Choosing Hope

David Arnow is a scholar of the festival of Passover. He is the author of Creating Lively Passover Seders and coeditor of My People’s Passover Haggadah.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionWhat Hope Is and Why It MattersJudaism as a Reservoir of HopeDifficulty Tapping Jewish Sources of HopeA Way toward HopeAbout This BookMaking the Most of This BookNotes on Translation and Gender1. Repentance: The Gateway to HopeIntroductionA Theology for Looking in the MirrorPrayer and HopeThe Season of TeshuvahSeasonal RitualsConclusion2. Tikkun Olam: Turning Hope into ActionIntroductionBiblical Roots in EcclesiastesRabbinic Origins in the MishnahAn Intertextual Reading of the Sages and EcclesiastesAleinu’s Hope of Repairing the WorldTikkun Olam in the Mysticism of Isaac LuriaTikkun Olam TodayConclusion3. Abraham and Sarah: Living in HopeIntroductionHope in God and Abraham’s RelationshipHope amid Abraham and Sarah’s TrialsThe Binding of Isaac as a Story of HopeConclusion4. The Exodus: Hope at the HeartIntroductionBrueggemann’s Archetypical Tale of HopeExodus as the Jewish Master StoryDespair versus Hope in Midrash and CommentaryPutting Exodus Memories into PracticeConclusion5. The Covenant: Hope in Israel’s Relationship with GodIntroductionCovenantal Hope in the Morning LiturgyCovenantal Hope and the Ancient Trials of HistoryThe Post-Holocaust ConversationConclusion6. The Book of Job: Hope for VindicationIntroductionReframing JobVerses of Despair, Verses of HopeHope for VindicationConclusion7. Jewish Eschatology: Hopes for the World to ComeIntroductionThe Road to Resurrection in the BibleThe Rise of the Rabbis and the Triumph of ResurrectionThe Messiah of the RabbisMaimonides on the Messiah and the AfterlifeReform Judaism’s Hopes for the AfterlifeHumans Fulfilling Hopes for Immortality?Conclusion8. Israel: Hope in the HomelandIntroductionZionist HopeFulfilling the Hopes of StatehoodReuven Rivlin’s Israeli HopeSnapshots of Israeli Hope: Israeli Activists SpeakConclusion9. Jewish Humor: The Currency of HopeIntroductionHumor and HopeThe Beginning of Jewish LaughterWaiting for the MessiahThe SchlemielLaughing and Hoping in HellGod Laughs TooConclusionFinal ThoughtsA Succinct Jewish Theology of HopeFinding Hope in Our Ancient TextsHope Means WorkTransmitting Our Heritage of HopeNotesBibliographySubject IndexIndex of Texts

"Former clinical psychologist Arnow . . . unearths the hopefulness baked into Judaism in this stimulating [work]."-Publishers Weekly "Not only does this book offer well-researched and carefully thought-out ideas for why to choose to be hopeful, and how to act upon our choices, but it also offers a brilliant and concise theology of hope which can be useful for us now during these times of so much darkness, despair, and denial."-Ron Kronish, Jerusalem Post "Theologically enriching and hope-producing. . . . Could easily function as a reference book, especially for preachers, who wish to draw upon Jewish wisdom in teaching about hope, but it is also . . . worthy of spending time simply reading it cover to cover. . . . There is wisdom here that is worth exploring. . . . As a Christian, I receive this wisdom with gratitude."-Word & Way "A powerful and impactful aid in affirming our hope and transmitting it to the next generation, suffering more than in any recent time in our history."-San Diego Jewish World "An absorbing, insightful, thoughtful and thought-provoking study that is impressively well organized and presented, Choosing Hope: The Heritage of Judaism is an ideal, timely, and unreservedly recommended addition to synagogue, community, college, and university library Judaic Studies collections."-Midwest Book Review "A thoroughly researched . . . book . . . [which] includes insights into prayer and human potential, the Jewish past and messianic future, Hasidic rabbis and secular thinkers."-Long Island Jewish World/Manhattan Jewish Sentinel  “This book is a blessing, a sublime meditation on hope, an erudite feast of Jewish wisdom, and a wellspring of surprising, subversive, deeply satisfying epiphanies about the relationship between hope and all the emotions and experiences that comprise a life of meaning. Doubt, despair, anger, activism, memory, humor, love, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, the Holocaust, and the State of Israel are among the topics explored by David Arnow in his masterful illumination of the purpose and power of hope.”-Letty Cottin Pogrebin, author of Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America “Choosing Hope is not only a profound exploration of the meaning and claim of hope but a wonderfully inspiring interpretation of the Jewish tradition. Drawing on meticulous reading of vast sources and teachings, this extraordinary book bears witness to the core idea of Jewish faith itself: as an awakening to confront our sorrows and despair with the personal and communal ongoing task of tikkun.”-Moshe Halbertal, John and Golda Cohen Professor of Jewish Thought and Philosophy at the Hebrew University “David Arnow guides us gently, engagingly, and insightfully to see hope where we never noticed it before.”-Rabbi Judith Hauptman, E. Billi Ivry Professor Emerita of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture, Jewish Theological Seminary “This vital book challenges us to think about hope in a new way-as a response to life in which we are partners in the ongoing work of imagining and creating a better world. Through its nuanced readings of biblical, classical, and mystical texts, Choosing Hope offers a deep and refreshing understanding of the centrality of hope not only in Jewish theology, prayer, and ritual; Jewish values; and even contemporary Israel but also in our own lives. So dive in-and choose hope.”-Rabbi Laura Geller, Rabbi Emerita of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills