Studies in Spirituality
Covenant & Conversation: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible

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Overview
In this volume, Rabbi Sacks shares a reading the biblical narrative that is imbued with a profound sensitivity to the depths of the human condition. His poignant reflections on spirituality return to us the sense of closeness with God that resonated so powerfully with our ancestors - that intimacy which gave them a sense of hope and courage and singularity. Studies in Spirituality aspires to bring the covenant between God and humanity closer to each of us, today and always.
Index
A
- Aaron
- death of 208
- and the second Yom Kippur 144–5
- Abel
- and envy of Cain 87
- and sibling rivalry 164
- Abiram 271
- Abrabanel (Abarbanel) 203, 270
- Abraham
- breaking his father’s idols 14–16
- forced to leave home due to famine 87
- and God 246, 291
- and grief 21–2
- heard the future calling to him 24
- and Ishmael 27
- and separation 19, 20
- on Sodom 263
- told to leave his father 19
- why he was chosen 17–18
- Abraham needs 71
- achievement, and effort 48
- Acton, Lord 261
- Adam, and choice between seeing and hearing 6
- Adam needs 71
- adolescence 13–14
- Aging Well (Vaillant) 238
- Ahad HaAm 81–2
- Akiva, R. 162
- Alone Together (Turkle) 110
- alpha male 199–200, 203
- Alter, Robert 34
- altruism 112, 265
- America
- covenant 286
- Declaration of Independence 121
- Amos 92
- amulets 182
- ananke 56
- ancient Greece 139, 250
- animal soul 201
- antisemitism 87, 150, 232
- The Anxiety of Influence (Bloom) 14
- Ariely, Dan 71
- Aristotle 257, 262
- Aronson, Elliot 145, 146
- Asch, Solomon 49
- Auden, W.H. 179
- Auerbach, Erich 26
- Auschwitz 50–1, 122
- Avihu 132–3
- Avinu Malkeinu 28
B
- Baal worshippers 280
- Babel, Tower of 211, 212–13
- Balaam 213, 214, 215
- Barkay, Gabriel 182
- Beck, Aaron T. 11, 50
- Beethoven, Ludwig van 99, 240
- Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margins of Error (Schulz) 145
- Bellah, Robert 110
- belonging 71
- Ben Azzai 101
- Benedict, Ruth 4, 139
- Ben Nannas 101
- Ben Pazzi 101
- Benson, Ezra Taft 264
- Ben Zoma 88, 101
- bereavement 207–8
- Berlin, Irving 11, 280–1
- Bettelheim, Bruno 49
- birth-rate 130
- bitul hayesh 20
- Black Box Thinking: The Surprising Truth About Success (and Why Some People Never Learn from Their Mistakes) Syed 145
- blind fate 56
- Bloom, Harold 14
- blooper 143–4
- Board of Deputies 237
- Bowling Alone (Putnam) 110
- brain 134, 201
- Buber, Martin xix, 164
- Buber’s Tanhuma 9
- Buffett, Warren 146
- Burke, Edmund 164
- burnout 81–2
C
- Cain
- and envy 87
- and Eve 19–20
- and sibling rivalry 164
- Calf, Golden 96, 104, 109
- calling 123–5
- Camus, Albert 281
- Carter, Stephen 42
- Carvajal, Antonio Fernandez 255
- census 230
- chance 169, 170
- change 189
- charisma 145
- charismatic leaders 219
- children
- and family narrative 75–6, 77–9
- and parents
- do not always succeed with 221–2
- educated by 78
- Chimpanzee Politics (de Waal) 199–200
- Christakis, Nicholas 112
- Christians 147
- Chronicles 270
- The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (Benedict) 4, 139
- Churchill, Winston 277
- Citizen Kane 240
- Civility (Carter) 42
- civil society 232
- Clermont-Tonnerre, Count of 232
- cognitive behavioural therapy 50
- Cohen, Leonard 11, 32
- Cohen, Rabbi David 250–1
- Commentary to the Mishna (Maimonides) xx
- community 109–10, 111, 112, 113
- compassion 18
- conceptual innovators 241
- contribution 97, 98
- courage 36
- covenants
- Mount Sinai xix–xx
- politics of 224
- renewal ceremony 286
- creativity 65–6, 100
- crisis 64–5, 66
- Cromwell, Oliver 255
- The Culture of Narcissism: American life in an age of diminished expectations (Lasch) 263–4
- cultures of acceptance 71–2
- Currey, Mason 100
- curses 214, 257–8
D
- daily rituals 102
- Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration, and Get to Work (Currey) 100
- daily routines 101–2
- Dante 185
- Dathan 271
- David, King
- and God
- asking for help 31
- found in dancing and singing 92
- and songs 258
- and God
- death 205, 207, 208–9
- Denney, Reuel 110
- depression 190–1
- desert 175, 176
- desire, mimetic 87
- despair 187–8, 189, 190–1
- detachment 251
- Deuteronomy
- 3:25 283
- 3:26 283
- 4:7–8 245
- 4:12 250
- 4:32–34 244
- 4:37 246
- 6:4 101, 249
- 7:12 249
- 8:3 xviii
- 12:5 257
- 14:1 28, 162
- 17:18–20 262
- 21:15–17 267
- 24:5 257
- 26:5–10 276
- 26:11 257
- 28:47 257–8
- 30:12–13 282
- 30:14 280
- 31:10–13 284
- 31:19 285
- 32:1–2 289
- 32:4 290
- 32:5 290
- 32:7 238
- 32:10 30
- 32:15–18 290
- 33:4 219–20
- 34:7 237, 240
- diamond jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II 237
- Disraeli, Benjamin 150
- doctors 146
- donkey, and Balaam 214
- dreams 29–30, 46, 47
- Dreyfus trial 232
- Drumont, Édouard 232
- dualism 292
- Durkheim, Émile 11 Dylan, Bob 11
E
- education 76–7, 78
- effort, and achievement 48
- egalitarianism 202
- Egypt, and the plagues 213
- Einstein, Albert 11, 12, 92
- Elazar Azikri, Rabbi 107
- Elijah
- and despair 188
- and God 253
- in the “still, small voice” 7, 176
- Elizabeth II 237
- Elokim 129, 183
- enthusiasm 131–2, 133–4, 135
- envy 86, 87–8
- Ephraim 269
- Esau
- Jacob terrified of 33
- loved by Isaac 25–8
- reconciled with Jacob 164
- esteem 71
- Esther, book of 6
- ethnicity 150–1
- Eve
- and Cain 19–20
- and choice between seeing and hearing 6
- the first person in history to be given a proper name 18
- evil 3–4, 291–2
- evil speech 138, 140–1
- Exodus
- 1:8 63
- 1:9–10 63–4
- 3:14 274
- 3:15 274
- 3:16–17 275
- 4:1 xviii
- 4:22 162
- 4:24 35
- 4:25–26 35
- 5:22 69, 291
- 6:9 69
- 7:5 246
- 9:8 91
- 12:26–27 76
- 13:8 76
- 13:14 76
- 15:14–16 194
- 16:3 189
- 19:8 xix
- 24:3 xix, 91
- 24:7 xx, 89, 91, 178
- 24:10–11 133
- 25:2 97, 98
- 29:39 101
- 32:1 109
- 32:4 104
- 32:7 104
- 32:32 144, 263
- 33:3 104
- 33:13 103
- 33:18 103
- 33:19 105
- 33:20 105
- 35:1 109
- 40:34–35 106
- 40:36–38 116–17
- experimental innovators 241
- Eyre, Ronald 176
- Ezra 285
F
- failure 191, 196
- faith, is the courage to take a risk 10–11, 12
- family 162, 163, 164
- family narrative 75–6, 77
- fate 56
- fatherhood 18
- fear 35–7, 196
- Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (Jeffers) 37
- Feiler, Bruce 75
- Fergusson, Niall 22
- Festinger, Leon 49
- festivals 155, 156, 159
- financial crash, 2008 146
- firstborn 267–8, 269, 270
- first-fruits 275–6
- First Temple 95
- forbidden fruit 3–4, 5
- forgiveness 263, 265
- Fowler, James 112
- fractals 158
- France 232
- La France Juive (Drumont) 232
- Frankl, Viktor 11, 50–1, 122, 123
- Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy 23–4
- Franklin, Benjamin 240
- freedom, and God 58–9
- Freud, Sigmund 11, 178, 252
- Friedman, Milton 11
- fruit, forbidden 3–4, 5
- the future
- building 23–4
- not predicting 56, 59
G
- Galenson, David 241
- Gaon, Saadia 169
- Gaon, Vilna 158
- Garden of Eden 5
- Gardner, Howard 49
- On the Genealogy of Morality (Nietzsche) 224
- generativity 238, 239, 240
- Genesis
- 1:16–17 177
- 2:18 110
- 2:25 5
- 3:5 5
- 3:6 5
- 3:7 5
- 3:8 5
- 3:10 5
- 4:1 20, 251
- 5:1 101
- 6:9 10
- 8:16 10
- 11:5 212
- 11–12 15
- 12:1 14, 19
- 12:3 213–14, 246
- 15:13 41
- 17:1 10, 116, 196
- 18:17–19 17
- 18:19 16
- 18:25 291
- 21:6 21
- 22:2 19
- 23:2 22
- 24:1 21
- 25:23 25
- 25:27–28 25
- 26:34–35 26
- 27:7 26
- 28:12–17 29–30
- 29:25–26 268
- 29:30–31 268
- 29:33 269
- 32:10 35
- 32:26 65
- 32:28 33, 65
- 32:30 34
- 33–34 26
- 37:19–20 40
- 38:26 147
- 39:2–3 45–6
- 39:14–15 46–7
- 39:21–23 46
- 39:23 47
- 39:40:8 46
- 45:4–8 52
- 48:5 269
- 49:1–2 55
- 49:3 269
- 49:4 270
- 49:6 220
- 50:19–21 52
- Gershwin, George 11
- gifts 98
- Gingrich, Newt 200
- Girard, René 87
- Glazer, Nathan 110
- God
- of all humanity 246
- and Babel 212
- and Balaam 215
- blesses and curses 213–14
- closeness of 105–7, 281–2
- as comforter 190
- different ways of experiencing 92–3
- and Elijah 253
- enters our lives as a call from the future 24
- finding by listening 7
- forgives 146
- and freedom 58–9
- grants us success, if we work hard enough 48
- and hearing 252
- lives in the hearts of those who give 98
- loved Abraham 246
- love of 264–5
- makes space for us to be ourselves 20
- not blaming 291
- as parent 18–19, 28, 162–3
- and priestly blessings 183–4
- and Samuel, summoned by 124
- and the Sanctuary 95–6
- sensing the presence of 97
- used words to bring the natural universe into being 225–6
- with you when you feel most alone 31–2
- Godly soul 201
- Golden Calf 96, 104, 109
- Goleman, Daniel 49
- good, knowing difference from evil 3–4
- good people, and bad things 291
- Grant Study 238
- gratitude 88
- greatness 37, 191
- The Great Partnership (Sacks) 243
- Greece 139, 250
- the Greeks
- and detachment 251
- and fate 56
- and Shabbat 81–2
- thought they were the superior race 147
- Green, Joshua 50
- grief 21–2, 23, 205–6, 209
- group identity 232, 233
- group rights 233
- The Guide for the Perplexed (Maimonides) 3–4, 70
- guilt 4, 5
- guilt cultures 4, 139–40
- Gurion, David Ben 168
H
- Hagar 177
- Haidt, Jonathan 49–50
- hak’hel-type ceremony 283–4, 285, 286
- Haldane, J.B.S. 163
- Haman 6
- happiness 121–2, 257, 258
- hard work 100, 101, 102
- Hartley, L.P. 58
- Harvard Business Review 264
- Hashem 129, 183
- HaShivim 81
- Hawking, Steven 105
- hearing xx, 5, 6, 91, 250–1, 252
- Heine, Heinrich 99–100
- Hellenism 280
- Herzberg, Frederick 71
- Herzl, Theodor 12, 232
- hessed (chessed) 42
- Hezekiah, King 57
- hiding 5
- hierarchy 202–3
- hierarchy of needs 71
- high priest 202
- Hilkhot Teshuva 39
- Hillel 200
- Himmelfarb, Milton 246–7
- Hittites 26
- Hobbes, Thomas 129, 203
- Hoffmann, Rabbi David Zvi 138
- holiness 159–60
- Holocaust survivors 22–3
- holy, being 152–4
- honour 4
- hope 191
- Hosea
- 11:1–4 162
- 12:5 33
- hubris 213, 215
- human nature 58
- Hume, David 131–2, 133–4
- humility 261, 262, 263, 265
- and C.S. Lewis 191
- and Nietzsche 264
I
- Ibn Ezra 200, 271
- identity
- group 232, 233
- Jewish 147–8
- and memory 274–5, 276–7
- idolatry 14–16
- “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” 280–1
- immortality 286, 287
- impurity 138
- the individual 110, 233
- individualism 110, 231
- individual rights 233
- inheritance 229–30
- inner-directedpeople 139
- innovation 10–12, 65–6, 72
- Isaac
- binding of 19, 21
- forced to leave home due to famine 87
- loved Esau 25–8
- stood with Ishmael at Abraham’s grave 164
- Isaiah
- 1:2 221
- 6:5 35
- 6:8 124
- 19:26 246
- 38:1–5 57
- 66:1 95
- 66:13 18
- Ishmael 27, 164, 177
- Israel 65
- Is Shame Necessary? New Uses for an Old Tool (Jacquet) 137
J
- Jacob
- built a house 117
- discovered that when you feel most alone, God is still with you 31
- and dream 29–30
- and fear 35
- firstborn right transferred from Reuben to Joseph 270, 271
- Joseph his favourite son 40
- loved by Rebecca 25
- and marriage 268
- reconciled with Esau 164
- wrestled with the angel 33–4, 65
- dying 55
- Jacquet, Jennifer 137
- Jakobovits, Lord 130
- Japan 139
- Jeremiah
- 1:6 35
- 12:1 291
- and despair 188
- Jethro 274
- Job
- 2:13 176–7
- 12:12 238
- and listening 253
- Johnson, Paul 170
- Jonah 35, 188
- Jonathan (grandson of Moses) 218, 219, 221
- Joseph
- brothers envious of 87
- firstborn right transferred to him from Reuben 269, 271
- and God 45–7, 48, 246
- and reframing 52–3
- Reuben wanted to save 40–1
- and sibling rivalry 164–5
- Joshua 284
- Joshua, book of 16
- Josiah, King 284–5
- journey 117, 118
- joy xxi, 256, 257, 259
- Judah 147, 269
- Judah, Rabbi 28
- Judah Halevi 106, 130
- Judges 231
- justice 292–3
K
- Kahneman, Daniel 11, 49, 134
- Kant, Immanuel 99–100
- keeper of the meaning 238–9, 240
- keri 169, 170
- Kerr, Judith 241
- Kestenbaum, Sara 42, 43
- Kierkegaard, Søren 259
- Kimball, Spencer W. 264
- kindness, acts of 42
- King, Martin Luther 292
- kings 202, 261–2
- Kings
- I 95, 253
- II 57, 285
- kin selection 164
- Kissinger: 1923–1968: The Idealist (Fergusson) 22
- Kli Yakar 231
- Knohl, Israel 177
- Kohlberg, Lawrence 49
- Kook, Rav 92
- Korah 200–1
- Korah rebellion 271
- Kotre, John 238
L
- Lader, Philip 143, 145, 146
- Laius 56
- Lamentations 287
- language
- and social bond 141
- use to commit ourselves to some form of behaviour in the future 225–6
- Lasch, Christopher 263–4
- lashon hara 138, 140–1
- laughter 177, 211, 212
- leaders 264
- leadership 187
- Leah 268–9
- leprosy 138
- Levi (son of Jacob) 220, 221
- Levine, Dr. James 115
- Levi-Strauss, Claude 11
- Leviticus
- 10:1–2 132
- 10:3 133, 176
- 13:45–46 140
- 19:2 152
- 19:18 101
- 23:1–3 156–7
- 23:4 157
- 23:14 168
- 25:14 161
- 25:23 118
- 25:25 161
- 25:35–36 161–2
- 26:3–6 167
- 26:23–24 169
- Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev 73
- Lewis, Bernard 57
- Lewis, C.S. 191
- libel 141
- liberal democratic state 273
- life after death 209, 292
- listening 177–9, 249–50, 252–3
- and finding God 6–7
- listening cure 252
- logotherapy 24, 50
- The Lonely Crowd (Riesman, Glazer and Denney) 110
- The Long Search 176
- Lot’s wife 23
- love
- of God 264–5
- and listening 253
- and making space 20
- and Maslow 71
- and priestly blessings 184–5
- as sacrifice 128–9, 130
- as strong as death 209
- unconditional 28
- unites, but it also divides 271
M
- Macmillan, Harold 287
- Mahler, Gustav 11, 280
- Maimonides
- Commentary to the Mishna xx
- on the family 163
- on forbidden fruit 3–4, 5
- on humility 263
- on keri 169
- on love 264–5
- Mishneh Torah 112
- on monarchy 203
- on mourning 205
- on physical needs 70, 247
- Malachi
- 2:10 18
- 3:24 222
- Manasseh 230, 233, 269, 284
- manna 82–3
- Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy (Frankl) 23–4
- Maps of Misreading (Bloom) 14
- market economy 273
- Marr, Andrew 151–2
- marriage 130, 268
- Maslow, Abraham 49, 71, 97
- material needs 72
- Matisse, Henri 240–1
- meaning, and life 121–2
- Meir, Rabbi 28
- memory 275, 277
- “In memory of W B Yeats” (Auden) 179
- Menasseh ben Israel of Amsterdam, Rabbi 255
- Mendel, Rabbi Menahem 20
- Mendelssohn, Felix 240, 281
- Merneptah stele 59
- Mesopotamian city states 212
- metzora 141
- Micah 218–19, 247
- Midianites 214, 274
- mikra kodesh 159
- Miller, Lisa 77, 78
- mimetic desire 87
- Miriam
- and tzaraat 138
- death of 207
- Mischel, Walter 49
- Mishkan 106, 110
- See also Sanctuary
- Mishneh Torah 112
- mistakes, admitting 143–4, 145–7
- Mistakes Were Made, But Not By Me (Tavris and Aronson) 145
- Moabites 213, 214
- moed 159
- moira 56
- monarchy 202, 203
- Monet, Claude 240
- “monkey” brain 201
- mortality 208
- Moses 103, 244–6, 280, 282
- and children 76
- and the closeness of God 104–5, 106
- and community 109–10, 113
- and despair 187–8, 189, 190
- and the first Yom Kippur 144
- on forgiveness 263
- and hak’hel 283
- and humility 262
- and identity 273–4
- and the Israelites
- did not listen to him 69–70
- thought they would not believe in him xviii
- on joy 256–8
- life saved by Zipporah 34–5
- on not blaming God 291
- and the rock 206–7, 208
- and successor 217–20
- as teacher 239–40, 241
- and tzaraat 138
- and tzidduk hadin 289–90
- death 237
- motherhood 18
- mourning 205–6
- Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 240
- music 11
- Muslims 147
N
- Nadav 132–3
- Nahmanides 152, 157–8, 201, 269, 270
- Nahman of Bratslav, Rabbi 31–2
- narcissism 264
- nature 58
- needs, hierarchy of 71
- Nefertiti, Queen 262
- Nehemiah 285
- nemesis 213, 215
- Neumann, John von 11
- Nietzsche, Friedrich 224–5, 264
- Noah
- on coming out of the ark 10
- and grief 23
- Novak, Michael 72
- Numbers
- 6:23–27 181
- 11:11–15 188
- 11:29 190, 202
- 12:3 190, 262
- 16:3 200
- 20:12 206
- 22:6 213
- 23:8 215
- 27:4 229
- 27:7 229–30
- 27:12–13 218
- 27:16–17 218
O
- oaths 223, 226
- O’Connell, Daniel 150
- Octet (Mendelsohn) 240
- O’Donohue, John 20
- Oedipus 56
- Old Masters and Young Geniuses (Galenson) 241
- Onkelos, Targum 169
- oppression 64
- ostracism 140, 141
- other-directed people 4, 139
- Otto, Rudolf 102
- Overture to a Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mendelsohn) 240
P
- parenthood 18
- parents
- and children
- educating 78
- not all succeed with 221–2
- and God 19, 28, 163
- sense of security from 13
- what we inherit from 14, 16
- the past, mourning 23–4
- Pavlov, Ivan 50
- peace 84
- Pepys, Samuel 255–6
- performance utterance 225
- Pharaoh, oppressed the Israelites 63–4, 69
- Philip, Prince 237
- physical needs 70, 247
- physiological needs 71
- Picasso, Pablo 240–1
- pioneers 10–12, 72
- plagues 213
- Plato 250
- police 146
- popular music 11
- positive psychology 50
- Potiphar’s wife 46
- power 224
- predictions 57, 58
- Presidential Inaugural Address (US) 286
- priesthood 202
- priestly blessings 181–5
- prophecy 57, 219
- protest, religion of 72
- Psalms
- 1:1 115
- 19 178
- 22:2 188
- 23:4 11, 32
- 30:6–13 258
- 34:18 31
- 51:17 31
- 65:2 177
- 69:2–3 31
- 88:5–7 188
- 92 291
- 115 176
- 4–8 116
- 119:19 118
- 130:1 31, 188
- 137:4 30
- 147:3 31
- psychoanalysts 49
- public shaming 137–8, 141
- purpose 171
- Putnam, Robert 110, 111
- pyramids 212
Q
- Qumran 195
R
- Rabinovitch, Rabbi Dr. Nachum 9, 10
- race 150
- Rachel 268
- rahamim 18
- Ramses II 262
- Rashbam (also known as Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir) 34–5
- Rashi
- on calling 123
- on forbidden sex 152
- on Genesis 6: 9 10
- on Jacob 55
- on Joseph 48
- on journeys 117
- on keri 169
- on Shabbat 157
- rational actor 129
- Reagan, President Ronald 286
- Rebecca 25
- recognition 71
- red heifer 208, 209
- reframing 51–3
- Renaissance Weekends 143–4
- renewal 286–7
- “reptile” brain 201
- Reuben 40–1, 268, 269, 270, 271
- Reubenites 200
- Ricardo, David 11
- Riesman, David 110
- the righteous 291–2
- righteousness, highest value in guilt cultures 4
- rights 233
- risk 11, 196
- rituals, daily 99–100, 102
- the Romans 147
- Ronson, Jon 137
- Roosevelt, Eleanor 261
- routines, daily 101–2
S
- Sacco, Justine 137
- sacrifices 127–30, 223–4
- safety 71
- Salovey, Peter 49
- Samuel
- I 177, 251, 252
- summoned by God 124
- Sanctuary 95–6
- See also Mishkan
- Sarah
- and birth of Isaac 21
- and laughter 177
- Saul, King 251
- Schneerson, Rabbi Menachem Mendel 193, 196, 264
- Schneur Zalman of Liadi, Rabbi 50
- Schoenberg, Arnold 11
- Schulz, Kathryn 145
- science 273
- The Secrets of Happy Families (Feiler) 75
- self-abasement 263
- self-actualisation 71
- self-criticism 147
- self-interest 129, 224
- self-transcendence 71
- Seligman, Martin 11, 50, 71
- separation anxiety 13
- Sephardic Jews 150
- Septuagint 81
- seven, number and concept of 158
- sex, forbidden 152
- Sforno, Ovadia 270
- Shabbat 109, 110, 156–8
- and community 111
- holiness of 159–60
- is utopia 81–4
- Shakespeare, William 36
- shalom bayit 84
- shame
- and forbidden fruit 5
- other-directed 4
- and tzaraat 140, 141
- shame cultures 5, 139, 140
- codes of social conformity 6
- and forbidden fruit 5
- highest value is honour 4
- shaming 137–8, 141
- Shekhina (Shechinah) xix, 84
- Shema 249–50
- shiflut 263
- Shimon (son of Jacob) 220
- Shimon bar Yohai, R. 163
- Shimon ben Gamliel, R. 177
- Shmuel ben Meir, Rabbi (also known as Rashbam) 34
- sibling rivalry 164–5
- Sikhs 84
- silence 176–7, 179
- Simchat Torah 256
- Sinai, Mount xix–xx
- Sinek, Simon 243
- Singer, Isaac Bashevis 56
- sins 3, 5
- sitting 115
- slander 141
- slavery 83–4
- Smith, Adam 129
- Smith, Emily 122
- social bond 141
- social capital 111
- social contagion 112
- social inclusion 156
- social media 137–8
- Sodom 263
- Solomon, King 95
- Soloveitchik, Rav 92
- So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed (Ronson) 137
- Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, Creechurch Lane 255
- spies 193, 194–5
- The Spiritual Child: The New Science on Parenting for Health and Lifelong Thriving (Miller) 77
- Stein, Edith 281
- Stevenson, Robert Louis 258
- stigma 140, 141
- St. Matthew Passion 281
- success 194, 195, 196
- superstition 132
- Syed, Matthew 145
T
- Tabernacle 116–17
- talking donkey 214
- Tamar 269
- Tavris, Carol 145, 146
- teacher 239–40, 241
- technology 273
- Temple 95
- Ten Commandments 85–6, 88
- Terah 15–16
- “There’s More to Life Than Being Happy” (Smith) 122
- Thucydides 292
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea (Kerr) 241
- tikkun 109
- Titian 240–1
- Tocqueville, Alexis de 164–5
- tragedy 56
- tribes 231–2, 233
- Triumphs of Experience (Vaillant) 238
- Trollope, Anthony 99
- trust 141, 226
- tuma 138
- Turkle, Sherry 110
- Tversky, Amos 11, 49
- Twain, Mark 13
- type-scene 34
- tzaraat 138, 140, 141
- Tzelophehad, daughters of 229–30, 231, 233
- tzidduk hadin 289–90
- tzimtzum 20
U
- uncertainty 12
- UNetaneh Tokef 56
- United States of America, covenant 286
- utopias 83
V
- Verdi, Giuseppe 240
- violence 87
- Violence and the Sacred (Girard) 87
- vows 223, 226
W
- Waal, Frans de 199–200, 201, 233
- Walzer, Michael 111
- Waze 167
- Weber, Max 145
- Weidenfeld, George 118
- Weil, Simone 281
- well, where young man meet meets his future wife 34
- Welles, Orson 240
- the wicked 291–2
- Wiesel, Elie 176
- Williams, Bernard 4
- Williamson, Marianne 36, 39
- Wineman, Vivian 237
- word, keeping your 226–7
- work, hard 100, 101, 102
- worship, houses of 111–12
- Wright, Frank Lloyd 240
Y
- Yedid Nefesh 107
- Yehoshua ben Gamla, Rabbi 11
- Yerushalmi, Yosef Hayim 276
- Yohanan ben Zakkai, Rabban 11, 191, 262
- Yom Kippur 144–5, 146, 158
Z
- Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (Yerushalmi) 276
- Zechariah
- 4:6 xviii
- 8:23 247
- ziggurats 211, 212
- Zionism 195–6
- Zionists 12
- Zipporah 35, 274
- Zohar 107, 177, 201