I'm God; You're Not: Observations on Organized Religion and Other Disguises of the Ego
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Flashes of insight surprising, entertaining, inspiring from one of the most creative spiritual thinkers in America. Tapping the experiences and wisdom of his career as a spiritual leader, Lawrence Kushner delights, surprises, challenges and inspires us. With his signature candor, wit and compassion, he helps us reconnect with the why and how of our spiritual lives. He encourages us to find new perspectives on the life-stuff that shapes them, and gently reminds us of the Source of it All. Publishers Weekly In a breezy, accessible, and colloquial style, Kushner brings together excerpts from stories, reviews, essays, and speeches written during his 28 years as a congregational rabbi and his current tenure as scholar-in-residence at Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco. He has grouped the material into six categories: rabbi, Judaism, family, world, mysticism, and holiness. Although Kushner was educated as a Reform rabbi, he cites Orthodox and Conservative sources as well as a number of other traditional authorities. His interest in Jewish mysticism is a further indication of his deviation from the customary intellectual and spiritual sources of a Reform rabbi. Disguising the profundity of his thoughts by lighthearted presentation, Kushner tackles such complicated issues as the role of the rabbi, intermarriage, observance of the Jewish dietary laws, parent-child relationships, Jewish-Gentile differences, Kabbalah, prayer, and death. In each instance, his wisdom, his realism, and the sources he calls upon demonstrate the depth and perceptiveness of his approach to difficult problems. One essence of genius is to make complex issues simple. Kushner superbly passes this test. (Oct.)
Introduction1 RabbiWho Am I? 3We'll Wait Back Here 8The Calling 15My Other Father Died 18The Tent Peg Business 22The Human Pyramid 30The Rabbi Business 38Being Somebody Else 47The Last Gift 492 JudaismWhy I'm a Jew 55Filene's Basement 59Intermarriage 61Getting More Jews 67Customs as Sacred Text 69Two Jewish Mothers 73(Re) Thinking Shabbat 75Kosher 78The Life of Torah 843 FamilyVisiting Your Children 89Understanding Your Parents 91Telling Kids the Truth 99Boompa 101And Unto Us a Child is Given 103Babushka 107Turkey Shoot 109Generations 1114 WorldWhat Israel Means to Me 115My Lunch with Jesus 117Cardboard Sukkah 120Bill Novak's Questions 122NYPD Blue 143Resurrection of Flowers 1455 MysticismWhat is Kabbalah? 149Reading Music 156Bosque del Apache 159Physician of Tsefat 162Spell-Checker 170Midrash as Hypertext 174A Kabbalah Lexicon 1756 HolinessOpen My Lips 189Spiritual Greed 191Silent Prayer 193A Blessing for the Czar 195Biking with Pelicans 197The Zen of Airline Tickets 199Memory and Redemption 201Death without Dying 210The Band on the Titanic 214After Word: "Our Town" 217Sources 224
