Minyan : Ten Principles for Living a Life of Integrity

Rating:
Summary: Worth rereading, and even rereading
Review: Rabbi Rami Shapiro is one of the most informed and responsible liberal-Jewish rabbis writing today. He is always worth a read, and this book is no exception even though I disagree with large portions of it.

His opening chapters in particular are excellent; he presents what he calls "The Teaching" (a carefully nuanced version of quasi-Hasidic panentheism) succinctly and intelligibly. From there, he builds to a list of ten practices adapted from Jewish tradition and designed to increase one's awareness of Rabbi Shapiro's panentheistic G-d.

I won't detail my agreements and disagreements here; let it suffice to say that I have some significant ones of each (particularly regarding what I see as important errors in the ethical and economic foundations of "eco-kashrut"). But Rabbi Shapiro's graceful prose and thoughtful ruminations will provoke you to explorations of your own whether you end up agreeing with him or not. What Rabbi Shapiro is clearly _most_ concerned about is that Jews care about being Jews. His stimulating work will undoubtedly promote that aim.

Rating:
Summary: "Yesh" and "Ayin" -- Being and Emptiness
Review: Shapiro is a Jewish liberal Rabbi and an award winning poet/essayist...Shapiro holds to the belief that anyone can become spiritually enlightened and in order to assist an individual to reach this goal he has developed a ten-fold method called Minyan. But his is not the traditonal Minyan from Rabbinic law, a quorum of ten Jews, the minimum necessary for the performance of any religious service. His Minyan refers to the practice of meditation, repetition, inspirational reading, attention, generosity, kindness, dream interpretation, ethical consumption, self-perfection, and Sabbath. The maim of Minyuan is to attain d'vekut, oneness with God, seeing both Being and Emptiness as expressions of God, of becomming conscious of both the relative and the absolute. The key to spiritual awakening is "Chabad," the temporary annihilation of your sense of separateness.

Although Shapiro's method hinges on the esoteric and breaks away from conventional Jewish thought, the underlying value of his message is one of universal application, with no embedded dogmatism, a source of inspiration for people of all faiths.

Rating:
Summary: Enlivening mitzvoth, kashrut, kavvanah for the world today.
Review: This book presents views of core elements of Judasim (e.g. mitzvoth, kashrut) from the perspective of today's knowledge, adding new life & meaning to them for enlightened individuals, and proceeds to offer suggestions on how to incorporate these consciously into our daily lives.

Rating:
Summary: Enlivening mitzvoth, kashrut, kavvanah for the world today.
Review: This book presents views of core elements of Judasim (e.g. mitzvoth, kashrut) from the perspective of today's knowledge, adding new life & meaning to them for enlightened individuals, and proceeds to offer suggestions on how to incorporate these consciously into our daily lives.

Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful and passionate
Review: This is an extremely interesting meditation on by a man who is passionately committed to living a life which is both solidly grounded in Jewish thought and tradition, and at the same time approaches the transcendent through mysticism. Fortunately, Judaism has had threads of mystical tradition for centuries, and this book provides detailed instructions on how to incorporate these techniques into your life.

However, this is not primarily a how-to book, but rather is the nearly poetic expression of deep comtemplation and experience of an encounter with the transcendent through the medium of Jewish prayer, ethics and ritual.

The prose clearly reflects the passion Rabbi Shapiro brings to his subject, so the book is an appealing reading experience. It is also a book which nearly cries out for rereading and serious thought. You do not have to be Jewish, or agree with everything the author says in order to find great value in this book. If nothing else, it is a case study in making traditional religion meaningful for contemporary people.