Draw­ing from her years as a rab­bi, and weav­ing togeth­er Jew­ish tra­di­tion, sci­ence, psy­chol­o­gy, and biol­o­gy, Brous explores how to bridge the gap between those on the right and the left — both lit­er­al­ly and fig­u­ra­tive­ly. She calls our uni­ver­sal, human long­ing for con­nec­tion the ​“amen effect.” From the Hebrew word emu­nah, mean­ing ​“to believe” or ​“to affirm,” the word amen serves as an acknowledgment of the oth­er. Yes, I believe you, I see you. Amen.

The Amen Effect reads as an extend­ed philo­soph­i­cal and spir­i­tu­al con­ver­sa­tion about the per­ils of alien­ation and trib­al­iza­tion and the impor­tance of the ​“true, heart­felt encounter.” While the book is root­ed in reli­gious teach­ing, one need not adhere to a reli­gious tra­di­tion to appre­ci­ate its wis­dom. In fact, one of Brous’s strengths as a writer is her seem­ing­ly effort­less abil­i­ty to bring togeth­er many voic­es, ancient and recent, Jew­ish and not, to weigh in on how to nav­i­gate sor­row — our own and oth­ers’ — and how to heal.

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