If we’re not careful, the world – as it has become – can corrupt our moral values. The number of wars and the consequential killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians around the world, the breakdown of social discourse and political polarization, the growth of hatred and intolerance, racism, misogyny, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and homophobia, the pervasive character of social media, AI, and the collapse of traditional news media, the denial of scientific and objective truth, all have a destructive impact on what it means to be a moral, just and compassionate human being. It is not an exaggeration to say that this period is as confusing and disheartening a time in our history that most of us alive today have never experienced before.

This is why I wrote Finding Your Moral Compass – Jewish Values for the 21^st Century. (see below for link to the University of Toronto Press – Publication date – Late April)  

The book is composed of 40 short chapters on 40 foundational Jewish values in an easy-to-read and relatable format for every age group of Jews and non-Jews alike. It is a volume I hope will be included in people’s home libraries as a source book that can stimulate, provoke, inform, and inspire discussion around the dinner and kitchen tables, between parents and their teenage, college-age, and young adult children, in synagogue classes and book groups, in Jewish Community Centers and Jewish organizations, in high schools and universities, in churches and mosques, and in every appropriate group setting.

I wrote this book to affirm where I believe we ought to stand as responsible and accountable human beings. I wrote it as well because injustice and cruelty require an ethical, just and compassionate response. And I wrote it for those who wish to be vehicles for higher moral and spiritual purposes.

I address the values of faith, civility, wisdom, and courage; humility, gratitude, and compassion; repentance, forgiveness, and love. I write about the distortions to one’s values that excessive wealth and power can cause, of our necessary commitment to the stranger and the poor regardless of the other’s ethnic and national background based upon the principle that every human being is endowed with a divine spark and therefore worthy of dignity and respect. I consider Judaism’s historic commitment to social justice and moral leadership, and I conclude with essays about memory and hope as core Jewish values.

I apply each value to real life challenges that we face regularly based upon my more than 50 years leading synagogue communities, interacting with congregants of every age, ethnic, religious, and national background, studying and teaching Judaism, Jewish history, Jewish ethics, philosophy and theology, and I conclude each essay with thoughts by Jewish and non-Jewish thinkers, literary figures and social justice giants from across the centuries, as well as questions for individual reflection and group discussion.

I hope you will acquire and share this book and take heart that with a clear moral compass we can improve the quality of our lives and the moral character, open-heartedness and compassion of our communities.

Pre-Order Here (Paperback and Ebook – see Table of Contents) – https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487569273#