Seek My Face, Speak My Name

by Green, Arthur

• ISBN13: 9781580231305
• ISBN10: 1580231306
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-01
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Pub

Summary

Rabbi Arthur Green leads us on a journey of discovery to seek God, the world, and ourselves. One of the most influential Jewish thinkers of our time, Green has created a roadmap of meaning for our lives in the light of Jewish mysticism, using the Hebrew letters that make up the divine name: Yod -- Reality at the beginning. God as the oneness of being at the outset, before it unfolds into our universe. Heh -- Creation and God's presence in the world. A renewed faith in God as Creator has powerful implications for us today. Vav -- Revelation, the central faith claim of Judaism and the claim it makes on our lives. Heh -- Redemption and our return to God through the life of Torah and by participating in the ongoing repair of the world. A personal and honest framework of understanding for the seeker, this revised and updated edition of a classic sheds new light on our search for the divine presence in our everyday lives. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
God and the Ways of Being
The Secret of the Sh'ma	p. 3
God Above, God Within	p. 8
The Two and the One	p. 11
God as Y-H-W-H: "Is-was-will be" is one!	p. 16
Speak my Name	p. 19
Seeking God: Look First to Love	p. 23
In God's Own Image: Seek My Face	p. 27
Face to Face	p. 34
Male and Female: An Excursus	p. 36
One and Two	p. 41
Creation
One God, two Ways	p. 47
Creation and the Jewish Question	p. 49
Creation and the Struggle for Faith	p. 53
What Comes "First"?	p. 55
Two Tales	p. 58
The One and the Many	p. 60
Who is at the Center?	p. 64
Evolution: An Ongoing Process	p. 68
From Aggadah to Halakhah	p. 72
The First Mitzvah: Be Aware	p. 75
In God's Image	p. 77
Celebrating Creation: The Mitzvah of Shabbat	p. 80
"To Work it and Guard it": Preserving God's World	p. 82
Vegetarianism: A Kashrut for Our Age	p. 85
Human Love and Human Pain	p. 89
The Human Being: Bearer of Divine Compassion	p. 92
Revelation
Y-H-W-H and Language	p. 97
Before the Mountain	p. 99
Human Understanding and Divine Speech	p. 103
The Inner Mountain	p. 106
Torah as the Name of God	p. 110
Revelation and the Inward Journey	p. 113
The Role of Covenant: A Reinterpretation	p. 115
Revelation and Torah	p. 119
Revelation, Will, and Law	p. 122
The Personal Path: Accepting the Yoke	p. 127
Sinai and Language	p. 131
Sinai and Study	p. 133
Sinai and Community	p. 136
The Three Festivals: Sinai and the Sacred Cycle	p. 138
The Word in Our Day	p. 143
Redemption
The Light of the First Day	p. 149
Crying Out for the Light	p. 151
Redemption as Coming Home	p. 154
The Bible: A Tale of Exile	p. 158
Homecoming and Teshuvah	p. 164
Teshuvah and the Sacred Year	p. 166
The Redemptive Task: Getting to Work	p. 170
Redemption and the Messianic Dream	p. 174
Messiah: Actor or Herald?	p. 177
Seeking Out Our Sparks of Light	p. 181
Notes	p. 184
Glossary	p. 265
About Jewish Lights	p. 270
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