Focusing on simplicity and practical application, a rabbi and Talmudic scholar selects out the "simple" words that the heart of spiritual life, building a practical philosophy of daily living around them. Tour. "Simple words are by no means simple," states Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz in his introduction to Simple Words . This is certainly true of the words he has teased out from contemporary spirituality to expound upon here. Each chapter is dedicated to so-called simple words such as death , envy , masks , sex , good , and love . Steinsaltz uses familiar language and progressive thinking to offer a greater moral and spiritual understanding to these core concepts. Although many of the selected words are age-old, the accompanying commentary feels fresh and contemporary. When writing about envy, Steinsaltz explores how this misunderstood emotion can be used to serve the higher good rather than lowly desires. And in addressing the idea of sex, he writes, "Jewish tradition ... does not see sex per se as sinful.... It is a pleasure that is derived from giving and being connected with another--both in the body and beyond the physical plane; it can become a most meaningful expression of love, of charity, of benevolence. Sexual desire, possibly the most powerful human desire, can become an expression of holiness." --Gail Hudson Rabbi Steinsaltz, the impetus behind the monumental Steinsaltz Talmud (a translation of that work into English) and author of Biblical Images (1984) and many other works, offers meditations on the ``simple words and notions . . . we use [that] contain very complex ideas'': nature, friends, family, God, etc. The essays are a mixed bag, some stale, some spiked with indisputable insight. In ``Sex,'' Steinsaltz forcefully argues that to imbue lovemaking with questions of ownership is a distortion; leave ownership for food and money, says Steinsaltz, but focus on giving when you're in bed with your lover. And yet Steinsaltz's reflections on love are particularly unsatisfying. He defines love as a feeling, ``the emotion of attraction toward an objectthe beloved,'' rather than a choice, a commitment, a mode of living toward one's beloved. The reader is left wondering what Steinsaltz would suggest for those moments when the feeling has evaporated, replaced only by annoyance that our beloved bought the wrong brand of o.j. It is tempting to describe Simple Words as a Jewish version of Kathleen Norris's Amazing Grace, but there is little in these pages that is explicitly Jewish. Parsed another way: unlike Steinsaltz's earlier forays into Jewish mysticism or the Talmud, Simple Words should enjoy a wide, diverse readership. Nonetheless, it is food for thought that one of Israel's most revered rabbis has written a collection of essays in many ways indistinguishable from the musings of a Benedictine oblate. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Rabbi Harold S. Kushner author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People Distilling the scholarship and wisdom of a lifetime, Adin Steinsaltz reminds us of what it really means to be human. -- Review Adin Steinsaltz is internationally regarded as one of the leading scholars and rabbis of the modern era. His well-known multivolume translation and commentary to the Talmud is currently being published in Hebrew, English, and other languages. He has been a resident scholar at academic institutions in Europe and the United States, among them Yale University and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and is a recipient of the Israel Prize. Used Book in Good Condition