Customer Reviews

The Phallacy of Genesis: A Feminist-Psychoanalytic Approach (Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation)

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Having read this book changed most of the views about religious scripture that I have been brought up with for years. This is not a bad thing, rather gives me a better understanding as to how my religion (being catholic)and the Hebrew religion came to develop. Of all the many people that have spoken to me, I have never heard anyone who could write with such eloquence so as to speak about Genesis not in a way that diminishes its good, but changes the validity of what we have been taught traditionally from ministers. What else about Rashkow that amazes me is her deep love for Judaic studies. Her in-depth knowledge of the topic is apparent in her work, and I think that for anyone who reads this, it really helps you to realize the roots of the suffering that women go through. A lot of our religious scriptures have been written to put women "in their place" as the men who wrote these bibles believed. She also documents the differences in how the Jews wrote the bible and how the translations from Hebrew to English have changed the literal meaning of the bible. A beautiful book which is written for nothing more than poetry and morality (like the bible) has been translated into a heirarchy of religious institutions which have done nothing but ostrasize and critique the other. This is something that is VERY necessary to understand. I think that if every pious person was to read this book and truly understand Rashkow's amazing points, that no we would not have such big differences and discriminations based on religion and sex. The only book I have ever read which can come close to this BRILLIANT work is Ellie Weizel's "Night." Ilona Rashkow wrote with absolute genius and I think that anyone who has the opportunity to read this book should really do it, it will literally change the way you look at women in literature. This book is nothing short of amazing and brilliant!