In essays as likely to turn to baseball, Denzel Washington, and the NASDAQ as to Macbeth, quantum physics and psychoanalysis, William Kolbrener provides powerful - and often surprising - insights into how open mindedness allows for authentic Jewish commitment in an age otherwise defined by fundamentalism and unbelief. Open Minded Torah presents - on topics ranging from parenting a son with Down syndrome to Biblical criticism to Talmudic interpretation of dreams - a perspective on Torah which emphasizes scepticism, creativity and the need to embrace difference. Through a personal synthesis of Western and Jewish learning, popular culture and philosophy, Kolbrener offers a compelling new vision where being open minded allows for a non-dogmatic and committed Jewish life. Informed by Kolbrener's considerable erudition, but always accessible, the essays show that scepticism informs belief, commitment grounds creativity, and non-defensive receptiveness makes individual autonomy possible. For every person, it is said, there is a corresponding letter in the Torah: this innovative collection shows Kolbrener writing his letter, and providing the inspiration for others to write their own.

Prologue: Velvel, Govorovo, 1939 I. Desire and Self 1 Making Exceptions 2 Do it Again Denzel: Fantasy andSecond Chances 3 Caught in the Act: Torah and Desire 4 Just Dreamin': The Talmud and the Interpretation of Dreams 5 The Big Game: Baseball, John Milton and Making Choices 6 Of Rabbis and Rotting Meat 7 Identity is Out! 8 Isaac's Bad Rap 9 Cheeseburger 10 Writing an Inspirational Story 11 Eros and Translation 12 Swaying Towards Perfection: Torah, Worldliness and Perversion 13 Jacob's Scar: Wounding and Identity 14 Torah and the Pleasure Principle II. Dispute and Community 15 Oedipus in a Kippa 16 Open Minded Torah I: Judaism and Fundamentalism 17 Irony Über Alles: An Episcopal Passover 18 Of False Kabbalists and Conjurers:Parenting and Idolatry 19 From Sinai to the Uzi: New and Old Zionisms 20 Modernity is Hell: Korah and Hobbes 21 Lost and Found 22 The Poetry of the World: God's Place 23 Open Minded Torah II: Judaism and Postmodernism 24 Stepping Up 25 Prayer and the People: A New Siddur 26 A Religion for Adults? 27 Of Fundamentalists, Rabbis and Irony 28 Don't Take Away My Mitzva! 29 Fear and Loathing in Jerusalem 30 Open Minded Torah III: Between Fundamentalism and Postmodernism III. Time and Memory 31 Carpe Diem, Dude 32 The Antidote for Religion: Fear of God 33 Speech in Exile and the Voice of the Shofar 34 Back to the Future: Yom Kippur and Creative Repentance 35 Shades of Faith: My Sukka is Not Insured by AIG 36 'A Special Conversation': Freud, the Maharal and the Sabbath 37 Lighting Up: The Beauty of Hanuka 38 Whose Letter is it Anyway: Esther, Aristotle and the Art of Letter-Writing 39 Cosmic Consciousness: The Beatles, Passover and the Power of Storytelling 40 Trauma's Legacy: On Israel's Memorial Day 41 Why I Gave Up Biblical Criticism and Just Learned to Love 42 Faceless: the Ninth of Av Epilogue: Shmuel, Jerusalem, 2011 Citations Select Bibliography Index