In The Rabbis Garden

"In the Rabbi's Garden" is a contemporary reflection on the midrashic responses to the story of Adam and Eve. It interprets the midrashim that touch on the basic aspects of the human condition: guilt, responsibility, God, death, and sexuality--all rooted in the primal experience of Eden.

This second edition of a 1924 volume gathers together and deals with Rabbinic metaphors, similes and parables taken from agricultural and pastoral life.

With 4 indexes: I. Rabbinical authorities II. Scriptural passages. III. Rabbinic passages IV. General.

What can explain the persistence of gender inequality throughout history? Do narratives such as the Eden story explain that dissymmetry or contribute to it? This book suggests that the Hebrew Bible began and has sustained a rich conversation about sex and gender throughout its life. A literary study of the Garden of Eden story reveals a focus on the human partnership as integral to the divine creation project. Texts from other Hebrew Bible genres build a picture of robust and flexible partnerships within a patriarchal framework. In popular culture, Eve still carries the stench of guilt while Adam, seemingly unscathed by Eden events, remains a positive symbol of manhood. This book helps explain why they have had such different histories. The book also charts the subversive alternate streams of interpretation of women's writings and rabbinic texts. The story of Adam and Eve demonstrates how conceptions of gender in both ancient and modern worlds reflect larger philosophical schemes. Far from existing as timeless verities, female and male relations are constructed according to cultural imperatives of the day. Understanding the different ways that Adam and Eve have been conceived gives us perspective on our own twenty-first century gender architecture.

From the lens of world-renowned photographer George Kalinsky comes this look at one hundred leading and influential rabbis of the twenty-first century. Through lush and brilliant photographs and essays by the rabbis in their own words we see the multifaceted people they are: leaders, teachers, preachers, scholars, spiritual innovators, chaplains, as well as fathers, mothers, avid hobbyists, and professionals. "Rabbis: The Many Faces of Judaism is an extraordinary book about modern Judaism. It features one hundred portraits of rabbis that span the globe and the ideological spectrum, from youthful Orthodox communal leaders to pillars of contemporary Reform Judaism, portraying today's Jewish leaders, and Judaism itself, in its diversity and dimensions. Keepers of the flame of Judaism, these are people who are working in the twenty-first century but are deeply aware of their religious legacy. Some of the rabbis included in the book are: Rabbi Eric Yoffie, who was named the number one Jewish leader in America in "The Forward in November 2001; Rabbi Eugene Borowitz, a well-known political activist and founder of a popular New York synagogue; Shmuley Boteach, author of "Kosher Sex and a fixture on talk shows and in the media; Norman Lamm, outgoing president of Yeshiva University; Ismar Schorsch, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary; David Wolpe, author of "Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times, and other books; Laura Geller, Senior rabbi, Temple Emanuel, Beverly Hills, Calif.; Irving "Yitz" Greenberg, theologian and former chair of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, and Harold Kushner, author of "When Bad Things Happen to Good People. The book also includesRabbi Sally Priesand, America's first woman rabbi, and Rabbi Yosef Hadana, the first Ethiopian rabbi. Chosen for the rabbis' wide range of beliefs and interests, the people here represent the rabbinate as the rich, hard

When Akiva and his wife Rachel walk past a school one morning, Akiva looks in sadly. Unlike the children, he has never learned to read or write. ‘Wouldn’t you like to go inside and learn with them?’ Rachel asks. But Akiva fears the children will laugh at him. Rachel has an idea. She buys a donkey, plants a garden on its back and insists that she and Akiva take it with them to market. When they arrive, people laugh and point at such an unusual sight. The following morning, when Akiva refuses to join the children at school, Rachel suggests they go back to the market. Once again, the donkey attracts attention and laughter. On the third morning, Akiva refuses school again and returns to the market with Rachel and the donkey. But this time, nobody laughs or points. Instead, people come to take a closer look at the donkey, pick flowers from its back and pluck grapes from its vine. Finally, Akiva realizes what Rachel has been trying to tell him. Akiva enrolls in the school. He soon gets over his nerves and the children get used to his presence. He studies so hard that eventually he becomes a great scholar – the famous Rabbi Akiva who is still revered today. This is a beautifully told story, based on Midrash Hagadol, about how Rabbi Akiva overcame his fear of embarrassment to go from humble shepherd to legendary Jewish leader, with a little help from his clever wife and a donkey with a garden on its back.

Through an innovative synthesis of narrative critique, oral-formulaic study, folkloric research, and literary analysis, Kristen H. Lindbeck reads all the Elijah narratives in the Babylonian Talmud and details the rise of a distinct, quasi-angelic figure who takes pleasure in ordinary interaction. During the Talmudic period of 50-500 C.E., Elijah developed into a recognizable character quite different from the Elijah of the Bible. The Elijah of the Talmud dispenses wisdom, advice, and, like the Elijah of Jewish folklore, helps people directly, even with material gifts. Lindbeck highlights particular features of the Elijah stories, allowing them to be grouped into generic categories and considered alongside Rabbinic literary motifs and non-Jewish traditions of late antiquity. She compares Elijah in the Babylonian Talmud to a range of characters angels, rabbis, wonder-workers, the angel of death, Christian saints, and even the Greek god Hermes. She concludes with a survey of Elijah's diverse roles from medieval times to today, throwing into brilliant relief the complex relationship between ancient Elijah traditions and later folktales and liturgy that show Elijah bringing benefits and blessings, appearing at circumcisions and Passover, and visiting households after the Sabbath.

"An indispensable sourcebook... Emphasis falls on the variegated, often joyful, culture of the Polish Jews, on what existed before the garden was ruined." --Geoffrey Hartmann, The New Republic "From these marvelous selections, one can see an entire culture unfolding." --Curt Leviant, New York Times Book Review "This newly revised version of the classic study... is a pleasure for the eye and the soul One of the seminal studies of the impact of the Shoah on European Jewry, it is even more moving in its new incarnation than in its original version. More than a collection of studies of books of remembrance and mourning, this volume asks how one can mourn for a world lost and still live in the present and the future." --Sander L. Gilman "Kugelmass and Boyarin have done a splendid job of combing the vast memorial book literature to select the most revealing accounts of Jewish life in interbellum Poland. Ordinary people speak in this volume with an immediacy and poignancy that cannot help but touch the reader. In the time since it first appeared, From a Ruined Garden has become a classic. Its reappearance in an updated and expanded form is most welcome." --Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett "In this magnificent collection, the editors combine a profound 'feel' for the vanished world of Polish Jewry, the anthologist's skill at selecting the telling example, and the anthropologist's sophisticated understanding of how these testimonies should be read. A marvelous introduction to this rich literature." --Peter Novick Polish Jewish survivors of the Holocaust compiled memorial books to preserve the memory of their destroyed communities. They describe daily life in the shtetl as well as everyday life during the Holocaust and the experiences of returning survivors. These memories paint a haunting picture of a way of life lost forever.