Being Jewish Today
Confronting the Real Issues
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
'A deeply humane, learned and personal reflection on Jewish identity' - Rowan Williams
'This inspiring book has made me a better Jew, one who understands more, who knows more' - Daniel Finkelstein
'This remarkable book takes us on a journey: geographic, historical, cultural, philosophical, political, autobiographical and, yes, religious' - Michael Marmot
Being Jewish Today gives an account of both the journey of a particular British Jew and the journey of millions of women and men through today's perplexing and difficult world. With honesty and integrity Rabbi Tony Bayfield breaks new ground in exploring the meaning of Jewish identity and its relationship to Jewish tradition and belief. He does so from the perspective of a person fully integrated into the modern Western world. The rigorous questions he asks of his Jewishness, Judaism and the Jewish God are therefore substantially the same as those asked by individuals of all faiths and none.
Beginning with an account of the journey of Jewish people and thought from ancient times to the present day, Bayfield goes on to consider Jewish identity, Israel as land and the scourge of anti-Semitism. He then turns to the twin concerns of Torah: Halakhah – practice, and Aggadah – ethics, along with the matter of belief in a world faced with global extinction. Finally, in addressing the manifest injustice of life, Rabbi Bayfield confronts the widely evaded questions of universal suffering and divine inaction.
Drawing on key religious and secular thinkers who contribute to the force of his argument, Bayfield's masterful, challenging and urgent book will appeal to all Jews, whether religious or cultural, and to anyone curious about the nature of Judaism and religion today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rabbi Bayfield (Deep Calls to Deep), a professor of Jewish theology and thought at Leo Baeck College, provides an idiosyncratic, confusing look at theological issues he's grappled with throughout his life and career, mixed in with an unenlightened overview of Jewish thought. Aiming to challenge those who "justify the unethical in the name of God," as well as educate readers about how Jewish thinking has evolved from biblical times to the present, Bayfield haphazardly addresses ethics within a Jewish context, as well as intractable religious issues such as suffering for those deemed innocent and arguments concerning the existence of evil in a world created by God. After very brief looks at significant moments in Jewish history, Bayfield summarizes the approaches of different Jewish philosophers and theologians such as Maimonides, who did not regard "chosenness" as a vital element of Judaism but did view the Land of Israel as one, and Spinoza, who regarded the Torah purely as "the product of human hands" without offering any insights that will be new to readers conversant with those figures. His choice to insert imagined dialogues with God as a literary device is distracting at best. While readers looking to understand the basics of Jewish theological thought might be educated by Bayfield's introductory work, those interested in a more well-rounded study should look elsewhere.
