A thoughtful reflection on the continued relevance of Ba’al Shem Tov.
A rabbi charts his intellectual and spiritual journey to Hasidism in this debut memoir.
At almost 90 years old, Jacobson admits, “I don’t know how much longer I have on this earth, or what will happen to me—if anything—after my death.” This reflection, rife with ambiguity, is emblematic of the author’s approach to spirituality. In this self-styled “intellectual journey of discovery,” Jacobson offers a chronicle of his spiritual path to Hasidism. While the book’s autobiographical framework provides chronological guideposts, from the author’s asthmatic childhood in 1930s Cleveland to his rabbinical training at Manhattan’s Jewish Theological Seminary, the text largely consists of Jacobson’s reflections on his exploration of the teachings of Ba’al Shem Tov (affectionally referred to throughout the book as “the Besht”). It was while at seminary that the author studied under renowned Jewish scholar Abraham Joshua Heschel (whose daughter writes the book’s foreword) and was first drawn to the ideas of Ba’al Shem Tov, the 18th-century mystic and founder of Hasidic Judaism. Dissatisfied with mainstream Conservative Jewish thought—particularly its prioritization of Talmudic learning over the development of an inner life—Jacobson found that the Besht’s teachings offered a fresh approach to spirituality. The book is a nuanced work; Jacobson does not hide his admiration of Ba’al Shem Tov, though the author willingly admits that “I’ve come to understand that I don’t have to accept everything the Besht believed.” Indeed, many of the book’s chapters blend the Besht’s teachings with the author’s learned takes on Buddhism, Hinduism, Kabbalah, and Jungian psychology. Given Jacobson’s lifelong career as a spiritual leader and rabbi, it is not surprising that the book ends with a practical guide that offers readers advice on how to apply the teachings of Ba’al Shem Tov to their own lives. At over 600 pages, this is not a light read, though its accessible writing style welcomes readers at all stages of their spiritual journeys. The work includes hundreds of endnotes—scholars will be impressed by Jacobson’s research, which is informed by more than a half-century of study.
A thoughtful reflection on the continued relevance of Ba’al Shem Tov.Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2024
ISBN: 9781958972632
Page Count: 650
Publisher: Monkfish Book Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.
Memories and life lessons inspired by the author’s mother, who was murdered in 2021.
“Neither my mother nor I knew that her last text to me would be the words ‘Think you’ll be happy,’ ” Avant writes, "but it is fitting that she left me with a mantra for resiliency.” The author, a filmmaker and former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, begins her first book on the night she learned her mother, Jacqueline Avant, had been fatally shot during a home invasion. “One of my first thoughts,” she writes, “was, ‘Oh God, please don’t let me hate this man. Give me the strength not to hate him.’ ” Daughter of Clarence Avant, known as the “Black Godfather” due to his work as a pioneering music executive, the author describes growing up “in a house that had a revolving door of famous people,” from Ella Fitzgerald to Muhammad Ali. “I don’t take for granted anything I have achieved in my life as a Black American woman,” writes Avant. “And I recognize my unique upbringing…..I was taught to honor our past and pay forward our fruits.” The book, which is occasionally repetitive, includes tributes to her mother from figures like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton, but the narrative core is the author’s direct, faith-based, unwaveringly positive messages to readers—e.g., “I don’t want to carry the sadness and anger I have toward the man who did this to my mother…so I’m worshiping God amid the worst storm imaginable”; "Success and feeling good are contagious. I’m all about positive contagious vibrations!” Avant frequently quotes Bible verses, and the bulk of the text reflects the spirit of her daily prayer “that everything is in divine order.” Imploring readers to practice proactive behavior, she writes, “We have to always find the blessing, to be the blessing.”
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9780063304413
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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