First Steps to a New Jewish Spirit: Reb Zalman's Guide to Recapturing the Intimacy & Ecstasy in Your Relationship with God
A personal guide to the life-giving treasures of the Jewish spiritual tradition.
The classic born-again experience is a sudden, discontinuous event. For a person growing with God in daily practice, there is likely to be less drama. The experience will be more gentle, natural, and easier on your immediate family…. If you stay with this work, you have every reason to trust the adage, “When the pupil is ready, the teacher appears.”
—from First Steps to a New Jewish Spirit
This extraordinary spiritual handbook is a compassionate call to reconnect with your spiritual roots and nourish your relationship with God. Breaking free from ways of Jewish worship that no longer inspire, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi—one of the most important Jewish spiritual teachers since Abraham Joshua Heschel—guides you through practical exercises for enriching the most important aspects of everyday life—physical health, work, marriage, family, prayer—and empowers you with contemporary ways to satisfy your modern spiritual hunger.
Whether refreshing your soul with a midday mini-Sabbath or improving your relationships by refining your awareness, Reb Zalman will introduce you to new models of practicing Judaism. In doing so, he will challenge you to embrace your faith as both spiritually and emotionally enriching, and will awaken you to innovative, inspiring ways for leading a meaningful Jewish life.
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Book details
- Author
- Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
- Imprint
- Jewish Lights, an imprint of Turner Publishing Company
- Published
- Formats
- Paperback, Hardcover
- Subjects
- Religion › Judaism
- Topics
- Jewish spirituality · Jewish Renewal movement · Hasidism · Jewish worship · spiritual practice · Jewish life
- ISBN-13
- 9781580231824 (Paperback)9781683360629 (Hardcover)
About the author
ZALMAN SCHACHTER-SHALOMI was one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement and the author of From Age-ing to Sage-ing, Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer and Wrapped in a Holy Flame.
Schachter-Shalomi received his rabbinic ordination from the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in 1947, earned an MA from Boston University and a Doctor of Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College, and held the National Jewish Book Award for Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer. He served as professor emeritus of Psychology of Religion and Jewish Mysticism at Temple University and held the World Wisdom Chair emeritus at Naropa University.
Born in Zholkiev, Poland, Schachter-Shalomi fled Nazi persecution before immigrating to the United States. He died in July 2014.