Arthur Green is Irving Brudnick Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Religion and rector of the Rabbinical School at Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusetts. This cogent and enlightening paperback is an expansion of the Franz Rosensweig Lectures he delivered at Yale University in the fall of 2006. Green sees this theological work as part of a trilogy that also includes Seek My Face and Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow.

In the introduction, he calls himself a seeker and recalls that the Zohar and the teachings of the early Hasidic masters saved Judaism for him, thanks to their mystical insights into soul and the human condition. Green also affirms his own religious humanism which challenges us to "repent of our cavalier treatment of the biosphere in which we live, of our indifferent overconsumption and waste of resources, of our virtual disdain for nonhuman forms of life. We need to repent of the separation we have created between the sacred and the mundane, between the godly and the natural." His capacious blend of mysticism, openness, and ecological humanism makes this a very special theological work.

Green accepts the scientific account of the origin of the universe that begins with the Big Bang and proceeds on an evolutionary path. He also accepts that we all carry the image of God and this means that "every creature and every life form is a garbing of divine presence. The way in which we treat them and relate to them is the ultimate testing ground of our own religious consciousness."

Green moves on to a history of God as spelled out in the mythic tales of the Creator's encounters with human beings. He discusses the elusive and mysterious nature of God as a parent, a king, and a lover. Best of all, Green explores the contributions of the Kabbalah and Hasidism to the development of God-consciousness.

The Torah plays a major role in Judaism as its sacred text and animator of a change in human consciousness. Green sees Torah interpretation as the lifeblood of the Jewish tradition. Sections of this chapter reveal his broad approach as he examines the recovery of silence; the call of mitzvah; ten words, twice spoken; Sinai and covenant; reflecting on our journey; and the tree of life. In the last chapter Green refers to the importance of Ben Azzai's contention that respecting the image of God in ourselves and in others is the most radical act of all:

"The ongoing challenge requires us in each generation to widen the circle of those seen by us as fully human, as bearing God's image, as we seek to expand the bounds of the holy. As we find God's image in ever more of humanity, we open ourselves to ever more of God's presence. To find God in every human being is no small task. We could spend a lifetime at this art and still not perfect it. How much we have to learn about it from those who work daily with the suffering, with the dying, and especially with those so degraded by shame or societal status that they are unable to see the divine image in themselves! The greatest gift we can give to another human being is that of treating him or her as one who embodies God's presence. The greatest harm we can do is to rob a person of that sense."

Green's take on the conflict in the Middle East is from the important left flank of Israel's supporters. He urges peace with the Palestinians, a negotiated return of territories, and a two-state solution: "The only way to live in a Holy Land is to share it with others." As a committed diaspora Jew, he offers the following truth that has been forged by centuries of struggle and challenges: "Being is One, and each person is God's unique image." Amen!