{"product_id":"best-contemporary-jewish-writing-isbn-9780787959722","title":"Best Contemporary Jewish Writing","description":"Jewish culture, identity, and spirituality through the eyes of the brightest and best authors\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Best Contemporary Jewish Writing is a treasure trove of short stories, poetry, and essays from such renowned contributors as Naomi Wolf, U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman, William Safire, and Marge Piercy. Dive into this rich arrayof writing and you ll see that the Jewish experience reflects universal themes. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The writers in this collection have something to say to Jews, not only to those struggling with their Jewish identity, and also to the wider world. Whether your main interest is in poetry or politics, spirituality or cultural identity, social healing or individual transformation, you ll find Best Contemporary Jewish Writing to be a collection that inspires, excites, and provokes. It also reflects the diversity of thought, opinion, and sensibility of today s best known Jewish thinkers and writers.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e This volume is the first in the much anticipated annual series \"Best Jewish Writing.\" Introduction: Jewish Writing and Healing the World xiii \u003cp\u003eThe Many Identities of a Jew\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo Jewishness 3\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Melting Pot and Beyond: Jews and the Politics of American Identity 8\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePoems: Reversion and What Kind of Times Are These 15\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eJustify My Love 17\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTen Ways to Recognize a Sephardic 'Jew-ess' 29\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRedemption on East Tremont: The kindness of Christians and a seder's matzah helps the daughter of Mendel Beilis fix the old fears 36\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNews About Jews 40\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGay and Orthodox 42\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSlipping the Punch 55\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Night Game 70\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom The Roots of a Public Life 73\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom And What Is My Lifespan? 79\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStories: Grandmother Eve, Consecrating the Ordinary, Blessing, and The Reward 80\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Legacy: A Parable About History and Bobe-mayses, Barszcz, and Borscht and the Future of the Jewish Past 86\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReclaiming the Spirit in Judaism\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNishmat 95\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStarting on My Spiritual Path 97\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOn Renewing God 103\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEternity Utters a Day 113\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA Kabbalah for the Environmental Age 115\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIs God in Trees? 127\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Emergence of Eco-Judaism 134\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA Theology of Illness and Healing 145\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDeath and What's Next 150\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEros and the Ninth of Av 152\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom The Book of Jewish Values 155\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePoems: Yom Kippur Sonnet and Science Psalm 162\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRereading Sacred Texts of Our Tradition\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom And Peace and Justice Shall Kiss 169\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom Imagining the Birth of a Nation 186\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom The Red Tent 193\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom The Bible and You, the Bible and You and Other Midrashim 199\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAaron's God--and Ours: A Yom Kippur Reflection 200\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOur (Meaning Women's) Book-of-Esther Problem 205\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLiving in the Shadows of the Holocaust\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCattle Car Complex 213\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eForce Fields 221\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Sanctuary 228\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Trivialization of Tragedy 230\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHereditary Victimhood: The Holocaust's Life as a Ghost 241\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Meaning of the Holocaust: Social Alienation and the Infliction of Human Suffering 252\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIsrael in Conflict\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe New Historiography: Israel Confronts Its Past 265\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLand for What? 281\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOccupation and Antisemitism 284\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA Novelist's Optimism: Reclaiming the Jewish Tradition 297\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom Booking Passage 300\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePoems: From In My Life, On My Life; Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Why Jerusalem?; and The Jewish Time Bomb 323\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHovering at a Low Altitude 326\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Pleasure of Jewish Culture\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaking Judaism Cool 331\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOld Man 339\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePoems: When You Come to Sleep with Me, Come Like My Father and Hebrew 342\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEsther and Yochanan 346\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Twenty-seventh Man 352\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAgainst Logic 367\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Healing Power of Jewish Stories 371\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Complex Fate of the Jewish American Writer 375\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBellow at 85, Roth at 67 392\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eJewish Writing and the Spiritual Journey: A Speculative Journey 409\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe One Hundred Best Contemporary Jewish Books 417\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Editor 423\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Contributors 425\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCredits 431\u003c\/p\u003e  In this collection of Jewish writing dating from 1994 to 2000, Lerner, the editor of Tikkun magazine, highlights his idea of the politics of meaning and the Jewish religious themes of healing and reconciliation. A wide range of authors (writing fiction, poetry, and essays) discusses questions of Jewish identity, religion, culture, the Holocaust, and Israel. Feminism, gay studies, and environmental concerns are important aspects of the selections. Many well-know authors are included, among them Adrienne Rich, Philip Roth, Yehuda Amichai, Aharon Appelfeld, and Norman Podhoretz. Zalman Schacter Shalomi presents an open and honest attempt to rethink Jewish religious thought, Marge Piercy and Jacqueline Osherow's poems bring new elements to Jewish thinking, and Morris Dickstein describes the changing themes and ideas of writers in the United States. The result is an interesting and diverse anthology. Recommended for Jewish studies collections. (Gene Shaw, NYPL, Library Journal, August 2001)  \u003cp\u003eWhenever my old friend, the curmudgeonly book lover, came across an anthology with a title like \"Best Plays\" or \"Best-Loved Poems,\" he'd always mutter, \"Best? Best? Who says so?\" Who, indeed? Why, editors of anthologies claiming \"bestness,\" of course. The editor of \"Best Contemporary Jewish Writing\" is Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine and himself included in Utne Reader's list of America's \"100 Most Important Visionaries.\"\u003cbr\u003e Continuing his quest for the best, Lerner concludes his collection with a list of \"The One Hundred Best Contemporary Jewish Books.\" So many judgment calls about what's best may well stimulate debate. Still, why quibble? As Lerner explains, this is simply his opinion of what is most significant.\u003cbr\u003e Lerner is a man with a mission, and the mission concerns Jewish spiritual renewal. If large numbers of American Jews in the early and middle decades of the 20th century were breaking loose from their traditional moorings, the last few decades have witnessed, if not quite a return to origins, then certainly a renewed interest among Jews in their religious and cultural heritage. And, indeed, the sheer diversity of voices in this collection, the passion, intelligence and sense of commitment that can be heard are ample evidence of this renewal.\u003cbr\u003e Many kinds of writing have been included: memoirs, essays, literary criticism, fiction and poetry. Sen. Joseph Lieberman describes the origins of his commitment to public life. Moroccan-born Ruth Knafo Setton reflects on her personal experiences as a \"Sephardic Jewess\" (from the title of her piece). In \"Gay and Orthodox,\" Rabbi Steve Greenberg discusses the dilemmas he has faced trying to reconcile his sexuality with scriptural injunctions against lying with men. Questions of Jewish identity, such as finding the right path between assimilation and distinctness, are addressed in a variety of forms, including an engaging poem by Kenneth Koch and a thoughtful essay by David Biale.\u003cbr\u003e Several pieces by feminists, such as theologian Rachel Adler and novelist Anita Diamant, offer provocative and illuminating interpretations of biblical stories (although Susan Schnur's diatribe against sexism in the Book of Esther is simply obtuse).\u003cbr\u003e On the current literary front, Morris Dickstein surveys contemporary Jewish writers, while Norman Podhoretz has some incisive things to say about Philip Roth and Saul Bellow.\u003cbr\u003e Perhaps the most fascinating material in this book deals with human responsibility toward the natural world. \"My commitment to the life of the planet is stronger than my commitment to any philosophy or creed,\" declares Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of the Jewish Renewal Movement. \"If you have felt commanded by the Divine Imperative to protect Earth from planetary destruction, then you have undergone the first stage of a Gaean initiation.\" Citing Evan Eisenberg's book \"The Ecology of Eden\" (one of the 100 best on Lerner's list), Arthur Waskow offers an account of the Hebrew religion as a response of humble, freedom-loving Western Semites--shepherds, hunter-gatherers and hill farmers--to the far more regimented, hierarchical world of the Babylonian empire, where a revolution in agricultural technology had created wealth, order and stability, but at the cost of a drastic change in man's relationship to the Earth, to women and to his fellow man.\u003cbr\u003e Two later sections, \"Living in the Shadows of the Holocaust\" and \"Israel in Conflict,\" are marked by a certain tendentiousness. Although Lerner makes some concession to representing those pushing for the peace process and those who consider it sadly unrealistic, the overall thrust is to lend plausibility to the doves. A triad of essays discussing the Holocaust--by Jonathan Rosen, Zymunt Bauman and Tikkun's associate editor Peter Gabel--makes some interesting points about everything from the film \"Schindler's List\" to the Nazi mentality. Read in sequence, they function as a kind of three-pronged critique of Jews who (as they see it) use the Holocaust as an \"excuse\" to justify Israeli hard-line policies.\u003cbr\u003e Jews concerned for their safety and survival having thus been discredited as victims of mass hysteria, the stage is set for Israeli revisionist historian Benny Morris' critique of previous Israeli historians for their tendency to minimize Israel's role in getting Palestinian Arabs to flee their homes during the Israeli War of Independence. Then, for anyone still concerned about the dangers of anti-Semitism--anyone who's been following the venomous goings-on at the soi-disant \"anti-racism\" (viz. anti-Zionism) U.N. conference in Durban--Jerome Slater notes (rightly, but perhaps no longer all that relevantly) that Palestinian Arabs were not innately anti-Jewish and only became that way after their land was occupied by Israel. (To this, one might say: Nor were Germans overwhelmingly anti-Semitic until they were humiliated at Versailles! To recognize a \"root cause\" does not necessarily, by itself, enable one to undo the effects.) A grimmer and (sadly, one fears) more realistic view is provided in Daniel Pipes' essay \"Land for What?\"\u003cbr\u003e Still, there is an optimism, excitement and animation about Lerner's collection that is hard to resist. This volume is the first in a series that is planned to come out each year. It is clearly an auspicious beginning. (By Merle Rubin, LA Times, September 17, 2001)\u003c\/p\u003e Michael Lerner is the editor of TIKKUN magazine and rabbi of the neo-Hasidic Beyt Tikkun Jewish Renewal synagogue in San Francisco. His most recent book, Spirit Matters: Global Healing and the Wisdom of the Soul, was selected as \"one of the most significant books of 2000\" by the Los Angeles Times Book Review and won a PEN award. His previous writings include Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin, a dialogue with Cornel West, and Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing and Transformation (described by Conservative Judaism journal as \"stunning, miraculous and faith-renewing\"). Rabbi Lerner, designated by Utne Reader as one of America's 100 Most Important Visionaries, has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, and Newsweek. He holds Ph.D.s in philosophy and clinical psychology.  \u003ci\u003e\"The message that the world could be healed and transformed was revolutionary when first articulated by Jewish writers of the past, and it remains radical even today. . . .Cruelty is not destiny. Jewish writing helps us understand that the pain of the past can be transcended.\"\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  — From the Introduction by Michael Lerner  \u003cp\u003eBetween the covers of this book is a treasure trove of great fiction, poetry, social analysis, and spiritual insight by renowned contributors such as Philip Roth, Marge Piercy, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Naomi Wolf, Norman Podhoretz, Jonathan Rosen, Robert Pinsky, Yehuda Amichai, Rachel Adler, Nathan Englander, Daniel Boyarin, Adrienne Rich, Arthur Waskow, William Safire, Zalman M. Schachter- Shalomi, and many others. Included are famous writers, young and upcoming writers, writers with politics ranging from liberal\/progressive to neoconservative. Despite their disparate opinions and points of view, these writers have been chosen by Michael Lerner because they transcend the cynicism and narcissistic self-indulgence of contemporary culture and contribute to the Kabbalistic vision of a world that has been shattered but, can be healed. For some writers, the focus is on personal transformation (tikkun atzmi), for others on healing of the world (tikkun olam.) Still others search for ways to bring holiness into our personal lives and social institutions.\u003cbr\u003e  You will be astounded at how much creative new thinking is taking place among Jewish writers, and on topics that are extremely sensitive: the Holocaust, the limits of Jewish liberalism, women in Judaism, the current crisis in Israel, and the renewal of Jewish spiritual life. The first volume in a planned series of annual publications, Best \u003ci\u003eContemporary Jewish Writing\u003c\/i\u003e is an essential tool for understanding contemporary culture and social reality.\u003cbr\u003e  You don't have to be Jewish to be moved and to learn from these authors. The poetry, fiction, memories, and essays in this book are provocative and engaging, entertaining and inspiring, irreverent, and filled with awe.\u003c\/p\u003e  Rachel Adler \u003cbr\u003e  Yehuda Amichai \u003cbr\u003e  Aharon Appelfeld \u003cbr\u003e  Zygmunt Bauman \u003cbr\u003e  David Biale \u003cbr\u003e  Tsvi Blanchard \u003cbr\u003e  Daniel Boyarin \u003cbr\u003e  Anita Diamant \u003cbr\u003e  Morris Dickstein \u003cbr\u003e  Nathan Englander \u003cbr\u003e  Nomi Eve \u003cbr\u003e  Sidra DeKoren Ezrahi \u003cbr\u003e  Nancy Flam \u003cbr\u003e  Peter Gabel \u003cbr\u003e  Mordechai Gafni \u003cbr\u003e  Rebecca Goldstein \u003cbr\u003e  Arthur Green \u003cbr\u003e  Steve Greenberg \u003cbr\u003e  Martin Jay \u003cbr\u003e  Rodger Kamenetz \u003cbr\u003e  Irena Klepfisz \u003cbr\u003e  Kenneth Koch \u003cbr\u003e  U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman \u003cbr\u003e  Jonathan Mark \u003cbr\u003e  Benny Morris \u003cbr\u003e  Jacqueline Osherow \u003cbr\u003e  Ilana Pardes \u003cbr\u003e  Marge Piercy \u003cbr\u003e  Robert Pinsky \u003cbr\u003e  Daniel Pipes \u003cbr\u003e  Norman Podhoretz \u003cbr\u003e  Sarah Polster \u003cbr\u003e  Dennis Prager \u003cbr\u003e  Dahlia Ravikovitch \u003cbr\u003e  Rachel Naomi Remen \u003cbr\u003e  Adrienne Rich \u003cbr\u003e  Jonathan Rosen \u003cbr\u003e  Thane Rosenbaum \u003cbr\u003e  Philip Roth \u003cbr\u003e  William Safire \u003cbr\u003e  Susan Schnur \u003cbr\u003e  Jonathan Schorsch \u003cbr\u003e  Ruth Knaffo Setton \u003cbr\u003e  Zalman Schachter-Shalomi \u003cbr\u003e  Alan Shaprio \u003cbr\u003e  Rami Shapiro \u003cbr\u003e  Jerome Slater \u003cbr\u003e  Joseph Telushkin \u003cbr\u003e  Yona Wallach \u003cbr\u003e  Arthur Waskow \u003cbr\u003e  C. K. Williams \u003cbr\u003e  Naomi Wolf \u003cbr\u003e  David Wolpe  \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jossey-Bass","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47988803371237,"sku":"NP9780787959722","price":36.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780787959722.jpg?v=1761781650","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/best-contemporary-jewish-writing-isbn-9780787959722","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}