Orange County’s own Rabbi Elie Spitz, spiritual leader of Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin, is a contributor to a new anthology. In a series of brief essays, rabbis, priests and ministers from every denomination reflect on passages of the Torah which are most meaningful to them in the new anthology, On Sacred Ground: Jewish and Christian Clergy Reflect on Transformative Passages from the Five Books of Moses.
Through these inspiring and relatable essays the reader is offered personally reflective and thought-provoking commentary. Because the contributors represent different religious traditions (as well as a variety of ministries), the reader is invited into their lives and thoughts. Their writings offer the reader a look into the reflections of those who have dedicated their lives to the teaching of Scripture. This anthology is a unique approach to Torah commentary and serves to deepen one’s connection to the sacred text as well as to foster and deepen interfaith dialogue.
Contributors include Rabbi Sally J. Priesand, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Rabbi Arthur Green, Rabbi Sharon Brous, Rabbi David Ellenson. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Rabbi Sharon Brous, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson and Rabbi Kerry Olitzky.
Editor Jeff Bernhardt is a writer, educator, and licensed clinical social worker currently residing in Los Angeles. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and Jewish newspapers throughout the United States. His work has also been published in books, and his dramatic readings have been performed in synagogues and other Jewish communal settings throughout North America (www.jewishdramas.com). He can be contacted at jmbedsw@aol.com;
On Sacred Ground: Jewish and Christian Clergy Reflect on Transformative Passages from the Five Books of Moses is published by Blackbird Books (ISBN 978-161053-018-7, 238 pp., tpb, $15.95; eISBN 978-161053-019-4, epub, mobi, and kindle, $9.99).