Product Description

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz is internationally regarded as one of the most brilliant and influential rabbis of our time. He has been lauded by Time magazine as a “once-in-a-millennium scholar” and by Ted Koppel of Night Line as “one of the very few wise men that I’ve ever met.”

Arthur Kurzweil—himself a Jewish scholar, author, teacher, and publisher—has been a disciple of Rabbi Steinsaltz’s for over 25 years, as well as the Rabbi’s designated chauffer in the United States. While stuck in countless traffic jams and attending the Rabbi’s lectures at universities, government agencies, synagogues and seminars, Arthur Kurzweil has had the rare opportunity of personally learning from his inspired teacher and has become intimately familiar with the Rabbi’s wisdom and teachings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #497366 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In this book-length love letter from a disciple to his mentor, author and editor Kurzweil traces his discovery of a "Teacher with a capital T" in Jerusalem-based Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, probably best known for his commentary on the Talmud. Fascinated and enlightened by Steinsaltz's masterpiece of Jewish theology, The Thirteen-Petalled Rose—he knows it almost by heart—Kurzweil once called the rabbi's U.S. office, volunteering to pick him up at the airport and chauffeur him around during his lecture tours. Thus began a two-decades-long journey of conversations about reincarnation, suffering, Talmud, Kabbalah, marijuana, parenting and much more. Part spiritual memoir, Kurzweil's own story is interpolated with Steinsaltz's, from his secular upbringing, experimentation with Eastern religions, immersion in magic and ultimate rediscovery of Judaism. Kurzweil faithfully transcribes the rabbi's encounters with Ted Koppel and the Lubavitcher rebbe as well as his poignant conversations with Kurzweil's own daughters about role models, love and divorce. All these interactions show the rabbi's nonjudgmental depth and wisdom. Steinsaltz's gifts as a scientist, mathematician, skeptic and man of God results in a "wholeness of vision" that helps Kurzweil transform his life and motivates him to encourage readers to mine Steinsaltz's genius for themselves. (Sept. 17)
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From Booklist
Rabbi Steinsaltz has been head of the Israel Institute for Talmudic Publications, the Yeshivah^B Makor Hayim, and the Shefa Institute of Advanced Studies in Judaism. He is the author of The Thirteen Petalled Rose (1985), The Essential Talmud (1994), and other books and has translated many volumes of the Babylonian Talmud into modern Hebrew. Kurzweil, a Jewish scholar and author, has been Steinsaltz's companion and personal driver for 25 years, picking him up at New York's Kennedy Airport when the rabbi flies in from Israel three times a year. Kurzweil discusses such topics (and Steinsaltz's understanding of them) as genealogy, Hasidism, the Torah and Talmud, kabbalah, Jews in today's society, and praying. The book is highly relevant and unflinching in its approach to these profound subjects. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
In this book-length love letter from a disciple to his mentor, author and editor Kurzweil traces his discovery of a "Teacher with a capital T" in Jerusalem-based Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, probably best known for his commentary on the Talmud. Fascinated and enlightened by Steinsaltz's masterpiece of Jewish theology, The Thirteen-Petalled Rose—he knows it almost by heart—Kurzweil once called the rabbi's U.S. office, volunteering to pick him up at the airport and chauffeur him around during his lecture tours. Thus began a two-decades-long journey of conversations about reincarnation, suffering, Talmud, Kabbalah, marijuana, parenting and much more. Part spiritual memoir, Kurzweil's own story is interpolated with Steinsaltz's, from his secular upbringing, experimentation with Eastern religions, immersion in magic and ultimate rediscovery of Judaism. Kurzweil faithfully transcribes the rabbi's encounters with Ted Koppel and the Lubavitcher rebbe as well as his poignant conversations with Kurzweil's own daughters about role models, love and divorce. All these interactions show the rabbi's nonjudgmental depth and wisdom. Steinsaltz's gifts as a scientist, mathematician, skeptic and man of God results in a "wholeness of vision" that helps Kurzweil transform his life and motivates him to encourage readers to mine Steinsaltz's genius for themselves. (Sept. 17) (Publishers Weekly, August 14, 2006)

"It has been a long time since I have enjoyed a book this much and it will probably be a long time until another classic like this is published." –The National Jewish Post & Opinion, June 2006

"In an age in which people flit from cause to cause, and in which ‘what are you into this year’ is frequently heard, it is heartening to read the story of a person who has stayed loyal to the same teacher for more than two decades." –Jewish Ledger, June 2006

"There are several strong reasons to read this remarkable book by Parabola publisher Arthur Kurzweil. The primary one is given at the end of the book’s subtitle: ‘a Man of Wisdom.’

The man of wisdom is Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, the world’s leading Talmudic scholar. That Steinsaltz is a wise man has been demonstrated beyond doubt by his profound writings, from formal works such as his classic Kabbalah commentary The Thirteen Petalled Rose to his more informal presentations, including his regular columns in Parabola, "What Does Rabbi Steinsaltz Say?" But common sense dictates that a man of wisdom will express his wisdom not only through the published word but also in conversation and, more subtly, through his manifestations as a human being—how he goes about his day, how he relates to others.

On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz gives readers a memorable close-up portrait of a man of wisdom doing just that—sitting in a car, standing on a street, eating meals, delivering lectures, visiting a gravesite, and, most importantly, exchanging ideas with those around him, particularly with Kurzweil. It is the closest most of us will get to Rabbi Steinsaltz the man, and through this proximity to the rabbi, a warm, intimate, and rare wisdom flows from him toward the reader.

The channel for this wisdom is Kurzweil, who, judging from this work, knows books like Julia Child knew eggs—he served for 17 years as editor-in-chief of the Jewish Book Club before coming to Parabola. Kurzweil brings us close to Steinsaltz by placing his book’s narrative in the grand literary tradition of Watson/Holmes or Castenada/Don Juan: that of an eager apprentice, full of questions, relating his encounters with a master. "I’ll do anything for him. Give me the crummiest job you have," pleads Kurzweil early in the book when, in 1985, he makes a fateful call to the rabbi’s office in Manhattan. And having devoured Steinsaltz’s writings for the seven previous years--readings that inspired him to move toward observant Judaism--Kurzweil is thrilled to gain the regular task of picking up the rabbi from JFK Airport (where Steinsaltz flies in from Jerusalem) at 5:00 A.M. to drive him to appointments.

What follows is much more than a standard account of Kurzweil’s subsequent time with Steinsaltz. Because Kurzweil is an eager apprentice, his memoir offers not only astonishing access to the rabbi but also a vivid depiction of the growth of Kurzweil’s own wisdom, as Steinsaltz advises him with authority and much good humor on matters ranging from the mundane (overwork; a divorce; the use of tobacco) to the religious (synagogue behavior; Kurzweil’s proper Hebrew name) to the spiritual (a right way to pray; the meaning of good and evil). And, over the course of the book, Kurzweil’s spiritual growth becomes, by example, an inspiration for the reader’s own. Moreover, because it is Steinsaltz, a Jew and a Kabbalist, who is guiding Kurzweil, this book serves as well as an unusual, smart, and deeply informed introduction to Judaism and Kabbalah.

For all these reasons, this book is worth reading—as it is for its reader-friendly presentation, divided as it is into short chapters interspersed with boxed asides and brief but chewy "Notes from the Road." Ultimately, though, it is for the figure of Adin Steinsaltz, smoking his pipe, smiling, questioning, deeply and then more deeply still, a true Man of Wisdom, that anyone interested in the spiritual life should read this book--and more than once." –Parabola, 2006

Customer Reviews

Ceaseless wisdom and closeness
This is a marvelous book, which will be read for as long as Rabbi Steinsaltz himself is read. I expect that we're speaking of centuries. It allows the reader to recognize that the Rabbi belongs to the category of general teachers, teachers for all, who reach us not through the complexity of their thought but through a kind of ceaseless wisdom and closeness. Suzuki Roshi comes to mind, there are very few others. What a joy to read.

He truly got himself a teacher
We are instructed by 'Pirke Avot' to get ourselves a Rabbi, a teacher, a spiritual guide. Arthur Kurzweil took this teaching seriously and has for many years questioned, dialogued with and learned with his own chosen teacher. In this very rich and instructive intellectual and spiritual adventure story Kurzweil tells of his meetings and talks with his revered teacher, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.
Kurzweil also tells his own story of return to Judaism, and something of Rabbi Steinsaltz's story. Rabbi Steinsaltz whose father was a kibbutznik himself returned to religious Judaism at the age of seventeen. The fact that he went on to became the great 'talmid chacham',maker and presenter to the Jewish world of a remarkable new translation of the Talmud , and is today considered one of the greatest of all Jewish spiritual leaders is devotedly described in this book.
Arthur Kurzweil in searching for a teacher volunteered to be of any kind of help he could to the Steinsaltz organization. He was given the task of meeting Rabbi Steinsaltz at the airport and chauffering him during his visits to New York. For twenty- five years Kurzweil has chauffered and gained valuable hours of discussion with Rabbi Steinsaltz.
However even before meeting Steinsaltz , Kurzweil was on a path of returning to traditional Judaism. His genealogical researches which are pioneering and central were first undertaken before his meeting with Rabbi Steinsaltz. And this though Rabbi Steinsaltz subsequently greatly encouraged him in these researches, insisting upon the spiritual importance of each person knowing their own roots. Out of this knowledge Rabbi Steinsaltz feels there will certainly come deeper religious obligation.
Arthur Kurzweil in this book is constant in his praise of his teacher. This focusing on his teacher in a way leads him to underplay his own great contributions to the 'Jewish world' As editor he has helped bring to the public many outstanding works of Judaica including works of extremely great spiritual value , such as Yitzhak Buxbaum's 'Jewish Spiritual Practices' Nachum Amsel's work on Jewish Morality and Ethics and Seth Kaddish's work on Jewish Prayer.
Kurzweil describes Rabbi Steinsaltz's meetings with Jewish intellectuals and writers in New York upon the appearance in English of two volumes of his Talmud translation. In citing Steinsaltz's answers to some of these writers' questions he in a sense clarifies a good part of the meaning of the Steinsaltz enterprise. Rabbi Steinsaltz sees the Jewish people , or the greatest share of them as having lost a vital part of their body and soul. They do not know their own religious tradition. In a sense his translation of the Talmud is meant to help them restore that soul.
In other words Steinsaltz is not simply a rabbi for individuals but for the Jewish people as a whole. Here Kurzweil too chronicles Steinsaltz's connection with Habad ( His wife comes from a Habad family) and the whole outreach effort in the Jewish world. But Kurzweil makes it clear that Steinsaltz does not put himself under the rubric of any particular Jewish group but rather works for the Jewish people as a whole.
Kurzweil is not simply a student. He is a vivid and active admirer. He has helped publish much of Rabbi Steinsaltz's work in English. Kurzweil in searching for guidance and wisdom in raising his children also turned to Rabbi Steinsaltz and was helped. The Rabbi advised him among other things that teaching of children need not be confined to what they literally understand.
While it is impossible to question Kurzweil's admiration and devotion to his teacher it is possible to ask whether he is not a bit too uncritical. Even Moshe Reibenu is after all seen in the Jewish tradition as having his faults. And it might even be said that there is something 'non- Jewish' in the kind of total worship various Hasidic groups have displayed towards their 'tzaddikim'.
Yet it must be said that Kurzweil is a devoted student, a person of great intelligence who in his dialogue with Rabbi Steinsaltz also provides knowledge and insight. There may not be equality between student and teacher yet what is felt here is a great mutual respect. And my sense is that Rabbi Steinsaltz has a great appreciation of Arthur Kurzweil as more than simply chauffeur and student, but as true friend and 'mensch'.
I loved reading this book and I think that all those who care about Jewish learning and life, will also do so.

A Great Read For Individuals Wanting To Become More Observant
As a recent convert to Judaism I found the book inspiring. Arthur illustrates that one does not have to be brought up in an observant home in order to have fullfilled jewish life. One can turn at any time in there life and become observant. Once I picked up his book I could not put in down. I immediately orderd "The Thirteen Petalled Rose" as well as several books by Rabbi Steinsaltz.