The Wisdom of Judaism: An Introduction to the Values of the Talmud

The Wisdom of Judaism: An Introduction to the Values of the Talmud

by Dov Peretz Elkins
The Wisdom of Judaism: An Introduction to the Values of the Talmud

The Wisdom of Judaism: An Introduction to the Values of the Talmud

by Dov Peretz Elkins

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Overview

Discover the Talmud and its universal values for all people. While the Hebrew Bible is the cornerstone of Judaism, it is the Talmud that provides many central values for living. The Talmud sets out specific guidelines and lyrical admonitions regarding many of life's ordinary events, and offers profound words of advice for life’s most intractable dilemmas. This accessible introduction to the Talmud explores the essence of Judaism through reflections on the words of the rabbinic sages, from one of American Judaism’s foremost teachers and writers, Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins. Dr. Elkins provides fresh insight into ancient aphorisms and shows you how they can be applied to your life today. Topics include: Kindness through Giving, Welcoming and Sharing; Human Relationships; Personal Values; Family Values; Teaching and Learning; and Life’s Puzzles. Enlightening and inspiring, the values of the Talmud can be appreciated not just by Jews, but by anyone seeking a greater understanding of life and its mysteries.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781580233279
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
Publication date: 02/01/2007
Pages: 192
Product dimensions: 2.36(w) x 3.54(h) x 0.51(d)

About the Author

Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, award-winning anthologist, lecturer, educator and author, is coeditor of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul. Widely published in the Jewish and general press, he is author of The Wisdom of Judaism: An Introduction to the Values of the Talmud (Jewish Lights), and is editor of Yom Kippur Readings: Inspiration, Information and Contemplation; Rosh Hashanah Readings: Inspiration, Information and Contemplation; and Jewish Stories from Heaven and Earth: Inspiring Tales to Nourish the Heart and Soul (all Jewish Lights). He is rabbi emeritus of The Jewish Center of Princeton, New Jersey, and a former member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly and the Council for Jewish Education. Visit his websites—www.wisdomofjudaism.org and www.eco-judaism.org—for more information.

Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins is available to speak on the following topics:

  • A Taste of Eco-Judaism
  • Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul
  • Shabbat: A Day for the Rest of Your Life
  • Hasidic Wisdom and Modern Psychology
  • A Tale of Two Cities—Jerusalem and Washington DC: The Jewish People's Love Affair with the Holy City

Read an Excerpt

The Wisdom of Judaism

An Introduction to the Values of the Talmud
By Dov Peretz Elkins

JEWISH LIGHTS Publishing

Copyright © 2007 Dov Peretz Elkins
All right reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-58023-327-9


Chapter One





The Essence of Religion



The Torah begins and ends with acts of kindness.









Sotah 14a

The Torah bases itself on two stories: in Genesis God clothes the naked-God covers Adam and Eve with a leaf-and in Deuteronomy God buries Moses. (See a similar statement in Judaism's early morning Shaharit service, from Shabbat 127a: Elu devarim she'adam okhel perotayhem ... [These are the deeds that yield immediate harvest and continue to yield in future days ...].)


Clothing the naked and burying the dead are among the acts of kindness frequently mentioned when the ancient Rabbis discuss the daily acts of goodness that every human being may be called upon to perform.


There are several things that stand out regarding this Talmudic passage.


First, it is not the gigantic, heroic, once-in-a-lifetime things we do that Judaism (and all religions, I believe) demands of us. It is the simple daily acts, the repetitive acts of goodness, thoughtfulness, and concern for the other, that make us "religious," that is, ethical and spiritual. Helping a neighbor, providing food for the hungry, giving clothes for the needy, and offering assistance with a life-cycle event-such as a birth, a wedding, or a burial-are the mark of the religious person in Judaism.


Second, what we call "the essence of religion" in Judaism is what we do for others. In a famous passage in the Jerusalem Talmud, God says that, if necessary, it is more important to treat our fellow humans well than it is to treat God well. God says, "I wish that when necessary, my children would forget me, and pay more attention to the Torah's ethics about treating one another" (Jerusalem Talmud, Hagigah 1:7).


As Martin Buber, the Austrian-Jewish philosopher, points out in Hasidism and Modern Man, this is one of the primary characteristics of Hasidic philosophy, which is to say that it is a Jewish doctrine that Hasidism emphasizes. In Buber's words, the core teaching of Hasidism is that "[You] cannot approach the divine by reaching beyond the human; [you] can approach [God] through becoming human. To become human is what [you have] been created for."

(Continues...)



Excerpted from The Wisdom of Judaism by Dov Peretz Elkins Copyright © 2007 by Dov Peretz Elkins. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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