A Modern Orthodox Life
Sermons and Writings
Rabbi Emanuel Rackman
A Modern Orthodox Life brings together some 75 sermons, columns, and articles by one of modern Orthodoxy's most distinguished figures. Some of the writings in this volume go back many years, but the thoughts they express are as pertinent today as they were when first set down. They cover a broad range of topics that will be of interest to thoughtful readers of every Jewish background, and grapple with questions and issues that still demand reflection and seek resolution. All in all, this volume is a moving and profoundly human distillation of the wisdom of a lifetime spent in the rabbinate.
About the Author
Rabbi Emanuel Rackman is chancellor emeritus of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, and previously served for many decades first as its president and then as its chancellor. Before taking up his responsibilities at Bar-Ilan he was provost of Yeshiva University in New York City, where he taught political science and jurisprudence. During his long and fruitful career he has also served as spiritual leader of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York City, as president of the New York Board of Rabbis and of the Rabbinical Council of America, and as chairman of the Commission on Jewish Chaplaincy in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Priase for A Modern Orthodox Life
This book -- and Rabbi Rackman -- provide a model for how Jewish life ought to be conducted and how Jewish principles and commitments should find expression in both private life and the public arena.
~ David Ellenson, President, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
If you read these works and afterwards check the original date, you will understand what "way ahead of his time" means. This book contains a lifetime of wisdom, of compassionate caring, of courage and fearlessness in speaking out for justice when others fell silent. Read this book for its stimulating Torah, its insightful spirituality and, most of all, to encounter the mind and soul of a great rabbinic leader of our times.
~ Blu and Yitz Greenberg
No one can describe or model the essence of Modern Orthodox Judaism better than Rabbi Rackman. This fascinatingly readable collection of sermons from the 50's and 60's, and columns from the 70's through the 90's, is at once a history of Modern Orthodox thought in America and the impressive measure of one of its most eloquent, informative, and inspiring spokesmen.
~ Haskel Lookstein, Senior Rabbi, Congreation Kehilath Jeshurun, New York
This book is a treasure for anyone interested in passionate, rational Judaism. Reading Rabbi Rackman's sermons and essays, some going back many decades, I was struck by how relevant they are today, and how important his voice was, and is, particularly in an Orthodox Jewish community that has become more fundamentalist in practice and less compassionate in spirit. There is no better time to reflect on and appreciate Rabbi Rackman's shared wisdom.
~ Gary Rosenblatt, The Jewish Week
Rabbi Emanuel Rackman is a legend in our times. Caring, incisive and courageous, his essays reflect bold responses to the challenges our community has faced over the years
~ Rabbi Avi Weiss, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale
Sermons and Writings
Rabbi Emanuel Rackman
A Modern Orthodox Life brings together some 75 sermons, columns, and articles by one of modern Orthodoxy's most distinguished figures. Some of the writings in this volume go back many years, but the thoughts they express are as pertinent today as they were when first set down. They cover a broad range of topics that will be of interest to thoughtful readers of every Jewish background, and grapple with questions and issues that still demand reflection and seek resolution. All in all, this volume is a moving and profoundly human distillation of the wisdom of a lifetime spent in the rabbinate.
About the Author
Rabbi Emanuel Rackman is chancellor emeritus of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, and previously served for many decades first as its president and then as its chancellor. Before taking up his responsibilities at Bar-Ilan he was provost of Yeshiva University in New York City, where he taught political science and jurisprudence. During his long and fruitful career he has also served as spiritual leader of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York City, as president of the New York Board of Rabbis and of the Rabbinical Council of America, and as chairman of the Commission on Jewish Chaplaincy in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Priase for A Modern Orthodox Life
This book -- and Rabbi Rackman -- provide a model for how Jewish life ought to be conducted and how Jewish principles and commitments should find expression in both private life and the public arena.
~ David Ellenson, President, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
If you read these works and afterwards check the original date, you will understand what "way ahead of his time" means. This book contains a lifetime of wisdom, of compassionate caring, of courage and fearlessness in speaking out for justice when others fell silent. Read this book for its stimulating Torah, its insightful spirituality and, most of all, to encounter the mind and soul of a great rabbinic leader of our times.
~ Blu and Yitz Greenberg
No one can describe or model the essence of Modern Orthodox Judaism better than Rabbi Rackman. This fascinatingly readable collection of sermons from the 50's and 60's, and columns from the 70's through the 90's, is at once a history of Modern Orthodox thought in America and the impressive measure of one of its most eloquent, informative, and inspiring spokesmen.
~ Haskel Lookstein, Senior Rabbi, Congreation Kehilath Jeshurun, New York
This book is a treasure for anyone interested in passionate, rational Judaism. Reading Rabbi Rackman's sermons and essays, some going back many decades, I was struck by how relevant they are today, and how important his voice was, and is, particularly in an Orthodox Jewish community that has become more fundamentalist in practice and less compassionate in spirit. There is no better time to reflect on and appreciate Rabbi Rackman's shared wisdom.
~ Gary Rosenblatt, The Jewish Week
Rabbi Emanuel Rackman is a legend in our times. Caring, incisive and courageous, his essays reflect bold responses to the challenges our community has faced over the years
~ Rabbi Avi Weiss, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale