Common Prayers: Faith, Family, and a Christian's Journey Through the Jewish Year

When the Christian theologian Harvey Cox married Nina Tumarkin, a Jewish woman, he plunged into a "crash course in interfaith relations." Cox's Common Prayers reminds readers that there was a literal space in Jerusalem's ancient Temple called the Court of the Gentiles, where Jews welcomed all "strangers and sojourners" to worship alongside them. In an age of interfaith marriage, Cox asserts that the Court of the Gentiles has considerable symbolic resonance. It is, figuratively, a space where thousands of husbands and wives of Jewish women and men find themselves every day. Cox's memoir of family life follows the Jewish calendar, describing Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Hanukah, and Christmas, as well as events such as death and marriage. Travelers often find wisdom in foreign experiences, and Cox is no exception. His Christian experience of Jewish life has not diluted his faith but made it broader and more nuanced. With candor, wit, and insight, Cox brings readers into the Court of the Gentiles. --Michael Joseph Gross