The Beginner's Guide to Stoicism: Tools for Emotional Resilience and Positivity, by Matthew Van Natta is an excellent introduction to thinking and acting like a Stoic. I have been exposed to Stoic philosophy since my early twenties, but I find handbooks like this extremely helpful. Stoic philosophy is easy to learn, and hard to practice. A book like Van Natta’s helps the beginner, or even more advanced practitioner, get a handle on the essentials.
Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish by Joshua Leifer is an earnest effort by this (relatively) young author to get at the heart of the issues that American Jewish communities currently face. This is a big project, and Leifer does an admirable job. I do, however, see two major flaws in this work.
The first is that the author appears to have written this work (mostly) before the October 7th attacks. He mentions the attacks briefly, but his conclusion is that Israel no longer requires the United States for approval or support (or the American Jewish community). Then he mentions the attacks, and explains this assumption is wrong. But the book is largely written with his assumption. He probably wrote most of the book before the attacks and then had to make changes. So, there is a strange disconnect on this topic.
The second is a fundamental premise about the nature of Judaism. Liefer sees Judaism as hierarchical. The Jews of his wife’s Yeshivish New Jersey community are rigorous Jews, and the rest of us struggle with identity. Yes, he criticizes all varieties of Judaism, but you can sense the longing he has for more “traditional” forms of Jewish expression (like studying the Talmud all day) where communities do not struggle for identity. Progressive Jews, however, do. I am a progressive Jew, and belong to a progressive shul. We are not in danger of losing our Jewish identity. We struggle with identity issues, as all Jews do, but we are firmly Jews, with or without daily Talmud study.
Despite its flaws, it is wonderful to see this author sort through such difficult issues. It is a thankless task!
Kabbalah and Sex Magic: A Mythical-Ritual Genealogy, by Marla Segol, is an academic treatment of the creative role God has in the kabbalah, especially related to characterizations that can be called sexual. The author writes an academic work here, although the interested amateur with some background in this area does well in this text. If we allow our academic study of God to fulfil the literal sense of a divine body, instead of the spiritualizing elements found in Jewish philosophy, and in modern academic studies, we open new pathways. This book explores those new avenues of approach.
