A Probing and Powerful Look at the Role You
Play
in Shaping Your Relationship with God
in Shaping Your Relationship with God
“No matter how hard we look, the God
of Israel cannot be seen. Looking is not seeing, and seeing God
is not like seeing an apple. It is much more like making a
medical diagnosis on the basis of looking at a complex set of
symptoms. Each of the symptoms is a dot. We can look at the
dots and still miss the pattern.”
—from
Part I
The Torah is replete with references to
hearing God but precious few references to seeing God. Seeing
is complicated. What we look for and see are traces of
God’s presence in the world and in history, but not God.
In order to identify those traces as reflections of divine
presence, we need to re-examine how we see, what we see, and
how we interpret that information.
In this challenging and inspiring look at
the dynamics of the religious experience, award-winning author
and theologian Neil Gillman guides you into a new way of seeing
the complex patterns in the Bible, history, and everyday
experiences and helps you interpret what those patterns mean to
you and your relationship with God.
Examining faith and doubt, revelation and
law, suffering and redemption, Gillman candidly deconstructs
familiar biblical moments in order to help you develop and
refine your own spiritual vision, so that you are able to
discern the presence of God in unanticipated ways.
Praise for Traces of God
“Beautifully written and totally accessible.... Open[s] possibilities for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of God’s presence in our lives.”
—Jewish Book World
Praise for Neil Gillman’s Work
“Courageous…. Gillman revives
the intelligence, wisdom, and moral sensibility of religious
discourse.”
—Rabbi
Harold M. Schulweis, Conservative
Judaism
“Gillman has a rare gift for
translating complex theological ideas into terms that laypeople
as well as specialists can appreciate.”
—CCAR
Journal: A Reform Jewish Quarterly
“Steady and sure … Gillman has
a knack for addressing common questions— ‘Can
people know anything about God?’—in an everyday
vernacular.”
—Library
Journal
“A model of using textual and
historical studies to provide new insights into contemporary
religious issues.”
—Dr.
Tikva Frymer-Kensky, professor of
Hebrew Bible, University of Chicago Divinity School; author of
In the Wake of the Goddesses
“Evokes the age-long Jewish
wrestling with the God of Israel … brilliantly clear
prose cuts through the gordian knots of centuries of
philosophical thought to make the most profound issues
accessible to modern readers.”
—Dr.
Eugene Fisher, Secretariat for
Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs,
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
“Will challenge the doubter, engage
the seeker, and inspire the believer.... Beautifully presents
age-old conversations about God in a modern voice.”
—Rabbi
Elyse Goldstein, editor of The Women’s Torah Commentary:
New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions
New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions
“Beautifully written and totally
accessible … will enrich any reading of the Torah. But
more importantly, it will open possibilities for anyone seeking
a deeper understanding of God’s presence in our lives,
whether or not we perceive it.”
—Jewish
Book World
“A book to be read and digested
slowly…. Peoples of many faiths can benefit from its
theological questions and discourses.”
—Midwest
Book Review
