Seasons of Our Joy: A Modern Guide to the Jewish Holidays

by Arthur Waskow

Circling the Jewish calendar from Rosh Hashanah to Tisha B'Av, this lively, accessible guide includes rituals, recipes, songs, prayers, and suggestions for new approaches to holiday observance.

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

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1982

About the author

Rabbi Arthur Ocean Waskow (born Arthur I. Waskow, 1933).

Reviews

[Cassidy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Answers all the “why” questions — plus all the where and when and who and what. A joy to read. I know I’ll be referencing it for the rest of my days.

[Melissa Penn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My partner gave me this book. It has added much flavor and ease to our holiday celebrations. The wisdom of "why" pervades the text - and rekindles the flame of desire to have a meaningful life through ritual - as relevant now as when they were written in the Torah.

[cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

waskow is a real mensch

[Claude K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. In love with this book. Waskow explains the Jewish holidays from many perspectives, most interestingly the perspective of their relationship with the solar-lunar cycle of the Jewish calendar. He touches on the history of all the holidays, and the various conflicts and changes among them. Cannot recommend this book enough to any Jewish person wanting to get a deeper sense of connection with our holidays.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this guide through the holidays and Jewish traditions to be deep enough to get a real sense of the culture, but light enough to read as a layman. I have no direct experience with Jewish practice, but my knowledge of the Bible was very helpful in reading and I'm not sure if it would be as clear without that knowledge base.

Great read, and I'll be holding on to it for reference and recipes!

[Deborah Krous · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wascow reviews each of the Jewish holidays, its ancient origens, and modern traditions, and lends meaning to them in today's world. This is a book you will refer back to again and again, not just for the information, but for the share pleasure of reading it again, and relearning that which we've forgotten due to our busy lives.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this when I was studying for conversion, though I converted a Orthodox & Waskow is a Reconstructionist. Still, these are interesting writings on the holidays and what they mean to us now, as modern Jews.

[Mills College Library]

296.43 W3199 2012

[Ezri K · Rating 4 out of 5]

An introduction to the Jewish holidays and their development. Though not a fast read it is still interesting. In the intro of each holiday is gives how they come about, the source of the traditions done to celebrate them, their development, common readings for the days, recipes to fit the celebration, and more. A book I would recommend to any interested in learning about the holidays and better understand the practices used to celebrate them. The material is such that it doesn't treat the reader as though they are completely clueless and devoid of thought, but still gives the information without the assumption of former knowledge.

[Lynnnadeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I go back to this book again and again as I go through the Jewish holidays to pull more meaning from each seasonal event.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

See http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic...