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Immensely learned, genuinely accessible, and overwhelmingly moving, Judaism Is About Love is destined to exert a massive and enduring influence upon Jewish life and thought; I would go so far as to predict that people will still be reading it centuries from now. Jewish and non-Jewish readers alike will be enlightened and inspired by this theological magnum opus!
— Rabbi David Ellenson, Chancellor Emeritus, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion
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For a long time the world has needed a Jewish thinker as treasured and respected by both Jews and Christians as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once was. It has also needed truly significant books that make Judaism accessible, compelling, and believable to a mass audience. Shai Held is that thinker and Judaism Is About Love is that book. Held’s portrayal of Judaism as a humane, compassionate, and generous religion of love will bring Jews closer to Judaism and will enable Christians to see Judaism in a radically new light. The book is written with genuine intellectual honesty and a captivating style which will appeal to a wide range of readers.
— Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, theologian, author, The Jewish Way
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In this magisterial work, Rabbi Shai Held clearly demonstrates from the Hebrew Bible, Talmud, and other authoritative Jewish sources that Judaism Is About Love. This work is an indispensable contribution to Jewish ethics, to be sure, but really to all ethical reflection. In this bloody, hateful era, how desperately we need this nuanced exposition of the theological ethics of love.
— Rev. Dr. David P. Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics, Mercer University
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Shai Held’s powerful, learned and passionate book makes it clear that Judaism has always placed love at the center, and eloquently urges its readers to do the same. Judaism Is About Love cites texts and thinkers from the Bible to the present day, ranges widely over Christian thought and secular philosophy, and brings telling lessons from Held’s personal experience—all of them marshalled to make the point that God loves the human beings created in God’s image, and wants each of us to become vehicles through which God’s love, grace and compassion flow to others. One leaves it inspired by the author’s wisdom and grateful for his tradition’s counsel on how to spend our time on earth well.
— Arnold M. Eisen, Chancellor Emeritus, Jewish Theological Seminary of America
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“Judaism Is About Love is an extraordinary book, overflowing with wisdom and insight. Shai Held shows us how love serves as the cornerstone of Jewish belief and practice. Building on that foundation, he draws on a remarkable array of sources, both sacred and secular, to explore love in psychology, parenting, ethics, and repentance. Both edifying and inspiring, Judaism Is about Love offers a path to better ourselves by embracing that most precious of God’s gifts: to give love and to receive it.
— Jerome Groopman MD, author of How Doctors Think
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In this provocative book, Shai Held challenges the widely held view that Judaism is mainly about justice and law, while Christianity is mainly about love. Through a learned but beautifully accessible interpretation of Biblical and Talmudic texts, Held shows that Jewish ethics and theology are fundamentally about love—the love expressed in God’s creation of the world, and the love of the neighbor, the stranger, of humanity, and of God that the Torah commands. This book will prompt readers, religious and secular alike, to rethink the ethical teachings of Judaism and Christianity and to reflect anew on the meaning of a good life.
— Michael J. Sandel, author of The Tyranny of Merit: Can We Find the Common Good?
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This magnificent book combines prodigious learning, theological depth, ethical insight, and spiritual inspiration—all on terms that are edifying to scholars and non-experts alike. If, after centuries of ignorance and contempt, we Christians are finally to learn the depth and coherence of Jewish traditions of biblical interpretation, practice, and prayer, Judaism Is About Love is our best chance in this generation.
— Ellen F. Davis, Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology, Duke Divinity School