Uncovering the Depths of Judaism: Exploring the Meaning of Life Through the Torah

Nancy S.: Book as described and arrived quickly.

United States on Jun 11, 2023

Gunter Kleemann: As a Christian I found this fascinating, intelligent and very informative. A blessing for me in many ways. I am familiar with all of his secular references and most of the Rabbis mentioned. I am not without questions nor am I blind to certain aspects that popped out to my Christian self. But that is for another time. Thank you.

United States on Mar 19, 2023

Don A: It is a distinct pleasure to read Mark Gerson's book, The Telling. The book describing the Passover seder's Haggadah, has so many unexpected insights and counterintuitive theories about the Haggadah-- for example, the four questions are INTENDED to be boring--that it forms a searching, yet comprehensive framework for asking and helping answer what it means for one to be Jewish today. In some ways, the book reminds me of Yitz Greenberg's extraordinary book on the Jewish holidays, The Jewish Way, in that the meaning of what it is to be Jewish comes through in the doing, in the observance of the Jewish holidays. And the telling of the Passover story, in the myriad ways that Gerson's book describes, is part of the doing.
I have read Homer's Iliad, an unlikely and serendipitous companion volume to The Telling. The story in both books focuses on how extraordinary people act under extreme pressure and where humanity and divinity can be found in the face of conflict. There is a commonality, in some ways, in the pain, the suffering, and the destruction. Yet the differences in the two stories are profound. The emphases in The Iliad reflect what is held in highest regard in ancient Greek...

United States on Jul 06, 2021

Amazon CustomerAmazon Customer: I was really struck as I read this book not only by the immense joy the author takes in diving into the Haggadah, but also the ways in which his thorough argument for the book's universal applicability made me reconsider my own Passover experiences. I'm not a very religious person and have treated the annual celebration less as book than as bookmark – a moment to spend with family. It is that, but Gerson's argument that it is also much more (notably a way of considering union in its broadest terms) carries profound weight with me.

I'm looking forward to my Seder more this year because it's been re-contextualized for me. And that's a pretty remarkable thing all these years later. I feel like I've got the opportunity to see my own tradition through new eyes.

United States on Mar 08, 2021

Mom of 2: I haven't even finished reading this book yet and I already have so many wonderful ideas for discussions we can have at the seder this year. I love that each chapter is only a few pages so I can pick up the book when I have a little bit of time and get through one chapter. Each one has been filled with deep ideas from contemporary as well as historic sources.

I also had the pleasure of hearing Mark Gerson speak at one of his book talks. It inspired me to work on taking the wisdom we can learn on Passover and apply it to the rest of my life.

This book will be a treasured resource in my home and I am sending copies to friends who I know also take great joy in attending and leading seders. It would also be great for anybody not Jewish who simply enjoys learning Jewish wisdom.

United States on Mar 07, 2021