Review by Choice Review
Sacks (United Hebrew Congregations of Britain and the Commonwealth) advances two premises: (1) an acknowledgment of the persisting relevance of religion in establishing values in a world heavily influence by global economics, secularism, and conflict; (2) the suggestion that Western civilization must be exorcised from a legacy that Sacks attributes to Plato's world of ideas, which fosters a tendency to presume that only one truth exists and fails to respect "the dignity of difference." This study also discusses positive and negative effects of globalization and argues the need for a moral vision to guide the market economy. By calling attention to the Noaic covenant and dispersal from the tower of Babel in Genesis to illustrate God's blessing of cultural diversity before establishing a particular covenant with Abraham, Sacks provides a Jewish appreciation of religious pluralism. In appealing to the ideal of tzedakah, he draws from the Jewish understanding of justice. Although this study offers much to ponder, it does not resolve how Christian and Islamic theology could include religious pluralism in ways consistent with their own self-understandings. Sacks's points, which are grounded in classical Jewish premises, offer an articulate, erudite Jewish response to those who tend to consider religion more of a problem than an enhancement to the contemporary world. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All levels. R. A. Boisclair Alaska Pacific University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
The chief rabbi of Britain and the Commonwealth, Sacks is well known through his appearances on British television and through his 12 books (e.g., A Letter in the Scroll). Americans will be taken with his incisive arguments and clear writing style. What he presents here is not a treatise on Jewish faith and customs but a look at the discontents of our world and how religious values can unite rather than divide us. Sacks sees certain values (e.g., education, responsibility, charity) as imperative to any new world order, regardless of one's religious beliefs. Though these values might seem self-evident, he shows how their absence causes much that is wrong. He further exhorts us to explore more covenantal relationships, which he defines as "a bond, not of interest and advantage, but of belonging" and sees as paramount to our survival-more so than commercial relationships, however essential they are to capitalist society. Throughout, Sacks makes reference to demanding philosophical thought, but he provides some much-needed spiritual uplift in this post-9/11 world, and his work is accessible to informed lay readers. Larger libraries should consider.-Paul Kaplan, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
