Syosset Rabbi Tackles Faith Questions In New Book

SYOSSET, NY — A Syosset rabbi has penned a new book tackling major questions of faith facing the Jewish community. Perry Rank's book "A Full-Figured Faith: The Expanding Effects of Doubt & Skepticism on an Evolving Jewish Faith" was published in October.

Rank, a rabbi at Midway Jewish Center, told the Syosset Jericho Tribune the book is a collection of essays about traditional Jewish values and practices that people sometimes find difficult to believe. He addresses major faith questions that frequently come up, such as whether God wrote the Bible, whether miracles are a fact of life and whether Jewish people have to marry other Jews.

The book aims to encourage skepticism as a means of engaging with peoples' heritage.

"What you should expect to learn in questioning is really part of things and not antithetical," he told the newspaper. "When we question and try to ascertain the truth — as far as we can understand it — we are really involved in a faith exercise, not an attack on faith. Whenever you grapple with faith, you are part of it."