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Amen: An Essay

by Amatzia Baruchi

154 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-1144; ISBN 1-55395-429-7; US$17.50, C$22.13, EUR14.40, £10.00

Theological ideas drawn from conversations, group discussions, books and "the web", intended to challenge your beliefs, inspire a greater awareness in your heart, and bring you closer to "The Light".

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about the book      about the author      sample excerpts or Table of Contents      catalogue info

About the Book I began this work four years ago, with no intention to publish it, only to satisfy my desire to understand the "Greater Plan". This work is a collection of notes from conversations, group discussions, books and the internet. After sharing these notes with friends, they urged me to publish them. The years have passed and my desire to share this knowledge on a broader scale has compelled me ot publish this work. if this work challenges your beliefs or inspires a greater awareness in your heart and brings you closer to "The Light", then my work is done.

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About the Author Amatzia Baruchi ws born and raised in Israel. he has lived in the USA for he past sixteen years and currently resides in Texas with his wife and two children.

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Sample Excerpts

PREFACE

I grew up in a religious Kibbutz in the land of Israel, and lived the Kibbutz farm life...Until my teen years everything went "according to the program", my religious upbringing. When I reached my adolescence and my hormones started acting up, going to discos and parties became my idea of fun. Since such pastimes clashed with, my religious upbringing, I decided a life of pleasure was more important than following religious strictures, and I gave up religion. I told my friends and myself, "I believe in God and that's enough for me! I don't have to follow His laws. God gave us this life to enjoy, and I'm going to do just that! I'm going to live it up!!" and I did.
I forgot the little that I had bothered to learn in school (between daydreams).
High school ended and I joined the IDF (Israel's Defense Force) in November of 1980.
In June of 1982, after years of tension between the Palestinian terrorist factions who occupied southern Lebanon and Israel, and in retaliation against their bombing of northern Israel, Israel invaded Lebanon.
I happened to be with the first unit that crossed the Lebanese border on the western side of the campaign and later invaded Beirut.
During the first few hours of battle I lost a few buddies and as the war progressed I lost more.
That's when I started to ask myself, "Is there a God? If so, how come He lets these things happen?"
I didn't search for any answers; I wasn't interested in finding them...I resolved to keep on living life to the fullest for as long as I could, for as long as I was alive.
That was, I believed, my purpose in life, to enjoy it, and to experience everything.

When I finished my service in the IDF, I wanted to explore the world. My plans included travel to Australia, South America, North America and the Far East. I didn't get too far. Circumstances made me go straight to the United States.

After traveling around the States I ended up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. There I met Donna, the girl who would change my life. She was a nice girl who grew up in a Catholic home in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, educated in a Christian school, and as lost as I was at the time. After courting D nna for a while, I won her heart, and we decided to get married. I took her to Israel to meet my family. Of course my family was quite concerned that Donna was not Jewish. We did agree, however, that Donna would go through an Ulpan Giur (Jewish conversion course) that had just started in my Kibbutz. Donna spent a year in the Kibbutz learning Judaism and working the land. I spent the year going back and forth between New York and Israel. The Rabbi in my Kibbutz recommended that since Donna was converting to Judaism, that I should study the religion myself. It had been years since I had practiced. I agreed. I listened to some lectures, I stpped working on the Sabbath, and I started praying in the mornings. I didn't practice all the Jewish laws, just some of them. I still wanted my so-called, freedom.

At our wedding, my father got up on stage after the meal and told everyone what a great woman I had. Like the patriarch, Abraham, she left her home, her land, and her country for an unfamiliar new land in which she was a stranger, changed her religion and her life - all because of me! I had better appreciate what I had! And I do!

When we returned to the tates, I started attending the local "Chabad" synagogue for morning prayers. The previous year I had met Rabbi Doron Aisenman, the local Chabad Rabbi. Every morning he woke me up for morning prayers, and whenever they needed a "Minyan" I was there.

Five years later, Donna finished college, and took a job as a teacher at the Chabad School.

In June of 1998 Donna's dad, Bill, passed away after suffering from stomach cancer. Bill, whom I had grown to love very much, was a great man. His passing devastated my wife's family and sent me on a spiritual quest. The same questions that I had asked myself years before came back to haunt me. "Is there really a God out there? If so, how come he let this thing happen...etc" The difference was that this time I did want answers.

My brother, Shmulik, gave me a book called Encounters, written by Rabbi Arie Kaplan, a book about the philosophical questions that people ask about God, the soul... etc. The book was like an appetizer to me. I was hungry for deeper spiritual knowledge. I devoured books, searched the Internet and talked to different people. At that time Rabbi Doron and I established a friendship, and when I needed an answer he was there.

During that time I made another good friend, Dan O'Reilly, who was also searching and inquiring into his Catholic upbringing. Every time Dan and I met we engaged in spiritual discussions, which really helped both of us. Dan is a devout Catholic. His knowledge of the faith caused me to probe even deeper into my Jewish roots. Doing so reinforced my faith. Dan and I are not trying to convert each ther. We just share knowledge.

Dan formed a study group called "The Living Water Scripture Study Group". The group was comprised of about twenty members (on and off) from several Christian denominations. I was the only Jew in the group. We met twice a month and we talked about different aspects of spirituality. In this forum we discussed our understanding of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.

We agreed that Jews and Christians worship the same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, creator of heaven and earth. Christians serve God through Jesus of Nazareth, whom they call the "Christ", and the Christian tradition. The Jews know and serve God through Torah and the Jewish tradition. The differences between the Jews and the Christians will not be settled until the final redemption as promised in Scriptures.

This essay is a collection of thoughts and ideas I collected from those meetings and their discussions. I compiled all this information from various sources. Books, Internet and scholars. I did this mostly to educate myself, but also others who are struggling with similar questions.

* When I refer to Christians, in this work. I generalize. I do not distinguish among the different Christian denominations. In this work, anyone who believes that Jesus was the promised Messiah is a Christian.

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Catalogue Information

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