SPIRITUAL AWAKENINGS: Illuminations on Shabbat and the Holidays

Rubin, a rabbi, college teacher and guidance counselor, writes that the Jewish holidays and Shabbat have been essential to his spiritual development. "Through celebrating these special days I discovered what life is about: Tasting the sweetness of this world." The book opens with a lovely section on Shabbat, with short chapters elucidating the value of rest, lighting candles and blessing one's children. Rubin then goes through all of the holidays of the Jewish year in chronological order from Rosh Hashanah to Shavuot. His style is folksy and homiletic, drawing examples from his own life and from popular culture (as in his chapter on "The Day Michael Jackson Came to Synagogue"). Rubin sometimes gushes a bit too much about his spiritual mentor, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, but he has a real gift for explaining the spiritual significance of familiar rituals. (Feb.)