Does the Soul Survive: A Jewish Journey to Belief in Afterlife, Past Lives & Living With a Purpose

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Summary: woderful,amazing,spiratual
Review: This book by elie spitz is amazing there is not enough adjectives to describe it I reccomend this book.

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Summary: Excellent Introduction to Jewish Views of the Afterlife
Review: What Rabbi Spitz has done is to write a book in which he is not only our teacher and guide; he is also a friend and fellow traveler on the way. Moreover he has written from a place of authenticity and integrity in that the story he tells us is ultimately his story. Rabbi Spitz, a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary, is a lover of the Jewish people, a compassionate pastor and a dedicated teacher. Two forces moved him to re-explore issues of immortality, afterlife, and contact with the dead. The first was a meeting with non-Jewish sources that Elie understood as a calling to re-encounter Jewish texts, too. The second was a deep listening to the needs and stories of his congregants. Listening to their stories and hearing their needs, Rabbi Spitz is moved to engage a new Jewish theology not merely as an individual seeker but as the representative and leader of his community. Once he sets himself to his task Rabbi Spitz proceeds with grace, sensitivity, courage and scholarship. Since his goal is to address the intelligent skeptic and to effectively dent the dogmas of materialism that subtly under gird the world view of so many Westerners, he begins by sharing with his reader his own uncertainty, an act of courage to be sure. He then guides the reader through the meetings and encounters that opened his heart and mind to new possibilities and in doing so invites the reader to open along with him. Importantly he understands that without providing an intensive perusal of the relevant texts his guidance would be sensitive yet profoundly lacking. He thus proceeds to share with the reader much of the wisdom and nuance of the tradition as he unfolds key aspects of the Jewish and particularly Kabbalistic reality maps as they related to issues of afterlife, reincarnation and the like. Given the goals of the book and the personal spiritual odyssey that it unfolds for the reader I could not help but be disappointed and even saddened by an earlier, condescending Amazon review. Thankfully the reading public is more perceptive than the reviewer with an ax to grind. Indeed many thousands of seekers have found the wisdom and gentle guidance of Reb Elie's book to be both challenging and ultimately transformative. This reviewer can only conclude with two prayers. One, that we learn to engage in sacred conversation with passion and even sharp disagreement but without triumphalism and virulence. And that contemporary skeptic teachers like Reb Elie continue to serve as a model for the willingness to explore and redraw old reality maps, particularly when those maps no longer quench the deepest yearnings of the soul

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Summary: Changed my perspective ad life!
Review: Will read it numerous times. Impossible to put down. The book is literally my bible along with the Torah!