June 2025
Rabbis and laypeople share personal stories of loss, struggle, and trauma, and the enduring Jewish wisdom that strengthened them on their path to healing in a powerful, empathetic book coedited by Rabbi Benjamin David and Rabbi Lindsey Danziger.
New York, NY – June 2025 – CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, proudly announces the publication of The Sacred Struggle: Jewish Responses to Trauma, edited by Rabbi Benjamin David and Rabbi Lindsey Danziger.
The Sacred Struggle is a powerful anthology of personal yet universal stories, offering a deeply moving exploration of how Jewish wisdom can help strengthen us and help us navigate life’s most difficult moments.
With stories including enduring the loss of a child, losing a loved one to suicide, surviving sexual assault, responding to a diagnosis of cancer, experiencing antisemitism and racism, and many more, this volume is rooted in vulnerability and resilience, revealing the profound ways Judaism offers tools for reflection, connection, and healing. This book, part of CCAR Press’s Challenge and Change series, is a companion for anyone seeking comfort and hope in the face of trauma.
Rabbi David Wolpe, author of Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times and Max Webb Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, said, “In this book you will find the genuine voices of life as it is lived—in pain, with struggle, and offering the wisdom to endure and prevail. A work of great range, it is a bracing book, an important gift, and a gift to all of us.”
“Who among us has not been touched by trauma? Violence? Natural disaster? Illness? Marginalization? Family dysfunction?,” said Rabbi Laura Geller, coauthor of Moments that Matter: Marking Transitions in Midlife and Beyond (forthcoming from CCAR Press) and Rabbi Emerita of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills. “In this challenging and thought-provoking book, rabbis reflect on the Torah of their lives, as well as the Torah of tradition, to give us insight into the ways we are all affected by trauma and the many different paths to healing.”
In his foreword, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who served the Reform congregation in Colleyville, Texas, when a terrorist held the community hostage, wrote, “Trauma may shatter us. It doesn’t have to end us. . . . There is a way forward. I pray that this volume can be a source of strength for you.”
Rabbi Benjamin David was ordained from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion and serves Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. Rabbi Lindsey Danziger was also ordained from HUC-JIR and is the Director of Campaigns for the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. The book’s foreword was written by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who serves Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Sacred Struggle: Jewish Responses to Trauma is available at sacredstruggle.ccarpress.org.
To request review copies, interview opportunities, or to book author events, please contact: Raquel Fairweather-Gallie, Marketing and Sales Manager, CCAR Press: rfairweather@ccarnet.org.