Five Cities of Refuge by Lawrence Kushner

Five Cities of Refuge by Lawrence Kushner

In the ancient Jewish practice of the kavannah (a meditation designed to focus one's heart on its spiritual goal), Lawrence Kushner and David Mamet offer their own reactions to key verses from each week's Torah portion, opening the biblical text to new layers of understanding.

Here is a fascinating glimpse into two great minds, as each author approaches the text from his unique perspective, each seeking an understanding of the Bible's personalities and commandments, paradoxes and ambiguities. Kushner offers his words of Torah with a conversational enthusiasm that ranges from family dynamics to the Kabbalah; Mamet challenges the reader, often beginning his comment far afield--with Freud or the American judiciary--before returning to a text now wholly reinterpreted.

In the tradition of Israel as a people who wrestle with God, Kushner and Mamet grapple with the biblical text, succumbing neither to apologetics nor parochialism, asking questions without fear of the answers they may find. Over the course of a year of weekly readings, they comment on all aspects of the Bible: its richness of theme and language, its contradictions, its commandments, and its often unfathomable demands. If you are already familiar with the Bible, this book will draw you back to the text for a deeper look. If you have not yet explored the Bible in depth, Kushner and Mamet are guides of unparalleled wisdom and discernment. Five Cities of Refuge is easily accessible yet powerfully illuminating. Each week's comments can be read in a few minutes, but they will give you something to think about all week long.

Lawrence Kushner teaches and writes as the Emanu-El Scholar at The Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco. He has taught at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City and served for twenty-eight years as rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts. A frequent lecturer, he is also the author of more than a dozen books on Jewish spirituality and mysticism. He lives in San Francisco.

David Mamet is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. He is the author of Glengarry Glen Ross, The Cryptogram, and Boston Marriage, among other plays. He has also published three novels and many screenplays, children's books, and essay collections.

David Mamet is one of America's most important contemporary writers. He won the Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-the-Plow. As a screenwriter, he received Oscar nominations for The Verdict and Wag the Dog. He is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company. Many of his plays have been premiered by the St Nicholas Theatre company, Chicago, of which Mamet was a founding member and Artistic Director. In 1978 he became Associate Artistic Director of the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, where American Buffalo had been first staged in 1975, subsequently winning an Obie Award and opening on Broadway in 1977 and at the National Theatre in 1978. His greatest hits, Glengarry Glen Ross and Oleanna, followed in 1983 and 1993 respectively. Mamet received the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for Grand Master of American Theater in 2010.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780805242201
ISBN 10	0805242201
Titel	Five Cities of Refuge
Autor	Lawrence Kushner
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Hardback
Verlag	Schocken
Erscheinungsjahr	2003-08-26
Seitenanzahl	192
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.