The Book of Words: Talking Spiritual Life, Living Spiritual Talk (Kushner)

The Book of Words: Talking Spiritual Life, Living Spiritual Talk collects Rabbi Lawrence Kushner's inspiring, entertaining, unconventional definitions of 30 Hebrew words. "According to the Hebrew Bible, God made the world with words," Kushner writes. "Not only are words the instrument of creation, in Judaism they are the primary reality itself." According to this belief, Kushner proceeds to meditate and play with spiritually charged words such as "Love," "Water," and some surprising choices such as "Garbage." Each short essay ends with a kavanah, or meditative exercise, designed to "help the reader 'live in the word.'" This book is among Kushner's best and is an excellent companion to Arthur Green's These Are The Words or to Kushner's own The Book of Letters. --Michael Joseph Gross