This Precious Life - by Alden Solovy (Paperback)

About the Book

"Prayers, poetry, and meditations inspired by encounters with God. The first part draws from divine moments in our sacred texts, mostly the Torah but also the Prophets and the Writings. The second part focuses on sacred moments in our daily lives, connections with the Divine that occur simply because we are human beings created in God's image"--

Book Synopsis

In This Precious Life, liturgist Alden Solovy presents prayers, poetry, and meditations inspired by

encounters with God. The first part draws from divine moments in our sacred texts, mostly the

Torah but also the Prophets and the Writings. Using a contemporary voice, Solovy imagines these

holy moments as experienced by our biblical ancestors so we can reclaim them as our own. The

second part focuses on sacred moments in our daily lives, connections with the Divine that occur

simply because we are human beings created in God's image. Equally suited to individual reflection

and group prayer, the book completes a trilogy with This Grateful Heart and This Joyous Soul.

Review Quotes

For many years, I've watched Alden Solovy develop his craft of writing liturgical poetry and

helping others find their voice and express the prayers of their hearts. Alden's poetry is so

powerful because it comes from deep within his soul and speaks directly to ours. He brings a

deep love and respect for Torah, traditional liturgy, and the land and people of Israel, which he

combines with honesty about the human condition based on his personal experiences.

His poetry brings us closer to Jewish tradition and more in tune with our own souls.

-Rabbi Andrea London, Senior Rabbi, Beth Emet The Free Synagogue

Alden Solovy is a modern-day paytan, a liturgical poet who takes up the psalmist's call to

"sing unto the Eternal a new song." Just like the classical paytanim, he uses ancient Jewish

concepts and traditional phrases but reconstructs them in completely new and innovative ways.

His work combines midrashic originality with poetic beauty. Alden's poems are imbued with

profound insights that will surely touch contemporary readers.

-Rabbi Dalia Marx, PhD, Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy and Midrash,

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

This Precious Life is perhaps Alden Solovy's most evocative poetry collection to date.

With honest and stirring insight, Solovy captures the breadth of emotion-the yearning and

loneliness as well the joy and gratitude-of the unceasing spiritual quest, enabling us to see

ourselves and hear our voices calling out for God in both the ancient narratives of our tradition

and the experiences of our daily lives.

-Rabbi Ron Segal, President, Central Conference of American Rabbis