Our community is made up of practitioners of many different religions and faiths. This diversity of perspectives and experiences is part of what makes Westfield such a rich, vibrant place. Interfaith Book Club is a new book discussion group that brings together residents from all different faiths to read and discuss books related to spirituality.

Interfaith Book Club is co-sponsored by the Westfield Clergy Association, and Westfield Memorial Library. It will meet quarterly, beginning on Monday, March 3rd at 1:00 and 7:00pm. The first book we will read and discuss is The Amen Effect, by Rabbi Sharon Brous. Copies of the book will be available for borrowing at the library's front desk beginning February 10th. Books can be purchased at the Town Book Store. Mention the Interfaith Book Club for a 10% discount.

This book club is open to all, but registration is recommended.

Rabbi Sharon Brous will also be speaking at Temple Emanu-El in Westfield on Tuesday, March 18 at 7:30pm. Registration is required.

Description

In a time of loneliness and isolation, social rupture and alienation, what will it take to mend our broken hearts and rebuild our society?

Sharon Brous—a leading American rabbi—makes the case that the spiritual work of our time, as instinctual as it is counter-cultural, is to find our way to one other in celebration, in sorrow, and in solidarity. To show up for each other in moments of joy and pain, vulnerability and possibility, to invest in relationships of shared purpose and build communities of care.

Brous contends that it is through honoring our most basic human instinct-- the yearning for real connection-- that we reawaken our shared humanity and begin to heal. This kind of sacred presence is captured by the word amen, a powerful ancient idea that we affirm the fullness of one another’s experience by demonstrating, in body and word: “I see you. You are not alone.”

An acclaimed preacher and story-teller, Brous pairs heart-driven anecdotes from her experience building and pastoring to a leading-edge faith community over the past two decades with ancient Jewish wisdom and contemporary science. The result is a clarion call: the sense of belonging engendered by our genuine presence is not only a social and biological need, but a moral and spiritual necessity.

With original insights and practical tools, The Amen Effect translates foundational ideas into simple practices that connect us to our better angels, offering a blueprint for a more meaningful life and a more connected and caring world.

Praise

“Rabbi Brous shares remarkable compassion, insight, and moral vision in these pages that illuminate a way forward at a time when the fog of fear and anger in the world grows ever dense. This wonderful book is welcome, affirming, and urgently needed.”
—Bryan Stevenson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just Mercy

“Sharon Brous is one of the most visionary, beloved rabbis in the U.S. today. What a joy to welcome this book into the world.”
—Krista Tippett, New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Wise

“Sharon Brous has drawn deep from the wells of her spiritual tradition to help quench the thirst of people facing the wilderness of loneliness and injustice today. . . . We all need this wisdom.”
—Bishop William J. Barber II, founding director of Yale’s Center for Public Theology and Public Policy and president of Repairers of the Breach

“Sharon Brous has a rare gift for bringing people together, and her words are a welcome reminder of our common humanity.”
—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Hidden Potential

“Sharon Brous has crafted a profound and poetic reminder that the remedy for a fractured world is human connection. The Amen Effect is a powerful call for each of us to show up for others, see them fully, and hold them close.”
—Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Regret