Book Description

With the stated purpose of restoring ethics to its central role in Judaism, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin offers hundreds of examples from the Torah, the Talmud, rabbinic commentaries, and contemporary stories to illustrate how ethical teachings can affect our daily behavior. The subjects dealt with are ones we all encounter. They include judging other people fairly; knowing when forgiveness is obligatory, optional, or forbidden; balancing humility and self-esteem; avoiding speech that shames others; restraining our impulses of envy, hatred, and revenge; valuing truth but knowing when lying is permitted; understanding why God is the ultimate basis of morality; and appreciating the great benefits of Torah study. Telushkin has arranged the book in the traditional style of Jewish codes, with topical chapters and numbered paragraphs. Statements of law are almost invariably followed by anecdotes illustrating how these principles have been, or can be, practiced in daily life. The book can be read straight through to provide a solid grounding in Jewish values, consulted as a reference when facing ethical dilemmas, or studied in a group.

Vast in scope, this volume distills more than three thousand years of Jewish laws and suggestions on how to improve one’s character and become more honest, decent, and just. It is a landmark work of scholarship that is sure to influence the lives of Jews for generations to come, rich with questions to ponder and discuss, but primarily a book to live by.

About the Author

Joseph Telushkin is a spiritual leader and scholar. He is the author of fifteen books, including Jewish Literacy and The Book of Jewish Values, a senior associate of CLAL, a board member of the Jewish Book Council, and the rabbi of the Los Angeles–based Synagogue for the Performing Arts. Rabbi Telushkin was ordained at Yeshiva University in New York, and pursued graduate studies in Jewish history at Columbia University. He resides in New York City with his wife, Dvorah Menashe Telushkin, and their four children, and lectures regularly throughout the United States.

Review from Publishers Weekly

All societies have ethical codes that distinguish between right and wrong actions. For Jews, this is especially significant since Judaism ranks behavior as more important than belief. Behavioral prescriptions are set forth in sacred writings, anecdotes, medieval codes, rabbinical teachings and present-day stories. Telushkin-scholar, author, lecturer, teacher and rabbi-is compiling this voluminous material in order to help Jews "become more honest, decent, and just people." He plans to present his research in a three-volume series of which You Shall Be Holy is the first. Its primary emphasis is character development, while later volumes will deal with interpersonal relationships and issues of family, friendship and community. This installment is divided into five sections: the task of a lifetime; basic vices and virtues; fair speech; leading a holy life; God and ethics. Basic vices and virtues take up 257 pages, by far the longest section. Here and in the section on fair speech, there are especially stimulating discussions of when hatred and lying are permissible. Telushkin is definitive in his judgments about what is right and wrong behavior. This is an outstanding contribution to understanding Jewish ethics and their relevance for people of all faiths.
Copyright © 2005 Reed Business Information.

Review from Library Journal

Projected as the first in a three-volume series, this book deals primarily with character improvement (the second and third volumes will address, respectively, interpersonal relationships, both corporate and individual, and family, friendship, and community). Rabbi Telushkin (Jewish Literacy) writes in an accessible and simple fashion that allows readers to pick their topics or read straight through. He takes simple concepts like gratitude, criticism, or deception, breaks them down into component arguments or topics, and intersperses his ethical concepts with passages from the Bible, the Talmud, various rabbinic commentaries, and the works of disparate figures like Rabbi Abraham Kook, Catholic mystic Thomas a Kempis, and out-and-out God-haters Friedrich Nietzsche and Karl Marx. The philosophical and spiritual influence of, among others, Rabbi Abraham Twerski (cited as one of Telushkin's mentors in the foreword as well as in the footnotes) and Victor Frank, is abundantly evident in the kind and gentle tone of this gem. Highly recommended for all religious studies collections.
Sandra Collins, Univ. of Pittsburgh Copyright © 2006 Reed Business Information.