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Special to the Jewish News 1 COUPON PER CUSTOMER ex/fires 2/28/03 248.351.5174 On The Bookshelf `A Book Of Life' SAN D EE B RAWARS KY IN 2003 nter ta I 3.00 OFF (YOUR CHOICE OF 8) gni Arts jr udging by their covers, Rabbi Michael Strassfeld's newly pub- lished work A Book ofLifi• awareness of God's presence, mindful of the words from Psalm 16, "I have placed God before me always." Rabbi Strassfeld presents Judaism as a practice to engage on a regular basis, showing how daily life is infused with sparks of holiness, moments of caring, compassion and ethics. Embracing Judaism as a Spiritual Practice (Schocken; $28) and his earlier The Jewish Catolog (Jewish Publication Society) — published almost 30 years Changing Times ago — couldn't be more different. Initially, Rabbi Strassfeld, now 50, set out His new book is hardcover; its jacket to write a new Jewish Catalog, but realized features a traditional papercut design that the times, and his own experience, in deep colors, highlighted in gold, called for a different kind of book. altogether very handsome. The first He begins with the idea of awaken- book, a paperback he edited along . ing to the day, covering, among other with Richard Siegel and Sharon things, morning rituals, speech, work, Strassfeld, is bright red, with a do-it- close of the day and Shabbat. yourself look. In a second section, Although dissimilar he describes the paths in format, the books of Torah; avodah, or share some similarities, work; and gemilut as Rabbi Strassfeld chesed loving-kindness. points out in an inter- He goes on to describe view in his study at the the cycle of holidays Society for the through the year. Advancement of In the final sec- Judaism, the synagogue tions, he writes of the he serves on the Upper lifecycle, considering West Side of all sorts of passages, Manhattan. and concludes with Each book reflects its reflections on Israel, The Jewish Catalog, time: ecology and God. which sold more than Throughout the 500,000 copies in its book are shaded sec- three volumes, was born tions with meditations, of the Jewish counter- teachings and stories to aid in focusing. cultural movement of the 1960s and Rabbi Strassfeld is a gentle and wise early 1970s, modeled after the success- guide, well versed in the biblical, tal- ful Whole Earth Catalog. mudic, midrashic, Chasidic and mysti- Strassfeld and his colleagues cal texts he cites. explained how to be Jewish to a gener- "I'm trying to bring the depth and ation re-exploring its roots; the richness of Jewish tradition" to spiritu- Judaism they presented was joyous, al subjects, he says, showing how ele- non-judgmental and participatory, ments of contemporary spiritual prac- with information on making Shabbat tice, like meditation and paying atten- candles and how to say the appropri- tion, are rooted in Jewish sources. ate blessings, about crafting mezuzot His view veers from the traditional and the meaning of the text inside. _sense of Halachah, which he says, "too A Book of Life is published at a moment when many Jews are "looking often seems too far away from the Presence of God." for something that gives meaning to He doesn't suggest that Jewish rituals their lives, something larger than be practiced only when people feel themselves," Rabbi Strassfeld said. moved, but rather on an ongoing basis, Gone are the directions for making coming from a place of wanting to do hand-crafted Judaica and braiding chal- [them] rather than feeling obligated." lah, and much expanded are the expla- He writes, "The point of Judaism is nations of meaning, with new rituals. not to pray three times a day or to The book emphasizes living with an " observe the Sabbath or the holidays. Rituals should not be observed because we are 'supposed to' observe them, but rather because they help us - achieve the real goal: awareness. "To be a good Jew is not to do all the particular Jewish things perfectly. It is to live a life of goodness and holiness inspired by the teaching and structured by the traditions of Judaism." New Kind Of Rabbi Another difference with the earlier books is that the author is now a rabbi. At age 39, he began rabbinical school and grad- uated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1991. His religious biography shifts along the Jewish spectrum, although he has always been closely connected to Judaism. The son of an Orthodox rabbi, he attended Orthodox day schools, and when his father became the rabbi of a Conservative synagogue, he refused to attend. He began his college studies at Yeshiva University but soon felt that he was no longer Orthodox in outlook and transferred to Brandeis. He joined Havurat Shalom, a Massachusetts religious community that was egalitarian, liberal, contempo- rary and traditional. "Yrwas in the chavurah that my Jewish life for the next 25 years was shaped," he writes. He explains that it took him a long time to decide to become a rabbi, partly because the chavurah movement stressed lay participation over rabbinic leadership. But after doing a lot of Jewish programming, he felt that he had things he wanted to teach, so he began his rabbinic studies. Now, as a rabbi, he tries to balance religious and spiritual leadership with lay participation. He speaks of being part of a broad shift among rabbis, from the "old model of big man on pulpit" to a situation where the gap between rabbi and congregation is smaller. Art And Music Rabbi Strassfeld is soft-spoken and also dynamic, an unusual mix. The walls of his study are filled with framed Yiddish signs he has salvaged from synagogues shutting down. He collects these pieces of Jewish Americana folk art, and also collects recordings of Chasidic music (he has over 300). Another hobby is making papercuts, and his handiwork, based on tradi- tional designs, illustrates the book jacket and interior.