Fifty Synagogue Seminars

By (author) Jeremy Hugh Baron

Not available to order

Publication date:

08 July 2010

Length of book:

418 pages

Publisher

Hamilton Books

ISBN-13: 9780761851073

During the last twelve years, Dr. Baron has led fifty pre-Sabbath-service seminars at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, New York and/or the New London Synagogue. These didactic essays explore the Bible, theology, liturgy, social responsibility, and the arts - from Who wrote the Bible? to Mark Twain's Concerning the Jews. Each chapter examines a problem that had perplexed Baron, and for which he provides a detailed evidence-based review together with sources. He pursues each issue from hundreds or thousands of years ago to the present, including both the Diaspora and Israel. He looks at what countries bordering Palestine had discussed and practiced, and scrutinizes the attitudes of other Abrahamic and Eastern religions and their differing denominations. Finally, he attempts to assess the relevance of each topic for the twenty-first century.
...a delight to the enlightened Jewish reader who is treated to a feast of informative and entertaining essays on the Bible and Jewish belief. Combining a commitment to Jewish life with an enquiring mind and free-ranging spirit, Dr. Baron exhibits both erudition and original thought in an exhilarating series of essays that constantly surprise and offer food for thought.