Lawrence Kushner – författare

In the ancient Jewish practice of the kavannah (a meditation designed to focus one’s heart on its spiritual goal), Lawrence Kushner and David Mamet offer their own reactions to key verses from each week’s Torah portion, opening the biblical text to new layers of understanding.Here is a fascinating glimpse into two great minds, as each author approaches the text from his unique perspective, each seeking an understanding of the Bible’s personalities and commandments, paradoxes and ambiguities. Kushner offers his words of Torah with a conversational enthusiasm that ranges from family dynamics to the Kabbalah; Mamet challenges the reader, often beginning his comment far afield—with Freud or the American judiciary—before returning to a text now wholly reinterpreted.In the tradition of Israel as a people who wrestle with God, Kushner and Mamet grapple with the biblical text, succumbing neither to apologetics nor parochialism, asking questions without fear of the answers they may find. Over the course of a year of weekly readings, they comment on all aspects of the Bible: its richness of theme and language, its contradictions, its commandments, and its often unfathomable demands. If you are already familiar with the Bible, this book will draw you back to the text for a deeper look. If you have not yet explored the Bible in depth, Kushner and Mamet are guides of unparalleled wisdom and discernment. Five Cities of Refuge is easily accessible yet powerfully illuminating. Each week’s comments can be read in a few minutes, but they will give you something to think about all week long. Lawrence Kushner teaches and writes as the Emanu-El Scholar at The Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco. He has taught at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City and served for twenty-eight years as rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts. A frequent lecturer, he is also the author of more than a dozen books on Jewish spirituality and mysticism. He lives in San Francisco.David Mamet is a Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright. He is the author of Glengarry Glen Ross, The Cryptogram, and Boston Marriage, among other plays. He has also published three novels and many screenplays, children''s books, and essay collections.From the Hardcover edition.

"e;Where is God?"e;"e;What does God look like?"e;"e;How does God make things happen?"e; With little hands, and big hands. With young hands and old hands, With your hands."e; Mixing sparks of curiosity and spiritual imagination, this wondrous book lights children's creativity and shows how God is with us every day, in every way. It is a vibrant invitation to children and their adults to explore-together-what, where, and how God is in our lives. Multicultural,Nondenominational, Nonsectarian; Endorsed by Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish Religious Leaders

Selected as a Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) “Significant Jewish Book”

Jacob was running away from home. One night he lay down in the wilderness to sleep and had one of the great mystical experiences of Western religion. He dreamed there was a ladder, with angels ascending and descending, stretched between heaven and earth. For thousands of years, people have tried to overhear what the messengers came down to tell Jacob, and us.

Now in a daring blend of scholarship and imagination, psychology and history, Lawrence Kushner gathers an inspiring range of interpretations of Genesis 28:16 given by sages, from Shmuel bar Nachmani in third-century Palestine to Hannah Rachel Werbermacher of Ludomir who lived in Poland two hundred years ago. Through a fascinating new literary genre and Kushner’s creative reconstruction of the teachers’ lives and times, we enter the study halls and sit at the feet of these spiritual masters to learn what each discovered about God’s Self and ourselves as they ascend and descend Jacob’s ladder.

In this illuminating journey, our spiritual guides ask and answer the fundamental questions of human experience: Who am I? Who is God? What is God’s role in history? What is the nature of evil? How should I relate to God and other people? Could the universe really have a self?

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner brilliantly reclaims a millennium of Jewish spirituality for contemporary seekers of all faiths and backgrounds. God Was in This Place & I, i Did Not Know is about God and about you; it is about discovering God’s place in the universe, and yours.

"Where is God?"“What does God look like?”“How does God make things happen?” With little hands, and big hands. With young hands and old hands, With your hands.” Mixing sparks of curiosity and spiritual imagination, this wondrous book lights children's creativity and shows how God is with us every day, in every way. It is a vibrant invitation to children and their adults to explore—together—what, where, and how God is in our lives. Multicultural,Nondenominational, Nonsectarian; Endorsed by Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish Religious Leaders

A Charming tale to remind us all that our kindness works miracles.“When the sun sets and stars fill the sky, the square in the little town grows quiet and still. The cool air of distant hills mingles with the sweet scent of baking bread. The moon rises and glows softly. It’s the sort of place where miracles could happen.”David and Jacob live in the same little, ordinary town, but it’s almost as if they’re from different worlds. David is so poor he can barely feed his family. Jacob is so consumed with staying rich he thinks about nothing but money. But the two men have one thing in common: they both believe that miracles are big, magical things that can only happen somewhere else, to someone else. But when Jacob wakes up from a nap in synagogue one day, sure that God has demanded twelve loaves of bread from him, all this changes in amazing ways you’d never expect. A delightful, timeless legend based on Jewish tradition, In God’s Hands tells of the ordinary miracles that occur when we really, truly open our eyes to the world around us.

To young children, the world is full of things to see and touch. And by using those very examples, this enchanting book gently invites children to become aware of God's presence all around us. Abridged from Because Nothing Looks Like God by Lawrence and Karen Kushner, WHAT DOES GOD LOOK LIKE? has been specially adapted to board book format to delight and inspire younger readers. Much has been written about the importance of reading simple, beautiful books to babies and preschoolers to stimulate brain development. But perhaps even more important, what you read begins to shape your child's world, and creates the images that will remain with him or her throughout life.

Multicultural, Nondenominational, NonsectarianA simple way for young children to explore the ways we "see" God.To young children, the world is full of things to see and touch. And by using those very examples, this enchanting book gently invites children to become aware of God’s presence all around us. Abridged from Because Nothing Looks Like God by Lawrence and Karen Kushner, What Does God Look Like? has been specially adapted to board book format to delight and inspire younger readers. Much has been written about the importance of reading simple, beautiful books to babies and preschoolers to stimulate brain development. But perhaps even more important, what you read begins to shape your child’s world, and creates the images that will remain with him or her throughout life. We read books to our children about letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and safety, but do we give their minds the early food they need to think about life’s bigger questions?As spiritual development experts now tell us, each child develops an image of God by age 5, with or without religious instruction. What Does God Look Like? takes you and your child on an imaginative journey designed to help you open not only your child’s mind, but your child’s heart and soul as well.