Judaism's Ten Best Ideas: A Brief Guide for Seekers

by Arthur Green

A welcoming introduction to the most important ideas in Judaism. In an age of fluid identity, many people are honestly asking the question "Why be Jewish?" What in this religious and ethnic legacy is worth preserving? Does Judaism have something unique to offer a contemporary seeker free to choose a way of life and a system of values? Here is the answer of a leading spiritual teacher who has faced these questions in conversation with generations of students. With warmth, humor, personal and rabbinic stories and down-to-earth explanations, Arthur Green presents the ideas in Judaism that kept him loyal to the tradition passed on to him. The result is an enticing look into timeless Jewish wisdom that will encourage you to explore further and search out the riches of Judaism for yourself.

Genres: Judaism, Jewish, Religion, Nonfiction, Judaica, Spirituality, Theology

83 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Toe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Objective Summary

As the title reveals, Green outlines these ten important ideas from Judaism.

1. God wants you to be happy, so anything that makes you unhappy probably takes you away from God. Some people struggle to be happy because of guilt over their own imperfections. Others struggle to find pleasure in burdens, pain, or daily life. That’s ok. But try to be joyful and embrace humor since that is probably what God wants.
2. Every human being, not just your neighbor, is created in the image of God. Treat them accordingly.
3. Jewish authors talk about halakhah, or Jewish law, as a way of walking toward God. Judaism is more concerned with what you do than with what you believe. There are many rules regarding diet, dress, and ritual. The Jewish community diverges widely on which rules to observe and why, but some sort of normative behavior is essential to the community.
4. Tikkun ‘olam is an ancient Hebrew phrase that used to mean something like bringing about God’s rule on earth. Now, the same phrase signifies general betterment of the world: relieving human suffering, achieving peace and mutual respect among individuals and peoples, and protecting the planet itself from destruction.
5. Observe Shabbat, or the Sabbath. Set aside sacred time each week—typically from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday—to rest, rejuvenate, and spend time with people. Green suggests this modern list of do’s and don’ts. Do:
a. stay at home and spend quality time with friends and family;
b. celebrate with others at a table, in a synagogue, with friends or community;
c. study or read something that challenges you, edifies you, or makes you grow;
d. be alone to review your week and where you are in your life; and
e. mark the beginning and end of the Shabbat by lighting candles and making Kiddush on Friday night and saying Havdalah on Saturday night.
Don’t:
f. do anything you have to do for work or school, including homework or obligatory reading, or unwanted social obligations;
g. spend money;
h. use a computer, smartphone, or television;
i. travel; or
j. rely on commercial or canned video entertainment.
6. Everyone can experience teshuvah, or returning to God. God forgives transgressions. We should ask for forgiveness from God and other people, and we should forgive others when they ask us for it.
7. Judaism is a civilization built around a text, specifically the Torah, or “teaching.” These five books of Moses are the first five books of the Bible. Green says, “God not only resides behind the text as guarantor of its infinite elasticity but also dwells within us, in the innermost chambers of our endless creativity. We, together with God, bring life to Torah and Torah to life.” Practicing Jews feel free to debate the meaning of the text. Jews engage in midrash, a process of creative rereading or intentional misreading of the Torah in order to engage in an “inquiry” or “deep search” into the text for enhanced meaning. Through midrash, Jews update or evade “heartless” lessons from the Torah for a “more compassionate age.” For example, Deuteronomy calls for stoning to death gluttonous sons and raped women who were betrothed to men other than their rapists. Rabbis claimed there was never such an execution, and there needn’t be. Through interpretation, Jewish people have been against the death penalty, for gay marriage (since they support infertile heterosexual couples marrying), and for environmental protections.
8. Jews highly value education and passing down Jewish traditions. Though the specifics of the religion may have been watered down or deemphasized for many Jews in modernity, Jewish people generally excel in intellectual endeavors such as science, math, philosophy, law, medicine, business, and the arts.
9. Live for this life and do good deeds in this life. Though Judaism formally accepted an eternal life, it has never been the centerpiece of Jewish faith. Jews should avoid martyrdom, and the commandments may generally be set aside to preserve human life. Green says, “Most Jews today are rather openly agnostic about reward in the afterlife, causing them to cling even more proudly to the message of the story that this world and its few years are the only chance each of us has to do good, to improve life just a bit for those around us, and to leave a legacy of which we can be proud. Jews mostly tend to see immortality in the ongoing life of family and community.”
10. Judaism is monotheistic. Per Green, “the only value of monotheism is to make you realize that all beings . . . are all one in origin.” All creatures come from the same divine spark. So you should get to know and love all people as reflections of God. The Hebrew word for God, YHWH, is an amalgamation of the Hebrew words for “was,” “is,” and “will be.” YHWH is all beings for all time. And “Israel” means struggler with God. The Jewish people struggle to understand and reflect God. In a sense, all people seek God. Thus all people are part of the community of Israel, even if they are not Jewish or do not live in the modern nation of Israel.


Subjective Thoughts

Short books are godsends. This short book justifies the minimal time needed to finish it under a cost-benefit analysis. So kudos to you, Rabbi Green.

I’m quite ignorant of Jewish traditions, customs, and language, so I have no basis upon which to critique the validity of the information provided. The abbreviated versions of the lessons are: 1. Be happy. 2. Treat everyone well. 3. Follow (arbitrary or obsolete?) rules. 4. Do good works. 5. Rest. 6. Forgive. 7. Read and debate. 8. Learn. 9. Do good works today since there’s probably no afterlife. 10. Treat everyone well.

Are these really the ten best ideas Judaism has to offer? I don’t know. But they seem like generally sound advice. I detected some repetition, however. Ideas 2 and 10 repeat each other, as do 4 and 9. And if you treat everyone well, that should encompass forgiveness and doing good works. So perhaps the lessons can be boiled down even further to (1) the golden rule, (2) learn, and (3) rest. Three rules are simpler than 10. I’m likely losing nuance in such further reduction, but that loss did not come out clearly in this short volume. That’s the price you pay for brevity.

I admire the accomplishments of Jewish people. It occurred to me—only after reading The Bell Curve—that Jewish people succeed wildly out of proportion to their population. Now that this fact has been brought explicitly to my mind, it is easy to spot and impossible to ignore. Jewish success manifests in basically every intellectual field. Such success can be attributed to three things: intelligence, culture, or nefarious manipulation—i.e., oppressing others. I see no evidence for the last explanation; and, with their own historical oppression as a minority, it strikes me as exceedingly unlikely if not impossible. So their success must be attributed to higher average intelligence, a culture that values education and work, or some combination of the two. The combination of the two seems most plausible to me.

But is religion generally or Judaism specifically necessary for this success? Is it necessary for morality? Happiness? I think not. For one thing, with an “infinitely elastic” text, it’s not at all clear why the text is necessary in the first place. A starting point, like the Torah, can be helpful. But a blank piece of paper with ideas brainstormed by a large, diverse group of people should be able, over time and through debate, to lift the best ideas to the surface. That’s essentially what the Jews have done with the Torah and the Talmud. So why is it necessary to retain explicit commentary on stoning gluttons and rape victims? Why is it necessary to retain prohibitions on mixing different types of cloth? By my lights, this is obvious nonsense that can be dismissed. For another thing, other civilizations have also succeeded. The Greeks valued learning and developed a great civilization using dramatically different religious precepts. Asian cultures also value learning in modern times, often without any religious tenets at all. Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Jains, and countless other peoples can attain a state of happiness through their own beliefs. Clearly, there are many paths to success.

What is unclear to me is how Judaism should even be viewed. Is it a religion? An ethnicity? A culture? A philosophy? A race? All of the above? Green doesn’t delve into these questions of categorization, choosing instead to focus on Judaism’s 10 best ideas. I wonder how many of these ideas could properly be called “Judaism’s.” Did Jewish people invent these ideas before anyone else, did they invent them independently of other people, or did they crib some of these ideas from elsewhere? Where these ideas originated does not change their effectiveness, but it makes me curious. An idea whispered from the creator of the universe is fundamentally different from ideas originating in Joseph Smith’s head, or Ted Bundy’s head, or my head. A mixture of creativity, curiosity, and debate baked over time will incrementally improve ideas and yield an ever closer approximation to truth. Perhaps that recipe is the single greatest idea undergirding Judaism. But I can’t see the necessity of interjecting the supernatural in this all too human endeavor. And, from what I can tell, most Jews seem to have the same question.


Revealing Quotes

“The apex in this culture of learning was the Talmud, the vast compilation of law and lore completed by the rabbis of Babylonia in about the sixth century CE. The complex dialectics of Talmudic argumentation, especially in the legal sections, became the paradigm for a typical style of Jewish thinking that spread over the ages and through the world. (Much of Jewish humor, by the way, is an imitation and parody of that style of discourse.) A special institution was created for intellectual conversation in the dialectical mode. The hevruta or study partnership, in which two people ask each other questions, demolish each other’s arguments, and help clarify and reframe their thinking, is a particularly Jewish form of friendship. It is carried on in the bet midrash, or house of study, a communal learning hall that in traditional communities stands alongside the synagogue as a key communal institution.”

[Margaret Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a great book for an adult study class or Confirmation. The 10 Best Ideas of Judaism. Probably a matter of opinion. This is a good list. And I like the fact that it is designed with the "seeker" in mind. These really are some of the core beliefs of Judaism. And these a short little chapters. Just enough to whet the appetite of any seeker. Even as an experienced rabbi, there were things I learned in most chapters just in the stories that Green chose and the examples he used. I will be using this little volume again and again. However what it really makes me want to do is to read his book Radical Judaism again.

[Benjamin Sendrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little gem is accessible to young readers, but rich enough for anyone. It is a quick, enjoyable, and enlightening read (perfect for a Shabbat afternoon). It is one of two books I use with my older teen discussion group in my congregation. Enjoy this book!

[Lirazel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want it to be loooooonger!

Which is completely my problem because a) it's clearly exactly as long as the author intended it to be and b) it says "brief" right there in the title!

But I love Green's perspective, I love the ideas he chose to focus on, it's just a lovely, lovely little book. I can't wait to check out some of his other work.


(All that said, I do think that $23 for a 100-page book is excessive.)

[Kirsten D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written introduction to Jewish beliefs, filled with wonder and amazement and gorgeous prose.

[Nunya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had originally checked this book out from the library for a report on Judaism for English, but after I had finished the report, I decided that the book was interesting enough to keep reading, and honestly it has gotten me even more interested about learning about other religions besides my own, including Judaism! This book, in being so short, doesn’t really tell you everything about the religion, but I think that’s the point, it’s supposed to get you interesting enough to check out other books in the genre

[Lisa Feld · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a “how to” but a “why to,” a guide to ten core Jewish concepts in approachable language, from a rabbi and scholar with deep understanding. It’s the philosophical equivalent of a master artist who can render a scene in a single, continuous brushstroke. I would recommend this particularly for people who want to begin or deepen their relationship with Judaism but don’t know where to start.

[Janaka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear, informative, concise, and aspirational without intellectual flaccidity--this is a solid introduction and overview to the basic tenets of Judaism.

[Tram-Anh Huynh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice lil bedside read.
_____________
My highlights
• Human decency should not depend on our ability to muster a feeling of love for the other.
• Every human being is created in God's image... It calls us to boundless respect for each human life, a valuing of human difference and individuality, and a commitment to fair and decent treatment for each person.
• We are a community constituted more around what you do than what you believe. This leaves a lot of room for divergence of belief within the Jewish community.
• When God calls out, "Where are you?"..."Where are you in fulfilling the best of your evolutionary legacy? Where are you in being human in the fullest sense of the word, bearing within you the image of the divine? Are you living and acting that way? The universe needs you to do so. Without that, your planet may not be able to survive!"
• Judaism, it turns out, does not believe in karma. It believes in the possibility of wiping the slate clean and starting over.
• Teshuvah belongs not only to our encounter with God but also to the interpersonal realm. For harm done to another person, repenting to God does not suffice. Even the great cleansing power of Yom Kippur, we are told, is ineffective in wiping away transgressions against another person until we have reconciled with the one we have harmed. This is the hardest part of teshuvah, because it demands that we make ourselves contrite and vulnerable before someone who may or may not be ready to forgive.
• Freedom of interpretation [of the Torah] became the lifeblood of Jewish creativity... This process of creative rereading or intentional misreading of the Torah is called Midrash, meaning "inquiry" or "deep search" into the text. It involves a whole complex of interpretive strategies, using various tools of juxtaposition, cross-reading, typologies, acronyms, and more, all seeking to reveal new facets of each word and letter of Torah... Judaism has always been a tradition of faithfulness to our secret text, but it has never been fundamentalist in terms of how to read them.
• This world and its few years are the only chance each of us has to do good, to improve life just a bit for those around us, and to leave a legacy of which we can be proud. Jews mostly tend to see immortality in the ongoing life of family and community.
• "Whoever teaches another child Torah, it is as though he [or she] had brought that child to birth." This acceptance of nonreproductive marriage is the precedent for accepting same-sex marriage... The point of kiddushin is that the relationship be a holy one, defined by bringing God's presence into the home and manifest in the way the partners treat each other.
• Live in amazement at the divine light strewn throughout the world. That's what it means to be a religious human being.
• Once people started saying "Lord'" they begin to picture that elderly nobleman, the white-bearded white guy on a throne. They became his servants, not servants of Being, worshipping the image of God rather than the mystery behind it. How easily religion slides into idolatry!

[Andy Oram · Rating 5 out of 5]

This remarkable small book can help everyone, Jewish and non-Jewish, appreciate the benefits that Judaism has brought to the world. It is short enough that I read it in a single evening, although I advise those without a knowledge of the Jewish tradition to take longer and examine carefully the way Green combines insights from different eras. Judaism as a humanistic and life-affirming tradition comes through strongly in this accumulation of commentaries. My only wish is that Green, before describing the Jewish struggles with the Torah (the five books of Moses) and the various approaches to making sense of them, would stress what an amazing document the Torah is--one well worth spending a life exploring. Authors such as Robert Alter and James Kugel have done this, and a little exploration of the Torah's magic would have enhanced this book.

[James Kittredge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was assigned as part of the curriculum in a wonderful Intro to Judaism class I took as part of the conversion process. It's a cute, little book that gives plenty of nuggets of Judaism to love, without going into too much depth. I enjoyed reading it, and each of the chapters are motivational and inspirational. I can't say that the book includes anything that I haven't seen in other Judaism 101 books, though, and most of the time, I came away from a chapter wishing that there had been more depth. I know, I know - depth isn't the focus with this book. It's fine as a thumbnail sketch sort of work. I just felt it was a little more slight than what I'm looking for these days.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book on a recommended reading list from myjewishlearning.com

This is a brief guide - brief. The chapters are super short and just long enough to introduce a topic that could easily be its own book. The overview of some of Judaism's ideas was captively written - topics included spiritual beliefs, history, and current culture/practice.

After reading this book I went to tell my husband all about it only to find myself wondering if I actually had any clue what I was talking about. This book is just a tiny little introduction but there is much more learning to do.

[Micah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a direct and gentle book that is a wonderful reflection on Jewish spiritual principals. It is not judgmental of those who don't practice Judaism but definitely stands with pride for some attitudes which have a uniquely Jewish twist to them. A great learning tool to understand some deeply cherished values of Jewish spiritual life. I even found some passages quite illuminating and eye opening on a spiritual level.

[Dale Rosenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rabbi Green’s “Ten Best” is somewhere between a pamphlet and a book. Published last year, the slim volume is subtitled “A Brief Guide for Seekers.” Green explains what he considers to be Judaism’s 10 greatest concepts and why.

A good intro for someone wanting to learn about Judaism and a good discussion piece for Jews.

[Ruth Adar · Rating 5 out of 5]

When someone asks me for a good first book about Judaism, this is the book I offer to them. It is exactly what it claims in the title, a brief guide to the basic principles of Judaism. For someone interested in Judaism, this shouldn't be the only book you read, but it might well be the first book to read.

[drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great and quick read! I read this book in a matter of a few days. I highly recommend this book if you're considering conversion or if you just want to know more about Judaism. It is very short and straight to the point and thoroughly enjoyable.

[Lynne Fort · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a complete novice when it comes to Judaism, this book was really helpful in helping me understand the basic ethos and priorities of the faith. Reading this feels like having a conversation with an old friend, which makes it very welcoming to beginners.

[Suzanne Patterson]

Excellent insights! Confirmed several things I had learned when working with residents in a home for persons with dementia many of whom were Jewish. Gave me further understanding of my Christian background and how we are all one human family.

[Desiree Reeves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just Not Sure

Being a person in conversion stage, most times will reading this book I was not sure of what to believe. I guess yes this is ten best ideas of Judaism to maybe add to more of one’s thoughts of uncertainty.

[mim · Rating 4 out of 5]

way too tired for a real review, but - a quick read, and very clearly and lovingly written. definite rec if the subject interest you.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for a lunchtime book group discussion, but found it very interesting.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully Simple

This is an amazing short book for anyone looking to learn more about the core values and beliefs in Judaism.

[Yijia Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise and engaging read on Judaism, with a heavy emphasis on the meaning of Jewish tradition today.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal exploration of Jewish ideas in the context of today's world. A great read for people wanting to reconnect with or learn more about Judaism.

[Tresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone can read and enjoy this, no matter if you are religious or just curious. So good!

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very brief introduction to Judaism. I enjoyed it.

[Rachel B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought provoking. I folded down many corners to revisit passages at a later point in time.

[Kaylee Rockbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was raised Catholic and have been trying to dip my toe into the study of other religions. This was a short, insightful and very readable jumping off point

[Joelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must have my own copy of this book!

[Lauren Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and digestible book on Judaism! I enjoyed how simple it was as someone who knows very little!