Unfinished Rabbi: Selected Writings of Arnold Jacob Wolf

Reform Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf (Kam Isaiah Israel Congregation, Chicago) has long sought to integrate deep and passionate faith with social activism and justice, including protesting the Vietnam War and in supporting the Civil Rights movement. He has been for many students, congregants and colleagues an ideal rabbi, calling them back to the roots of their piety and practice as they sought to become better Jews. This collection of Wolf's writings ranges far and wide to include his sermons, letters, addresses, portraits of Jewish leaders and social tracts. The subjects of these collected writings include, among others, the ""role of the rabbi and the congregant,"" ""Jewish beliefs,"" ""mitzvot,"" ""Judaism as social activism,"" ""Teaching"" and ""Israel and other faiths."" All of the writings manifest Wolf's characteristic flair for couching prophetic words in articulate writing. For example, in his essay on ""Teaching the Bible Today,"" Wolf emphasizes that ""a good Bible class is very confusing--it will be filled with controversy... because we honor Scripture best by taking it seriously enough to argue about it."" His portraits of his contemporaries include Abraham Joshua Heschel, Mordecai Kaplan and Jean-Paul Sartre. In a final section, Wolf provides insights into his own life and struggles to be a faithful Jew in his ""Fragments of My Life."" The volume presents a fascinating chronicle through writing of one of the great Jewish voices of the 20th century. (Mar.)