A Time to Embrace

A Time to Embrace: Creating Interfaith Community illuminates how Christians and Reform Jews can dialogue with each other and collaborate over shared values of scripture, Messiah, repair of the world, prayer, and Israel. In each chapter, Caleb Gilmore, a pastor, and David B. Bloom, a rabbi, unpack these values from their distinct perspectives as students, practitioners, and leaders of their respective faith communities. Intended for Christian colleges and universities, seminarians, churches, and synagogues, this book includes chapter summaries, discussion and reflection questions, resources for further learning, and a helpful glossary. These features and the writing’s scholarly yet inviting style also make A Time to Embrace an appropriate text for religious studies courses. Encouraging us to celebrate our religious differences, this book calls us to unite in common cause in an increasingly divided world. Whether you're a faith leader, a seeker, or someone passionate about interfaith cooperation, this is your invitation to embrace the conversation and help build a better world.

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All proceeds go to our non-profit publisher, Roots of Reform Judaism, which collaborates with people of other faiths to improve the world.

Rev. Dr. Caleb Gilmore is the Teaching Pastor at Crossings Knoxville, a nondenominational church in Knoxville, Tennessee, and a Hebrew Bible instructor at Johnston University. He is an alumnus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. His wife, Kristi, and children, Harvie and Ellie, are his motivation for all he does. In his spare time, he enjoys writing, exercising, and finding ways to participate in the Knoxville community.

Born and raised in Louisville, David B. Bloom graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Jewish Studies, Religious Studies, and French. He subsequently receieved an MA in Hebrew Letters and rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. A member of Norton Hospital's ??????????? Committee, he He has worked at Miami University Hillel, Chautauqua Institution, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Cincinnati, and various congregations, most recently Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Rabbi David Bloom earned a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letter and rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. A graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, he worked at various congregations and organizations as a rabbinical student. He most recently served as a part-time rabbi at Temple B'nai Israel in Amarillo, Texas. Now a medical student, he plans to combine the practice of medicine with the rabbinate.

“A luminous tapestry of stories and insight — unputdownable.” — Rabbi Gary P. Zola, PhD, Executive Director Emeritus, The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives; The Edward M. Ackerman Family Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the American Jewish Experience and Reform Jewish History at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion; Affiliate Faculty Member, Department of History, University of Cincinnati

Readers and critics alike have praised the book’s clarity, heart, and unflinching curiosity. Below are excerpts we love, curated with permission.

“I kept stopping to reread lines, then dog-earring pages. It’s a masterclass in making the complex accessible.” — Sojourners

In our upcoming show, A Time to Embrace: The Podcast, hosts Rev. Caleb Gilmore, PhD, and Rabbi David Bloom expand on their book in six approximately half-hour episodes. With guest scholars, theologians, and leading changemakers, this podcast equips you with tools to design pluralistic communities for a more hopeful future. Sign up to be notified when the podcast comes out.

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What if we celebrated religious differences and collaborated over shared values? What if now were
a time to embrace?

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