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Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change Paperback – October 11, 2016

by David Jaffe (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 60 ratings
See all formats and editions
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WINNER OF THE 2016 JEWISH BOOK COUNCIL AWARD FOR CONTEMPORARY JEWISH LIFE AND PRACTICE

An inspiring and accessible guide, drawn from Jewish wisdom, for building the inner qualities necessary to work effectively for social justice.

The world needs changing—and you’re just the person to do it!  It’s a matter of cultivating the inner resources you already have. If you are serious about working for social justice and change, this book will help you bring your most compassionate, wise, and courageous self to the job.

Bringing positive social change to any system takes deep self-awareness, caring, determination, and long-term commitment. But polarization, the slow pace of change, and internal conflicts among activists and organizations often leads to burnout and discouragement among the very people needed to make a difference. Changing the World from the Inside Out distills centuries of Jewish wisdom about cultivating and refining the inner life into an accessible program for building the qualities necessary to accomplish sustainable change. Through explorations of deep motivation, inner-drive, and traits like trust and anger, this book engages the reader in a journey of self-development and transformation, demonstrating that sustainable activism is indeed a spiritual practice. Jaffe offers accessible and meaningful guidance for this journey—with exercises, contemplations, and discussion points that can be used individually or in a group.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    224 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Trumpeter
  4. Publication date
    October 11, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9781611803358
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1611803358
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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“This wise book is essential reading for anyone who recognizes that the world’s problems demand spiritual solutions, because it is we who must change before we can expect to change the world. Rabbi Jaffe draws on deep and time-tested Jewish wisdom to guide us to become more effective activists by bringing our highest truth to bear on public issues. He shows us how to tap the wellsprings of motivation, channel emotions, and align our behavior with our highest values to make us more effective in serving the public good. Changing the World from the Inside Out is full of valuable lessons that will help ensure that your holy light shines like a beacon in these dark times, when we need it so much.”—Alan Morinis, author of Everyday Holiness
 
“David Jaffe offers an incisive investigation into the key questions that confront anyone who hopes to make individual or systemic change. He encourages us to understand our motivations and drives—and how to use these to move toward the change we want, to help others move with us, and to not burn out in the process.—Ruth W. Messinger, former President of the American Jewish World Service
 
“Changing the World from the Inside Out combines sweeping, idealistic visions to repair the planet with practical, realistic approaches that enable this to get done, one step at a time. It offers a path with directions how to repair one’s self and grow into a kind, understanding, nurturing partner in progress.”—Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, President Emeritus, The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership


"An inspiring integration of musar (inspirational) literature and practice with numerous examples of how one can take the insights of that “inner” discipline and use it to make a difference in the world.”—Raddi Sid Schwarz, New York Jewish Week

About the Author

DAVID JAFFE is a rabbi, a social worker, and an educational consultant to many major Jewish institutions in North America. He's a nationally recognized leader in the field of Mussar and applied Jewish ethics, and he is a frequent speaker at synagogues and Jewish conferences around the country. He's spent twenty-five years teaching and working in various areas of social justice outreach, including homelessness and interfaith community organizing.  www.rabbidavidjaffe.com

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1611803357
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Trumpeter (October 11, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781611803358
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1611803358
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 60 ratings

About the author

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David Jaffe

David Jaffe

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David Jaffe is a writer, activist, rabbi and spiritual seeker. His first book, Changing the World from the Inside Out (Trumpeter, 2016), explores how to walk a holy path that integrates deep spiritual wisdom with the daily work of peacemaking and social change. David’s social consciousness was forged as a child learning about the Holocaust and participating in school desegregation in the volatile early 1970s New York. He has spent his entire adult life pursuing Jewish wisdom and working for reconciliation and social justice. This journey has taken him from his home in New York to the homeless shelters of San Francisco’s Tenderloin, to traditional Yeshiva in Jerusalem, to refugee camps of Central Africa and faith-rooted community organizing in Boston. During this time David served as the Director of Social Justice Programs at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, as a founding board member of Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps and as the Spiritual Advisor at Gann Academy in Waltham, MA. David is the Founder and Principal of the Kirva Institute, where he teaches applied Jewish wisdom to people of all backgrounds.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
60 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Greg Marcus
5.0 out of 5 stars Change the World By Changing Yourself
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2017
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Rabbi David Jaffe is a mensch, a Torah scholar, and a great writer. All three come through in his book. Jaffe begins by sharing his personal story. He had a secular Jewish upbringing, and started to walk the spiritual path in college after a close friend died of leukemia. It led to a spiritual awakening that eventually brought him to Israel to learn the teachings of the followers of Rabbi Nacham of Breslov. That name might not mean anything to you, but he was a Rabbi who died in 1810 who emphasized joy, yearning, finding the good in oneself and others among other things. And this path led Jaffe to Mussar.

This book does an amazing job of explaining both Mussar and other Jewish teachings in a way that an everyday person can understand. What differentiates "Changing the World" from other Mussar books is the focus on social justice. Jaffe uses stories from his time as a community organizer, as well as other stories from social justice leaders to explain different aspects of Mussar practice.

Ultimately, if we want to change the world, we first need to change ourselves. If you are a social activist, looking to strengthen your resolve or overcome those things inside holding you back, this is a great book for you. And if you are on the spiritual path, the explanations of Mussar and real life examples will serve as both inspiration and a roadmap on your journey of personal transformation. I highly recommend that you buy it.
7 people found this helpful
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Jonathan S Woocher
5.0 out of 5 stars Wisdom from Jewish tradition to guide contemporary activists
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2017
Verified Purchase
The next few years are likely to be especially challenging for social change activists. Being able to draw on inner strength and being able to focus one's activist impulses wisely will be increasingly important. Drawing on traditional Jewish wisdom, David Jaffe has written a book that can nourish and sustain social change activists as they work to make the world more just. The key, Jaffe argues and illustrates through numerous examples, is developing and practicing a set of what Jewish teaching calls middot, character traits or virtues, like humility, patience, dignity, and trust, and learning how to guide our passions in constructive directions. By linking personal and social change we can build a more robust and resilient platform for tackling the world's problems. Changing the World From Inside Out is not only a gateway into an under-appreciated body of profound Jewish teaching about how we become fully human, it's a practical primer in how to develop the mindsets and behaviors that make for effective activism. If you're committed to building a better world and in it for the long term, take the time to read this book. It will leave you with new insights and inspiration.
4 people found this helpful
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Enoch Gordis
4.0 out of 5 stars This is a very fine book. The author describes how as a young ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2017
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This is a very fine book. The author describes how as a young Jewish college student and frat member a life changing incident made him realize that there is a world out there whose injustices needed fixing. He began to explore the Jewish concepts of morality, civilized behavior and concern for others embodied in the Jewish documents across the centuries: the Talmud (ca 200-400 AD), the morality teachings of the medieval scholars and later, and the Hasidic tradtions. He became a rabbi and and activist in social concerns. Well written, touching in many places. My only reservation is that at the end of chapters there are short questionnaires for the reader to ask himself or herself instances of where the chapters contents were reflected in the reader's life. I didn't expect that, and I skipped over it. Minor quibble. Others might find these little quizzes interesting. Book is highly recommended.
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mikey
5.0 out of 5 stars Changing the World from the Inside Out by Rabbi David Jaffe
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2017
Verified Purchase
Rabbi David Jaffe transforms the spiritual-theoretical into timely, real-world wisdom and advice for social activists and concerned citizens alike. Changing the World from the Inside Out distills Jewish mystical, populist, and ethical teachings into a very down to earth conversation about what it means to try and make the world we live in a better place. Rabbi Jaffe recognizes that we enter into the work of repairing the world with grand visions and motivations, AND that in order to realize those visions and motivations we really need to reinforce the work internally with regard to our own way of being and relating to others. For anybody who wonders what religion might have to offer humanity in a chaotic postmodern world, Rabbi Jaffe makes an excellent case that it has the potential to facilitate the sort of character development that truly makes the world a better place, one person at a time.
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Rabbi Nancy Kreimer
5.0 out of 5 stars The Book We Have Been Waiting For
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2017
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Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, Associate Professor, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Ever since I began the study of Mussar, fourteen years ago, I have asked my teachers to help make a connection between this traditional Jewish practice of character cultivation and today's social justice activism. Imagine my thrill to discover Rabbi David Jaffe's work! We needed someone to write this book, and Rabbi Jaffe was the perfect candidate. He is a learned and deep Mussar teacher and practitioner; he is also an experienced and thoughtful activist. Rabbi Jaffe brings all this together in a work that can guide both beginners and experts in both fields. Needless to say,in our present moment in this country, we need this wisdom more than ever. I read this book aloud with my husband, a law professor. As we discussed the rich ideas in each chapter, we knew we were girding ourselves for the battles ahead. Thank you, thank you, Rabbi Jaffe!
8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Frustrating
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
Just purchased this - having seen the announcement of the National Jewish Book award; and the topic is something I have worked on and taught/facilitated for many years. I like the workbook/structured style. BUT I have two major frustrations. a) In several places the author references other source texts - not as footnotes but as major sources in the text - so, in fact, at least in those places this is a workbook for other books. This means additional expense if the books are actually as important as he suggests they are. And in more than one case they are out of print (or possibly re-issued with a new title). b) The author also promises 'Hebrew language sources and additional material' on his website. They are not available. I'm pretty sure that the panel of judges for the award, and those people who generously offered recommendations, were not looking at that level of detail. But I did soon after buying the book. I'm sure I will make use of the book - and might even try to source some of the other books, but it has left a bitter and negative feeling behind.
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