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The Way Into
The Way Into Encountering God In Judaism
An accessible introduction to the Jewish understanding of God throughout history―and today.
The Way Into Encountering God in Judaism is an accessible introduction to the Jewish understanding of God throughout history―and today.
The Way Into Encountering God in Judaism is an accessible introduction to the Jewish understanding of God throughout history―and today.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2000
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February 6, 2013
As with other books in Jewish Lights "The Way Into..." series, Neil Gillman's The Way Into Encountering God in Judaism, the third book in this series, attempts to offer up a summary of a particular aspect of Judaism. In this case, the topic is Jewish theology.
It would, of course, be unfair to expect a book of this size to offer any in-depth discussion of such a broad and deep topic. Indeed, a book of this size would be hard-pressed to offer a substantial summary of even a single Jewish thinker, such as Eliezer Berkovitz or Abraham Joshua Heschel (at this point I can't help but note that while this book does draw heavily on the work of Heschel, that of Berkovitz is shamefully absent). Still, even given the limitations of such an introductory work, Gillman's book is a fairly tepid introduction to Jewish theology.
The book draws almost exclusively on the work of thinkers in what Gillman labels the "liberal" stream of Jewish thought, particularly Heschel and Mordecai Kaplan. He rarely presents views from what he calls the "traditionalist" position, except in the chapter on redemption in which the positions of both camps are presented as little more than caricatures (not surprisingly perhaps, given Gillman's sympathies, the traditionalist caricature is considerably more simplistic and unflattering than is the liberal caricature).
Most baffling, however, is the limited coverage given to the practical elements of Judaism and how they relate to the way Jews think about God. Judaism has been accurately described as a faith whose people tend to be more interested in talking to God than talking about God. As with other books in this series, very little connection is made between the book's topic and how it should relate to and be informed by halakhic observance. Even in a book on Jewish theology primarily targeted to a non-observant audience, one would expect considerably more discussion on what the Jewish people's multi-millenial development of and adherence to its halakhic traditions say about the way the Jewish people relate to and think about God.
While I have had mixed feelings about previous books I have read in "The Way Into..." series, this is the first book I feel I would recommend most readers to take a pass on.
It would, of course, be unfair to expect a book of this size to offer any in-depth discussion of such a broad and deep topic. Indeed, a book of this size would be hard-pressed to offer a substantial summary of even a single Jewish thinker, such as Eliezer Berkovitz or Abraham Joshua Heschel (at this point I can't help but note that while this book does draw heavily on the work of Heschel, that of Berkovitz is shamefully absent). Still, even given the limitations of such an introductory work, Gillman's book is a fairly tepid introduction to Jewish theology.
The book draws almost exclusively on the work of thinkers in what Gillman labels the "liberal" stream of Jewish thought, particularly Heschel and Mordecai Kaplan. He rarely presents views from what he calls the "traditionalist" position, except in the chapter on redemption in which the positions of both camps are presented as little more than caricatures (not surprisingly perhaps, given Gillman's sympathies, the traditionalist caricature is considerably more simplistic and unflattering than is the liberal caricature).
Most baffling, however, is the limited coverage given to the practical elements of Judaism and how they relate to the way Jews think about God. Judaism has been accurately described as a faith whose people tend to be more interested in talking to God than talking about God. As with other books in this series, very little connection is made between the book's topic and how it should relate to and be informed by halakhic observance. Even in a book on Jewish theology primarily targeted to a non-observant audience, one would expect considerably more discussion on what the Jewish people's multi-millenial development of and adherence to its halakhic traditions say about the way the Jewish people relate to and think about God.
While I have had mixed feelings about previous books I have read in "The Way Into..." series, this is the first book I feel I would recommend most readers to take a pass on.
Displaying 1 of 1 review