The Triumph of Life is Rabbi Irving Greenberg’s magnum opus—a narrative of the relationship between God and humanity as expressed in the Jewish journey through modernity, the Holocaust, the creation of Israel, and the birth of Judaism’s next era.

Greenberg describes Judaism’s utopian vision of a world, created by a God who loves life, who invites humans to live on the side of life and enables the forces of life to triumph over death. The Bible proclaims our mission of tikkun olam, repairing the world, such that every human image of God is sustained in the fullness of our dignity. To achieve this ideal, Judaism offers the method of covenant—realistic, personal, incremental—a partnership between God and humanity across generations in which human beings grow ever more responsible for world repair.

Greenberg calls on us to redirect humanity’s unprecedented power in modernity to overcome poverty, oppression, inequality, sickness, and war. The work of covenant requires an ethic of power—one that advances life collaboratively and at a human pace—so that the Jewish people and all humanity can bring the world toward the triumph of life.

“A must-read for all those who grapple with the ability of traditional views of religion to survive today’s open society...”
—Professor Tamar Ross, Bar-Ilan University

“The Triumph of Life is exhilarating...Read this book and you will never see the Jewish tradition the same way again.”
—Rabbi Shai Held, Hadar Institute

Rabbi Irving Greenberg is a preeminent Jewish thinker, theologian, activist, president of the J.J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life, and Senior Scholar in Residence at the Hadar Institute.