Full Description
Deuteronomy 32:47 says the Pentateuch should not be 'an empty matter.' This new anthology from Beth Kissileff fills Genesis with meaning, gathering intellectuals and thinkers who use their professional knowledge to illuminate the Biblical text. These writers use insights from psychology, law, political science, literature, and other scholarly fields, to create an original constellation of modern Biblical readings, and receptions of Genesis: A scientist of appetite on Eve's eating behavior; law professors on contracts in Genesis, and on collective punishment; an anthropologist on the nature of human strife in the Cain and Abel story; political scientists on the nature of Biblical games, Abraham's resistance, and collective action.
The highly distinguished contributors include Alan Dershowitz and Ruth Westheimer, the novelists Rebecca Newberger Goldstein and Dara Horn, critics Ilan Stavans and Sander Gilman, historian Russell Jacoby, poets Alicia Suskin Ostriker and Jacqueline Osherow, and food writer Joan Nathan.
Contents
Table of Contents
1. Introduction - Beth Kissileff
2. The Creation and Its Aftermath (Genesis 1-3) - Steven J. Brams
3. The Apple and Eve: A Neuropsychological Interpretation (Genesis 2-3) - Harry R. Kissileff (PhD)
4. God's Serpent (Genesis 2-3) - J.H.H. Weiler
5. "It Is Not Good For Man To Be Alone" (Genesis 2-3) - Dr. Ruth Westheimer and Jonathan Mark
6. Bloodlust (Genesis 4) - Russell Jacoby
7. On The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) - Ilan Stavans
8. Hesed: Feminist Ethics in Jewish Tradition (Genesis 12, 24) - Susan Schept
9. Famines, Feasts and Fraternity: Food (and Drink) in the Book of Genesis (Genesis 18) - Joan Nathan
10. Why Genesis (Genesis 18) - Alan Dershowitz
11. Looking Back at Lot's Wife (Genesis 19) - Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
12. The Face of the Other: Sarah - Hagar Then and Now (Genesis 16, 21) - Alicia Suskin Ostriker
13. The Binding of Isaac and the Arts of Residence (Genesis 22) - Ronald R. Krebs
14. Writing: A Jewish Paradox - Sander L. Gilman
15. "The Matter is from God": Retold Narrative and the Mistakes of Certainty (Genesis 24) - Beth Kissileff
16. Jacob: Some Notes on Character Development and Repentance - Dara Horn
17. Contracts of Genesis (Genesis 27) - Geoffrey P. Miller
18. Judah and His Brothers: Becoming the Leader of His Pride (Genesis 37-50) - Renan Levine
19. Imperfect Forgiveness: Joseph and His Brothers (Genesis 37-50) - Moses L. Pava
20. "That We May Live and Not Die": Judah as Life Force of Genesis (Genesis 38) Jacqueline Osherow
21. Zaphenath, Kugelmass, and Milton (Genesis 41) - Jeffrey Shoulson
22. "They Did Not Recognize Him": Failed Facial Recognition in the Family of Joseph (Genesis 42) - Seth Greenberg
23. The Death of Jacob: Responding to the End of Life (Genesis 47-50) - Steven Albert
List of Contributors
Index of Biblical Passages
Index of Biblical Characters
Index of Names and Concepts
