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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
This was a very thoughtful and thought-provoking book. I got it from the library, but I may need to buy a copy, because I think it will be something I pick up again. It was a very insightful view of Jewish spiritual practices for a Christian. Easy to read and very engaging. You'll want to read it with a friend or group so that you can discuss it when you're done. I read it in one day, but I took pages of notes.
Very, very good! I really enjoyed this reminder of the importance of Jewish traditions to modern Christianity’s focus on God!
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
2016 Reading Challenge #21 - recommended by a family member.
This would have been more interesting if I didn't have a degree in Jewish Studies-- having lived in an Orthodox Jewish community as a devout Protestant I've already considered most of what Winner presents here. That said, it's the only places besides my own brain I've seen spelled out ways Christians can learn from Jewish practices without falling to Judaising-- taking on the law unnecessarily, as described in Galatians. Noting here was life-altering for me, but some good reminders in easy, conversational essays.
Mudhouse Sabbath was a great book tying together Jewish ritual with the Christian life. It was fascinating having a deeper look into a completely different culture that ties in so much to Christianity. It makes you appreciate the ritual a little more - and makes you want to adopt some of it in your own life.
I loved learning more about Judaism and the enrichment it brings to her life as a Christian. It has enriched my faith life as well.
An Orthodox Jewish woman converts to Christianity, then proceeds to share with her fellow Christians about the riches of Judaism's approach to spiritual formation as opposed to Christianity's. This is the unique tale of Lauren Winner and her memoir Mudhouse Sabbath, written just seven years after her conversion to Christianity. She had not yet gone on to earn seminary degrees, be ordained in the Episcopal Church, or become a professor of Christian Spirituality at the prestigious Duke Divinity School. Why did she become a Christian only to deeply miss and yearn for her old Jewish ways? In short, Jesus. While in the book she never wavers on her commitment to Christianity, she nevertheless misses the Jewish rhythms and routines that “drew the sacred down into the everyday."
Winner riffs on eleven “spiritual disciplines”, loosely speaking, that both Jews and Christians share to some degree: sabbath, fitting food, mourning, hospitality, prayer, body, fasting, aging, candle-lighting, weddings, and doorposts. Some of these disciplines are completely shared ones that she believes “Jews do better.” Others maintain specifically Christian forms that “would be thicker and more vibrant if we took a few lessons from Judaism." Fewer are more explicitly Jewish and would seem foreign to most Christian traditions, yet may still have a word to say. This was a short and extremely pleasant read that provides much to ponder--and more importantly, practice--in the realm of spiritual formation.
Winner riffs on eleven “spiritual disciplines”, loosely speaking, that both Jews and Christians share to some degree: sabbath, fitting food, mourning, hospitality, prayer, body, fasting, aging, candle-lighting, weddings, and doorposts. Some of these disciplines are completely shared ones that she believes “Jews do better.” Others maintain specifically Christian forms that “would be thicker and more vibrant if we took a few lessons from Judaism." Fewer are more explicitly Jewish and would seem foreign to most Christian traditions, yet may still have a word to say. This was a short and extremely pleasant read that provides much to ponder--and more importantly, practice--in the realm of spiritual formation.
Winner chronicled her journey from Jewish to Christian (specifically Episcopalian/Anglican) in an earlier book. This book, where she looks back on some of the Jewish traditions that she has incorporated and that have informed her faith, was written not long after this transition. I think that as time has gone by, this book would (and apparently has) change as there is more time between the two.
I found it to be interesting, with the above caveats. Some of the items that really struck me were her writings about the Jewish mourning rites and what Christians can learn from them.
I found it to be interesting, with the above caveats. Some of the items that really struck me were her writings about the Jewish mourning rites and what Christians can learn from them.
I read this little book over a period of months, although it could be read in a day. Each time I picked it up, I discovered a little nugget meant for that day.