Dear friends, 

 I see Dancing in God's Earthquake as a harvest of my whole life experience in religious commitment, spiritual delight, and social transformation. Many people look on a “harvest” as a product of past sowing and growing. But I see this book as what a harvest is really supposed to be – food for the future.

I have been having wonderful conversations about some of the chapters of the book. Some of my fellow-schmoozers asked for more. So I figured out a way:

First, let me share with you some responses from people who got to read the whole book :

“A wonderful book! Before the hierarchies and divisions of religions, there was the all-inclusive circle of spirituality. In Dancing in God’s Earthquake, Rabbi Arthur Waskow helps us trace our path back to our spiritual home.” –Gloria Steinem

“Rabbi Waskow calls each of us to reach down deep in our moral and religious traditions and have a grownup conversation about the response our present crisis requires. I'm glad to lift up this invitation for all to join the divine dance of love and justice.” –William J. Barber, II, President of Repairers of the Breach and Co-Chair of the Poor People's Campaign

“Like poetry on a cold day, this book warms the heart and mind both. A fierce look at religion, a willingness to question history, to see the connections between the world’s faiths, to suggest how we might move forward from today’s hard times.”—Ruth Messinger, American Jewish World Service

“We are in a moment of great crises and gathering travail, and so one thing we need to learn is how to steadily, joyfully, determinedly pass through these trials, not just intact, but in love with the world around us. There could be no better guide than Arthur Waskow.”—Bill McKibben, author, Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out

“This is a delightful and refreshing book, full of wit, wisdom, and hope--all of which we so desperately need amid the perpetual upheaval and crisis of the world today. I'm deeply thankful for both Arthur and this book.”—Jim Wallis, Founder and President of Sojourners

“The Jewish people's most revolutionary theologian is at it again, trying to waken us out of our moral slumber, before it is too late. The ancient prophet said: ‘A lion roars? Who will not fear?’ Waskow is our roaring lion.” –Rabbi Arthur Green, Rector of Rabbinical School at Hebrew College, author, Judaism for the World "

"Rabbi Arthur Waskow brings his many years of activism, thought, and creativity to bear on the most important question of our time: how do we respond to cataclysmic change?  How do we shift the patterns of the past rather than cling to them as they unravel? . -- Rabbi Jill Hammer, author of The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons

There are a number of other endorsements. They include Rabbi Jonah Pesner,  Marge Piercy, Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, and other notables from the Christian and Muslim worlds. 

  I look forward to having a conversation with you about the book, and with the book about our lives. 

So when early readers started asking: Is there is a way to bring these conversations to their own churches, synagogues, or havurot? --  I  figured out the following possibility:

 Your local group buys at least ten copies of the book from Orbis, the publisher. You get a whopping discount. (More details about that below.)

 Meanwhile, your local group invites me for a two-hour session in the evening or afternoon, when one of your own community – maybe clergy, maybe an active member, maybe you -- and the two of us share a conversation about the book for about 20 minutes. Then there is open discussion. Your group pays The Shalom Center $360.

 If your group likes, you continue the conversation on your own. 

 Synagogues, churches, other organizations, or an ad hoc group can buy Dancing in God's Earthquake from Orbis Books, the publisher, at a hefty discount, to give or sell to their members or others.  Ten copies is the minimum order. 

 They can choose either to order on the basis that they can return some books that they have not sold, or commit to not returning books they have bought.  For returnable books, it’s 42% discount; if non-returnable it’s 50% discount. List price for the book is $25; that means, with a non-returnable commitment, you pay only $12.50 per copy.

 Shipping and applicable sales tax are additional, unless the sales tax is waived. To arrange that, the synagogue or church or havurah would need to supply a copy of their sales tax exemption certificate (NOT the Federal IRS exemption) with their order. 

 With credit cards they can call customer service toll-free at 1-800-258-5838, Mon-Fri 8am-4pm Eastern Time. Then Orbis can ship books in 2 working days. Orbis accepts AMEX, Discover, MC, and VISA.

 Having bought the books at a big discount, the host groups could sell them at discount to their members who take part in the conversation.

If you want to join in this adventure, please drop me an email with three alternative dates/times. Please write me directly at Awaskow@theshalomcenter.org, and put “Book visit” in the subject line of the email. I would be delighted in this way to further enrich, with new people, these deep and pleasant conversations.

 Shalom, Arthur

(Rabbi Arthur Waskow )