Questioning Belief: The UK Book Launch - Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum discusses his new book with Gila Sacks

Did the Exodus really take place? Is collective punishment fair? Isn’t being the ‘chosen people’ a little bit racist? What does it mean to believe in God? We all have questions about faith, but all too often we are given simple and unsatisfying answers.

In Rabbi Zarum’s original and thought-provoking new book, Questioning Belief, he responds to twelve challenging questions that confront the Torah today, questions about the veracity of its narratives, the morality of its laws, and the theology it engenders. The questions are explored in ways that are both traditionally grounded and intellectually rigorous, with surprising and stimulating results.

In this interview, Gila Sacks, who has written a foreword for the book, will discuss its origins, purpose and contemporary relevance with the author.

Questioning Belief: Torah and Tradition in an Age of Doubt is published by Maggid Books, an imprint of Koren, and was chosen by Yeshiva University as a finalist for their prestigious annual Rabbi Sacks Book Prize.

From the approbations: “Judaism without questions does not honour the divine. The person who raises fundamental questions is like a minister in the palace of the king. Clarifying Jewish ethics transforms the religious life into a partnership with God. Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum is to be thanked for inviting us to join the questioners who bravely choose to advance the journey of faith.” – Rabbi Dr Binyamin Lau, Director of 929 Tanakh B'Yachad, Jerusalem.