The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis

by Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg

Overview

NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD WINNER • A brilliant interpretation of familiar biblical narratives that "deserves to be the most widely read book on the Bible in years, perhaps decades." (Jewish Exponent).

Since its publication in 1995, The Beginning of Desire has opened new pathways in the reading of the Bible. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s innovative use of midrash, literature, philosophy, and psychoanalysis draws deeply upon the familiar biblical narratives to produce interpretations that are at once startlingly beautiful and completely authentic. Illuminating the tensions that grip human beings as they search for an encounter with God, Zornberg gives us a brilliant analysis of the stories of Adam and Eve; Noah; Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Rebecca; Jacob, Rachel, and Leah; and Joseph and his brothers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805212396
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/01/2011
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	511,309
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

AVIVAH GOTTLIEB ZORNBERG is the author of The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis (and winner of the National Jewish Book Award), The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, and The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious. She lectures widely in Israel, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. She lives in Jerusalem.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

The Pivoting Point Bereshit 3

Kindness and Ecstasy Noah 37

Travails of Faith Lekh Lekha 72

Language and Silence Va-Yera 97

Vertigo-The Residue of the Akedah Hayyei Sarah 123

Sincerity and Authenticity Toledot 144

Dispersions Va-Yetze 180

The Quest for Wholeness Va-Yishlah 216

Re-membering the Dismembered Va-Yeshev 243

The Absence of the Imagination Mi-Ketz 284

The Pit and the Rope Va-Yiggash 314

The Beginning of Desire Va-Yehi 352

Notes 382

Glossary 422

Bibliography 427

Index 431

Editorial Reviews

Thousands of years old, the Book of Genesis grows hazy in the mists of time. Without a competent guide, readers easily slip into regarding it as a hodgepodge of half-remembered stories. This book by respected Jewish writer Dr. Avivah Zornberg (The Murmuring Deep; Rapture) rejuvenates our sense of this historic spiritual work by applying biblical, midrashic, and literary insights to its ancient text. Now in paperback. Editor's recommendation.

Deserves to be the most widely read book on the Bible in years, perhaps decades.”
—Jewish Exponent
 
“Not only is Zornberg’s book leagues removed from popular trivializations, it also does what all successful midrash is meant to do: open up new perspectives on ancient texts.”
 —Commonweal
 
“A sinewy, powerful, and hauntingly beautiful reanimation of the ancient text of early Israel and of their heroes and heroines.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Spectacular readings ... A beautiful and arresting exercise in biblical literary criticism; highly recommended.”
—Library Journal

“Zornberg brings a brilliant mastery of psychology, literature, and Judaismto bear on the Bible ... This is an extraordinary book.”
—The Jerusalem Report

From the Publisher