The Amen effect : ancient wisdom to mend our broken hearts and world

The Amen effect Ancient wisdom to mend our broken hearts and world

Sharon Brous

Book - 2024

"From one of our country's most prominent rabbis, an inspiring book about the power of community based on one of her most impactful sermons. In 2013, Rabbi Sharon Brous gave a sermon in which she preached the need--in an era riven by loneliness, social alienation, polarization, and ideological extremism--to reclaim the simple act of showing up for one another. That day marked the beginning of an essential change in the community. Based on that original sermon, The Amen Effect dives into our fundamental human longing for connection-in our most intimate relationships, in our community, with strangers, perhaps with God. Faith and ritual are powerful vehicles for this kind of connection, but so is simply reaching out, showing up, bein...g present when others need us most. These are the ways that we reawaken to one another's humanity, and to our own. Brous argues that connection and kinship in times of sorrow and celebration not only give our lives meaning, but can help us establish the foundation for a more just and loving society. Drawn from ancient Jewish wisdom, contemporary social science, and Rabbi Brous's twenty years of pastoring to a leading-edge faith community, The Amen Effect argues that human connection is the very heart of life itself, and has the power to transform the way we think, feel, and live"--

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2nd Floor EXPRESS shelf 296.3/Brous Due Jan 18, 2025
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Subjects
Compassion > Religious aspects > Judaism.
Caring > Religious aspects > Judaism.
Interpersonal relations > Religious aspects > Judaism.
Helping behavior > Religious aspects > Judaism.
Loneliness > Religious aspects > Judaism.
Loneliness > Psychological aspects.
Published
New York : Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House [2024]
Language
English
Main Author
Sharon Brous (author)
Edition
First
Item Description
Includes index.
Physical Description
pages ; cm
ISBN
9780593543313
  • Introduction
  • 1. Show Up
  • Sharing grief and joy is the heart of life itself.
  • 2. Please, Hold On
  • The antidote to loneliness is sacred connection.
  • 3. See No Stranger
  • Every single person is worthy of love.
  • 4. Come Alive
  • This generation calls us to great things.
  • 5. Grieve and Live
  • Our capacious hearts can hold both sorrow and celebration.
  • 6. Hold the Healers
  • A prisoner cannot free herself.
  • 7. Bear With-ness
  • The work is not to fix, but to love.
  • 8. Wonder
  • Curiosity is essential to our healing.
  • Epilogue Write a New Story
  • Practice
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Rabbi Brous, founder of the justice-driven Jewish spiritual community IKAR, explores in her compassionate debut how to better connect with others in a social climate of widespread division. For Brous, of foremost importance is simply "showing up" for others in hard times, a principle that's illustrated by a Mishnaic ritual in which pilgrims circled the temple courtyard in one direction and comforted the "grieving, the lonely, the sick," who were moving in the opposite direction (the practice "awaken us to one another's humanity," Brous explains, because "today, you walk from left to right. Tomorrow, it will be me"). Also discussed is the value of showing up for one another in happy moments (sharing good news can be more psychologically beneficial than experiencing the joyous event in the first place, recent research suggests); seeking emotional support when needed; and getting genuinely curious about others, because "when we don't wonder what thinking or feeling... our hearts close." The author's religious- based principles are anchored by practical tips for conducting "openhearted" conversations with those across the political aisle and helping the bereaved by making meals and providing childcare. Seamlessly mixing rabbinic wisdom, personal anecdotes, and psychology (she discusses compassion fatigue and how mirror neurons facilitate sharing others' joy), Brous offers readers hope for building bridges. This inspires. (Jan.)

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