In Speech and in Silence: The Jewish Quest for God [signed]

"Blessed be God Who spoke, and the world came into being." In the Jewish tradition, the world is created by words. Judaism ascribes an almost mystical power to language. Indeed, the central sacred object in Judaism is the book, the Torah. Words form a pathway between people and God.And yet, if words are the avenue of spirituality, silence is the destination. Silence signals our connection to the sublime. When we feel so deeply that words fail us, we are as close to God's presence as it is possible for humankind to be.Now, in a deeply moving series of meditations, David Wolpe explores how each of us can use the complexity of language and the simplicity of silence to reach toward God. Writing with the same mastery of sources that so distinguished his first book and with the same beauty of language that made that work a joyful and powerful experience, Rabbi Wolpe brings his compassionate intelligence to bear on a subject as ancient as the tradition that embraces it and as modern as our universal need to connect.