My new book, Modern Judaism, published by Cognella in
Jan. 2013 and available through other venues, is a full introduction to the Jewish
customs and ceremonies, the history and basic beliefs, the Jewish-Christian dialogue,
and all the major Jewish platforms of our time. Written first as a college text
book, it is now available to the general public.
Writing an introduction comes with its own challenges as to
what to include and what to exclude. You would expect that Judaism, as an
ancient religion that is well known in the West, does not need another
introduction but the fluidity of the literature and the constant changes in our
life-style and religious beliefs make it necessary to update the material on a
regular basis. My book attempts to meet that need.
In 1961 when I arrived in the United States as a rabbinic student
from Turkey, it was much easier to identify who was an Orthodox Jew and who was
a Conservative or a Reform Jew. Today, the line of demarcation is not so clear.
Even though non-Orthodox movements, which now include the Reconstructionist,
Humanist and Renewal, have their own religious platforms, they are general in
nature and tend to be inclusive and therefore vague; they do not always reflect
the practice in the field. In former years, I could attend a Reform rabbinic
convention (CCAR), and know exactly what to expect liturgically and
theologically. Today, it includes a mishmash of all types of religious
practices and beliefs. More and more, it looks like a bigger divide is emerging
in the Jewish world between the Orthodox and the rest of all the non-Orthodox
movements. Modern Judaism discusses all of these religious movements.
Most previous introductions assumed that the Ashkenazic
religious practices determined the core of Judaism, and consequently contained
hardly any reference to the rich Sephardic tradition. In my Modern Judaism,
I tried to present both points of view on most contentious subjects, such as
the various practices regarding what to eat and not to eat during Passover,
whether flowers are permitted during funerals, and what is the pattern of
naming a child after a living or a dead parent and many others.
In addition to religious practices, it is important to point
out that in the realm of religious beliefs, even though we all believe in the
existence of One and Unique God, Jewish thinkers have advocated various concepts
of God as well as other major religious concepts (e.g., freedom of will, sin,
salvation, the efficacy of prayer). Furthermore, we, in the liberal community,
need to approach our Sacred Scriptures through critical eyes and not take them
as infallible, which they are not. My book highlights these points.
It would have been advantageous to include other subjects in
the book, such as, an extensive discussion of critical biblical passages, a
more comprehensive analysis of Jewish medieval thought, a full evaluation of
modern Jewish approaches to various ethical and medical ethics, but that would
have been beyond the scope of an introduction, and I decided to leave them out.
I hope my Modern Judaism will whet the appetite of the readers and will
lead them to further studies in their chosen fields. I am only opening the
door, and if I have been able to excite the curiosity of my readers, I will be
happy.
Rifat Sonsino
May 2013
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