Best Contemporary Jewish Writing

Book Overview

Jewish culture, identity, and spirituality through the eyes of the brightest and best authors

Best Contemporary Jewish Writing is a treasure trove of short stories, poetry, and essays from such renowned contributors as Naomi Wolf, U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman, William Safire, and Marge Piercy. Dive into this rich arrayof writing and you ll see that the Jewish experience reflects universal themes.

The writers in this collection have something to say to Jews, not only to those struggling with their Jewish identity, and also to the wider world. Whether your main interest is in poetry or politics, spirituality or cultural identity, social healing or individual transformation, you ll find Best Contemporary Jewish Writing to be a collection that inspires, excites, and provokes. It also reflects the diversity of thought, opinion, and sensibility of today s best known Jewish thinkers and writers.

This volume is the first in the much anticipated annual series "Best Jewish Writing."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0787959367
• ISBN13: 9780787959364
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Absolutely Fabulous!

I love this book! I'm not an expert on Jewish writing, but this collection seems to have it all. Each chapter is short enough and interesting enough that I can read a couple a day. There's so much variety, too--no chance of getting bored!I particularly like the poetry, which was great. Some of the poets I didn't know until I bought this book, so I'm grateful to Michael Lerner for introducing me to their work. Some of the contributors I was surprised to find in this book, like Marge Piercy. It was good to find out that she writes Jewish poems, too.I'm planning on buying a couple of extra copies to give as Hanukkah presents this year. I think it's a great gift-who wouldn't want a wonderful book like this?

Towards Healing and Transformation

This new 2001 collection edited by Michael Lerner, "Best Contemporary Jewish Writing" projects a voice of emancipatory spirituality fused with the ancient Jewish culture and tradition. From cover to cover the reader explores the broader issues that confront Jewish people in changing and adapting to a modern world. What constitutes the identity of Jewish people today; what form of spirituality remains for Jews in a modern society; what do we make of the sacred text on which Judaism has forever drawn much wisdom? "Best Contempory Jewish Writing" seeks to answer the pressing question as to how Jews are to seperate the destruction and hardships of the past from the need to rebuild and transform the present. It is truly inspiring the way in which the best of Jewish writers been drawn together, each with their own creative urge and wealth of knowlege, to explore the struggles of the past and the spirit of the present- and to speak a new wisdom towards healing and transformation.

Best Contemporary Jewish Writing

I think this is an amazing compendium of writers that will appeal to Jews and non Jews alike. Some of the old favorites appear-like Adrienne Rich, Philip Roth, and Naomi Wolf, Yehuda Amichai, Robert Pinsky, but there are a number of new writers as well whom I'd never heard of like Mordechai Gafni, Benny Morris, Sarah Polster, and C.K. Williams.Rabbi Michael Lerner is kind of an extraordinary guy. I hadn't actually heard of him before, but it seems like he's been actively involved in peace works and general reformation of the world for a good portion of his life. I was really inspired by what he had to say in his introduction about his vision for a new world.jThe collection definitely has a more "progressive Jew" slant. This is not a Norton anthology cross section of the universe, but the collection of essays and stories I think accurately convey the complexity of modern life, and the complexity of being a contemporary Jew.I loved it and highly recommend it.

Great Compilation

THIS IS A FANTASTIC COLLECTION, PROBABLY THE MOST EXCITING GROUP OF WRITINGS I'VE READ IN A VERY LONG TIME. IT MADE ME FEEL PROUD AS A JEW TO SEE THAT JEWISH THINKING IS NOT JUST THE KIND THAT BORES ALIENATES ME LIKE SOME OF WHAT I READ IN JEWISH NEWSPAPERS AND MOST JEWISH MAGAZINES. INSTEAD, RABBI LERNER HAS PRESENTED US WITH A RANGE OF SERIOUS THINKERS--FROM RIGHT WINGERS LIKE NORMAN PODHORETZ TO PEOPLE ON THE LEFT WHO ARE WILLING TO QUESTION BLIND LOYALTY TO ISRAEL'S CURRENT POLICIES. BUT THIS IS NOT JUST POLITICS--IT'S ALSO DEEP JEWISH SPIRITUALITY, CREATIVE READINGS OF TRADITIONAL TEXTS, AND SOME OF THE MOST EXCITING SHORT STORIES AND POETRY I'VE SEEN COMING OUT OF THE JEWISH WORLD. I'M THIRTY YEAR OLD WOMAN WHO IS READY TO GET TURNED ON BY JEWISH IDEAS--AND THIS BOOK WAS A TERRIFIC OPENER FOR ME. I RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE--AND I'M GIVING IT TO FRIENDS FOR CHANUKAH (AND EVEN SOME FOR CHRISTMAS, BECAUSE THE IDEAS HERE OFTEN TRANSCEND NARROW JEWISH CONCERNS AND REALLY HIT ON THE KINDS OF THEMES EVERYONE IS THINKING ABOUT IN TODAY'S CULTURE).

A Joyous Read!

"Best Jewish Contemporary Writing" is an incredibly anthology. Michael Lerner has chosen topics which pertain imminently to contemporary Jewish life, particularly in the West. He has elucidated the need for examination of the multiple identities which Western Jews carry. For example, how does American identity and the "melting pot" affect Jewish identity? Lerner prompts us to re-examine not only our identities but also how we think about the Holocaust, Israel, and our sacred texts. The list of authors and pieces is most impressive and sheds light on crucial questions, not only for Jewish readers, but for all readers who are interested in what it means to be a Jew in the 21st century.