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The Hidden Order of Intimacy: Reflections on the Book of Leviticus
Maybe someday
43
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
79/100Critics
7/100Scholars
Author:
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg
Publisher:
Schocken
Date:
March 29, 2022
Torah scholar Zornberg reads Leviticus through the lens of commentaries from the rabbis of the Talmud, medieval and Hasidic scholars, philosophers, psychoanalysts and literary masters to consider the book's message about the nature of reward and punishment, good and evil, Eros and Thanatos and humankind's complicated encounter with the divine.
What The Reviewers Say
Zornberg creates a revolving world of texts that often flashes with new insight on the biblical material. At times, though, this interpretive process could benefit from engaging more directly the difficulties readers have when encountering these sources from the past. While Zornberg is erudite within her circle of texts, there are places where it would have been appropriate to slow down and deal more directly with the gaps between the historical authors and the contemporary readers, on issues of disability, race, sexuality, and violence.
... a stirring examination of Leviticus.
... a densely detailed, challenging tour of the traditional and mystical readings of Leviticus, drawing especially from the Midrash and other Jewish writings and interpretations through history.
