NITKIN LITERARY.com
JEWISH ETHICS AND ETHOS SERIES
This series of original studies, guides and education resources looks at religious and secular Jewish tradition in terms of historical and current morality, values and rites.
When The Rabbis Price: USD $50.00 Available November 2018 |
DESCRIPTION: Many well educated Jews assume that Judaism has changed little from Biblical times. This book rejects that notion. It identifies which tenets of Yahweh of Old belief and civilization have changed. It explains how, when and why Biblical Judaism was stripped of important parts of its traditional wisdom and meaning. The book claims Judaism today lacks a core ethical credo and explains why. Rabbinic sources are used to re-explain how the rabbis laid the foundation for the divide between religious (haver) and secular (am ha-aretz) Jewry. It explains why original teachings about free will and immediacy of G-d were modified under rabbinic leadership’s notions of how to preserve tradition. This book provides details about when, where and how the ethics of biblical Judaism changed. The transformation affects tolerance, leadership, and conversion. The book reviews a number of Scriptural and non-text sources to reach original conclusions, some of which are non-conventional. Many Jews practice Rabbinic Judaism today without a full appreciation of how much the rabbis—in developing the Talmud—telescoped the ethical foundations of tradition. They altered what Yahweh of Old had expected of covenant and His righteous followers. Many Christians will be surprised that the early Church of Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph (or Jesus) was much more Jewish than current Christian scholars understand or accept. The book offers solutions for how denominations can share in enhancing tolerance and sustaining the planet. It explains the morality of how the righteous deal with dilemmas like where G-d was during terrible tragedies like the Holocaust. Who is this Book For?People who enjoy such books as Jews, God and History, and When Bad Things Happen to Good People, and The God of Old would find interpretations in this work fascinating. These popular books appeal to intelligent, well read, professionals who typically have careers in education, information technology and management. These are self-motivated readers who think a lot about morality and social justice. When the Rabbis Changed God will challenge liberal-minded Jewish readers, secularists interested in history, and Christians willing to look adjacent to their religion to understand better how Judaism evolved. The book explains why their religion isn’t what they think it is. It argues that Rabbinic Judaism (the Judaism of today) needs reformation from within. The book offers education and dialogue tools for reconciliation within and across denominations. It contains study guides and tables that lend themselves to adult education and inter-faith dialogue programs. This original work should appeal to those who have an interest in the history of Judaism, the broad sweep of Jewish history, and its meaning in contemporary life. It looks in depth at the important 500 years when generation after generation of rabbis fundamentally reinterpreted the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. This period was transformative for Judaism, Christianity and history of the west. After the completion of the Talmuds (400-600 CE), nothing politically or theologically Jewish remained the same except that the rabbis taught that everything Jewish remained the same.Table of Contents: Click to view Executive Summary: Click to view |
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The Ethos and Ethics of Normative Judaism Price: USD $12.50 Available February 2017 |
DESCRIPTION: Coming Soon |
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Why There Aren’t 1.75 Billion Jews Today: Judaism vs. Christianity in the First Social Media Revolution Price: USD $12.50 Available April 2017 |
DESCRIPTION: The book provides much evidence that the Jewish people lost a social media and conversion competition to early Christianity. In 100 CE, Judaism was poised to be the dominant religion of the pagan Roman Empire. It had the stories, ethics, wisdom teachings, and history to persuade the masses and the elites. It arguably was a winnable battle between two million Jews (with their rabbis) versus 20,000 Hebrew Christians (with their apostles). However, the rabbis’ of the Talmudic period made interpretation, governance and technology choices that explain a lot about why there are so few Jews today. There are three original stories in this book: First, very few Jews have ever heard about the emperor Julian yet this non-Jew sought to use his leadership and his own monies to rebuild the Third Temple in Jerusalem in the 330s CE. Second, very few Jews or Christians are aware of the scroll-based, social media struggle in the years 50-350 CE between early apostles and the rabbis—it is what I call the first “holy“ internet battle, and I discuss why the former lost to the latter. Third, at the start of the rabbinic period, Judaism had the stories, lore, history, prayers and wisdom teachings to become the accepted dominant religion of the pagan Roman world. From a population of 2 million at the time of Rabbi Jesus, demographics of natural increase says that there should be 1.5 billion today, if only Jewish leaders were able to communicate those teachings. Differences between Jewish and Christian scroll technology was telling.Continue reading...Many religious Christians will like the book’s emphasis on “back to the Bible”! Many will be unaware of what Judaism is since the birth of Christianity and likely quite interested in what it has become, and why-- including the rabbis’ role. Several who are less familiar about how strongly Jesus’ teachings reflected his Jewish roots will find this topic of great interest—and worthy of more attention in Christian-Jewish dialogue. Christians, including church history scholars, can learn many things –four of which aren’t generally known-- from this book: (a) the degree to which Judaism and early Christianity share common beliefs and roots; (b) the role that writings such as the Talmud, Mishnah, apostolic letters, and the Septuagint played in political developments within the Christian (and Gnostic) community; (c) the role that language, organization, conversion, and communication played in the first or holy social media struggle between Judaism and Christianity; and (d) the extent to which each faith community gave licence to re-interpreting tradition in full awareness of the other. There is a detailed chronology of theology and political relationship changes in the first four centuries of Christianity. Most professional historians of religion are loathe to propose alternative scenarios. This book by a non-professional-scholar boldly contradicts three interpretations generally accepted by historians. First, it explains why Judaism is much older, 1800 BCE vs 600 BCE, than most Bible scholars accept. Second, the split between religious (haverim) and liberal or secular (am ha’aretz) Jews occurred in the rabbinic period, not (as the literature suggests) 1500 years later at the time of the Enlightenment and emancipation in Europe. Third, the ethical reasoning and governance practices of the rabbis were instrumental in instilling a millennium of Jewish cultural acceptance of marginalization, inward-looking apartness, hostility to secular education, and sublimation of Zionist political will.Who Should Read This Book:One educator, in his review, posits that “the Orthodox won’t accept it. The Reconstructionists and Karaites will cheer you on. Not sure about the rest.” For rabbis and educators interested in serious and open dialogue, there are tools and tables offered to enhance dialogue between the major denominations—especially Reform and Orthodox. Chapter Headings(a) Social Media: What Mode of Media Means to the Nature of Jewish Theology; |
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Secular vs Religious Jews: Rabbinic Conflict and Popular Synthesis Price: USD $10.00 Available April 2017 |
DESCRIPTION: Judaism encourages ethical “struggle” with belief: indeed that’s the meaning of Abraham’s name. What Jews practice today is Rabbinic Judaism rather than authentic Yahweh-of-Old religion. This confusion contributes to three widely-held questions or notions for which the book has interesting answers: (a) what do Hebrew Scriptural text and non-text sources have to say about the extent of change in beliefs and structures of the Israelites over time; (b) does the G-d we pray to today resemble the One our ancestors did; and (c) what tools exist to enhance ethics in daily life through intra-denominational and cross-denominational dialogue. Judaism is the foundation religion for the West. Its ethical strengths, weaknesses and underpinnings are misunderstood. The author believes the reason lies in the period when the rabbis changed G-d—during the creation of the Talmud. This book offers a basis for healing rifts, welcoming traditional teachings, and offering answers to difficult questions, such as where was G-d during the Holocaust. But it also presents a challenging thesis that many traditionalists and rabbis will find upsetting—that our leadership and scholarship has shackled G-d and our hope for a refurbished theology suitable for a post-Holocaust Age. Continue reading...A book that critically examines Talmud scholars’ interpretations and governance represents a challenge for most rabbis. Some may object to analyses of centuries-old rabbinic leadership choices and their implications for modern halachic Judaism. Orthodox rabbis may reject its analysis but not its conclusions, whereas Reconstructionist or Reform rabbis may welcome its analysis but reject its conclusions. Jewish educators who haven’t studied archeological and other non-text sources or speculated about the ethics of YHWH’s motivations will find their thinking challenged. In terms of theology, few teachers appreciate either the difference between oral transmission and Oral Law or its ethical implications. For most, the two are a unified continuum. For rabbis and educators interested in serious and open dialogue, there are tools and tables offered to enhance dialogue between the major denominations—especially Reform and Orthodox. Who Should Read This Book:This book will appeal to thoughtful (non-religious or liberal) Jewish readers who are interested in history and keen to apply ethics to day to day life. This group will accept the book’s criticism of Rabbinic Judaism, though many details will be new. Though these readers aren’t necessarily willing to hearken back to a theology of the far past, they will be fascinated by early Judaism’s roots, stories, morality and history. The specifics of contradiction between Yahweh of Old and contemporary practices should be illuminating. The idea that secular Israelite practices likely predominated over religious in most times and places including the Talmudic period will be revelatory. The idea that there could be over one billion Jews today if certain historical events had played out differently will shock them. They will be doubly surprised at the sages’ role and rabbis’ choices in what the text defines as eight historical episodes or choice challenges in Jewish history. Those who are less well informed about decision-making in history—and why we have some of the dilemmas we do—will find it an interesting read. Few Orthodox and Conservative Movement Jews know much about the struggles involved in their religion’s ethical and moral history. There are insights here even for Jews who know their Torah, Talmud commentaries and writings. Judaism is shown to be far more about change than continuity in important matters like revelation, theodicy, governance and free will. Detailed insight into the Tannaim and the Amoraim, the Mishnah and Gemarrah, the two Talmuds, and early conflicted Jewish-Christian interpretations of tradition will be interesting and largely novel. Even the educated have likely never heard of Julian and the Third Temple, the scrolls specifically ignored by halacha (Jewish law), and how political unsophistication and immaturity plagued the rabbis. These aren’t topics common in adult education classes. Much new “old” information is presented here to educated, serious, and open-minded religious individuals! The implications are many, including (a) righteous choices that reflect differences between G-d’s and man’s need for ritual; (b) whether YHWH cares about the number of animal particles in broccoli or raspberries that an ethical person consumes daily; (c) how and when Talmud’s gaping holes and missing teachings on Ezrahoot finally get written; and (d) how Jewish survival and righteousness can only come when religious and secular Jews understand and respect their shared moral receptors. Chapter Headings(a) Where We Are Today; |
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DESCRIPTION: This work is historical fiction. It purports to chronicle in the first person the writings of three patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These words attempt to capture, with honesty and reverence, one interpretation of the personal ethical legacies of well known, yet not always well understood, giants of religious history and Western civilization. In this text, at specific points in their lives, each patriarch is seen to write his story and, more particularly, clarify his moral legacy for his spouse, children and extended family. Continue reading...While unusual, this testamental, first person approach to well-known Biblical personages offers much for the reader. First, the characters behind the stories are well known. As such, they are accessible not only to Jews, Christians and Moslems but also to serious, tradition-aware atheists, agnostics and secularists. Second, there is a chance to speculate on moral challenges and dilemmas of theological giants. Third, this is an opportunity to show appreciation and respect for a religious tradition from which the Western World draws its rich inheritance and notions of ethical monotheism. The interpretations here for the period 2500-1800 BCE are speculative. While all three patriarchs communicate blessings to individual sons, they often ignore primogeniture. In doing so, they exacerbate sibling rivalries and claims to inheritance. Of the three patriarchs, the Bible informs us that Abraham engaged in pre-death estate planning. Only Jacob communicated a formal will and, in his case, this was spoken, not written. Who Should Read This Book:The Biblical narrative is human history involving extraordinary men of common breed-- herdsmen, tillers of the soil, traders and nomads-- rather than mythology, kings and warriors. This account is of first personal ethical wills. The patriarchs are well known, majestic yet humanly-flawed role models for Jews, Christians, Moslems and others. As personalities reflecting on their lives at three stages in each of their lives, this ethical wills journey will be of interest to serious readers of the Bible. The basics of the lives of Avram, Isaac and Jacob are accessible, heavily analyzed and widely appreciated, even among non-believers. Their thoughts about legacy, G-d and the future in this book are thought-provoking. Avram, later named Abraham, as we know is the father to more than one nation and one religion-- and, many will argue, to western civilization as we know it. |
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TESHUVAH: Stages of Repentance and Forgiveness Price: USD $10.00 |
DESCRIPTION: What are the stages of redemption? What does it mean to be at one with G-d? How do we make sense of acknowledging wrongdoing, asking forgiveness, and petitioning for repentance? It’s incumbent on serious Jews to differentiate between, yet constructively mesh, the best of both religious and secular education. In Judaism, right which is obligations-based, teaches us who we are. In Judaism, wrong is what we do, not who we are. By contrast, in secular society, wrong teaches us who we are. Wrong is what we are, not what we know. In secular society, we can either be wrong in the past, or the present, but not both. By contrast, Jewish wrong (and thus teshuvah) is consistent over time. Continue reading...This book focuses upon what we bring to our head and heart at the Days of Awe. To confront today’s realities, Jewish understanding of teshuvah in general and what practices deny us redemption in particular requires mindfulness. It must await proper reference to and better appreciation of the differences between cheit, avon and pesha, as they involve our practice of repentance and our understanding of our share in the World to Come. Selective application of advances in secular understanding can perhaps enrich, but not replace, the practice of transformative holy aloneness (hitbodedut). Who Should Read This Book:Serious Jews, both religious and secular, will hind this short book helpful and thought-provoking. There is a flow chart and tables to accompany the text, and summaries of reflections on the stages of repentance. The author offers a highly original look at Jewish sources, the writings of moral philosophers and sages, as well as educators and psychologists, in order to help the individual reflect on the power of Jewish thinking to guide us in every generation. Clarity is offered to the notions of identifying wrong (aveyra), repair (kaparah), confession (vidui), return (teshuvah) and foregiveness (selicha) . Reference is made to prayer, truth and reconciliation commissions, restitution actions, and human impulses to generosity and empathy, as well as the wisdom of children as well as rabbis and scholars. This book is about getting in the right mind space for the Days of Awe. Rabbis like to ask a question of schoolchildren. What’s the most important moment in Jewish history? “The giving of the Torah at Mt Sinai.” No. “The parting of the Red Sea?” No. The right answer: “Right now”. This is the most important moment in Jewish history. Now. You and G-d, G-d and I, the process of error recognition-repair-confession-return--forgiveness, and it is left to Neilah to solidify our plea. |
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Give Me That
Old Time Religion Price: USD $12.50 Available November 2017 |
DESCRIPTION: Normative Judaism isn’t Biblical Judaism. This work from an experienced professional ethicist re-examines sources and the scholarship of others in order to summarize ethical values, standards and development in the first two thousand years of Jewish history—the period before the rabbis ‘normalized’ or transformed Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism isn’t a systematic religion, nor is it theologically comprehensive, and it lacks a core ethical credo. He posits new interpretations—the lack of free will in the Bible, the failure of the rabbis as a political and social media force, and the Talmud’s sad creation of a pernicious am ha’aretz-haredi divide between secularism and religion within Judaism. Continue reading...This critical examination of Talmud scholars’ interpretations and governance will be challenging for most rabbis. Some may object to analyses of centuries-old rabbinic leadership choices and their implications for modern halachic Judaism. Orthodox rabbis may reject its analysis but not its conclusions. By contrast, Reconstructionist or Reform rabbis may welcome its analysis but reject its conclusions. Jewish educators who haven’t studied archeological and other non-text sources or speculated about the ethics of YHWH’s motivations will find their thinking challenged. In terms of theology, few teachers appreciate either the difference between oral transmission and Oral Law or its ethical implications. For most, the two are a unified continuum. Judaism has its own legal code which influenced later ones like Justinian and Napoleon. But the rabbis who re-shaped it were failures at systematic theology (which was never their purpose) and actively avoided philosophy when writing the two Talmuds. This book dissects the theology of the rabbis and offers a different perspective on the current debate about whether we make moral decisions based on emotion or rational thought. Thinking within academe has been transformed in the last fifty years. Recent important work of political and cultural psychologists, social capital theoreticians, and moral philosophers like Jonathan Haidt (The Righteous Mind) and others argue for innate predisposition, not rational thought. They open up folks’ minds to necessary insights into the difference between rationale, motivation and behaviour, as well as the role of the emotion as compared to rationale and reason in many ethical choices we face. Who Should Read This Book:Those interested in moral reasoning and ethical decision-making will find the contents original. Those who take seriously applying traditional religious insight into current issues in Jewish ethical disputes (role of women, inter-marriage and conversion) will find new thoughts about how the Bible, the Religious Tradition developed by the rabbis (halacha), and modernity intersect. There is a large popular audience interested in innovative creative thinking about the combined areas of religion, history and ethics. The authors they choose to read share an interest in three topics: (a) re-defining how to look at G-d in the contemporary age; (b) critically examining historical Jewish sources like the Bible and the Talmud; and (c) asking questions about the why, where and how of the changing nature of faith. Chapter Headings(a) Where Judaism is Today; |
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