Life Against Death, Volume 2

October 2026 Save 40% with discount code 6AF26 at checkout. Save 50% on 10 or more copies of this book with discount code 6LIFE250 (Discounts apply to U.S. and Canadian orders only.) Volume 2 In Life Against Death, Volume 2, Rabbi Irving Greenberg curates, introduces, and reflects on the most important essays written over the course of his lifetime on the Holocaust and Jewish-Christian relations, from 1977 to 2016. These influential works recognized as classic in his oeuvre identify turning points in Jewish life along with policies key to successful Jewish living in the modern world. Greenberg begins by reflecting on the universal struggle of life against death in the world. Judaism and the Jewish people are meant to serve as an avant-garde in repairing the world by overcoming the enemies of life, including oppression, war, and death. Against this, antisemitism has been a pathological force in Jewish history. The Holocaust was an almost successful attempt to obliterate Jewry as well as Judaism’s teachings and values. In Part 1, “The Holocaust,” Greenberg traces the development of his pioneering theological responses meant to incorporate this catastrophe into Jewish life while repairing the credibility and real life effectiveness of Jewish religion: the mandate to recreate life on the greatest possible scale; the discovery that God had relinquished control in history so that humans could take greater responsibility in shaping historical outcomes; and the flourishing of pluralism as an antidote to the flawed nature of even the noblest of singular paths. In Part 2, “Jewish-Christian Relations,” he offers the most positive Jewish theology of Christianity ever produced by a traditional Jewish thinker: a trailblazing vision that God meant Judaism and Christianity to be covenantal partners and parallel channels to bring tikkun olam to humanity. New introductions to each essay narrate behind-the-scenes stories and breakthroughs formative to its contents, as well as Greenberg’s hindsight: evolving thoughts, recognitions of past errors, comparisons of his predictions versus realities, and insights on relevance of the core principles in our changed times. Readers will get to know Greenberg as a thought leader, an activist, a man, and a Jew. This book is also available as part of a two-volume set at the link below: Life Against Death, 2-Volume Set Praise “A monumental work, and a must read! Yitz Greenberg’s two-volume set of essays chronicling fifty years of the Jewish condition and the human condition is a veritable Maimonidean Guide for the Perplexed for our troubled times. And more: it is a call to choose life, and thereby repair the Jewish condition and the human condition one good deed at a time.”—Irwin Cotler, founder and international chair, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights “Life Against Death encapsulates Rabbi Yitz Greenberg’s moral clarity, theological daring, and relentless commitment to life even in the shadow of profound rupture. His voice is wise, demanding, and ever hopeful, and his humanity is felt deeply on every page.”—Rabbi Sharon Brous, senior and founding rabbi of IKAR “When one of the most searching moral voices in modern Jewish thought reflects on the essays that have shaped generations of Jewish thinking through the lens of his lifetime, what emerges is a deeply humane theology—one forged in catastrophe, tested by power, and animated by responsibility and hope. At a moment when the Jewish future feels uncertain, Irving Greenberg offers not reassurance but courage: a clear-eyed insistence that renewal remains possible, and that choosing life is still our task.”—Abigail Pogrebin, author of My Jewish Year “Yitz Greenberg has been my mentor, teacher, role model, and rabbi since we were teenagers in Boro Park, Jewish summer camp, and Brooklyn College. He is the wisest man I know. I read everything he writes and listen to everything he says. So should you.”—Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law Emeritus, Harvard Law School “Rabbi Dr. Yitz Greenberg’s Life Against Death is nothing less than a treasure of Jewish moral imagination—six decades of wisdom distilled into essays that challenge, uplift, and transform. My beloved teacher’s voice rings with courage and compassion, reminding us that covenantal hope can triumph over even the deepest fractures of our age. This collection is a gift to all who seek a Judaism that celebrates life and tirelessly elevates the world.”—Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, Valley Beit Midrash, Phoenix