Where is God? What are angels? Who made them? Such questions have arisen over the ages and are answered with a type of story Jews call Midrash-Midrashim in the plural. The Hebrew word means "search and explain." The search takes place in the pages of the Bible. The explanation, the Midrash, is based on an answer found in those pages. New stories led to others, and eventually to a vast library of Midrashim. A selection of these have been woven into the stories in this book, retellings from the Book of Genesis: from Creation to the world of angels, the fall of Satan, Cain and Abel, the Emerald Book of Secrets, good King Methuselah, Noah and Naamah, and the binding of Isaac. Stunning woodcut illustrations accompany these graceful, witty stories in a book that will illuminate familiar texts in a thought-provoking and entertaining way.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Chaikin introduces a little-known body of literature known as Midrash in this collection of stories rooted in Bible text. Midrash is translated from Hebrew as "to search and explain," and Chaikin explains that these stories have been developed by rabbis throughout history to answer the often puzzling questions raised by the Bible. Rabbis have embellished midrashim with elements of folktales and other traditional storytelling forms to make them lively and interesting. Accessible retellings of how the archangel Satan was banished from Heaven and how the angels assisted the Holy One in creating humans from "earth from the four corners of the world" cast new light on the book of Genesis, for example. While some readers may at first be uneasy with these perspectives, they will soon begin to see how each tale fits the definition of midrash: it must answer a question raised by the Bible and be based on biblical teachings. The 21 chapters make the book easy to digest in small doses, perhaps as a family read-aloud. Frampton's crisp, richly colored woodcuts have an ancient, reverential quality that complements the dramatic subject matter. Readers who go along on Chaikin's fascinating journey will not be disappointed. Ages 9-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 4 Up?The first 22 chapters of Genesis contain some of the best stories in the Bible?and some tantalizing omissions. Jewish tradition has responded with Midrashim?theological scenarios created to fill in the gaps, reconcile contradictions, and add explanations to what is puzzling. Drawing on the body of Midrash, Chaikin retells the tales of Creation, the fall, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, and the sacrifice of Isaac. She has added her own invention, making the angels Michael and Raziel female, and given new importance to The Emerald Book of Secrets (a mystical history of heaven and earth). Some elements of Midrash can be theologically controversial; for instance, God implants "an evil urge" into the hearts of humans, and He Himself changes and learns. But for the most part, the stories are given an additional dimension by these traditions. Chaikin's language is neither formal nor vernacular, but a blend, as her project also blends the sacred and the mundane. Seven full-page woodcuts are decorative and colorful in a restrained way. Frampton's naive style and static, big-eyed figures in balanced compositions suit the text's combination of simplicity and seriousness. However, the pieces are few and far between. The result is not a picture book, but a read-aloud that will appeal to Christians and Jews interested in widening children's sense of the foundation myths of their religion.?Patricia Lothrop-Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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