A blueprint for living an ethical and meaningful life, based on the teachings of the late leader of the Lubavitch movement of Hassidic Jewry. Adapter Jacobson has edited and prepared the public talks of Rabbi Schneerson (widely known as the Rebbe and believed by many of his followers to be the messiah) for publication for 14 years. Here he presents the essence of the Rebbe's more universalist teachings, made relevant to non-Jews and assimilated Jews. In three sections (on man, society, and God), Jacobson paraphrases the core of the Rebbe's teachings. Living a moral and meaningful life, according to Rabbi Schneerson, is predicated on the recognition of God. A believer perceives life as a gift from God whose purpose is to allow us to improve the world and use our talents to enrich the lives of others. According to the Rebbe, life without faith would be ``a random series of logical and illogical errors.'' Mankind is morally weak and needs an absolute value system, based on divine revelation, to guide us. While the Torah was given via the Jews at Sinai, all humanity was charged with a moral code before Sinai: ``The very foundation of civilization rests upon the basic principles known as the Seven Noahide Laws.'' They include not only a belief in God, but respect for all life and for the family. Sex, according to the Rebbe, is wholesome and even sacred within the context of marriage. A healthy life is also relatively devoid of materialist pursuits and extraneous material comforts. Death is a journey in another vehicle rather than an end of life. Quotes from the Rebbe, anecdotes from his life, and an array of Jewish commentary supplement the text. While spiritual seekers may find more questions raised than answered, this book lays down the framework of a consistent moral vision. (Author tour)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-688-14196-X
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
