Text Messages: A Torah Commentary for Teens

An indispensable resource for everyone who cares about the Jewish future.

"Every passage of Torah has the potential to be someone's personal story and teaching―and that definitely includes you as a teenager. If you read these stories, and if you really let these holy texts into your mind and into your soul, your life will be deeper and richer, and even happier."
―from the Introduction

Young people need to be included in the struggle for meaning, for the right questions to ask and the search for useful and relevant answers. This is the book that has been missing from the ever-expanding bookshelf of Torah commentaries―a collection of messages on each Torah portion, specifically for today’s teens. It shows them how each Torah portion contains worlds of meaning for them, for what they are going through in their lives, and how they can shape their Jewish identity as they enter adulthood.

Addressing the concerns of young adults, it shows how the Torah can help teens deal with issues including:

• Interpersonal relationships
• Social justice
• Sexuality and gender issues
• Personal ethics
• Responsibility to family
• Community and the Jewish people
• Body image
• Tattoos
• Community service
• The meaning of faith
• Authority and rebellion
• The role of ritual
• Personal theology
• Prayer
• Civility
• Living safely
• Dealing with disabilities
• Challenges of eating morally

This groundbreaking spiritual resource is truly transdenominational―including the insights of over 100 Jews who identify as Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Renewal, post-denominational and “just Jewish.” They are rabbis, cantors, educators, authors and community leaders. Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Renewal, post-denominational and “just Jewish.” They are rabbis, cantors, educators, authors and community leaders.

Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin is recognized as one of the most thoughtful Jewish writers and teachers of his generation. He has helped people of all ages find spiritual meaning in both the great and small moments in life.

A noted author whose work has appeared in many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Reader's Digest and the Congressional Record, Rabbi Salkin is editor of The Modern Men's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Jewish Men on the 54 Weekly Torah PortionsandText Messages: A Torah Commentary for Teens; and author of Being God's Partner: How to Find the Hidden Link Between Spirituality and Your Work, with an introduction by Norman Lear; the best-seller Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child's Bar or Bat Mitzvah; For Kids―Putting God on Your Guest List: How to Claim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Bar or Bat Mitzvah and Righteous Gentiles in the Hebrew Bible: Ancient Role Models for Sacred Relationships (all Jewish Lights), among other books.