Yay, I am so glad that it is Friday. I am looking forward to a day of rest. Work has been extra stressful this week, but the issues at hand are being resolved and hopefully next week things become normal again. Sadly, all this stress has exhausted me to the point of no motivation to write. This, in turn, makes for a very silent blog. Like I said, hopefully next week I can get back into the swing of things.
Last weekend, the family and I took a day trip to St Louis to visit family and enjoy time at St Louis’s malls. One of the malls we visited just happens to be located in an area that has a large Jewish presence. I was pleasantly surprised how food venders had signs proudly indicating their kosher status, something I do not see were I live. I can definitely see why it is important for Jews to live in a tight nit community because the businesses tend to cater to needs for the people living there, which is helpful.
Nevertheless, since I was there, I just had to see what the big bookstore had for a selection of Jewish material. I have to admit, they had a great selection to choose from. They had books that I have only seen online and I was able to actually thumb through them before even buying them, which is a different experience for me. There was quite a few on my buy list there but it is cheaper to buy them online, so I settled with buying only two books.
“The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, Vol. 1” by Daniel C. Matt. I have to admit, Kabbalah scares me a little. I think what scares me is that I do not understand Jewish mysticism at all. However, as I thumbed through this book, it had a lot of commentary on the Torah that seemed to fascinate me.
“Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations” by Jonathan Sacks. This book was on my buy list, but I decided to buy it that day. I have been looking forward to reading this book. I have been searching for answers about why we have diversity and why we can’t seem to live with it. I am hoping that this book helps my study.
The book I am reading at the moment.
“Eternal Life: A New Vision: Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell” by John Shelby Spong. This book was suggested for me by a friend for a little book study. I have been slowly getting through this book. Even though it is mainly geared towards the Christian belief, some of his arguments about the origin of religion are quite good. This book is not for the spiritual faint at heart, he is brutally honest about his own faith and his lack of faith in established religion (mainly Christianity). Personally, I like his honesty and find that it helps me find the courage to be honest about my own faith. At the moment it is getting mixed reviews, but honesty, this book is not for everyone.
Next book I am planning on reading.
“To Be A Jew: A Guide To Jewish Observance In Contemporary Life” by Hayim H. Donin. I bought this book because some Rabbis on the internet recommend it as required reading for conversion. It looks like a very comprehensive book on the Jewish life. I am looking forward to reading it next.
Well, time to get busy. I hope everyone has a great weekend.
Shabbat Shalom!
Religiously Challenged 
Ooh, I have that last book that you plan to read next. It is good, so I hope you enjoy it.
It’s great that you got to visit somewhere that has a tangible community presence. My town does not, but we have great swathes of London within a train journey that has exactly what you describe. I think that’s why I value the internet so much – it enables people to connect when otherwise they would not. That’s the positive side of the coin, anyway!
Shabbat Shalom!
Thanks Rachel, I am looking forward to getting started on that book.
I have the entire Daniel Matt Zohar series. I bought the first three then one year later the fourth came out. I have read bits of it, and find the commentaries to be fascinating.
He he, then I must have done well. 🙂 I think I am going to buy the rest of the volumes also. The commentary is too fascinating to not have them in my personal library.