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Rifat Sonsino

Author of Finding God: Ten Jewish Responses

14 Works 619 Members 4 Reviews

About the Author

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, PhD, is rabbi emeritus of Temple Beth Shalom in Needham, Massachusetts, and adjunct professor of theology at Boston College. Born in Turkey, he received his law degree from the University of Istanbul, his rabbinic ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of show more Religion, and his doctorate in Bible and ancient Near Eastern studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Rabbi Sonsino is the author of numerous books and articles, including Finding God, What Happens after I Die? (both with Daniel Syme), and The Many Faces of God. show less
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Reviews

4 reviews
Today the vast majority of American Jews are not Orthodox. Judaism does not have a fixed creed which tells us exactly how we must understand the nature of God and what we should expect of Him. There is a Rabbinic vision of the nature of God, but Jews who are not Orthodox and many who are nominally Conservative are not always comfortable with the Rabbinic vision and, indeed, the Torah says that the form and nature of God cannot be known or understood by man. This book describes ten ways, show more including the Rabbinic, in which Jews have and still do see God...Some of these infuriate traditional Orthodox Jews, who may equate any concepts other than the Rabbinical as either heresy or atheism, but their condemnation does not invalidate the thought of some of our greatest and best known scholars as described in this book. It is an invaluable reference for the Jew who is seeking a reconciliation between Judaism and his existance in the modern world. show less
Finding God is exactly what it says on the label, a well-organized survey of Jewish approaches to theological questions, particularly the nature of God and the problem of evil, from the Biblical era to modern thinkers. The authors are from the Reform tradition, and so this book is tilted more towards modern, humanistic, and heterodox thinkers, rather than getting deeply into any particular text or Rabbinic school. While limited by nature, and a little dated, this book is an excellent survey show more and introduction to 20th century Jewish theology. show less
Wonderful introduction to various approaches to jewish theology. Breaks things down well, presents a diverse selection of views. The book is a great jumping off point, giving lots of options for further reading.

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Statistics

Works
14
Members
619
Popularity
#40,645
Rating
4.0
Reviews
4
ISBNs
18
Languages
2

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