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Full Description
How to live a life of wisdom and fulfillment in a far-from-perfect world? Philosopher Menachem Fisch and artist Debra Band together probe Qohelet's inquiry into the value of life "under the sun" in this brilliant work—the first illuminated manuscript of the entire biblical text, the first philosophical analysis tracing the coherent path of this biblical thinker's full argument. Whereas modern readers influenced by the famous declaration "vanity, vanity, all is vanity" from the 1611 King James Bible have commonly understood that Qohelet found only futility and hopelessness in human life, Fisch restores the literal meaning, "vapor," to Qohelet's key word, hevel, with implications that reveal Qohelet's path to wisdom and even serenity. Through linguistic precision and careful unfolding of the book's philosophical argument, Fisch uncovers Qohelet's twin concerns: life is short, and situated as we are, far below the heavens, we can never be assured of comprehending our world, or understanding divine will and intent. He reveals Qohelet's understanding that since we can never fully predict or understand our fortunes or the heritage we leave behind us, the best we can do is to live our lives fully, relating to others attentively, always aware of the limits of human life.In her glowing, immersive, and discursive illuminated paintings of the entire text, Band imagines Qohelet's teachings, employing the grandest of palaces, the Alhambra, as the central metaphor for the beauty and impermanence of human life and accomplishments. She fills its halls and gardens with often surprising imagery, symbolism, and related poetry, creating a visual midrash that reveals the relationship of Qohelet's thought to other biblical texts and Jewish lore and its reverberations across the centuries and cultures of Western civilization, from ancient Israel to today's America. Each illuminated page is complemented by lucid commentary explaining its full meaning. Renowned scholars Ellen F. Davis and Moshe Halbertal crown the work with a penetrating foreword and preface.
Contents
Foreword by Ellen F. Davis
Preface by Moshe Halbertal
Introduction by Menachem Fisch: Making Sense of Qohelet
Introduction by Debra Band: Approaching the Book of Qohelet
The Illuminations
Frontispiece
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Commentary Materials
1
Introduction: Setting the Stage
Commentaries on the Illuminations
2
Introduction: Dashed Dreams of a Lasting Achievement
Commentaries on the Illuminations
3
Introduction: Qohelet's Great Turning Point
Commentaries on the Illuminations
4
Introduction: The Politics of Cooperation
Commentaries on the Illuminations
5
Introduction: Foolishness Multiplied: The Religious Dimension
Commentaries on the Illuminations
6
Introduction: The Futility of Hindsight
Commentary on the Illuminations
7
Introduction: Breaching the Limits of Self-Critique
Commentaries on the Illuminations
8
Introduction: Knowing the Limits of One's Strength
Commentaries on the Illuminations
9
Introduction: The Case against Hedonism
Commentaries on the Illuminations
10
Introduction: A Fool's Dystopia
Commentaries on the Illuminations
11
Introduction: The Beginning of an Optimistic End
Commentary on the Illuminations
12
Introduction: When All Is Said and Done
Commentaries on the Illuminations
Afterword by Menachem Fisch
Mysteries Dispelled: Qohelet in Biblical and Liturgical Context
Key to Bible Translation Abbreviations
