Customer Reviews

The Beast That Crouches at the Door: Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, and Beyond

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I cant praise the Rabbis intuitivness enough in peeling away the layers of context and subcontext in the book of Genesis. You think that having studied Rashi(considered to be the pre-eminent authority when it comes to Torah interpetation), and others such as Rambam, Malbim, Ramban and Ibn Ezra, and many modern Jewish theology including those with radical notions on what is happening in the text, that you have studied it all.
Well guess what? Close to forty years im studying and this Rabbi comes along and make mockery of all I thought I knew. I thought I asked all the possible questions on oxymorons, improbabilities, contradictions and sometimes plain incrdulousness at how the narratives unfold. Well I guess I wasnt all that smart having missed so many of the finer details of whats happening in the text expounded on by the Rabbi, but gosh he makes it look so, "why didnt I think of it" simple that I just have to kick myself. I look foreward to many more years of kicking myself if only the Rabbi will oblige us by putting more of his teachings put into print.

Rabbi Fohrman has been teaching a refreshing and insightful analysis of the Hebrew Bible now for years but his first published book brings it all together in a wonderfully cohesive and readable manner. He has an excellent point to make: the Hebrew Bible from the very beginning has much to teach us about ourselves today but only if you examine it carefully for all its messages. Rabbi Fohrman is a master teacher and his writing is always engaging--you have to keep turning the pages. I can't recommend this book highly enough for anyone interested in what God has to say to each and every one of us. Thank you, Rabbi Fohrman.

I want to point out one thing: This book is NOT only for jewish people. It is for anyone of any religion (or no religion) who is interested in the Bible or the Adam & Eve story. It is definitely also for people who made fun of the story and think it's just for kids - this book shows that by asking the most difficult questions in the Adam & Eve story, one actually comes to a true understanding of what the Bible is trying to tell us. ALL questions can and must be asked!!

Otherwise, I fully agree with the comments in the other reviews. This book is a very readable, yet deep and true-to-the-text analysis of the Adam&Eve/Cain&Abel stories. It's not some homiletic interpretation of the Bible but a very precise, critical, compelling analysis of what the Bible is really trying to tell us. ...and (while the author doesn't address this directly) this helps better understand mankind, the human condition, and...ourselves.

Growing up, I learned not to question certain things about the bible. Not because I feared I wouldn't like the answer, but rather for fear that there was no answer! The vague answer I received most in response was "have faith". Well that only made me feel like I was insulting God in questioning certain things!

Rabbi Fohrman's book has reawakened my curiosity about our origins, why we behave the way we do (other than just saying "we're all sinners"), and why we need rules (other than just saying "father knows best"). I'm not Jewish and not even necessarily religious, but this book was still a fascinating read for me.

Rabbi Fohrman's book taught me that if God put something in the bible, it's OK to question it and look for an answer (no matter how odd it seems). We don't have to sweep silly-sounding statements under the rug on behalf of God, right?

Finishing this book was a real bummer! I wanted more! I wanted to read about the days of Noah as well as the Tower of Babel. I'm hoping he'll write more soon.

As someone who does not know how to begin to interpret such a beautiful but complicated book in Genesis of the Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel stories, I feel I have now gained much more insight into these stories with the help of this special book, "The Beast that Crouches at the Door."
I especially appreciate the way Rabbi Fohrman asks questions thru out the book with descriptive and easy to understand illustrations. Even clarifying Hebrew words with thier meaning. He is an amazing teacher, Thank you Rabbi Fohrman!
Dana Damiani

Wow! What a study! I am not Jewish (except at heart) and this is one of my favorite study courses. Rabbi Fohrman not only opened my eyes and thinking on the study of Adam, Eve and the "snake", Cain and Abel, etc. it opened my way of approaching and thinking about the whole Torah. His style is so encouraging, and so fun. I actually, literally laughed out loud on several occasions. I was also "bowled over" on many other occasions. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a fresh understanding or approach to reading the Bible and what better place to start than "in the beginnning". I am looking forward to another study by this excellent teacher!

Length:: 2:25 Mins

I could not put this book down. Rabbi Fohrman has taken each sentence in the original text and brought amazing insight, word by word, in a very folksy, chatty style, as if he were talking directly to the reader, one on one. You will never again look at the story of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel as just a simple story. I eagerly await Rabbi Fohrman's next book.

I couldn't believe how this book probed Biblical text and exposed human nature for what it is! In some ways it is freeing, and in some ways the weight of being a human can just weigh you down.
I found this book to be intense, yet easy to read. It lays things out in a logical, progressive manner.
YHWH bless this author.

I certainly agree with the others about how marvelous this book is. Both spiritually and intellectualy satisfying. It reminds me very much of some of Steinsaltz's work (e.g. "Biblical Images"). You definitely want this book!