Torah of Reconciliation by Sheldon Lewis, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem, New York, ISBN 978-965-229-541-5 ©2012, $24.95, p. 340, plus addenda
By Fred Reiss, Ed.D
WINCHESTER, California — The Torah, the Five Books of Moses, has been commented about so many times that one wonders if anything new can be found within its text. Yet, Rabbi Sheldon Lewis, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Kol Emeth in Palo Alto, California, has pierced its numerous violent stories, such as Cain and Abel, Sodom and Gomorrah, Esau and Isaac, Joseph and his brothers, the killing of the Egyptians’ first born and so on, and concluded that the Torah is a set of books that extol peace and reconciliation.
Lewis systematically culls through each parsha, or portion of the week read aloud in synagogues worldwide, and discovers nuggets of reunion and compromise. Abraham becomes a model for righteous indignation and Esau and Jacob are held up as models of reunion, as are Joseph and his brothers. In addition to quoting the Bible, Lewis provides rabbinic commentary and often presents the lessons learned. In Torah of Reconciliation, Lewis explains that the stories about Moses’ anger teaches that irate people pay a heavy price, and in this case, ended in Moses inability to cross the Jordan and enter Canaan. Drawing on an eighteenth century Jewish legal text, which comments on a passage from the Book of Genesis, he shows that when a quarrel between bride and groom undermines a wedding, even the Sabbath can be violated to allow the wedding to take place.
Torah of Reconciliation is an uplifting book, which counterbalances the perceived notion that the foundation of Judaism is a book of aggression and hostility.
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Dr. Fred Reiss is a retired public and Hebrew school teacher and administrator. He is the author of The Standard Guide to the Jewish and Civil Calendars; Ancient Secrets of Creation: Sepher Yetzira, the Book that Started Kabbalah, Revealed; and Reclaiming the Messiah. The author can be reached via fred.reiss@sdjewishworld.com.