Face Your Fear: Living with Courage in an Age of Caution

by Shmuley Boteach

A world famous thinker, author, lecturer, and activist, whose diverse, acclaimed and immensely popular body of work covers such subjects as religion, relationships, and bravery, Boteach now turns his attention to America's present state of mind and comes to the conclusion that fear is crippling society with unprecedented force. The only way to escape this climate is to learn what fear is and how to overcome it.

He tackles fear headlong and answers the following What is fear? What is it doing to us? Why is it affecting us now more than ever before? How can we be so powerful a society yet so succeptible to fear? How can we conquer it? Why do we need to conquer it?

Face Your Fear is a book so relevant that it has a chance to be absorbed by society's consciousness and to change the way we think.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, named by Talkers Magazine as one of the 100 most important radio hosts in America, is a nationally syndicated talk show host, the international best-selling author of 15 books, and an acclaimed syndicated columnist.

A winner of the London Times highly prestigious "Preacher of the Year" award, Rabbi Shmuley has lectured and appeared in print, radio, and TV all over the globe. His radio show, "Rabbi Shmuley's Passion," airs daily on Bonneville Broadcasting in afternoon drive-time.

He is the author of a number of books, including "Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy," "Dating Secrets of the Ten Commandments," "Why Can't I Fall in Love," "Judaism for Everyone: Renewing your Life through the Vibrant Lessons of the Jewish Faith," and most recently, "Hating Women: America's Hostile Campaign Against the Fairer Sex." A winner of the annual "preacher of the year" contest sponsored by the Times of London, he was formerly rabbi of Oxford University.


Shmuley—he is known universally by his first name, has marketed himself as a rabbi to the stars and an expert on Jewish attitudes toward relationships and marriage. ("Dr. Ruth with a yarmulke," the Washington Post called him.)

Reviews

[India M. Clamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative book by Rabbi Boteach. In my Humble Opinion, Knowledge is key and it matters not the religion of the teacher given that the lesson is universal. Delightful.

[Johannah Hagerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled with whether or not to buy this book -- I mean I'm not afraid of anything. . . or am I? By the time I was in a few chapters, I realized that my entire life was based on fear and I began to take action to live my life in the here and now and work toward eradicating fear from my life one miserable fear at a time.
I highly recommend this book.

[William Peynsaert]

I'm giving this book four stars because I like its central message: at the root of all our fears is the fear that we don't matter. The author suggests several ways by which we can overcome this very basic fear. He strongly recommends connecting to what he calls a higher power, a higher purpose. In a way and without realizing it probably he advocates the fullfillment of what Tony Robbins calls 'the six human needs' (certainty, variety, connection, contribution, growth, significance).

On almost every page he highlights a central thought, which I found to be an asset, it makes the reading easier and it gives you the essence at a glance.

I would have given five stars if the examples he uses in the book were a bit less political in nature. I don't need to hear the author's personal views on certain political issues, this distracts from his message on how to overcome fear.

All in all it does leave me with some better ideas as to how to deal with fear.

I would however recommend people to read the book 'the tools', which you can find here on amazon:The Tools, http://www.amazon.de/Tools-Phil-Stutz...

It's more practical, says similar things, doesn't comment on political issues, and as the title implies, equips you with some excellent tools to put your fears to good use!

[Kaitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, the book is quite redundant, I disagreed with a few of the arguments, and I did catch more than a couple style errors, but in spite all of this I couldn't find it within myself to give it anything less than four stars. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach asserts that the root of all human fear is the underlying insecurity that we are not special or unique. He shows the reader how to stop fear by remembering that we all have a spark of the Divine within us. Perhaps my favorite message is that the best way to feel important is by making more time for family, charitable acts, and involvement in the community. Infused with Jewish perspectives (who would imagine that from a rabbi?), it really got me to start reexamining the way I see some things in my own life, and I would recommend this book to just about anyone.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book. Too much prescription for my taste. Not as engaging as Kosher Sex.