path to universal love always runs through the particular.
Learn the truth from whoever says it.
The best response to people using the word 'love' poorly is not to use it less but to use it better.
When religion works, instead of taking life for granted, we begin to experience it as granted. Instead of feeling entitled, we feel blessed.
Ingratitude constitutes both a moral failure and a failure of reason.
On the one hand, the Torah insists that if we are grateful, we must share; yet on the other, it suggests that if we are grateful, we will want to share, because the urge to share is a significant part of what it means to be grateful. This is arguably what distinguishes being grateful for something from being merely glad or pleased about it. When I am grateful, I 'want to favor another because I have been favored myself.' Here again, duty and desire are interwoven.
Protesting injustice and oppression is a mitzvah, a moral and religious responsibility we are not permitted to shirk; and that protest can be a potent demonstration of love.
To confront injustice and oppression and not to get angry is a moral failure.
Asked when a person should start educating his child, Rev Hayyim of Volozhin is reported to have replied, 'Twenty years before they are born.'
The Torah adjures Israel to love and protect the stranger and to include him in various aspects of communal and national life, but also expects some degree of assimilation on the stranger's part.
Whatever you push away is going to bounce back at you. It is nature's law. Whatever you run from becomes your shadow.
Heroism consists not in the willingness to start a fight, but in the eagerness to end one.
As the Talmudic sage Rav Huna puts it, 'One who occupies himself only with study of the law and not with hesed [love] is as if he had no God.' God leads to love, he suggests, or it is actually not God we know.
Grief and lament have their place, but they cannot, must not, have the final word.
Anger is not essential to who God is in the way that love it. God gets angry, but God is love.
God's love comes with expectations, but without conditions.
While the book isn't a hard read, it does seem a bit long and repetitive. But rather than critique it, why not just pull a few excerpts which can probably do a better job than I of saying what the book is about:
The path to universal love always runs through the particular.
Learn the truth from whoever says it.
The best response to people using the word 'love' poorly is not to use it less but to use it better.
When religion works, instead of taking life for granted, we begin to experience it as granted. Instead of feeling entitled, we feel blessed.
Ingratitude constitutes both a moral failure and a failure of reason.
On the one hand, the Torah insists that if we are grateful, we must share; yet on the other, it suggests that if we are grateful, we will want to share, because the urge to share is a significant part of what it means to be grateful. This is arguably what distinguishes being grateful for something from being merely glad or pleased about it. When I am grateful, I 'want to favor another because I have been favored myself.' Here again, duty and desire are interwoven.
Protesting injustice and oppression is a mitzvah, a moral and religious responsibility we are not permitted to shirk; and that protest can be a potent demonstration of love.
To confront injustice and oppression and not to get angry is a moral failure.
Asked when a person should start educating his child, Rev Hayyim of Volozhin is reported to have replied, 'Twenty years before they are born.'
The Torah adjures Israel to love and protect the stranger and to include him in various aspects of communal and national life, but also expects some degree of assimilation on the stranger's part.
Whatever you push away is going to bounce back at you. It is nature's law. Whatever you run from becomes your shadow.
Heroism consists not in the willingness to start a fight, but in the eagerness to end one.
As the Talmudic sage Rav Huna puts it, 'One who occupies himself only with study of the law and not with hesed [love] is as if he had no God.' God leads to love, he suggests, or it is actually not God we know.
Grief and lament have their place, but they cannot, must not, have the final word.
Anger is not essential to who God is in the way that love it. God gets angry, but God is love.
God's love comes with expectations, but without conditions.
January 5, 2025
I first encountered Rabbi Shai Held while listening to the OnScript podcast that featured Dru Johnson interviewing him about his book, Judaism is About Love. (Yet another great read emanating from the work of the OnScript team—thank you!) R. Held’s writing is both erudite and eminently accessible. In a rare pattern for me, this was the only book I read for a couple weeks (I normally have 3-4 going At the same time). That says something about the compelling nature of the work.
As a Christian I found it refreshing and challenging to engage with rabbinic interpretations of Scripture. R. Held opens the reader up to see the beauty of the faith focused on the Tanakh and handed down by the historic rabbinic community, a faith centred on a loving God. For too long Christians have been prone to see a harshness in the Hebrew Scriptures, seemingly forgetting that these were the very Scriptures the earliest believers followed and which the writers of Christian Scriptures regularly cite. While R. Held may not have intended this outcome, Judaism is About Love has helped me to better hear and embrace the Jewish thought and understandings that shape my faith. And, I am particularly drawn by his assertion that what makes God God is God’s love.
While I may not agree with all of Held’s conclusions (where we stand on Jesus is obviously the primary difference), this work will be a go-to for me when reading and studying the Bible, providing a rich vision of life as taught in the Bible and a provocative voice to challenge my own reading of the text. I frequently found myself pausing to reflect and jot down my interaction with what Held presents. And, while I would have liked to see Held engage the tradition of covenant renewal (Deut 30; Jer 31; Ezk 36), given the book is almost 400 pages, this is a minor critique.
As a Christian I found it refreshing and challenging to engage with rabbinic interpretations of Scripture. R. Held opens the reader up to see the beauty of the faith focused on the Tanakh and handed down by the historic rabbinic community, a faith centred on a loving God. For too long Christians have been prone to see a harshness in the Hebrew Scriptures, seemingly forgetting that these were the very Scriptures the earliest believers followed and which the writers of Christian Scriptures regularly cite. While R. Held may not have intended this outcome, Judaism is About Love has helped me to better hear and embrace the Jewish thought and understandings that shape my faith. And, I am particularly drawn by his assertion that what makes God God is God’s love.
While I may not agree with all of Held’s conclusions (where we stand on Jesus is obviously the primary difference), this work will be a go-to for me when reading and studying the Bible, providing a rich vision of life as taught in the Bible and a provocative voice to challenge my own reading of the text. I frequently found myself pausing to reflect and jot down my interaction with what Held presents. And, while I would have liked to see Held engage the tradition of covenant renewal (Deut 30; Jer 31; Ezk 36), given the book is almost 400 pages, this is a minor critique.
April 16, 2025
I bought this book because I wanted to better connect with my brother, who converted to Judaism 25+ years ago. That's another story, not appropriate to this space. But I can say that this is one of the best books I have ever read regarding our relationship to God. Many people want to highlight the contrasts between Judaism and Christianity but they forget that Judaism gave birth to Christianity and the differences are few. Though, admittedly, the Christian elevation of Jesus to The Son of God, is major. Set that aside. Seriously. Jesus himself said, often, that he was here to bring us closer to God The Father. He emphasized the heart of Judaism as Love and that is what attracted his followers. Rabbi Held shows us exactly how and why Jesus could claim what he claimed about our relationships with God and one another, grounding us in what Jesus was grounded in. Held challenges some of Jesus' positions but he is respectful of those positions but sees them in a broader frame than most western Christians have been taught. This is well written, erudite, thoughtful and, really I am sure prayerfully presented. It's a primer to what Christians believe and a wonderful exposition of Judaism to those who are only familiar with the Western stereotypes. I highly recommend it.
October 28, 2024
While I love Judaism, I never associated it with love. So when Shai Held came out with this book, I was skeptical, and so I had to read it.
This book is essential reading. It's not that Held discovers new texts - he just takes what's in plain sight, and in everyday liturgy, and pushes it to the fore. It's common exegesis, and also totally revolutionary. At a time when there's such a push for universalism, and for associating Judaism with obligation on one end, and social justice on the other, recentering this millenia-old faith/nation/people on something as fundamental as love is very welcome. The one piece that’s missing, especially written by a straight man, is that it doesn’t sufficiently confront issues of gender or sexual identity. If you’re asserting that Judaism is about love, how can you not address its stance on homosexuality?
I'm grateful for this book. It’s close to perfect.
This book is essential reading. It's not that Held discovers new texts - he just takes what's in plain sight, and in everyday liturgy, and pushes it to the fore. It's common exegesis, and also totally revolutionary. At a time when there's such a push for universalism, and for associating Judaism with obligation on one end, and social justice on the other, recentering this millenia-old faith/nation/people on something as fundamental as love is very welcome. The one piece that’s missing, especially written by a straight man, is that it doesn’t sufficiently confront issues of gender or sexual identity. If you’re asserting that Judaism is about love, how can you not address its stance on homosexuality?
I'm grateful for this book. It’s close to perfect.
January 31, 2025
I appreciated the depth and emotional nature of the book. However, the book itself, while deeply researched, was difficult for me to connect with. The concepts are there, but what it does sounds more (ironically, given the way the book unfolds) like Christian exegesis than Jewish. There is a lot of leaping between concepts, and among opinions, without explaining why I should view them as authoritative, how the author or the people they cite reach their conclusion, and without deep examination of specific instances. Many of the statements are made with some reference or description of a short passage in the Tanakh, for example, but don’t dig deeply into it based on text or anything establishing the interpretation as authoritative rather than merely plausible. I found it hard to buy into many of the interpretations as a result, though I did like the overall message, and the writing is superb.
June 27, 2024
Judaism is about law, while Christianity is about love. Rabbi Shai Held sees this statement as not only anti-Jewish propaganda, but completely mistaken. His purpose in writing “Judaism Is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) is to prove that Judaism is a religion whose fundamental ideas are based on love. He notes that “the Jewish tradition tells the story of a God of love who creates us in love and enjoins us, in turn, to live lives of love. We are commanded to love God, the neighbor, the stranger – and all of humanity – and we are told the highest achievement of which we are capable is to live with compassion. That is considered nothing less than walking in God’s ways.”
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/book...
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/book...
January 24, 2025
The best book of biblical theology I've read in a while is this one, written by Rabbi Held.
It's not my place to suggest why Jews might want to read and reread this extraordinary text. But Christians should for two reasons. One, Held's portrayal of Judaism as a celebration and commitment to a loving God, who is calling forth and waiting for a more loving world, offers a set of much needed correctives to many frankly anti-semitic stereotypes Christians have about the religion of their cousins and ancestors in the faith. Two, Held's biblical theology of a loving God is also a much needed corrective to Christian theology and culture that exalts power or unloving visions of holiness above the loving-kindness of the God known to us in our own reading of the Torah, grafted into an ancient faith as Paul says we are, and the God known to us in Christ.
It's not my place to suggest why Jews might want to read and reread this extraordinary text. But Christians should for two reasons. One, Held's portrayal of Judaism as a celebration and commitment to a loving God, who is calling forth and waiting for a more loving world, offers a set of much needed correctives to many frankly anti-semitic stereotypes Christians have about the religion of their cousins and ancestors in the faith. Two, Held's biblical theology of a loving God is also a much needed corrective to Christian theology and culture that exalts power or unloving visions of holiness above the loving-kindness of the God known to us in our own reading of the Torah, grafted into an ancient faith as Paul says we are, and the God known to us in Christ.
May 23, 2024
Shai Held's book, Judaism is About Love, is an invitation to think of love as essential to Jewish faith, tradition, and observance. In doing so, Held conveys the multi-dimensionality of respecting one's neighbor, welcoming the stranger, and even loving an enemy, all through a Jewish lens. We already know that love finds a comfortable home in the heart of the humanist. Held's book teaches us that love resides just as assuredly in the heart of the devout person. The best place to read this book is near a window as you’ll find yourself looking out now and then to consider how his words take shape in the world.
June 24, 2024
As a rabbi, I want to say that this is one of the most important popular/English books on Judaism that I have read in a long time. Held is not a mystic and so unfortunately doesn't bring more than a handful of mystical texts on love. But in a way this is even better because he establishes a love centered Judaism even without the mystical which is, in my opinion, a very important project - and much more challenging.
December 20, 2024
An exceedingly enjoyable and well-written reflection on the meaning of love as expressed through Torah, with structured argumentation from Shai Held supported by expert analysis of Rabbinic thought, Jewish ethics, and Hebrew linguistics. Through a deeper understanding of hesed (steadfast love), we can more fully realize the agency we possess to love and be loved on earth—to reciprocate God's love.
March 19, 2025
I want to give this book 5 stars because it truly is a great work! For me, unfortunately, this is the first book of Jewish thought that I am reading in about 4 years. I am, for sure, out of practice!! So, a lot of the book went over my head. Regardless, this work is amazing and so important and I look forward to reading it again someday when I feel like I can appreciate its teachings and meanings more!
August 16, 2025
Everyone should read. It’s not often that a book manages to be both deeply scholarly and personally transformative—but Rabbi Shai Held does just that. From the very first pages, he challenges us to see our own lives—through the lens of love. He writes, “We are relational beings all the way down” (p. 380). There is so much “good, reflective, deep stuff” in here that you will walk away a different person.
April 28, 2024
One of America’s foremost Bible scholars writes an erudite and widely sourced argument for what religion should be. The flow of the book would have been improved by more forewarning of the book’s structure, which sometimes approaches haphazard. In the audio version, the reader has a pleasing voice, but annoyingly mispronounces plain English words—beneficence, eschew, revel.
June 9, 2024
While a bit long and repetitive, Judaism Is About Love successfully takes back Judaism from those who argue it is a legalistic cold religion overseen by a jealous and spiteful God. Rabbi Shai Held forcefully and convincingly argues back that Judaism is a loving religion overseen by a loving God who cares, not just for the Jewish people, but for all people.
July 19, 2025
started off strong, but quickly devolved into regurgitating sources ad nauseam with barely any direct applications to our current world. the points made here are an important reminder to those who only see Judaism as an intellectual endeavor devoid of love, but I needed Held to go farther than he did in his arguments and was ultimately left disappointed.
2.75 stars
2.75 stars
July 12, 2024
3.5 stars - I started out loving this, and I highlighted SO much in my copy. It did get repetitive, and I think this book could have been shorter by like 75 pages. However, I will keep thinking about it for sure.
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