Forty Arguments for the Sake of Heaven: Why the Most Vital Controversies in Jewish Intellectual History Still Matter by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz
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Jewish Arguments
Two Jews, three arguments – as the saying goes. But what kinds of topics have Jews disagreed about historically, in the present day, and potentially also in the future? Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz surveys forty major controversies in Jewish culture, and presents how opposing sides have each laid out their arguments in good faith.
Disagreements happen between people: Hillel vs. Shammai, Ayn Rand vs. Karl Marx, Tamar Ross vs. Judith Plaskow… but also Abraham vs. God, and God vs. the angels! Movements debate each other: Reform versus Orthodoxy, one- two- and zero-state solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, gun rights versus gun control in the United States.
The book doesn’t shy away from the fundamental questions of existence either. Is life about struggle or about peace? Should we focus on love based on emotions or love based on deeds? What is better: seeking absolute truth, or building compromise? Ultimately, what is the meaning of life?
Rabbi Yanklowitz presents difficult and often heated disagreements with fairness and empathy, helping us consider our own truths in a pluralistic Jewish landscape.
Year first published: 2024
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