Wrestling with the Angel: Jewish Insights on Death and Mourning - Hardcover

Jack Riemer is the editor of Torah Fax, a resource center for rabbis.

The first part of this sequel to Jewish Reflections on Death, also edited by Riemer, is composed of essays in which contributors try to show how the resources of the Jewish tradition can be of help through the end of life and provide healing for those who mourn. Part two presents writings that show that after all the answers, questions still remain. Some of the essays provide information about the Jewish way in death and dying and explain some of the main rituals and traditions, but most of them are testimonies. The book focuses on three issues: whether it is permissable to hasten the process of dying, what is meant by afterlife and what can be hoped for after this life is done, and what Riemer calls "the determination of this generation to take back our lives and our deaths from the hands of the experts and the professionals." Contributors range across a broad spectrum from orthodox to reform. George Cohen