Judaism is About Love

 The timing of this new book, Judaism is About Love is perfect.  In the book,  Rabbi Held explains it is time for people to put down their weapons whether they are physical or psychological. It is time to come back to one of the most basic commandments of both Judaism and Christianity, love your neighbor as yourself.  The perfect way to help change your way of thinking is to read this fabulous book by philosopher, theologian, Bible scholar, and of course author, Rabbi Shai Held. 

Held explores in depth the concept of love.  In each chapter Held calls on us all to reexamine our behavior and thinking to embrace the stranger, the widow, the orphan and the downtrodden.

Jewish belief has altered over the years to thinking of Judaism as the religion of law and Christianity as the religion of love.  Held argues that Judaism is about love, that GD has implanted in us the capacity to love. GD believes in us and wants us to love.  We have individual agency though and he will not force us to love.  To quote Held, “To return to where we started, all this talk about divine love may strike some readers as…well, unJewish. And, that’s precisely why I’ve written this book: to help us overcome impoverished and distorted understandings of the Jewish tradition. Judaism tells us of a GD of love who summons us to lead lives of love; both for one another and for GD”.

The philosopher Midge Midgley is quoted in the book saying, “We are not self contained and self-sufficient, either as a species or as individuals, but live naturally in deep mutual dependence.”  Therefore, Held concludes, if GD loves us unconditionally, and we are created in the image of a relational GD, then we are always in need of relationships.  We need one another, family, friends, and the greater community and all humanity.  We need to work to overcome our yetzer hara, our evil inclination. Held asserts that we all have the capacity for love but also have the opposite ability that can be fostered by fear and unhealed hurts.  

Take a step toward a better understanding of love in Jewish thinking both through Torah and tradition to live a good life.  The author is hoping that Judaism is About Love will be inspiring to non Jewish readers as well, learning about Judaism and its relationship to Christianity.

In That Sleep of Death

 

Author Jonathan Dunsky takes the reader back in history to the early days of Israel’s statehood.   With each book in this mystery series Dunsky becomes more impressive as an author, with the plots getting more sophisticated and his detective ‘s character developing more depth and personality.

Once again we meet Adam Lapid, In That Sleep of Death, book eight in the series.  This time he is walking the streets of Tel Aviv late at night unable to sleep, when he spots another man who reminds him of himself.  An unhappy soul going through the motions in the aftermath of World War II.  When the mysterious man is found murdered Lapid feels a connection to the man and takes a special interest in the case.  

The trail of the killer leads all the way back to pre-war Poland.  The plot presents the historical story of how people looking to escape Poland tried to find a way to travel to Israel.  They came with hope for a better future. As Lapid gets closer to the truth his life may be in danger.  He must work quickly before anyone else, including himself dies.

This series is interesting for its historical content and for its quick moving, twisty, suspenseful plots.  The story is well written and the reader will become attached to the characters in Adam Lapid’s life who recur in every book.  Jonathan Dunsky does extensive research and uses many out of the ordinary, unusual details in his novels.   He draws upon fascinating real events and experiences that took place in the early days of life in Israel including them in these captivating page turners.

Displaced Persons: Stories

Displaced Persons: Stories are prize winning short stories gathered together here for the reader.  Some stories set in Israel showing the life of Israeli citizens and immigrants from a variety of countries. Some stories are. set in the United States.  All the stories have in common that people everywhere are going through similar life experiences and traumas.  The stories will speak to readers, because we are all going through personal encounters and occurrences that are similar to people all over the world.

Our personal adventures and life experiences are important to us individually and though we may think we are unique, in the end I was able to find some personal similarities in many of the short stories.  

Though the stories seem to show the sadder side of life there were some lighter moments, a few positive moments,  a effort for levity among the problems and challenges.

Twisted Allies

 OK here on this blog I can admit out loud that I am jealous of my friend Ben Garber.  I have known him for 30 years and over that time we have talked of wanting to write a book.  It has always been a thought in the back of my mind that it would be fun to leave the legacy behind with a published book on the shelves of book stores. 

Well, Ben took the bull by the horns and has reached his goal first with this twisty, tangled novel.  If you are into gaming it will be even more entertaining, but without the knowledge of the world of gaming, this was an intriguing and compelling mystery to follow.

Twisted Allies is a novel about family dynamics, divorce and parent /child relationships. A mother found dead, a son found later in a neighbor’s garage with bloodied clothes.  The press is calling him the “Mommy Murderer” and his father, a psychologist, claims the mother was abusive and the son is now suffering from traumatic shock.  True crime writer Ted Bennett involves himself, when he requests to write a book about the case.  Hoping to expose the true story he becomes embroiled in the complicated, digital world of gaming. 

As the plot thickens we learn about Ted Bennet’s relationship with a divorcee with a young daughter.   As Bennett is interviewing Samuel Abrams about his marriage to Suki Kohler and how he thinks it all affected their son and led to murder, we watch Bennett negotiate his own relationship.  The two stories converge as the reader watches Bennett's relationship become similar to Abrams' spiraling, crazy relationships. 

All this makes for a fast moving, disturbing, always twisting look at how far a parent will go to protect what they decide is the best interest of their child. 

This book has many layers and will be a great book discussion read.  So many topics to discuss embedded in this fun mystery, who do you believe, are they telling you the truth or leading you down the garden path???