This analysis of the phenomenon of textual analysis in ancient Israel was first published in hardback in 1985 and is updated with new material in appendices. It explores the tradition of exegesis prior to the development of biblical interpretation in early classical Judaism and the earliest Christian communities, and studies four main categories of exegesis: scribal, legal, aggadic and mantological.
This analysis of the phenomenon of textual analysis in ancient Israel was first published in hardback in 1985 and is updated with new material in appe...
This is a comprehensive study of myth in the Hebrew Bible and myth and mythmaking in classical rabbinic literature (Midrash and Talmud) and in the classical work of medieval Jewish mysticism (the book of Zohar). Michael Fishbane provides a close study of the texts and theologies involved and the central role of exegesis in the development and transformation of the subject. Taken up are issues of myth and monotheism, myth and tradition, and myth and language. The presence and vitality of myth in successive cultural phases is treated, emphasizing certain paradigmatic acts of God and features of...
This is a comprehensive study of myth in the Hebrew Bible and myth and mythmaking in classical rabbinic literature (Midrash and Talmud) and in the cla...
"In this almost painfully beautiful book... Fishbane... explores the question of the kind of canon, privileged status, or Logos, the Torah actually has for the post-modern Western Jew. " Theology Today
"A book well worth reading." The Jerusalem Post
"This wonderful volume documents the intellectual and spiritual odyssey of one of North America s foremost Jewish biblical scholars." Shofar
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"In this almost painfully beautiful book... Fishbane... explores the question of the kind of canon, privileged status, or Logos, the Torah actually...
The lines of Michael Fishbane's book trace the spiritual face of Judaism in one of its many appearances. Fishbane explores the quest for spiritual perfection in early rabbinic sources and in Jewish philosophy and mysticism. The "kiss of God," a symbol for union with God, and the ritual practices--meditation and performance--connected with it are presented.
The book identifies a persistent passion for religious perfection, expressed as the love of God unto death itself. The masters of the tradition cultivated this ideal in all periods, in diverse genres, and in different modes....
The lines of Michael Fishbane's book trace the spiritual face of Judaism in one of its many appearances. Fishbane explores the quest for spiritual ...
Belief in a spirit world, and a blissful or agonizing afterlife, is one of the most pervasive and deeply-rooted characteristics of religion. This volume offers a wide-ranging exploration of this basic religious theme. Most of the case studies are drawn from Jewish and Christian tradition, providing in-depth coverage of Judaism and Christianity from late Antiquity through the Medieval period. There are also examples from Islamic, Japanese, and Chinese traditions for a comparative perspective with Western traditions. Several chapters deal with the formative period of Jewish and Christian...
Belief in a spirit world, and a blissful or agonizing afterlife, is one of the most pervasive and deeply-rooted characteristics of religion. This volu...
Holiness in Words: Abraham Joshua Heschel's Poetics of Piety is both an introduction to reading Heschel's works in English, and an in-depth study of the way his literary style can transform the consciousness of readers. Heschel's life and works respond to the contemporary crisis in religion, formulating positions on faith and despair, racism and social justice, the Holocaust, interreligious dialogue, and the availability of God's presence. We study Heschel's theory and use of literary language, his "poetics of piety," in order to elucidate his narrative strategy to teach God-centered (or...
Holiness in Words: Abraham Joshua Heschel's Poetics of Piety is both an introduction to reading Heschel's works in English, and an in-depth study of t...
The haftarot are an ancient part of Hebrew liturgy. These supplemental readings are excerpted from the Prophets (Nevi'im) and accompany each weekly Sabbath reading from the Torah as well as readings for special Sabbaths and festivals. Noted Bible scholar Michael Fishbane introduces each haftarah with an outline and discussion of how that passage conveys its meaning, and he follows it with observations on how it relates to the Torah portion or special occasion. Individual comments, citing classical rabbinic as well as modern commentators,...
A National Jewish Book Award Finalist
The haftarot are an ancient part of Hebrew liturgy. These supplemental readings are excerpted fr...
The bible remains one of the major literary achievements of human history, comprizing over 60 documents, with as many contributors, and composed over many centuries. In this book, Michael Fishbane approaches the Hebrew Bible from a literary point of view. He demonstrates how, just as orators use particular techniques such as repetition and pause to convey their message in the way they requie, so too the Hebrew Bible authors used a range of literary devices to communicate a religious message applicable to particular historical moments, each with their own political, moral and theological...
The bible remains one of the major literary achievements of human history, comprizing over 60 documents, with as many contributors, and composed over ...
Exegesis--interpretation and explanation of sacred texts--is the quintessence of rabbinic thought. Through such means and methods, the written words of Hebrew Scripture have been extended since antiquity, and given new voices for new times. In this lucid and often poetic book, Michael Fishbane delineates the connections between biblical interpretation and Jewish religious thought.
How can a canon be open to new meanings, given that it is believed to be immutable? Fishbane discusses the nature and rationale of this interpretative process in a series of studies on ancient Jewish...
Exegesis--interpretation and explanation of sacred texts--is the quintessence of rabbinic thought. Through such means and methods, the written word...
Midrash is arguably the most ancient and native of Jewish genres, forming a voluminous literature of scriptural exegesis over the course of centuries. There is virtually nothing in the ancient rabbinic universe that was not taught through this medium. This volume presents the diversity and development of that creative profusion in a new light. It covers a broad range of literary texts, from late antiquity to the early modern period and from all the centres of literary creativity, including non-rabbinic and non-Jewish literature, so that the full extent of the modes and transformations of...
Midrash is arguably the most ancient and native of Jewish genres, forming a voluminous literature of scriptural exegesis over the course of centuries....
