A Precious Heritage: Rabbinical Reflections on God Judaism and the World in the Turbulent Twentieth Century

A Precious Heritage is A brilliantly conceived and carefully annotated retrospective on American and Jewish events through the stormiest years of the twentieth century. Before Internet (and for a while even TV) the sermons of great rabbis were our weekly window to the world and Rabbi Sidney Ballon epitomized that greatness. Here then lovingly compiled by his son is a set of enlightening reflections available nowhere else: lessons from World War I; the foreboding atmosphere of 1939; the birth of a Jewish state; the Civil Rights era; the spiritual significance of landing on the moon. The authors accompanying commentary looking back on the sermons from the perspective of today is itself extraordinary. And the sermons themselves are literary masterpieces--eloquent passionate even profound -- and representative of the rabbinic best. RABBI LAWRENCE A. HOFFMAN PH.DA Precious Heritage captures the essence of Rabbi Sidney Ballons character his relationship with his congregation and his intellectual passions -- including his engagement from the pulpit with the great religious and social justice issues of his time. This is also the story of a father and son. Yesh Ballon immersed himself in Sidney Ballons life work. Yesh traveled a path that greatly deepened his relationship with his father and his Judaism. This is an excellent book; it demonstrates why all rabbis should archive their work leaving to future generations the legacy of their wisdom. RABBI DAVID SAPERSTEIN Director Emeritus Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; Former U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom