The Jewish Way to a Good Life: Find Happiness, Build Community, and Embrace Lovingkindness

For as long as Judaism been a religion, "Jewish" has been a culture--one whose unique blend of ritual and realism has kept its people going for some 3,000 years. In The Jewish Way to a Good Life, Rabbi Shira Stutman invites readers of every faith--and none--to do chesed (good work), foster tzedek (justice), practice shabbat (rest), and ultimately find happiness.

From Love and Sex to Mourning and Money, Rabbi Shira visits ten realms where we all get lost on occasion, to deliver spirited, sometimes surprising wisdom. On love: Sex is meant to be fun and liberating. On rest: Time is even more sacred than things. Again and again, she reveals how customs have survived not out of obligation, but because they meet our deepest needs--from shiva, which allows mourning families not to be OK, to the unbridled joy of dancing the hora at weddings.

For anyone seeking community, meaning, or simply "something more," The Jewish Way to a Good Life offers practical, time-tested ways to enrich our daily routines and engage those around us. By looking in and reaching out, we can all help tikkun olam--heal the world.

#1 Bestseller in Women & Judaism

Rabbi Shira Stutman is a nationally known faith-based leader and change maker with more than twenty years of experience motivating and inspiring groups large and small. She is the senior rabbi of the Aspen Jewish Congregation and co-host of the top-ranked PRX podcast Chutzpod! in which she provides Jewish answers to life's contemporary questions and help listeners build lives of meaning. She also teaches Torah and speaks nationally on topics that include growing welcoming Jewish spiritual communities; building the connective tissues between different types of people; and the current American Jewish community zeitgeist. As founder of Mixed Multitudes, a consultancy that exposes diverse groups of Jews and fellow travelers to the beauty and power of Jewish life, tradition, and conversation, she currently is working on a variety of projects: running programs that support Jews in having less reactive and more heart-centered conversations about Israel; teaching in progressive institutions about antisemitism; and serving as scholar-in-residence for projects that build the next generation of philanthropic leadership. She was the founding rabbi of Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, DC, in addition to a number of other start-up Jewish life initiatives.