What's in It For Me? Finding Ourselves in Biblical Narratives

Foreword by Heidi Hadsell, Ph.D.
President, Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Connecticut

This is the story of the people of ... Israel as recounted in Genesis and Exodus, from the Creation to the edge of the Promised Land.  In these pages, the author helps the reader find him or herself in the biblical narrative as one, who, like (Yisrael) Israel, struggles with God. 

The truth in the overall narrative¾ and in the stories that compose it ¾is in this account primarily understood as moral truth. Rabbi Fuchs writes, “ God of the Torah wants us to use our power to create a just, caring and compassionate society.  We are in charge of and responsible for the earth. We have awesome power. We can use it for good or ill. We have free will. The choice is ours.”

In the pages ahead, the reader will find many pastoral insights into how these texts pertain to daily life. These insights are shared in straightforward ways; gleaned from forty years of leadership and life with people in congregations, and many decades of study as Fuchs and the congregations he led interacted with and were shaped by Scripture.

 One will also find that this text is not meant for Jews alone.  The intent here is not narrowly pastoral but expansively so.  It is explanatory in a way that reaches those who may not know the Hebrew Bible well. Readers of other faiths will benefit from Fuchs’ considerable experience teaching, acting and interacting in countless interfaith settings.

Finally, the reader will find encouragement contained in these pages.  Fuchs links the meaning of the texts to our concrete, contemporary lives, and shows us that each of us (believer or not) can, indeed, be who we are called to be. As Rabbi Fuchs says, “And even if we do not believe in God, we can choose life and blessing for ourselves and for others, and that is the choice that really matters.”  

Thus, as you read this book you will be informed, comforted, challenged and encouraged. But pay attention:  For you may also find that in the process you have changed in important ways.