On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz: 25 Years of Pre-Dawn Car Trips, Mind-Blowing Encounters, and Inspiring Conversations with a Man of Wisdom
In this book-length love letter from a disciple to his mentor, author and editor Kurzweil traces his discovery of a "Teacher with a capital T" in Jerusalem-based Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, probably best known for his commentary on the Talmud. Fascinated and enlightened by Steinsaltz's masterpiece of Jewish theology,The Thirteen-Petalled Rose—he knows it almost by heart—Kurzweil once called the rabbi's U.S. office, volunteering to pick him up at the airport and chauffeur him around during his lecture tours. Thus began a two-decades-long journey of conversations about reincarnation, suffering, Talmud, Kabbalah, marijuana, parenting and much more. Part spiritual memoir, Kurzweil's own story is interpolated with Steinsaltz's, from his secular upbringing, experimentation with Eastern religions, immersion in magic and ultimate rediscovery of Judaism. Kurzweil faithfully transcribes the rabbi's encounters with Ted Koppel and the Lubavitcher rebbe as well as his poignant conversations with Kurzweil's own daughters about role models, love and divorce. All these interactions show the rabbi's nonjudgmental depth and wisdom. Steinsaltz's gifts as a scientist, mathematician, skeptic and man of God results in a "wholeness of vision" that helps Kurzweil transform his life and motivates him to encourage readers to mine Steinsaltz's genius for themselves.(Sept. 17)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.