"We have no concern more central than to live our lives in a deepening relationship with God," write Carol Ochs and Kerry M. Olitzky in this book. Here is a reflective text for seekers and those who guide them on their spiritual journey. Although the authors come out of a Jewish tradition and refer to the Torah, rabbinical texts, Hasidic tales, and contemporary teachers of wisdom, this excellent resource provides a superb overview of the process of spiritual guidance for people of any tradition. Ochs and Olitsky cover all of the major themes of growth in intimacy with God including prayer, listening, discernment, images of God, sacred texts, temptation and sin, and community.

Throughout Jewish Spiritual Guidance the authors show how God speaks to us in things, events, words, dreams, the inner self, nature, and the voices of others. The challenge is to be attentive and to decipher the meaning of all that happens to us. Ochs and Olitsky also delineate road markers on the path of discernment such as peace, clarity, empowerment, tenderness, conquest of fear, and release of joy. The evolution of our relationship with God is a lifelong process. This admirable resource feeds that impulse with erudition and depth.