Customer Reviews

The Beginning of Desire

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Zornberg's "dialectical" approach to discussing the weekly readings of Genesis marries the secular approaches of literature and philosophy and traditional Jewish "learning" in an exciting and thought-provoking way. She uses rabbinic exegesis smartly and sensitively to explore the layers of the text's meaning in a way that will appeal to rather than repel scholars of modern literature who are also theologically inclined. I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in Hebrew Bible scholarship.

Aviva Zornberg's , Genesis, The Beginning of Desire, is a deep analysis of the first book of the Bible which utilizes insights from the full gamut of philosophers and authors to illuminate the commentary of Rashi, the most central of the classical medieval Jewish commentaries on the Bible. She is a treasure and her insights are illuminating and occasionally open up an area in ways never before explored. I reccommend it highly for all who are dedicated to seeing the world of the Bible in all its depth and compexity.

Aviva Gottlieb Zornberg is one of the remarkable Torah teachers of her generation. All who have attended her lectures in Jerusalem can attest to her great learning, her poetic and intuitive interpretative skill, her effort to read the Biblical text through combining the traditional sources with insights derived from sociological, anthropological and psychological literature. Her radiant and magnetic personality provide a dimension to her lectures inspirationally which the page does, and sometimes does not capture. But her commentary for any one who will take the time and effort to read it carefully yields new insights into the Biblical texts. And again her readings are ones which almost invariably lead us into deeper understanding of the human relationships involved in Tannach.
This commentary should be a part of the library of all those who love the Biblical text.

This is for me one of the most intelligent and beautiful books on Genesis I have ever read. The depth of the book takes several (hundred?) readings to fully grasp its height and breadth. A must have.Ms. Zornberg's grasp of her subject matter is awesome and inspiring.

Zornberg's book on Genesis had much promise for me, but the book failed to live up to this promise. The author is certainly well versed in the rabbinic commentaries on the Genesis text, but her writing style is so disorganized, and her intellectual leaps so large that following her arguments often take more time than they are worth. If you are searching for a contemporary analysis of the first book of the Bible, I would recommend Dennis Shulman's Genius of Genesis. This latter book was time much better spent.

This densely written book gives the patient reader a few of the same insights that one can get from a good Chumash (Torah w/commentary) such as the Artscroll Chumash or the Conservatives' Etz Chaim-- so I would not say it is completely worthless. The difference is that a Chumash is pithier and more clearly written than this book. When I read the Torah portion every week, I sometimes can't put it down (especially in Genesis). By contrast, I found it impossible to keep plowing through this learned but dull, dull, dull tome.

I expected alot from this book, and did, indeed, glean some useful insights. I am sure there is much, however, that I did not get from the work due to it's style. There is no focus in the composition, and most of the time it seems to ramble with no clear direction. The author does not state her thesis and present her supporting evidence; rather, she has an almost stream-of-consciousness approach, pulling in seemingly unrelated materials and ideas, depending upon the reader to make the connections. Her scholarship and love of the material are evident, but the author's style doesn't allow the reader to assimilate nearly enough of what she has to offer.

This book is primarily about understanding the subtleties of Genesis and its meanings for everyday people. Various parsha are considered and commented upon. The author relies heavily upon early Jewish literature and not much is original. However, many English readers will most likely find some considerations of the psychological nature that they may not have considered before. Alternative understandings are presented to most of the beloved stories in Genesis. These interpretations were not presented as a matter of fact, which I appreciated, but were presented as alternative understandings to fill some holes in the complexities of the literal translations.

Reading this book is an exercise in humility, and sometimes futility. Ten adults are reading a chapter a week, tied to the Torah portion of the week, in an effort to understand it together. Zornberg definitely takes us to places we had not considered, incorporates the metaphysical, and appears to be focused on the vertigo we experience when our understanding of the world does not match our experiences. However, she doesn't make it easy to follow, and sometimes we just throw our hands up in futility.

Each chapter has a theme, and all the writing within that chapter is bent on supporting that theme, no matter how far Zornberg has to go to find support for it. This, in itself, is not necessarily a problem. However, many of her references are not self evident, and presuppose a knowledge of Talumudic and other textual references. For example, she talks about the source midrash for a particular understanding of Jacob's desire to settle down, but doesn't describe the actual midrash or place it within the text. Yet in other chapters, she does.

Another annoying practice is to reference events that take place after the particular Torah portion, in support of the chapter's thesis. This would be less annoying if the chapter was not supposedly written about a particular Torah portion, rather than an entire story line. This was particularly evident in her writings about Joseph being sold into slavery by (possibly) his brothers. The Torah portion ends with his sale, but the chapter talks at length about Joseph's re-encounter with his brothers which happens late in the next portion.

Yet, I'm not sorry I'm reading this, particularly in the company of 9 others. It is a very substantive book, and I would probably have thrown up my hands in frustration and not continued, without the companions.