Rating: 
Summary: Something to chew on
Review: The author is not a Rabbi but it is clear that he has done more than a bit of research on the topic. His position, while decidedly different from the mainstream, does give one pause to think about the relationship between the religious and the religion. As one professionally trained in Christian Theology, I find this approach very refreshing and appropriately uncomfortable. As I read pages, my mind kept saying "and this applies to non-Jews as well." Anyone from the three traditions that see their roots in the story of Abraham should find this a really thought provloking read. There are portions that do drag a bit, but read through them because there is always a wonderfull insight following the slow portion.
Rating: 
Summary: A Nasty Screed by a Committed Leftist
Review: This book by Douglas Rushkoff, though disguised as a progressive attempt to revitalize Judaism is, in actuality nothing short of a complete smear job on the Jewish religion and Jewish tradition as understood by all three major branches of Rabbinical Judaism. Rushkoff, who has no background in either Jewish history or Jewish religious thought basically dismisses and distorts 3,000 years of Jewish religious thought in the service of an obviously left wing effort to promote "secular humanism" at the expense of Jewish tradition. His errors and distortions are so obvious that one need not be well versed in Judaism to see through them. I am not Orthodox and my objections to this book have nothing to do with Rushkoff's criticism of the intellectual stiltedness of today's extreme Orthodoxy. Indeed, I agree with him on this. To start with, his use of language and contemptuous dismissal of Jewish tradition is actually offensive. Remember this is not a history or anthropology book but a book about the Jewish religion. He refers to God as Yawheh. No Jewish religious writer of any stripe would do so. For one thing, scholarship does not agree that this is the correct pronunciation. For another traditional Jews, of all stripes do not refer to God's name as if he is just another ancient tribal god. Another really strange thing to read in a book about Judaism is the term "Old Testament" as the name for the Hebrew Bible. I need not explain why Jews find this offensive. It should properly be referred to as the Tanach. But that would require Rushkoff to show a degree of reverence for Jewish tradition he is unprepared to demonstrate. Rushkoff further denigrates Jewish tradition when he simply "assumes" that the entire bible is a myth. Since it is a "myth", of course, it is worthless except to the extent it teaches the "progressive" lessons Rushkoff values. So, for example, the Exodus from Egypt becomes history's first labor revolt. Of course Jewish thinkers disagree over the historicalness of the bible. While Orthodoxy assumes it all to be literally true, not all streams of Judaism agree with this. But many Jews, myself included, believe that the Bible paints a historical picture of the origins of our people. Rushkoff dismisses us as fools. And he presents no evidence to support his contention that the entire bible is a myth. But Rushkoff's most egregious falsehood is his assertion that Jews, from the time of the prophets forward, in essence became atheists. True, he calls this "abstract monotheism" but he means this in the modern sense as a God who is not really there. You can believe in God or not believe in God. But to argue that the prophets and the ancient Jews were essentially secular humanists is patently absurd. Every word out of the mouths of the prophets, every prayer chanted by Jews is dedicated to the worship of a living personal God. Whether true or not, this is what Jews have always believed, including the Rambam, whose thought is totally misrepresented by Rushkoff. Maimonides was a rationalist but he was also a believing Jew. Rushkoff constantly distorts Jewish history and thought without support or footnotes in order to fit his ideological thesis that Judaism is a progressive religion rooted in secular humanism. So, for example, the Shema, the central prayer of Judaism, an ode to the living unified singular deity, is called by Rushkoff a "declaration of the unity of the universe". To those who might not be familiar, the first line of the Shema is "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One." While there is nothing wrong with giving ancient texts relevance and meaning to modern beliefs, don't pretend the Shema is not an ode to a living God. There are too many more examples of this to go into. Of course much of Jewish law is concerned with issues of social justice. But that does not mean that the Torah is not concerned with ritual prayer and worship of God. This is the essence of Judaism, whatever your theology. Traditional Judaism from time immemorial is based on the three "Ls" The Lord, The Law and the Land. Rushkoff dismisses all three of them not just from our modern era but from traditional Judaism as well. Rushkoff distorts equally in his discussion of modern Judaism. One of his techniques is to find something about modern Jewish life he dislikes and call its practitioners "most Jews". So according to Rushkoff "most Jews" are told what to think by their Rabbis who simply urge them to accept the Torah as literally true. I belong to a progressive Conservative congregation and I assure you this is not the case. Indeed, all branches of Judaism are looking for ways to make the Jewish religion more relevant to modern life. Rushkoff would have you believe this is not the case. All in all his criticisms of modern Jewish life, no matter how much validity they may have, are ruined by his extreme exaggeration. All synagogues are not obsessed with fund raising to the exclusion of all else. All synagogues do not teach a literal fundamentalist version of the Torah. I guess Rushkoff has never heard of the Jewish Theological Seminary which teaches a modern critical and historical approach to the bible and Jewish history. Finally, as a good leftist, Rushkoff has a clear contempt for Zionism. He doesn't regard the Jews as a people, seems to hate any form of nationalism, rejects the idea that the Jews have always longed to return to Zion and condemns Israel as an excessively militaristic and unjust society. This book should not be read by anyone seeking a solution to the problems confronting the Jewish world. It is not a legitimate criticism of Judaism of which their are many. It is to Jewish religious history and thought what Holocaust denial is to the study of the Shoah.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a very thoughtful work
Review: This is a puzzling book. It seems to be addressed to Jews in general. But it doesn't appear to have much advice for most of them. Of course, Rushkoff is completely free to follow whatever religious views he pleases. The question is whether this book has much to offer anyone, Jewish or non-Jewish.
Rushkoff traces the history of Judaism, a religion he appears to feel is not quite monotheistic enough! Let's just say that I would not have thought of this criticism. He then deals with the question of whether Jews are a race or whether they are simply individuals who follow Judaism as an idea. Well, that is a good question. Perhaps Jews ought to be more active in seeking converts. But I think this exaggerates reality: plenty of people convert to Judaism.
Another problem with the claim of Judaism simply being a collection of individuals is this: denial of rights to Jews is an attack on not only specific individuals, but also on the Hebrew-speaking people as well as on human rights in general. It does no good to pretend that there is no such thing as homo sapiens, or no such thing as the Hebrew-speaking people.
Well, what does the author think of Zionism? It's too religious for him! Had Zionism only been secular, it would have worked!
With all due respect to the author, this is totally preposterous. A typical early kibbutz was about the most secular community one could have imagined. Attacks on Zionism have generally been due to the secularism of the Zionists. Even religious attacks on Zionism would not be mitigated were the Zionists all to assure everyone of their secularism! Zionists do insist on rights to life, liberty, and property. But this is true for both religious and secular Zionists. Were all Zionists secular, they would still demand their rights.
I'm sure the author means well. But I do not recommend this book to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Stresses the humanity and wisdom of Judaism
Review: This, of course, is not the only book to stress (sad that it needs stressing, these days) the humanity and wisdom of Judaism and its influence in making the modern progressive world. For me it's sad that the book needed to be written at all, but with the increase of Jewish (and fundamentalist Christian) zealotry and the apparent decrease in the intellectual tradition, these things have to be restated. In a changing world people always tend to fall back on know-nothingism, on 'faith' (that is, blinkered fundamentalism) and on anti-intellectualism. Both traditions have existed in Judaism since time began, it seems, but until recently the best tradition, the liberal tradition, has dominated America and Western Europe. Now it seems the old, fearful tradition is beginning to dominate US politics, if not the politics of the rest of the world, and that can only be a bad thing for the world and for Judaism. At a time when Israel's policies have fueled the incipient anti-Semitism of Middle America, we should be reaching out and speaking out, emphasising the great tradition of humane and progressive decency which is the core of real Judaism, not shaking our fists at our enemies and calling for God to strike them dead. Let those of us who respect and revere the great Judaic traditions of liberal thought and humane action emphasise what we stand for. One of the ways of doing this would be to buy this book, perhaps together with Martin Gilbert's Letters to Auntie Fori, and give it to as many non-Jewish friends as possible. Meanwhile we can only continue to assert our own broad-mindedness and traditions of liberal activism which helped create the best elements in modern America and, indeed, much of the world.
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