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Duties of the Soul From URJ PRESS In a debate that is timely as today's headlines and timeless as Torah, modern Jews are grappling with the nature of mitzvot (or commandments)- What exactly are mitzvot? Do they change with time and place? To guide concerned Jews in this dialogue, the URJ PRESS has just published Duties of the Soul: The Role of Commandments in Liberal Judaism, a collection of essays by leading rabbis of the Reform movement. All of the writers share a commitment to the centrality of mitzvah, as well as the belief that mitzvah will be the key to Jewish continuity and the basis for its spiritual renewal, but leave open the questions about how to incorporate commandments, ritual, and observance into a life of integrity. Contributors to Duties of the Soul include Eric H. Yoffie, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations; Herbert Bronstein, author of the Reform movement's Passover Haggadah; Elyse D. Frishman, spiritual leader of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, The Barnert Temple, in Franklin Lakes, NJ, and author of Haneirot Halulu: These Lights Are Holy, a Chanukah home prayer book; and Sue Levi Elwell, assistant director of the UAHC's Pennsylvania Council. The release of the book coincides with the current debate in Reform synagogues across North America about Rabbi Richard Levy's proposed ten principles defining basic beliefs of the movement. But the role of mitzvot has historically been controversial in Reform Judaism, from the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform of the Central Conference of American Rabbis that disregarded traditional Jewish observance, to the 1935 Columbus Platform, which showed a greater appreciation for this tradition, and up through the decades since World War II. Duties of the Soul is edited with an introduction by Rabbi Niles E. Goldstein, program officer/educator at the Jewish Life Network in New York City and an associate of CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and Rabbi Peter S. Knobel, senior rabbi at Beth Emet the Free Synagogue in Evanston, Illinois, and chair of the CCAR Liturgy Committee.Because this is an important book for individual as well as group study, a discussion guide for Duties of the Soul is being prepared and will be posted this spring on the URJ PRESS web site at www.URJPress.com. The URJ PRESS is part of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the central body of Reform Judaism in North America, uniting 1.5 million Reform Jews in more than 880 synagogues. UAHC services include camps, music and book publishing, outreach to unaffiliated and intermarried Jews, and educational programs. Items from the URJ PRESS can be ordered toll free at 1-888-489-UAHC or through the website at http://www.URJPress.com. (3/99) ###
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