Jewish spiritual direction is evolving, and this erudite and wide-ranging volume of essays maps many of its major challenges and concerns. The editors are Rabbi Howard A. Addison, the author of Show Me Your Way: The Complete Guide to Interfaith Spiritual Direction and the G. G. Scholem Professor of Jewish Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Foundation, and Rabbi Barbara Breitman, a psychotherapist who trains spiritual directors and teaches pastoral counseling at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Together they founded Lev Shomea, the first institute to train spiritual directors in the Jewish tradition.

In their introduction, they define spiritual direction as "a contemplative practice through which people companion one another over time as they reflect on their spiritual journeys and expand their awareness of the sacred dimensions that underlie the ordinary and extraordinary events of life. Through reflection, spiritual practice, study, and response, seekers are encouraged to cultivate penimiyut, their inner lives."

The spiritual director's main purpose is to enrich and deepen the seeker's intimacy with God. Yet this process must go beyond inwardness and encompass the challenges of community and the ethical steps that must be taken in the healing of the world. American Jews today also must deal with issues of assimilation and survival in an increasingly multifaith world.

The contributors to this resource represent all four contemporary Jewish movements. Their essays are organized in sections on " An Evolving Practice" which covers theology, Jewish authenticity, and work with classical Hebrew texts and terminology; "Practicing Spiritual Guidance" with pieces on contemplative practice, a hearing heart, spiritual types, and community for spiritual direction; "The Jewish Path" with essays on Jewish narratives of journey, the cycle of holy time, the passages of life, and soul traits; and "New Dimensions in Spiritual Guidance" covering embodiment, poetry, dance, and the visual arts. Rabbis Addison and Breitman and the contributors to this volume make it clear that Jewish spiritual direction is alive and well and heading off in a variety of promising new directions.