Judaism Alive: Using the Torah to Unlock Your Life’s Potential by Rabbi Shlomo Einhorn, Gefen Publishing House, New York; ISBN 978-965-229-652-8 ©2015, $18.00, p. 154, including an Appendix
By Fred Reiss, Ed.D.
WINCHESTER, California — Judaism Alive, written by Shlomo Einhorn, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, is a self-help book guided by the personal qualities of three biblical heavyweights, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses: Abraham representing courage, Joseph portraying patience and success, and Moses depicting humility and strength of character.
According to Einhorn, Abraham exhibits two kinds of courage. The first is daring to take risks, as Abraham did when he dropped everything—friends, family, and familiar surroundings—and moved on to an unidentified location at God’s command, “You shall go out from your native land and from your father’s house to a place that I will show you.” The second is the courage to become deeply and honestly introspective in order to find and develop one’s unique intangible qualities in order to garner the most from life, making us effective and fulfilled.
Einhorn quotes life coach Tony Robbins who said that “most of society believes that biography is destiny.” In contrast, Einhorn, maintaining that our past holds our future only to the extent that we allow it to do so, cites Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last Lubavitcher Rebbe, who held that the Hebrew expression said by God to Abraham, lech lecha, usually translated as “you shall go,” literally means “go to yourself,” showing that Abraham’s command to go forth to an unnamed land was simultaneously a mandate for Abraham to find himself through self-reflection.
Einhorn, preparing those who find friends and loved ones moving on through unexpected success, examines Joseph’s sudden transformation from prisoner to the advisor to Pharaoh. He concludes that the right course of action is to “accept their achievements, swell with pride for them, and use those leaps as inspiration for your own circumstances.” Chance encounters, even if they appear inconsequential, must be vehicles for success, just as Joseph did when, in prison, he met two new cellmates, a baker and a cupbearer, whom he treated wisely, but the significance of which would only become evident years later.
Moses, who as prince killed an Egyptian taskmaster beating an Israelite, and as shepherd scrupulously watched over his flock, handled the fear of returning and confronting Pharaoh by meeting the challenge head on, or what Einhorn calls consciously entering “into an empty void,” a sensation, he asserts, many feel when confronted with an unsettling task. He argues that three principles, which everyone needs to inculcate, apply to the life of Moses: (1) Character trumps competence, (2) Humility is a potent leadership trait, and (3) Power does not inevitably corrupt. The first principle refers to Moses keeping fidelity with one of his core values: the importance of life, both animal and human. The second and third refer to the ways Moses maintained his leadership position among the twelve independent tribes as they wandered the desert, confronting obstacles and contention. Although Moses had the unconditional support of God, the Book of Numbers calls Moses “the humblest of all human beings,” and Korah’s Rebellion notwithstanding, during Moses forty years of leadership there is not one scandal, rumor, or reproach leveled against him by his followers.
Judaism Alive also has an Appendix, offering “Seasonal Wisdom to Inspire.” For instance, in a chapter referring to the Hebrew month of Elul, the month prior to the High Holidays, Einhorn explains the value of prayer, and in the Chanukah chapter he describes how life is like a dreidel.
Einhorn also provides an opportunity for the reader to implement the understandings gained from each chapter, as every one of them ends with tasks in an “Applying” section. Some are easy to realize, such as one from the chapter on making “the Most of Every Encounter”: “I will focus on something small or simple in my immediate orbit…. I will look to identify its beauty and its contribution to the world. With enough clarity, I will begin to feel its true purpose.” Others are more difficult, including a pledge that, “I will stand apart from the voices pulling me back and realize that I am not the voice in my head but rather I am the witness to the voice.”
In Judaism Alive, Einhorn masterfully blends rich and entertaining stories, aphorisms, and anecdotes from the Torah, Midrash, Hasidic masters, as well as from contemporary writers, poets, and lyricists into a well-crafted book, pointing the reader toward meaningful life lessons to be gleaned from the Hebrew Bible.
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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; Public Education in Camden, NJ: From Inception to Integration; Ancient Secrets of Creation: Sepher Yetzira, the Book that Started Kabbalah, Revealed; and a fiction book, Reclaiming the Messiah. The author can be reached via fred.reiss@sdjewishworld.com.