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God Is Here Spiral-Bound | 2022-03-08

Toba Spitzer

$27.59 - Free Shipping
A thoughtful exploration of the idea of God and how we can reconsider the deity through metaphors and daily practices.

Most of us are hungry for a system of meaning to make sense of our lives. Rabbi Toba Spitzer understands this problem firsthand, and knows that some are unconvinced by traditional ideas of the deity--he's too big, too impersonal, and too unbelievable. In God Is Here, Rabbi Toba Spitzer explores the many ways you can redefine God in order to connect more deeply to your spirituality.

In the Hebrew Bible, there are many things considered sacred--water, place, voice, fire, rocks, clouds, even the process of becoming--and Rabbi Spitzer's book addresses how we can use these ideas to experience holiness. In the section on water, for instance, she looks at the myriad ways water flows through the Book of Exodus and frames the liberation story of the Israelites. She considers how phrases like "drinking from God," "rain of Justice," and others imbue water with a sacred quality, and then provides "God as Water" Practices: easy daily exercises that can bring God into your life simply by, for example, washing your hands accompanied by a meditation. Each chapter contains insights from the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible as well as accompanying practices specific to each new way of envisioning God. Rabbi Toba Spitzer has helped many people satisfy their hunger for a god they can believe in. With God Is Here she will inspire you to find the idea of God that's right for you.

Publisher: Macmillan
Original Binding: Hardcover with dust jacket
Pages: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 1250764491
Item Weight: 0.7 lbs
Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.0 x 7.8 inches
"A wonderful book! Toba Spitzer has made a very important contribution to the new Jewish God language that is beginning to emerge in our day. She offers a new Ten Sefirot for the contemporary Jewish seeker, doing so with warmth, honesty, and an open heart."
--Arthur Green, author of These Are the Words and Judaism's 10 Best Ideas

"Through stories, practices, and teaching that are at once sophisticated and accessible, Toba Spitzer opens up new/old understandings of God, religion, and all that is sacred in ways that expand our minds, our hearts, and, indeed, our lives. I will return to this book again and again, as a rabbi and as a seeker of meaning."
--Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., President, Reconstructing Judaism

RABBI TOBA SPITZER is a popular teacher of courses on Judaism and economic justice, Reconstructionist Judaism, new approaches to thinking about God, and the practice of integrating Jewish spiritual and ethical teachings into daily life. She served as the President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association from 2007-2009, and was the first LGBTQ rabbi to head a national rabbinic organization. She has received the honor of being included in Newsweek's Top 50 Rabbis in America list and the 2010 Forward list of 50 Female Rabbis Who Are Making A Difference. She lives in Massachusetts.