Jewish Renewal

For Lerner, editor of the liberal Jewish magazine Tikkun, Jews' fundamental task is the healing, repair and transformation of the world. In this impassioned, profound manifesto, he taps the roots of Jewish tradition through a close reading of the Torah, Talmud and Old Testament, seeking to reclaim the progressive impulse in Judaism which holds that nothing is inevitable about evil or social injustice. He then outlines a plan for Jewish renewal that combines commitment to family, community and tradition with a ``revolutionary conception'' of a compassionate God who makes freedom possible and who can assist in the task. Lerner's conviction that Jews should be involved in the fight against racism, national chauvinism, ecological destruction, women's inequality and all forms of oppression informs this spirited volume, which also includes his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Holocaust and neoconservatives. (Sept.)