----------------------- Message requiring your approval ----------------------
From: Jerusalem Books <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [ha-Safran]: New Book! The Splendor of Creation by Ellen Bernstein
Just in time for summer reading, a unique new book that invites the reader
to take a fresh-look at the Bible through the lens of ecology.
Focused entirely on Genesis I, The Splendor of Creation, A Biblical Ecology
(Pilgrim Press/Cleveland/April 22, 2005) is the brainchild of pioneering
thinker and social entrepreneur, Ellen Bernstein, founder of Shomrei
Adamah, the first Jewish environmental organization. The work is the
culmination of a grant she received from the prestigious Covenant
Foundation, based in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />New York.
Elegantly-rendered, revolutionary and relevant, The Splendor of Creation
offers a reading of Genesis I suited for an ecological age. In our
precious and imperiled world, our collective responsibility for preserving
our planet grows ever more urgent. Ms. Bernstein makes a strong case for
assuming this task and roots it in one of the oldest and best-known
narratives in the world.
At once personal, informative and moving, The Splendor of Creation is
appropriate for educators, spiritual leaders and laypeople alike and will
surely become an invaluable addition to personal and professional libraries
around the world. Accessible and lyrical, the work also contains exhaustive
footnotes and supplemental information.
Even prior to its publication, this extraordinary work has received rave
reviews. Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of the best-selling work, When Bad
Things Happen to Good People, says, It is writers like Ellen Bernstein who
make it possible to find answers in the Bible to questions no previous
generation has had to ask. A book rich in valuable insights.
And Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker of the Harvard Forum on Religion and Ecology
writes that The Splendor of Creation is, A book of remarkable insight.
Ellen Bernstein ignites what is sorely needed at present, namely a creative
reciprocity with the Earth and its gifts. We are all in her debt.
I hope you will be inspired by The Splendor of Creation and incorporate it
into your programming. The book can be used as an invaluable teaching tool
in a variety of venues:
Adult education
College student programs
Book club
Spirituality and Healing programs
Holiday programming and celebration
Theology classes
Interfaith work
It is a book that belongs in every Jewish library and bookshop and in every
Jewish home.
Following the publication of her work, Ms. Bernstein will be lecturing and
conducting classes around the country based on The Splendor of Creation. To
arrange for her to do a special program or serve as a scholar-in-residence,
please contact Shira Dicker (information below).
The Splendor of Creation will be available in stores and on websites by mid
May. Advance praise and a short bio of the author are attached to this
letter. Review copies of the book are available for clergy, religious
educators and ethics professors who plan to review the book for a
publication or want to use it for a class. Ellen can be reached at
[EMAIL PROTECTED] and I can be reached at 212.663.4643 or
917.403.3989. You may e-mail me at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
With prayers for a peaceful planet,
Shira Dicker
ADVANCE PRAISE
Our thanks to Ellen Bernstein, birth-mother of the Jewish environmental
movement. Bernstein seamlessly weaves together Genesis and environmental
awareness, forming a union in which each of these turns out to be the
deeper meaning of the other. A very honest, down-to-earth, and sometimes
profound reflection. -- Rabbi Arthur Green, Dean, The Rabbinical School at
Hebrew College
Religious in the best sense of the word. Sylvia Barack Fishman, Director,
Program in Contemporary Jewish Life, Brandeis University
Ellen Bernstein's new book gives voice to that wisdom of Creation through
her elegant reading of Genesis. This book belongs in the hands of clergy,
spiritual seekers and all those who care about the earth. It can take
environmentalism out of the cloister of the environmentalists and into the
hearts of ordinary people. -- Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Author, The Wisdom of the
Jewish Sages, The Way of Solomon,
A remarkable achievement. Through a close reading of the most influential
words ever written, Ellen Bernstein offers a spiritual language that can
help us find a way back to a rich and meaningful relationship with the
earth. -- Adam Werbach, Former President, Sierra Club
This book bears the mark of a life workcareful thought, spiritual
insights, deep reflection . . . It is a genre of writing very difficult to
do well, combining scholarship with poetry and autobiography. . . . Readers
will want to share with others because Ellen Bernstein has dared to trust
them with the intimacy of her heart. -- Eli N. Evans, author, The
Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ellen Bernstein is an award-winning author, social entrepreneur and
creative thinker whose career has been devoted to translating Jewish ideas
into innovative programs that inspire and motivate people. Deeply committed
to community revitalization, the arts, and matters of the spirit, she is
perhaps best known for awakening awareness about the connection between
Jewish tradition and the environment, chiefly in her role as founder of the
organization, Shomrei Adamah, the first national Jewish environmental
organization.
Her name has become synonymous with a Bible-based awareness of humankinds
responsibility to serve as stewards of the Earth.
Some of the other highly-acclaimed programs Bernstein has launched include
the creative Friday Night Alive! synagogue service; the All-Species Parade
(in honor of Earth Day) at the Philadelphia Zoo; the Jewish ArtSalon,
geared for the unaffiliated; and numerous nationwide public Tu BShvat
programs, honoring the Jewish festival of the trees. These programs and
others have influenced hundreds of thousands of people around the country
and the world.
The recipient of grants from such prestigious foundations as the Covenant
Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Bernsteins previous books
include Ecology and the Spirit (Jewish Lights, 1998); Let the Earth Teach
You Torah (Shomrei Adamah, 1992); and A Celebration of Creation (Shomrei
Adamah, 1989). Named as a Woman of Distinction by Womens League of
Conservative Judaism, Bernstein has been honored by the United Nations,
served as a Coolidge Colloquium Fellow, been a member of Mayor John
Streets Transition Team and more.
Learn more about Ellen Bernstein and the Splendor of Creation at
www.ellenbernstein.org.
The Splendor of Creation
A Biblical Ecology
Ellen Bernstein
144 pp 5.5 x 8.5
ISBN 0-8298-1664-X
Paper
$16.00 USA/$21.00 CAN
For more information about The Pilgrim Press, visit
www.thepilgrimpress.com. The Pilgrim Press, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is
distributed in Canada by Wood Lake Books, toll-free, 800.663.2775.
www.woodlakebooks.com
Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author
and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL
===========================================================
Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu
Ha-Safran Archives:
http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html
AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
