OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The How, What and Why of Talking to God" by Rivka Levy.]

The How, What and Why of Talking to God is a religious self-help book by Rivka Levy, founder of the Jewish Emotional Health Institute.

This book features advice on how to effectively communicate with God. The information is based on Kabbalah, a school of thought in Judaism. The focus is on the relationship between soul, mind and body, in that order. To explain this principle in a digestible manner, the author uses the term “God Juice.” Essentially, God Juice describes feeling spiritually connected in everyday moments, big or small. Building a relationship with God can relieve both emotional and physical anguish. Patience is key, and talking to Him a little bit every day can go a long way.

Since this is a pocket guide, the book is quite short. The topic of prayer is thoroughly explored and manages not to be tedious. The chapters contain brief but in-depth lessons. The lessons are not directly from a religious text; instead, they further expand on the concept of God Juice. There are brief exercises so that readers can determine what they need to work on in their spiritual journeys. Though praying seems like a simple task, there are outlines of steps one should follow to pray in a spiritually beneficial manner. For the most part, prayer and God are presented in a universal way, with only a few mentions of Judaism.

The writing is very accessible. There are some analogies to help the reader understand the lesson, such as the need for humans to plug in and recharge like a laptop. The author references her own spiritual experience and how this method has helped those she knows. The attitude is very much “it worked for me, so it can work for you.” In fact, the book is written to “you,” directly addressing the reader. The writing is sprinkled with a personable writer’s voice, including affable parentheticals: “(Guess what: God knows how to read!).” The best aspect of the book is the notion that one’s outlook and attitude play a significant role in overall health.

Occasionally, the book takes on a judgmental tone. The author criticizes those who are spiritual but choose not to turn to God. According to her, they will never achieve true happiness no matter how hard they try. One of the exercises in the book is a quiz to measure the reader’s God Juice. The reader is supposed to rate each statement and add up the score. She criticizes those who receive a score in the highest margin: “Either you need a little more work on your self-awareness and honesty, or you’re the Messiah. I guess time will tell which one it is.” Such a high score is impossible, she asserts, which sends the strange message that one shouldn’t strive for the best spiritual connection attainable.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The occasional judging on the part of the author was unnecessary and could potentially be a turn off to non-believers who are exploring their options. Besides that, the book is well written. It takes a relatively simple topic and explores it in a captivating way. This step-by-step guide is filled with practical tips for any believer.

If religion isn’t your thing, then steer clear. This book is appropriate for those who want to deepen their relationship with God. It is also directed to those whose health is in jeopardy. This just might be the holistic alternative for you.

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The How, What and Why of Talking to God
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Like Tanaya's review? Post a comment saying so!

Great review. It gave me a good feel for this booklet. We have a broad spectrum of beliefs in today's world, that's for sure! I doubt I'd score very high on her test! So, God juice is like a charge, like capturing the Holy Spirit? Interesting concept... it sounds a little weird and off-putting, though (the term God juice).

I love how you're doing a sweep through of all my recent reviews. I appreciate the attention. So that's God Juice in a sense. She explains it better than I do. But essentially, it's your level of connection to God. It's like you're a cell phone and God is electricity. When you plug yourself into the outlet, your battery gets charged. And the battery is symbolic of your mental/physical/spiritual health. If it gets too low, then you're not functioning as well as you could and there's all these warnings to charge the battery. The lights dim, there's the low battery sign flashing, etc. That's analogous to depression settling in or developing a tumor. Those are signs that something's not quite right and needs to be fixed. So when you get more God Juice, those problems start to go away.

That is very interesting. It's a novel concept. God juice... I remember at youth camp, when I was fifteen, learning about capturing the Holy Spirit, and how you could feel it, but you could not store it in a bottle. Hm. It reminds me of that.

It's my pleasure! I always read all the reviews (except the non-featured ones--I can never find those since they left the main book-review page!), but I've fallen behind in the past week. I think I'm caught up now!

That bottle idea is incredibly less wordy than what I just explained.

That time at youth camp stuck with me. It was a special time in my life. 1992.

Great review! The book isn't my cup of tea, but I am glad you enjoyed it.

Great job, Tanaya! It is hard to review a polarizing book, but you did an awesome job. The God Juice idea sounded odd in the review, but your subsequent explanation was perfect. Any ideal that can be related to all is good, after all, we will not all agree, but if we all help each other be a little better then what is wrong with that?!

Tanaya, I enjoyed reading your review. I don't know anything about Kabbalah, except that the singer Madonna and a few other celebrities got into it. The book sounds interesting, if only to learn something new.

It's a shame the book takes a judgmental tone. It seems like it could be an interesting read for some, but I'm not sure it's for me. Great review!

Hi Tanaya

Thanks for reviewing my book, I think you did a great, even-handed job.

If I may, I just wanted to make a comment about the judgemental tone you picked up in the book. First, it's definitely something I need to work on more - I recently read a quote somewhere that said: 'I'm trying to learn how to stop my stupidity from interrupting my wisdom' - and that definitely applies to me, and I'll take it on board for future books.

The second thing, though, is that I think everyone is judgemental in some way, especially about the things they care about it. For example, in order to put a good review together, the reviewer has to be somewhat 'judgemental' of what works and what doesn't, otherwise they couldn't do their job properly. I definitely take strong stands in my writing, but I'd like to know more about when a strong stand crosses the line into inappropriate judgement.

thanks again for taking the time to review the book so thoroughly,

Rivka Levy

jemi wrote:Hi Tanaya

Thanks for reviewing my book, I think you did a great, even-handed job.

If I may, I just wanted to make a comment about the judgemental tone you picked up in the book. First, it's definitely something I need to work on more - I recently read a quote somewhere that said: 'I'm trying to learn how to stop my stupidity from interrupting my wisdom' - and that definitely applies to me, and I'll take it on board for future books.

The second thing, though, is that I think everyone is judgemental in some way, especially about the things they care about it. For example, in order to put a good review together, the reviewer has to be somewhat 'judgemental' of what works and what doesn't, otherwise they couldn't do their job properly. I definitely take strong stands in my writing, but I'd like to know more about when a strong stand crosses the line into inappropriate judgement.

thanks again for taking the time to review the book so thoroughly,

Rivka Levy

I totally get what you're saying and very much agree. While I was writing this, in the back of my head I was thinking it's hypocritical to judge a writer for being judgmental. There's no winning! My point was just that religion is a tricky topic to talk about. Having faith means being highly convicted in your own beliefs, which might not always come across in the most approachable way possible. I definitely don't have all the answers! Anyways, I think you did a fantastic job overall and I learned a lot that I hadn't considered before.

As others have noted, I think the "God Juice" thing is a little strange. This sounds like a book for people who are "searching," not for those who feel they've already found what they were looking for. Great review!

Thanks for your comment. It's definitely not a book for everyone, but those who are looking will be able to find a lot of useful advice in it. Given the subject matter, this is the kind of book that's a unique experience for each reader.

Really great review of a concise book!