The Book of Jewish Wisdom: The Talmud of the Well-Considered Life

The unique wisdom of Judaism comes from the Talmud and the Judaic sages' other ancient writings that preserve the tradition of the originally oral Torah, or Teachings of Moses. Sometimes surprising - "better sincere sin than hypocritical virtue" - and always penetrating and helpful - "who are rich? those who are happy with their lot" - the wisdom of the oral Torah is set forth on more than one hundred subjects, arranged alphabetically, in their sources' own words, here rendered in clear and easily readable English.
This is the "how-to" book for people who think deeply about everyday life: facing death of a loved one, the duties and rights of women and men together, busy-ness versus real achievement, deceit, gossip, discretion, virtue, honor, forbearance, forgiveness.

With his son, Noam, prolific rabbi-scholar Jacob Neusner (Judaism's Theological Voice, LJ 4/1/95) has compiled and edited an anthology of maxims, apothegms, and sayings of Jewish wisdom extracted from the Talmud and Midrash. Wisdom is defined as the power of judging rightly and following the soundest course of action. The Neusners treat subjects ranging from arrogance to charity, justice to love, discretion to forgiveness. Perhaps the most worthwhile part of the book is the introduction, wherein the editors describe the unique structure and character of the Talmud and Jewish wisdom. As far as the collection itself goes, it is redundant. Most of the material can be found in many other books describing the aggadah or nonlegalistic parts of the Talmud. As a result, this is recommended only for all-inclusive Judaica collections.
Robert A. Silver, Congregation Beth Am Lib., Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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