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The Journey Home: Discovering the Deep Spiritual Wisdom of the Jewish Tradition
Discovering the Deep Spiritual Wisdom of the Jewish Tradition
"Larry Hoffman is one of contemporary Judaism 's most perceptive and creative teachers."
--Lawrence Kushner, author of Eyes Remade for Wonder
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman is widely recognized as a leader in bringing spiritual innovation into modern Jewish life and worship. Now, drawing on a lifetime of study, he explores the Jewish way of being in the world--the Jewish relationship to God and to questions of human purpose that lie just below the surface of biblical and rabbinic literature. This is Jewish spiritual wisdom--the wisdom that unites thousands of years of texts and ritual. In learned but accessible language Hoffman discusses: the importance of blessings, that quintessentially Jewish form of prayer, and what they reveal about the Jewish worldview
the meaning of study in Jewish life, and what it tells us is sacred
the spirituality of being a "landed" religion, and what Israel stands for in the Jewish imagination
the significance of Jewish metaphors for shaping our lives
how Judaism speaks spiritually even to the suffering
The Journey Home is a book for spiritual seekers everywhere: Jews looking for the spiritual component of Judaism, Jews estranged from their roots, and non-Jews who wonder what Judaism has to say about life's great questions.
"Larry Hoffman is one of contemporary Judaism 's most perceptive and creative teachers."
--Lawrence Kushner, author of Eyes Remade for Wonder
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman is widely recognized as a leader in bringing spiritual innovation into modern Jewish life and worship. Now, drawing on a lifetime of study, he explores the Jewish way of being in the world--the Jewish relationship to God and to questions of human purpose that lie just below the surface of biblical and rabbinic literature. This is Jewish spiritual wisdom--the wisdom that unites thousands of years of texts and ritual. In learned but accessible language Hoffman discusses: the importance of blessings, that quintessentially Jewish form of prayer, and what they reveal about the Jewish worldview
the meaning of study in Jewish life, and what it tells us is sacred
the spirituality of being a "landed" religion, and what Israel stands for in the Jewish imagination
the significance of Jewish metaphors for shaping our lives
how Judaism speaks spiritually even to the suffering
The Journey Home is a book for spiritual seekers everywhere: Jews looking for the spiritual component of Judaism, Jews estranged from their roots, and non-Jews who wonder what Judaism has to say about life's great questions.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2002
2 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence A. Hoffman
71 books17 followersDr. Lawrence A. Hoffman was ordained as a rabbi in 1969, received his Ph.D. in 1973, and has taught since then at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, in New York. From 1984 to 1987, he directed its School of Sacred Music as well. In 2003, he was named the first Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professor of Liturgy, Worship and Ritual. He teaches classes in liturgy, ritual, spirituality, theology and synagogue leadership. For almost forty years, he has combined research, teaching, and a passion for the spiritual renewal of North American Judaism.
Rabbi Hoffman has written or edited over forty books, including My People's Prayer Book (Jewish Lights Publishing), a ten-volume edition of the Siddur with modern commentaries, which was named a National Jewish Book Award winner for 2007. His Rethinking Synagogues: A New Vocabulary for Congregational Life (Jewish Lights Publishing) and his Art of Public Prayer (Skylight Paths) are widely used by churches and synagogues as guides to organizational visioning and liturgical renewal. In 2011, he received a second National Jewish Book Award for co-authoring Sacred Strategies: Transforming Synagogues from Functional to Visionary (Alban Institute).
His articles, both popular and scholarly, have appeared in eight languages and four continents, and include contributions to such encyclopedias as The Macmillan Encyclopedia of Religion, The Oxford Dictionary of Religion, The Encyclopedia of Judaism and The Encyclopedia of Religion in America. He syndicates a regular column which appears, among other places, in The Jewish Week and The Jewish Times; and writes a blog entitled "Life and a Little Liturgy."
For many years, Rabbi Hoffman served as visiting professor of the University of Notre Dame, and has lectured at such places as the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the University of Southern California, and the Yale Divinity School.
In 1990, Dr. Hoffman was selected by the United States Navy as a member of a three-person design team, charged with developing a continuing education course on worship for chaplains. He is a past-president of the North American Academy of Liturgy, the professional and academic organization for liturgists, and in January 2004, received that organization's annual Berakhah Award, for outstanding lifetime contributions to his field.
In 1994, he co-founded "Synagogue 2000," a trans-denominational project to envision the ideal synagogue "as moral and spiritual center" for the 21st century. As Synagogue 3000, it has launched Next Dor, a national initiative to engage the next generation through a relational approach featuring strong communities with transformed synagogues at their center.
He founded and is Academic Coordinator of the Tisch Fellowship Program.
Rabbi Hoffman has written or edited over forty books, including My People's Prayer Book (Jewish Lights Publishing), a ten-volume edition of the Siddur with modern commentaries, which was named a National Jewish Book Award winner for 2007. His Rethinking Synagogues: A New Vocabulary for Congregational Life (Jewish Lights Publishing) and his Art of Public Prayer (Skylight Paths) are widely used by churches and synagogues as guides to organizational visioning and liturgical renewal. In 2011, he received a second National Jewish Book Award for co-authoring Sacred Strategies: Transforming Synagogues from Functional to Visionary (Alban Institute).
His articles, both popular and scholarly, have appeared in eight languages and four continents, and include contributions to such encyclopedias as The Macmillan Encyclopedia of Religion, The Oxford Dictionary of Religion, The Encyclopedia of Judaism and The Encyclopedia of Religion in America. He syndicates a regular column which appears, among other places, in The Jewish Week and The Jewish Times; and writes a blog entitled "Life and a Little Liturgy."
For many years, Rabbi Hoffman served as visiting professor of the University of Notre Dame, and has lectured at such places as the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the University of Southern California, and the Yale Divinity School.
In 1990, Dr. Hoffman was selected by the United States Navy as a member of a three-person design team, charged with developing a continuing education course on worship for chaplains. He is a past-president of the North American Academy of Liturgy, the professional and academic organization for liturgists, and in January 2004, received that organization's annual Berakhah Award, for outstanding lifetime contributions to his field.
In 1994, he co-founded "Synagogue 2000," a trans-denominational project to envision the ideal synagogue "as moral and spiritual center" for the 21st century. As Synagogue 3000, it has launched Next Dor, a national initiative to engage the next generation through a relational approach featuring strong communities with transformed synagogues at their center.
He founded and is Academic Coordinator of the Tisch Fellowship Program.
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August 30, 2024
This was a suggestion to prepare for a webinar I'm speaking at about "connecting the dots" to find meaning in life. I loved this book! I have so many astericks and underlined parts!
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