(RNS) — Rabbi Sharon Brous is one of the most prominent rabbis in the U.S., known for injecting Jewish life with a bold, passionate and justice-driven ethic, whether its the need to fight racism, build affordable housing, or oppose the Israeli government’s lurch to the right. But as her new book, “The Amen Effect,” shows, she is also one of the most pastoral and caring.
The book, which draws on ancient rabbinic wisdom and personal anecdotes, is an extended meditation on the importance of “showing up” — in good times and bad. The 51-year-old rabbi and co-founder of the nondenominational IKAR synagogue in Los Angeles suggests the antidote to the plague of loneliness and isolation is compassion and community. Brous calls readers to lean in to other people’s pain and suffering and to view heartfelt encounter as a sacred act.
She roots the book in an ancient Jewish ritual in which pilgrims circled the Jerusalem temple in the opposite direction as the “ill, the bereft and the bereaved,” so the pilgrims could see and comfort them. It’s a similar idea to the book’s central theme, the “amen” recited by the community at several points during the kaddish or mourner’s prayer, in which the community affirms mourners in their time of grief.
Though i …
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
The book, which draws on ancient rabbinic wisdom and personal anecdotes, is an extended meditation on the importance of “showing up” — in good times and bad. The 51-year-old rabbi and co-founder of the nondenominational IKAR synagogue in Los Angeles suggests the antidote to the plague of loneliness and isolation is compassion and community. Brous calls readers to lean in to other people’s pain and suffering and to view heartfelt encounter as a sacred act.
She roots the book in an ancient Jewish ritual in which pilgrims circled the Jerusalem temple in the opposite direction as the “ill, the bereft and the bereaved,” so the pilgrims could see and comfort them. It’s a similar idea to the book’s central theme, the “amen” recited by the community at several points during the kaddish or mourner’s prayer, in which the community affirms mourners in their time of grief.
Though i …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]