Never Mind the Bullocks : A Twenty-First Century Exploration of the Torah for Bar-/bat-mitzvah Students

'Never Mind the Bullocks' is a book that works on several levels. It centres on a group of twelve year-old children at a Jewish summer camp who are obliged to give up their free time to prepare for their bar- or bat-mitzvah ceremonies. Their teacher, who is also the author, is an English rabbi who offers them an alternative way of looking at the Torah, the first Five Books of Moses, encouraging the students - and all readers - to reconsider the possible authorship of this document and its authors' intentions. Each of the eleven lessons, is preceded by a mysterious encounter in the form of an imaginary dialogue between the author and the prophet Isaiah, whose historical insights and prophetic wisdom help the reader to question and challenge the traditional view of the origins of Judaism's sacred text and to gain an insight into the historical, social and theological background from which the Torah emerged. In the book, the children ask the questions that, perhaps, everyone has wanted to ask about traditional religious texts and their associated practices. The 'bullocks' of the title are a specific reference to the biblical practice of animal sacrifice, but are also a general metaphor for any religious text or practice that appears to mask the prophetic - and divine - demand for goodness and justice. The approach to these texts and practices is challenging, encouraging readers of any persuasion to look at the basis of their religious tradition and seek ways to apply it to the modern world. 'Never Mind the Bullocks' is a bar-/bat-mitzvah course, a provocative discourse on the origins of religion and religious texts and a light-hearted tale of a group of twelve year-olds learning about their heritage in an unconventional way that provides food for thought for all ages.