The Book Of Job In Jewish Life And Thought

Despite its general absence from the Jewish liturgical cycle and its limited place in Jewish practice, the Book of Job has permeated Jewish culture over the last 2,000 years. Job has not only had to endure the suffering described in the biblical book, but the efforts of countless commentators, interpreters, and creative rewriters whose explanations more often than not challenged the protagonist's righteousness in order to preserve Divine justice. Beginning with five critical essays on the specific efforts of ancient, medieval, and modern Jewish writers to make sense of the biblical book, this volume concludes with a detailed survey of the place of Job in the Talmud and Midrashic corpus, in medieval biblical commentary, in ethical, mystical, and philosophical tracts, as well as in poetry and creative writing in a wide variety of Jewish languages from around the world from the second to sixteenth centuries.

Offers an inspirational and compassionate approach to understanding the problems of life, and argues that we should continue to believe in God's fairness.

The life and times of this iconic and enduring biblical book The book of Job raises stark questions about the meaning of innocent suffering and the relationship of the human to the divine, yet it is also one of the Bible's most obscure and paradoxical books. Mark Larrimore provides a panoramic history of this remarkable book, traversing centuries and traditions to examine how Job's trials and his challenge to God have been used and understood in diverse contexts, from commentary and liturgy to philosophy and art. Larrimore traces Job's reception by figures such as Gregory the Great, William Blake, and Elie Wiesel, and reveals how Job has come to be viewed as the Bible's answer to the problem of evil and the perennial question of why a God who supposedly loves justice permits bad things to happen to good people.

Part of the Jewish Encounter series From one of our most trusted spiritual advisers, a thoughtful, illuminating guide to that most fascinating of biblical texts, the book of Job, and what it can teach us about living in a troubled world. The story of Job is one of unjust things happening to a good man. Yet after losing everything, Job—though confused, angry, and questioning God—refuses to reject his faith, although he challenges some central aspects of it. Rabbi Harold S. Kushner examines the questions raised by Job’s experience, questions that have challenged wisdom seekers and worshippers for centuries. What kind of God permits such bad things to happen to good people? Why does God test loyal followers? Can a truly good God be all-powerful? Rooted in the text, the critical tradition that surrounds it, and the author’s own profoundly moral thinking, Kushner’s study gives us the book of Job as a touchstone for our time. Taking lessons from historical and personal tragedy, Kushner teaches us about what can and cannot be controlled, about the power of faith when all seems dark, and about our ability to find God. Rigorous and insightful yet deeply affecting, The Book of Job is balm for a distressed age—and Rabbi Kushner’s most important book since When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

This issue of the CCAR Journal is dedicated to honoring the seventy-fifth anniversary of Israel. Articles discuss what it means to be Jewish in the Jewish State, the presence of the Reform Movement in Israel, and the relationship that exists between Diaspora Jews and Zionism, among other topics. Book reviews and poems are also included.

"[Glatzer] has compiled here some of the most meaningful modern commentaries on Job's theme. He has arranged them into those of the Judaic, the Christian, and the general philosophic tradition and has written a lengthy introduction in which he goes back to the Fathers of the Church, the medieval rabbis, and classical philosophers...It value is in its invitation to reflection on human fate and in the introduction to some of the most meaningful pronouncements on this subject. Highly recommended."---Library Journal The contributors are: Leo Baeck, Martin Buber, Yehezkel Kaufmann, Leon Roth, Robert Gordis, Margarete Susman, Hans Ehrenberg, Jean Danielou, Ernest Renan, H. H. Rowley, Leonard Ragaz, Robert Lowth, J. G. Herder, Josiah Royce, Horace M. Kallen, Paul Weiss, Gilbert Murray, Arthur S. Peake, Emil G. Kraeling W. O. E. Oesterley, T. H. Robinson, Hayim Greenberg, Rudolph Otto, G. K. Chesterton, Walter Kaufmann, H. Wheeler Robinson, James B. Conant, G. W. F. Hegel, Sø Kierkegaard, Seton Pollock, William Barrett, Marvin H. Pope, and Archibald MacLeish.

The 40th Anniversary Edition of Halakhic Man is the classic work of modern Jewish and religious thought by the twentieth century's preeminent Orthodox Jewish theologian and talmudic scholar, newly accompanied by scholarly apparatus that will help readers better appreciate the work.

Verse-by-verse commentary on the Book of Job