God Is Not Dead: Man's Pursuit of Faith in Judaism

By: Moshe Finkelman

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Dr. Moshe Finkelman emerges as an expert on Jewish faith in his book God Is Not Dead: Man’s Pursuit of Faith in Judaism. For the first time since the 18th century’s The Path of the Upright of Rabbi Luzzatto, there is a book that describes a system of growth in faith, from the initial level to the ultimate level of knowledge of God, leading to closeness to God. Dr. Finkelman gradually and convincingly takes the listener through steps of growth in faith, leaving no argument unsettled and no subject unexplained.

God Is Not Dead: Man’s Pursuit of Faith in Judaism conveys messages that resonate with the worldview of a contemporary believer. Finkelman’s system of growth in faith offers Jews of every level of commitment a clear and accessible path to deepen their faith and to do so by mastering it as the art form that it truly is. Presented as an easy-to-grasp actionable process, this system of growth in faith was inspired by the author’s personal religious evolution. He draws mainly from religious and philosophical sources of Judaism, including the teachings of the 12th-century Jewish philosopher Maimonides, the principles of the 18th-century scholar Ramhal, and the beliefs of Yeshayahu Leibowitz, the 20th-century Israeli intellectual, a leading authority on Jewish faith.

The work is further enlivened with anecdotes about both historic figures and everyday people alike. Providing a compelling, achievable blueprint for growth in faith, this work serves as a timely, essential contribution to contemporary Judaism.

©2014 Moshe Finkelman (P)2018 Moshe Finkelman

Rambam with a Dose of Leibowitz

Simply excellent. I recommend this highly to anybody who wishes to explore the classic meaning of faith in Judaism (about which the author offers helpful examples to clarify what it is not), as well as earning an understanding of how our presumptions about what it is may be wrong. I definitely feel the strong pull of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Leibowitz here, and the Rambam’s influence - it really forms the anchor of the tenets raised here, about how faith is demonstrated through service to G-d’s command without doing so in expectation of reward or protection, irrespective of ritual texts that imply otherwise.

That said there is a presumption here, understandable given that it is a representation of Jewish thought about faith in G-d and not merely a representation about faith in G-d generally, that ritual law takes a central place in defining “what G-d wants” and accordingly how to be of service to G-d as a means for demonstrating faith in G-d. I’d have liked to see that explored in greater depth even at expense of a detour or two. This is not a fault in the book though, which is quite excellent. It may be worth a sequel, though.

I received a free copy of this book with the request that I review it, yet that said I’d definitely have chosen this book for my library and I recommend it warmly to anyone in their search for authenticity and integrity in faith and spiritual service.

Again please

This is a book worth listening to multiple times. You can't get it all the first time. It is also presented as a process. totally worth it!

An interesting Book

This is an interesting read it can be difficult at times but if you continue you will be rewarded with a good listen.


The Narrator did a good job with the material and helped to make this a good experience.




This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Fascinating and Thoughtful Listen

Wow. Dr. Moshe Finkelman's book is a brand new contemporary perspective on a very old system of belief. It's very well written, meaningful and comprehensive, and really enjoyed the listen. Interesting and thorough process of growing in faith through Judiasm, developed through and with the teachings of centuries-old philosophers and scholars.

Very well done, I'd definitely recommend this to anyone looking to grow in faith :)

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
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Jewish Deism, Misleading Title

The author, heavily influenced by Yeshayahu Leibowitz, presents a picture of a 'Transcendent God" taken to an extreme. This is a God who has no clear concern with human affairs and cannot be approached.in any type of experiential way. The author does not appear to realize that he is presenting the classic theology of Deism. Fortunately, Deism is not Judaism and to depict it as such in rather inaccurate. Furthermore, he constantly uses the word "faith" in the Christian sense, meaning belief in something that cannot be proven. This concept does not exist in Judaism and is a result of an inaccurate translation of the Hebrew word "emunah" into English. The Hebrew word means"trust", not "faith" in the Christian sense. While he appropriately deconstructs many naive approaches to Judaism and offers some keen observations, his statements regarding God not intervening in history conflict with the Torah itself. The Torah (and Tanach) is filled with examples of God intervening in the affairs of man. He advocates blindly following the Torah and mitzvot simply because this is what God tells us to do. The traditional Jewish approach is that with doing, time, and study, one realizes that practicing the mitzvot is the right thing to do. Indeed, doing what God tells us to do, even if it defies morality, is stressed by the author as the highest level of "faith." He interprets the Akedah in this fashion, which is indistinguishable from Kiekegaard's "Fear and Trembling" interpretation ( the "teleological suspension of the ethical)." There is no suspension of the ethical in Judaism. A central feature of Judaism is the bonding of God and the ethical. Finally, to follow the author's approach to Judaism, one must have an absolute conviction that the words of the Torah come directly from God.There is, to put it mildly, a massive body of opinion that this is not the case. If the author's entire thesis rests on this assumption about the origin of the Torah, he should have addressed it in detail. However, he is totally silent on this key subject.. In summary, the book really tells of a God that may not be dead, but is certainly not alive and does not resemble the God of traditional or non-traditional Judaism.