Jews and Judaism in 21st Century: Human Responsibility, the Presence of God and the Future of the Covenant - Softcover

In this thought-provoking book, five celebrated leaders in Judaism, representing a broad spectrum of contemporary Jewish experience, reinterpret Jewish life, re-envision its institutions, and re-imagine its future in the shadow of the events of the twentieth century.

Reflecting on the unique events of this century, these eminent scholars assert a shared recognition of human responsibility as the quintessence of God's presence in the world. They imagine a new stage in the development of the ancient Covenant, a stage in which human beings take responsibility for shaping the Jewish historical experience. They explore how that new stage will find expression in the rhythms of Jewish personal and communal lifeits implications for halachah, prayer, spirituality, the synagogue, and our relations with the world.

Rabbi Edward Feinstein is senior rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California. He is an instructor in the Ziegler Rabbinical School of American Jewish University and the Wexner Heritage Program. He is the author of Tough Questions Jews Ask: A Young Adult's Guide to Building a Jewish Life (Jewish Lights) and Capturing the Moon; and the editor of Jews and Judaism in the 21st Century: Human Responsibilities, the Presence of God, and the Future of the Covenant (Jewish Lights). He contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism―Yizkor; Who by Fire, Who by Water―Un'taneh Tokef and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism―Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Paula E. Hyman is the Lucy G. Moses Professor of Modern Jewish History at Yale University.