One People, Two Worlds: A Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi Explore the Issues That Divide Them

Ammiel Hirsch,Yaakov Yosef Reinman

ISBN 10: 0805211403 / ISBN 13: 9780805211405

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2003

About this Item

Seller Inventory # mon0000640967

Bibliographic Details

• Title: One People, Two Worlds: A Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi Explore the Issues That Divide Them
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805211403
• ISBN 13: 9780805211405
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

For Jews and non-Jews: An honest, intelligent, no-holds-barred discussion of virtually every “hot button” issue on which Reform and Orthodox Jews differ.

After being introduced by a mutual friend in the winter of 2000, Reform Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch and Orthodox Rabbi Yosef Reinman embarked on an unprecedented eighteen-month email correspondence on the fundamental principles of Jewish faith and practice. What resulted is this book: among the discussions the existence of a Supreme Being, the origins and authenticity of the Bible and the Oral Law, the role of women, assimilation, the value of secular culture, and Israel.

Sometimes they agree; more often than not they disagree—and quite sharply, too. But the important thing is that, as they keep talking to each other, they discover that they actually like each other, and, above all, they respect each other. Their journey from mutual suspicion to mutual regard is an extraordinary one; from it, both Jews and non-Jews of all backgrounds can learn a great deal about the practice of Judaism today and about the continuity of the Jewish people into the future.

About the Author

AMMIEL HIRSCH is Executive Director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America/World Union for Progressive Judaism, North America. His editorials, essays, and sermons appear in newspapers and magazines around the world. He lives in New York City.

YOSEF REINMAN is an Orthodox writer, historian, and scholar of international renown. His monographs and articles have appeared in many Jewish periodicals and his study of Talmudic contractual law is a standard text in yeshivas throughout the world. He lives in Lakewood, New Jersey.