Journey of a Rabbi

Jack Shechter

doi:10.5771/9780761863991

Summary

This two-volume Journey of a Rabbi consists of essays describing ventures undertaken, events experienced, and ideas articulated that reflect the life work of a rabbi and Jewish educator. What threads its way throughout these writings is a persistent search for ways and means to revitalize Jewish life in our time.

Written in lucid and compelling fashion, the story portrays early family influences and mentoring of a searching youth, experiences of a rabbinical student, army chaplain, and pulpit rabbi that brought into focus the tasks ahead. The story proceeds to detail the work as a denominational executive, which broadened concern for the larger community and return to pulpit work devoted to fashioning a “Synagogue-Center.” It then segues into depiction of the comprehensive initiatives in education, the arts and community outreach as Dean at the University of Judaism. Interspersed throughout are “thought” essays about religious phenomena, faith, the personal life, the land of Israel, and “lessons learned” from a lifetime of experiences.

Keywords

Search publication

Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2014
ISBN-Print: 978-0-7618-6398-4
ISBN-Online: 978-0-7618-6399-1
Publisher: Hamilton Books, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: P1
Product type: Book Titles

1. TABLE OF CONTENTS No access
Introduction No access Pages 1 - 6
1. Preface No access
2. 1. 78) The Torah Reading in the Synagogue:Educational Endeavor or Ritual Act? No access
  2. 79) An “Amen Specialist” and the Fourteen Morning Blessings No access
  3. 80) Kashrut: Its Purposes No access
  4. 81) Old Wine in New Vessels: Old Truths in New Forms No access
  5. 82) Chanukah: A Gift for Each Night No access
  6. 83) The Prophet Elijah in Jewish Ritual No access
  7. 84) The Rite-of-Passage Phenomenon No access
  8. 85) A Definition of “Vulgar” No access
3. 1. 86) The Birkat Hamazon—Grace After Meals No access
  2. 87) A Prayer for the Week No access
  3. 88) Blessing the New Month No access
  4. 89) A “New” Prayerbook No access
  5. 90) The Trombone and the Shofar No access
  6. 91) The Worship Service: The Function of “Participation” No access
4. 1. 92) The Kaddish: Prayer for the Deceased…and for theLiving No access
  2. 93) The Yizkor Prayer and Charity: A Dialogue No access
5. 1. 94) Abiding Experiences in Changing Categories No access
  2. 95) Why is Monotheism so Important? No access
  3. 96) Judaism and the Protestant Ethic No access
  4. 97) The Religious Mentality: Why so Fanatical? No access
  5. 98) Bringing the World Above Into the World Below No access
  6. 99) Faith and Everyday Life No access
  7. 100) The Soul: In Search of its Meaning No access
  8. 101) The Hereafter/Messianic Age/World to Come No access
  9. 102) “The Still Small Voice” No access
  10. 103) On an Earthquake: Taking the Bad with the Good No access
  11. 104) What Happened to the Original Broken Tablets? No access
  12. 105) My Sculpture and Figurine Garden No access
6. 1. 106) The Family, Children and Parents No access
  2. 107) What Kind of Personal Experience Prompts a Leader to Fight Oppression? No access
  3. 108) Loving Others Starts with Loving Oneself No access
  4. 109) The Religious Experience via the Five Senses No access
  5. 110) According to the Pain is the Gain No access
  6. 111) What Does it Mean to be “Jewish”? No access
7. 1. 112) On Coming to the Synagogue Early No access
  2. 113) On Listening No access
  3. 114) A Single Woman at the Door No access
  4. 115) A Memory for the Future No access
  5. 116) Musings about Summer No access
  6. 117) Disposition of a Rabbi’s Library No access
  7. 118) On Friendship No access
  8. 119) On Fish, Collecting, and a Motorboat No access
  9. 120) A Family Tree No access
8. 1. 121) Shalom Aleichem No access
  2. 122) The Power of a Greeting No access
  3. 123) A Reward for Peacemaking No access
  4. 124) Yasher Koach…and How to Shake Hands No access
  5. 125) Scholars Bring Peace to the World? No access
  6. 126) On War and Peace No access
1. Preface No access
2. 127) Some Personal Reflections No access
3. 128) Pilgrimages to the Holy Land No access
4. 129) A First Visit in Israel No access
5. 130) A Second Visit in Israel No access
6. 131) Israel Through its Taxi Drivers No access
7. 132) Incidents of Alienation No access
8. 133) Nahum Sarna, Bible Study and the Land No access
9. 134) The Role of My Wife, Leah No access
10. 135) H. Eberhard von Waldow, Markus Barth, Paul Lapp, Rolf Knierim: Non-Jewish Mentors No access
11. 136) Studying the Holy Land No access
12. 137) The Jewish People and the Land of Israel: A Union forService to Humankind No access
13. 138) What Binds Diaspora Jewry to Israel? No access
14. 139) Religion and State: The Ongoing Tension No access
15. 140) Biblical and Modern Israel: Questions for Today No access
1. Preface No access
2. 141) Younger Years No access
3. 142) Moments of Personal Discovery No access
4. 143) Charisma No access
5. 144) Religiosity vis-à-vis Religion: People I’ve Encountered No access
6. 145) A Set of Rabbinic and Synagogue Experiences No access
7. 146) Guidance of Others No access
8. 147) Encounters With People Well Known No access
9. 148) The Holocaust—Via People I’ve Known No access
10. 149) Golus/Galut/Exile Mentality and Two Proud Jewish Philanthropists No access
11. 150) Jews in a Non-Jewish World: On Being Alone AndHaving Friends No access
Postscript No access Pages 480 - 480
Appendix One: Table of Contents For Volume One ofJourney of a Rabbi No access Pages 481 - 488
Appendix Two: Comments About Journey of a Rabbi—Volumes One and Two and About the Author’s Work No access Pages 489 - 496
About the Author No access Pages P1 - P1