With Roots in Heaven : One Woman's Passionate Journey into the Heart of her Faith
by Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, Tirzah Firestone
List Price:
Our Price: $8.65
You Save: $6.35 (42%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.32 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, Tirzah FirestoneEdition: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 1999-11-01
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Amazon Remainders Account
Book Reviews of With Roots in Heaven : One Woman's Passionate Journey into the Heart of her Faith
Book Review: A suspenseful story of one woman's search for rad amazement
Summary: 5 Stars
A lot of books come by my desk each season, and I approached this book lacking any great interest. But after the first few pages I was actually addicted. If an autobiography can be called suspenseful, this one is. This book scores as both a primer in spirituality and the story of a woman who flees her Orthodox upbringing in Saint Louis, studies New Age and eastern religions, marries a Christian minister, but then returns to her roots to study for the rabbinate. Rabbi Firestone, a colleague of Rabbi Zalman Schecter-Shalomi, is now a leader in the Jewish Renewal movement, and serves the Jewish communities of Boulder Colorado and the Intermountain area. I will try not to ruin the suspense of the book's story, but suffice it to say the following: The book opens when Rabbi Firestone, born Miriam Firestone in Saint Louis, walks into a Miami hotel for the wedding of her niece. Her brothers, sisters, and mother will be there; some of whom she has not seen in decades, some of whom view her as dead! We must wait for the epilogue to discover what happens at the hotel. Between this intro and the epilogue, we follow Tirzah and her family and friends as she yearns for and seeks out spiritual connections, and desires to learn her bashert in life. She must realize the true path of her heart and discover the inverted tree that descends from the heavens. Along the way we learn why New Age and Eastern religions have been so enticing to Jewish youth, we meet Jew-Bhu's, Hin-Jews, and gurus. The late Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach, a cousin to Tirzah, even makes an appearance in the book, as do beautiful people and seekers of all religions, as well as rogue and manipulative gurus and rabbis. Regretably, her honest portraits of some of the Orthodox leaders she meets along the way brings shame upon some in our community. It took a troubled Christian minister to help Tirzah realize that what she sought could be found in her birth religion of Judaism and in the writings of Heschel, Buber, and the Lurianic Kabbalists. I think readers will try to read faster only to find out in each succeeding chapter what will happen to Tirzah. How will she react to her family's belief that her older brother's suicide was due to a faulty mezuzah? Like Jonah, will she survive a sailing ordeal on the Pacific with a racist rabbi? Will her marriage kill her parents? Will she learn to trust her own heart and break her need to follow strong male spiritual leaders? Can she overcome her personal issues and fear of reconnecting with organized religion? Who is that Yiddish jokester inner voice that saves her in many instances? Surely, this book should be a contender for the Jewish Book Award. This book may actually change some of leader's opinions on officiating at intermarriages in the future.
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Good books - the kind you block-out the world to finish
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Harper Fiction)by Gregory Maguire
Harper; Published: 2007-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.02
Price in other shops:
A Wrinkle in Timeby Madeleine L'Engle
Square Fish; Published: 2007-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Booksby Azar Nafisi
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2003-12-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.93
Price in other shops:
The Handmaid's Tale: A Novelby Margaret Atwood
Anchor; Published: 1998-03-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.73
Price in other shops:
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dreamby Hunter S. Thompson
Vintage; Published: 1998-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.76
Price in other shops:
The Wind-up Bird Chronicleby Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 1997; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.45
With Roots in Heaven : One Woman's Passionate Journey into the Heart of her Faithby Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, Tirzah Firestone
Amazon Remainders Account; Published: 1999-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.80
Price in other shops:
Yentl's Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish FeminismSeal Press; Published: 2001-10-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.77
Price in other shops:
The Mists of Avalonby Marion Zimmer Bradley
Ballantine Books; Published: 1982; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
Complete Vampire Chronicles (Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the body Thief)by Anne Rice
Ballantine Books; Published: 1993-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.11
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Kabbalah: A Love Storyby Lawrence Rabbi Kushner
Broadway; Published: 2007-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.22
Price in other shops:
Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faithby Anne Lamott
Penguin Audio; Published: 2007-03-20; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.80
Price in other shops:
Standing Alone: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam (Plus)by Asra Nomani
HarperOne; Published: 2006-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops:
Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banarasby Diana L. Eck
Beacon Press; Published: 2003-04-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.91
Price in other shops:
The Spiral Staircase CDHarperAudio; Published: 2004-03-01; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $22.83
Price in other shops:
Dreams Of Trespass: Tales Of A Harem Girlhoodby Fatima Mernissi
Basic Books; Published: 1995-09-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
The Alphabet in My Hands: A Writing Lifeby Marjorie Agosin
Rutgers University Press; Published: 2000-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.96
Price in other shops:
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faithby Barbara Brown Taylor
HarperOne; Published: 2007-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops:
The Woman's Kabbalahby Tirzah Firestone
Sounds True, Incorporated; Published: 2005-05-01; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $10.94
Price in other shops:
The Receiving : Reclaiming Jewish Women's Wisdomby Tirzah Firestone
Published: 2004-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.02
Price in other shops: