Book Reviews
“The book splices up complex theological questions, personal anecdotes, and pop culture references that would make even the most yeshivishly challenged among us feel on sturdy ground.”
“Bashevkin, the Director of Education for NCSY, is clearly accustomed to delivering rousing and inspiring addresses to teens, and at times it feels as if we are in his audience.”
“He has penned a thought-provoking, well-written study about sin and failure in contemporary life, as seen through the lens of classical Jewish thought and contemporary Jewish thinkers.”
“Prayerful yet not preachy, sophisticated yet unburdened by jargon, the book is a highly appealing guide to teshuvah for postmodern readers.”
“One leaves this book with a profound admiration of Bashevkin’s ability to place the whole of the Jewish tradition in dialogue with modern text, scholarship, and life.”
“The thought occurred to me as I read “Sin•a•gogue” that David Bashevkin has provided enough questions to sustain the participants in a thousand such meals [Shabbat dinners]”
“Following the engaged yet content-filled style of Malcolm Gladwell, the engaging chapters offer a pastiche of loosely-related insights on the topic at hand, woven together to present lucid arguments to the reader.”
“Throughout the book he ably serves as a “choti umachti,” as he walks us along the paths of sinners and allows us to listen in to their scorn sessions, plumbs their thoughts and analyzes their intentions, all with goal of detecting the sometimes deeply concealed sweet smell and seeds of holiness that can be found even among the sinners of Israel.”
“Bashevkin’s writing is infused with both a depth and breadth of Jewish knowledge as well as wide-ranging general knowledge. Sin-a-gogue should have a place on the shelf of parents and Jewish educators alike.”
