I need a reading recommendation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some friends of mine invited a bunch of us to spend Sukkot with them this weekend and I had a lovely time. \u00a0They\u00a0miraculously\u00a0managed procure a lulav,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/i-need-a-reading-recommendation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I need a reading recommendation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some friends of mine invited a bunch of us to spend Sukkot with them this weekend and I had a lovely time. \u00a0They\u00a0miraculously\u00a0managed procure a lulav,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/i-need-a-reading-recommendation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unequally Yoked\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-17T14:48:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-11-20T22:18:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/files\/2011\/10\/torah_pointer-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/i-need-a-reading-recommendation.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/i-need-a-reading-recommendation.html\",\"name\":\"I need a reading recommendation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-17T14:48:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-11-20T22:18:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\"},\"description\":\"Some friends of mine invited a bunch of us to spend Sukkot with them this weekend and I had a lovely time. \u00a0They\u00a0miraculously\u00a0managed procure a lulav,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/i-need-a-reading-recommendation.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/i-need-a-reading-recommendation.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/i-need-a-reading-recommendation.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I need a reading recommendation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/\",\"name\":\"Unequally Yoked\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\",\"name\":\"Leah Libresco\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Leah Libresco\"},\"description\":\"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. 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{"id":621,"date":"2011-10-17T10:48:25","date_gmt":"2011-10-17T14:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=621"},"modified":"2012-11-20T17:18:59","modified_gmt":"2012-11-20T22:18:59","slug":"i-need-a-reading-recommendation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/i-need-a-reading-recommendation.html","title":{"rendered":"I need a reading recommendation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Some friends of mine invited a bunch of us to spend Sukkot<\/a> with them this weekend and I had a lovely time. \u00a0They\u00a0miraculously\u00a0managed procure a lulav<\/em>, despite the shortage<\/a>, and gave a thorough exegesis of the holiday and the symbolism of the lulav<\/em> components<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some of the conversations I had at or after the party highlighted the fact that I don\u2019t know very much about Judaism. \u00a0I\u2019m from New York, so I know plenty of Yiddish<\/em>, but I\u2019ve known very few religious Jews. \u00a0(Oh, and I\u2019ve seen the Shari Lewis Passover and\u00a0Hanukkah\u00a0specials<\/a>). \u00a0I don\u2019t have a burning ambition to be able to pass an ideological turing test for all religions, but there\u2019s one element of Judiasm I\u2019ve always found confusing, anSo, I\u2019d be up for doing a little more reading.<\/p>\n

I tend to get thrown by what it means for a god to have a chosen people. \u00a0I tend to hear that in a kinda Calvinist sense, where, at best, the unchosen seem to be left out of God\u2019s plan and, at worst, they exist as a way of carrying out God\u2019s plans for the people He\u2019s actually interested in (think of God hardening\u00a0Pharaohs\u00a0heart or using the Babylonians to punish His people).<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been told this isn\u2019t how it works, so I\u2019d like to learn more (preferably without struggling through all the midrash on my own). \u00a0Does anyone have any suggestions for essays or books by Jews on the topic of chosenness or discussing whether the God of Abraham wants anything from gentiles?<\/p>\n

My ignorance on this subject tends to confuse me when I look at the history of Christianity, too. \u00a0There just seems to be such a big break between a religion intended only for matrilineal\u00a0descendants\u00a0of one tribe and a religion that evangelizes everyone that I always feel like I\u2019d find Christianity more plausible if it didn\u2019t<\/em> claim to be the\u00a0fulfillment\u00a0of the Old Testament.<\/p>\n

So have pity on my ignorance (I\u2019m only up to Jeremiah<\/a>) and recommend some readings.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"