Rosh Hashanah Readings: Inspiration, Information and Contemplation

by Dov Peretz Elkins (Editor), Arthur Green (Introduction)

Overview

A powerful collection of writings about Rosh Hashanah that will add depth and holiness to your experience of the spiritual New Year.

This compelling companion to Yom Kippur Readings helps create a bridge between the words of our ancestors and the meanings, themes and ideas that are the central spiritual agenda of the life of the modern Jew.

Drawn from a variety of sources—ancient, medieval, modern, Jewish and non-Jewish—this selection of readings, prayers and insights explores the opportunities for inspiration and reflection inherent in the subjects addressed on the Jewish New Year: sin, repentance, personal and social change, societal justice, forgiveness, spiritual growth, living with joy and hope, commitment to high ideals, becoming our truest and most authentic selves, deepening our capacity to love and savoring the divine gift of life. These readings enable you to enter into the spirit of Rosh Hashanah and the Days of Awe in a personal and powerful way while they uplift and inform. They will add to the benefits of your High Holy Day experience year after year.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580234375
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	07/01/2010
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, award-winning anthologist, lecturer, educator and author, is coeditor of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul. Widely published in the Jewish and general press, he is author of The Wisdom of Judaism: An Introduction to the Values of the Talmud (Jewish Lights), and is editor of Yom Kippur Readings: Inspiration, Information and Contemplation; Rosh Hashanah Readings: Inspiration, Information and Contemplation; and Jewish Stories from Heaven and Earth: Inspiring Tales to Nourish the Heart and Soul (all Jewish Lights). He is rabbi emeritus of The Jewish Center of Princeton, New Jersey, and a former member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly and the Council for Jewish Education. Visit his websites—www.wisdomofjudaism.org and www.eco-judaism.org—for more information.

Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins is available to speak on the following topics:

• A Taste of Eco-Judaism
• Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul
• Shabbat: A Day for the Rest of Your Life
• Hasidic Wisdom and Modern Psychology
• A Tale of Two Cities—Jerusalem and Washington DC: The Jewish People's Love Affair with the Holy City

Arthur Green, PhD, is recognized as one of the world's preeminent authorities on Jewish thought and spirituality. He is the Irving Brudnick professor of philosophy and religion at Hebrew College and rector of the Rabbinical School, which he founded in 2004. Professor emeritus at Brandeis University, he also taught at the Universityof Pennsylvania and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he served as dean and president.

Dr. Green is author of several books including Judaism's Ten Best Ideas: A Brief Guide for Seekers; Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow; Seek My Face: A Jewish Mystical Theology; Your Word Is Fire: The Hasidic Masters on Contemplative Prayer and Tormented Master: The Life and Spiritual Quest of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav (all Jewish Lights). He is also author of Radical Judaism (Yale UniversityPress) and coauthor of Speaking Torah: Spiritual Teachings from around the Maggid's Table. He is long associated with the Havurah movement and a neo-Hasidic approach to Judaism.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Opening Meditations and Thoughts
The Month of Elul: Preparing for the Days of Awe
Beginning Our Search for Words and Prayers
Words of Faith: Hear O Israel!
Standing before God: The Shacharit Amidah
Avinu Malkenu
Roots and Themes from the Torah
Inspiration from the Prophets
Tik'u Va-Chodesh Shofar: The Blowing of the Shofar
Yom Ha'zikaron: The Day of Remembrance
Repentance
U'netaneh Tokef: Repentance, Prayer, and Justice Can Annul the Decree
V’khol Ma’aminim: That Which We All Believe
Various Aspects of the Musaf Amidah
Malkhuyot, Zikhronot, Shofarot: God Rules, God Remembers, God Listens
Today Is the Only Day That Counts
Rosh Hashanah Rituals and Customs

Acknowledgments
Sources
About the Contributors
Credits

Editorial Reviews

"A truly marvelous collection.... Despite close to sixty years of experience with Rosh Hashanah, I learned and felt things in reading this book that I have never known or felt before—and you will too!"
—Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Universityof Judaism, and author of The Way Into Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World)

"Provides a treasure-trove of reflections, narratives, and meditations relating to the themes of the High Holy Days. A resource for clergy and laypersons alike as they prepare for public services and an invaluable work for personal reflection. Highly recommended."
—Dr. David Ellenson, president, Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion

“Filled with inspirational readings that are profound, and that will challenge and ignite the mind and heart alike.... Will deepen the High Holy Day experience for every reader.”
—Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Jewish Literacy and The Book of Jewish Values

From the Publisher

The Genesis of Leadership: What the Bible Teaches us about Vision, Values and Leading Change by Nathan Laufer. Foreword by Senator Joseph I. Lieberman. Preface by Dr Michael Hammer. Witnesses to the One: Spiritual History of the Sh'ma by Rabbi Joseph B. Mezler. Foreword by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein. Rosh Hashanah Readings: Inspiration, Information, Contemplation. Edited by Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins with section introductions from Arthur Green's These Are The Words.

Rosh Hashanah Readings is Dov Peretz Elkin’s accompanying volume to that for Yom Kippur, previously published by Jewish Lights Publishing. There are some seventeen sections to the anthology, each comprising material on the major themes, prayers, services, ritual acts and more of Rosh Hashanah. Each section has a commencing paragraph by Art Green, which complements as well as introduces, what follows, and the material, as with its companion volume, is taken largely from modern writers, rabbis and laity, interspersed with a few texts from classical sources. This is a worthy accompanying text to Yom Kippur Readings and will doubtless sustain many intellectually and spiritually through the Ten Days of Penitence.

Union of Liberal & Progressive Synagogues - Rabbi Dr Charles H Middleburgh