Keeping God at the Center is informative as well as instructional. It contains four kinds of teaching: first, insights derived from pondering the meaning of selected phrases and prayers from the traditional liturgy; second: four chapters on the personalist theology behind traditional Jewish prayer; third, meditations on the liturgy and clear instructions on how to pray certain prayers; and, fourth, instructions on how to pray certain prayers mystically. Both those well-acquainted with the prayerbook and those completely unfamiliar with it will be able to derive benefit from this book. It is a continuation of the main themes of Blumenthal's earlier work in Jewish spirituality, theology, and mysticism.

David R. Blumenthal is the Jay and Leslie Cohen Professor of Judaic Studies at Emory University. His key works include: Understanding Jewish Mysticism (2 vols.), God at the Center, Facing the Abusing God: A Theology of Protest, The Banality of Good and Evil: Moral Lessons from the Shoah and Jewish Tradition, and Philosophic Mysticism: Essays in Rational Religion. He is the subject of David R. Blumenthal: Living with God and Humanity.