About the Book
This JPS ethics series deals with some of the most critical moral issues of our time.
Is it morally acceptable to use surveillance and profiling to protect national security? Should war only be used in self-defense? Is torture in times of war morally acceptable? Contributors include scholar Noam Chomsky, Lt. Col. Seth Milstein, and political philosopher Michael Walzer. Each volume in this series presents hypothetical cases on specific topics, followed by traditional and contemporary sources. Supplementing these are brief essays, written by contributors of various ages, backgrounds, and viewpoints to provoke lively thought and discussion. These voices from Jewish tradition and today’s Jewish community present us with new questions and perspectives, encouraging us to consider our own moral choices in a new light. Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices takes a hard look at important and controversial topics of our time.
Praise
War and National Security and Social Justice are the most difficult volumes of the series to read because they demand far more attention than previous books. Yet, the need to address these topics is vital. The Jewish Publication Society is to be commended for publishing works that should engender discussions on issues that will affect not only current generations but the future of humanity.
—Heritage Florida Jewish News
Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices: War and National Security is a must for those trying to understand the Jewish opinion of today’s society.
—Midwest Book Review
In the face of rampant and continuing warfare around the globe, it is imperative that contemporary prophets be heeded — since the ancient sources have so little to say about the complexities of our modern times. Be sure to check out the interviews with Noam Chomsky and Michael Walzer.
—Spirituality and Practice
Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff
Elliot N. Dorff, Rabbi (Jewish Theological Seminary), PhD (Columbia University), is rector and Sol and Anne Dorff Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the American Jewish University (formerly the University of Judaism) in Los Angeles. Among the twelve books he has written are four award-winning books on Jewish ethics and law published by The Jewish Publication Society: Matters of Life and Death(1998) on Jewish medical ethics; To Do the Right and the Good (2002) on Jewish social ethics; Love Your Neighbor and Yourself on Jewish personal ethics; and For the Love of God and People: A Philosophy of Jewish Law (2007). He has also edited 10 books, including Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality(Oxford, 1995) and Contemporary Jewish Theology (Oxford, 1999), co-edited by Louis Newman, who also co-edited with Dorff the first three volumes of the Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices series. Since 1984, Rabbi Dorff has served on the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and has served as its Chair since 2007. He has also served on several federal advisory commissions dealing with the ethics of health care, sexual responsibility, and research on human subjects. He is a member of the State of California’s Ethics Committee on embryonic stem cell research.
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is the author of Surprised By God: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Religion (Beacon Press, 2008), nominated for the 2010 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, and editor ofThe Passionate Torah: Sex and Judaism (NYU Press, 2009) and Yentl’s Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism (Seal Press, 2001). With Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff, she is the co-editor of three volumes in theJewish Choices, Jewish Voices series published by JPS: Sex and Intimacy; War and National Security; Social Justice (2010). She is also a contributing editor to Lilith and to the academic journal Women and Judaism and is on the editorial board of Jewschool.com. In 2010, Jewish Week recognized her as one of the “36 Under 36” (36 of the most influential Jewish leaders under the age of 36). Rabbi Ruttenberg received her Rabbinic ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles and her B.A. in Religious Studies from Brown University. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and son, serves as the Senior Jewish Educator at Tufts University and teaches and lectures nationwide.
A recorded version of the JPS TANAKH, the most widely read English translation of the Hebrew (the Jewish) Bible. 