A clever newspaper editor gives readers pause to think, often resorting to pithy titles, satirical wit, and clever wordsmithing to seize their attention. In Rabbi Pinchos Lipshutz’s new book, The Editor’s View (ArtScroll, June 2008), the editor-in-chief of the Jewish weekly Yated Neeman, wields the tool of truth, tempered by a seasoned Torah world view, to create a portal for introspection and – ultimately – action. This absorbing new book is a compendium of many of Rabbi Lipshutz’s finest editorials authored over several years, offering timely reflections on inyonei d’yoma – issues of the day.
Rabbi Lipshutz knows that behind every story resides a bigger story, laden with implications for living life better. Whether dealing with the aftermath of the Gaza “disengagement”, commenting candidly on the unraveling of Western society’s moral fabric, or looking for meaning in our current economic crises, Rabbi Lipshutz guides readers to the safer high ground of the Torah’s outlook. He unearths the intrinsic purpose in what may appear to be random events, helping readers perceive the Guiding Hand that shapes the outcome of human events.
While each stands independent of the others, the book’s fifty-six essays are organized into six general categories encompassing Prayer and Priorities, Leadership, Commitment, Perspectives, Focus on Festivals, and Choices. Though many of the topics are weighty and serious, Rabbi Lipshutz skillfully identifies a vital life lesson in each issue. With a clarity sharpened by a seasoned Torah perspective, this straight-talking editor urges readers to align their thoughts, words, actions, and interactions with the enduring truths that have sustained Jews through the centuries.
The Editor’s View looks at life from angles the common culture may consider oblique or even provincial, but which lovers of truth and integrity will recognize as compassionate and faithful to the upwardly mobile standards that have always inspired Jews to greatness.
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