Lawrence A. Rabbi Hoffman
1 Use Fodors for the hotel & body, and this for the spirit
It is the must companion for any traveler to Israel. The blurb says it best, "the other travel books tell you how to get there, Hoffman tells you why to go and what to do when you're there." Hoffman, a Professor of Liturgy at HUC-JIR, is best known for his book, "What Is A Jew?" His travel guide is in four sections. The first contains eighteen (chai) meditations to be read before embarking on one's trip to Israel. The second section is on preparations for "the eve before the trip." Section three focuses on "How to prepare while on the way." And Section four is filled with 25 specific pilgrimage destinations for the traveler. For each site, such as The Kotel or a Kibbutz, Professor Hoffman provides THE FOUR A's -- four sections on "Anticipation," "Approach," "Acknowledgment," and "Afterthought." In Anticipation, one reads an overview of the sight; Approach contains biblical, rabbinic and other writings about the site; Acknowledgment is filled with prayers or readings for you to recite at your destination; and Afterthought provides a blank space in which you may record your feelings, emotions, or just plain journal entries that you can keep forever. This is an excellent companion for a trip to Israel.
2 Beyond camera-toting tourism
Hoffman, a prolific author of scholarly and popular works on Jewish liturgy, now offers the first guide that speaks to the many travelers to Israel who visit for spiritual growth, not suntanning. Full of inspired suggestions for spiritual preparation, meditations, and prayers.
One important caveat: Hoffman, surprisingly, includes a self-composed Jewish prayer to be said on the Temple Mount. Visitors should be aware that, in order to avoid tensions with the Mount's Muslim administrators, it is ILLEGAL for non-Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount, and any non-Muslim caught doing so faces immediate expulsion and prosecution.
Apart from this oversight, Hoffman's guide is essential for anyone making a spiritual pilgrimage to Israel.
3 Adds an ever deeper spritual dimension to travel to Israel
Hoffman has given all travelers to Israel a great gift with this innovative new volume. Forget dry recitations of dates and so forth (though the essentials are here.) This guide explain WHY you are there and opens the door of understanding to what you might feel inside.
Rather than describe the way things are, Hoffman gives you the tools to discover what these places really are and what they can mean to you as an individual.
Highly, highly recommended. And if you ever have a chance to hear Hoffman lecture, do that also.
Dan Lavin
