Arguing with God: A Jewish Tradition
Anson Laytner has explored the anguish of the believer with moving eloquence and passion. (Elie Wiesel, Andrew W. Mellon, Professor in the Humanities, Boston University)In this age after the Holocaust, Anson Laytner's book speaks with extraordinary force. This survey of the tradition of 'arguing with God,' one of the most distinctive and inspiring elements in Jewish faith, covers a wealth of neglected or undiscussed sources. He shows clearly that this unique perspective runs through the seams of Jewish religion and history from the Bible down to today. Written with scholarship, sensitivity, and even humor, this book will richly reward all its readers. (Rabbi Irving Greenberg, president of CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership)This is a book that needed to be written. Anson Laytner has brought together familiar and unfamiliar material and analyzed it historically and theologically. The sources that Laytner has assembled have a power and a relevance that leap out from the page. (Modern Judaism)