Woman Who Laughed at God: The Untold History of the Jewish People

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Who is a Jew? In this colorful, eye-opening work, bestselling author and lecturer Jonathan Kirsch takes us on a three-thousand-year tour of Jewish identity and diversity and offers answers to this complex and difficult question. Kirsch reveals that Judaism has never been a religion of strict and narrow orthodoxy. For every accepted tradition in Jewish faith there are countertraditions rooted in biblical antiquity: the Maccabee freedom fighters who closed the Bible and picked up swords, dervish-like ecstatics who ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Who is a Jew? In this colorful, eye-opening work, bestselling author and lecturer Jonathan Kirsch takes us on a three-thousand-year tour of Jewish identity and diversity and offers answers to this complex and difficult question. Kirsch reveals that Judaism has never been a religion of strict and narrow orthodoxy. For every accepted tradition in Jewish faith there are countertraditions rooted in biblical antiquity: the Maccabee freedom fighters who closed the Bible and picked up swords, dervish-like ecstatics who claimed to enjoy direct communication with God even after they had been excommunicated by a distrustful rabbinate, and courageous men and women who were the forgotten heroes of the Holocaust. With drama and narrative verve, Kirsch explores these and many other "Judaisms" that make up the rich tapestry of Jewish identity.

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble
Briskly surveying 3,000 years of Jewish history, Kirsch asserts vigorously that Judaism has always been a general unifying concept for a diversity of traditions, beliefs, and practices. This lively narrative promises to appeal to readers who are generally hesitant to tackle "religious" books.
Publishers Weekly
Writing with considerable vivacity, Kirsch (King David; Moses; The Harlot by the Side of the Road) has produced a readily accessible and often entertaining version of Jewish history. Throughout, he succeeds in his somewhat labored objective of proving that the Jews are a diverse people. The book's title is taken from the story of Sarah's reaction when God told her that she, at almost 90 years of age, and Abraham, who was nearing 100, would have a child. Kirsch sees this as "an emblematic example" of Jews expressing "their Jewishness in wholly new and inventive ways." He goes on to detail a host of such illustrations throughout Jewish history, hammering home his thesis that Judaism "grows and changes," thus assuring its liveliness and endurance. Kirsch argues cogently that Jewish history is a "constant process of invention and reinvention" and that this characteristic accounts for Jewish continuity. The lightheartedness that characterizes much of the book switches to a more sober mood as Kirsch discusses the Holocaust and the founding of the State of Israel. This solemn spirit is also manifest in his consideration of women in the Bible and "The Fighting Jew." Kirsch's well-written reexamination of Jewish history tells the remarkable story of how Jewish diversity has contributed to Jewish survival. (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
Los Angeles Times book columnist Kirsch has written such well-received and popular titles as King David and The Harlot by the Side of the Road. Here he continues to counter the many books lamenting dissent and division in contemporary American Jewish life (e.g., Samuel G. Freedman's Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry, LJ 8/00). While these other books suggest that only a rigid, very formally observant branch of Judaism will survive our times, Kirsch believes that there has never been an unchanging and fundamental Judaism. He approvingly quotes from the late, great American Jewish historian Jacob Rader Marcus, who once declared that when we look at the six million Jews in America we find "six million Judaisms." Kirsch uses stories from the vast history of the religion (including the story of Sarah, alluded to in the title) to show that Judaism has always been characterized by change. He believes that Jewish diversity is indicative of creativity, strength, and growth. His insights will be appreciated by Jewish and non-Jewish readers alike. Recommended for most libraries. Paul Kaplan, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., IL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
This mishmash of history and biblical scholarship attempts to counter current prevalent stereotypes of Jews and assumptions about Judaism. In the face of the dogged stereotype of the "pious and prayerful" Jew, Kirsch (King David, 2000, etc.) contends that there never has been a single "correct" Jewish faith, practice, or race. Although he frames the whole argument using the example of Sarah, a woman who dared to laugh at a vengeful God, the enormity of the topic keeps overflowing this frame, and the chapters jerk along from topic to topic and century to century with either too much or too little explication. Kirsch's enthusiasm never flags. From the discovery of abundant ancient fertility figurines ("teraphim") in sites all over Israel, Kirsch extrapolates the existence of a people who were "bold, curious, and daring." When it comes to toughness, too, the Jews got there first; according to Kirsch, the Sicarii, Jewish assassins who operated during the Roman rule of Judea, "literally invented the art of political terrorism." More frustrating than this boosterism is the fact that Kirsch's "untold history" has in fact been told countless times and will be familiar to anyone with a passing interest in Jewish culture. Some of the author's revelations include the fact that the Bible had many authors over a long period of time; that those authors may have included one or more women; that some of the patriarchs married non-Jews; and that false messiahs appearing through the ages have often enjoyed great success. Kirsch's breathless tone as he whips aside curtain after curtain to reveal the obvious is grating, and the labor needed to follow his logic exhausting. Good for entirely ignorant soulsseeking a shallow survey of piquant Jewish historical moments and characters. Serious readers should look elsewhere. Author tour
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780142196113
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 10/28/2002
  • Series: Compass Series
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 336
  • Product dimensions: 5.54 (w) x 8.36 (h) x 0.67 (d)

Meet the Author

Jonathan Kirsch is a book columnist for the Los Angeles Times and author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed King David, Moses, The Harlot by the Side of the Road, and The Woman Who Laughed at God. He lectures and consults widely on biblical, literary, and legal topics and is a past president of PEN Center USA West.

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