Subversive Sequels in the Bible: How Biblical Stories Mine and Undermine Each Other [Hardcover]

Judy Klitsner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2009

Judy Klitsner pairs biblical stories to show how a later text will often comment on, or even subvert, an earlier one.

The author draws on her fluent command of Hebrew commentary and her broad reading of ancient and modern exegesis, and creates a rare dialogue between feminist and traditional Bible commentary. Using the method of parshanut (interpretation) and her own unique approach to biblical texts, Klitsner draws bold, surprising parallels between biblical passages, revealing previously unexcavated layers of meaning. The result is a series of fresh and original readings of familiar narratives, accessible to both novice and experienced readers of the Bible. With her fresh, original readings of familiar narratives, Klitsner illustrates the dynamic nature of biblical attitudes regarding issues of ongoing relevance, such as the self, gender relations, and relations between Jews and non-Jews.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Singularly faithful to the biblical text, which Klitsner reads closely and with great respect, this book is fascinating and radical in its implications and inspires the reader to see surprising connections in language and in themes."—JOFA Journal

(JOFA Journal )

"Klitsner addresses head-on the challenges of finding modern-day relevance in the Bible, especially in relation to women''s issues. She analyzes without apologizing, leaving the reader with much to consider."—Hadassah Magazine

(Hadassah Magazine )

"This new commentary exhibits biblical scholarship at its finest."—Jewish Book World

(Jewish Book World )

"In this ground-breaking book, Judy Klitsner presides over a conversation between pairs, or sequences, of biblical narratives. Paying close attention to the nuances of biblical language, she expertly maps the way in which passages echo and subvert one another. Her alert ear and vigorous writing style reveal new intertextual structures, within which later narratives reconsider earlier ones, revising and often redeeming them . . . A moral and religious passion animates this innovative study."—Avivah Zornberg, Torah scholar and author (including the JPS classic Genesis: The Beginning of Desire)

(Avivah Zornberg )

"Ms. Klitsner is an excellent teacher whose insights into biblical narrative will deepen the reader’s engagement and understanding."—Rabbi David Silber, Founder and Dean of the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education

(Rabbi David Silber )

From the Publisher

2009 National Jewish Book Award Winner, Scholarship category

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: The Jewish Publication Society; 1st edition (October 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0827608888
• ISBN-13: 978-0827608887
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #632,349 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

About Judy Klitsner, author, "Subversive Sequels in the Bible" (http://www.JudyKlitsner.com)

Judy Klitsner is the author of the new book, "Subversive Sequels in the Bible: How Biblical Stories Mine and Undermine Each Other." The book was the winner of a National Jewish Book Award in 2010.

Judy Klitsner is a senior faculty member at the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, where she has been teaching Bible and biblical exegesis for the past two decades.

A disciple of the renowned Torah teacher, Nechama Leibowitz, Klitsner has had a profound impact on a generation of students, many of whom now serve as teachers and heads of Jewish Studies programs in the US, Israel, and the UK. She is a popular international speaker who brings a dynamic, interactive teaching style to a broad and varied array of audiences across the Jewish denominational spectrum.

Originally from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, she and her husband, Shmuel Klitsner, live in Jerusalem, where they raised their five children. Klitsner's recent and most enjoyable avocation is playing with her grandchildren.



More information on Judy Klitsner can be found on her website, http://www.JudyKlitsner.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inner Biblical Interpretation, November 6, 2009

By 

Derek Leman (Snellville, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Subversive Sequels in the Bible: How Biblical Stories Mine and Undermine Each Other (Hardcover)

While I do not share some of Klitsner's presuppositions, her book qualifies immediately in the most important virtue of a book on Biblical interpretation: she helps readers see the text in new ways. Occasionally her exposition is strained but for every non-sequitur there are dozens of insightful connections in inner Biblical interpretation.

The first chapter draws attention to connections between the Jonah story and the earlier Noah story:

(1) Noah sent a dove (Hebrew, yonah) to see if the flood was ended; Jonah is, of course Yonah.

(2) God flooded the world because of hamas (violence, injustice); in Jonah, the Ninevites repented of their hamas and turned away from it.

(3) Noah and Jonah's stories both involve boats, sea journeys, and water-induced catastrophe (even though Nineveh is nowhere near the sea).

(4) The Noah story is about judgment without mercy; the Jonah story is about mercy over judgment.

(5) Noah ends his career in self-induced slumber and drunken self-destruction; Jonah begins his quest sleeping in the hold of the ship, then asking to be drowned in the sea, and at the end praying for God to take his life.

(6) Noah is ambivalent about the destruction of the world while God is unrelenting; in Jonah, God wants to save the wicked, but Jonah is unwilling.

Klitsner is more willing than I to question God's motives in the story, as she apparently views the Biblical narratives as human writings about God. Thus, it is possible, in her view, that the Noah story represents an earlier and inferior view of Divine judgment and mercy. My own theology differs a bit from hers, not being as willing to find fault with God in the Flood account. I would say that context was different between the Flood and Nineveh and that the Judge of all the earth does right. In fact, the repentance of Ninevah, if you believe Jonah is based on real events, was temporary and did not save them. In the end, the Assyrians like the generation of the flood, paid the price for their hamas and went down in history as a defeated empire and a despised people.

Nonetheless, Klitsner's insight into the verbal parallels, puns, and interconnections has forever changed the way I will read both Noah and Jonah. She is an interesting thinker and reader. I recommend this book to those who are not beginners in Bible reading. If you are a beginner, perhaps get it and put it on your list for after you have learned a bit more and you are ready to handle a little controversy. I especially recommend this book to those for whom Bible reading has become stale or whose faith in the God of the Bible is waning.

You can see my review of the first chapter here at [...]

Derek Leman
[...]

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A voyage of discovery, November 1, 2009

By 

H. Zukier - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Subversive Sequels in the Bible: How Biblical Stories Mine and Undermine Each Other (Hardcover)

Submitted by Prof. Henri Zukier

In Subversive Sequels in the Bible, Judy Klitsner explores the complex relationship between various familiar Biblical tales in a manner that is at once both surprising and convincing. What is convincing is the degree to which these narratives interact with common theme and language. What is surprising is that the results of such an examination yield a subversive yet stubbornly reverent approach to Bible study. Klitsner is a masterful guide on a thrilling voyage of discovery of hidden meanings and dynamics in the classical texts. Klitsner shakes up our old certainties about our most ancient and seemingly familiar biblical narratives, with counterintuitive, but ultimately compelling insights. She casts this familiar universe in a very different, bright light.
Written with a minimum of academic jargon, this work is accessible, enjoyable and valuable to scholar and layperson alike and may be one of a very few examples of literary close readings of Hebrew texts that brings the sophistication of ancient Hebrew literature to the English speaking public.
An easily summarized example is Klitsner's first chapter comparing the narrative of Noah and his ark to that of Jonah (Hebrew for "dove"). Under Klitsner's lens, these two stories are in dialogue about the dynamic nature of both human transcendence and Divine compassion. Whereas Noah is the surviving prophet in a drowning world - Jonah is the drowning prophet in a world redeemed. One story (Noah) ends with the sending of a dove and begins with the saving of many animals. The other begins with the sending of a "dove" (Jonah) and ends with a verse about saving many animals.
I won't spoil the adventure of discovering with Klitsner the intricate inversion of theme and language that creates this theological dialogue between the stories. Yet, the whole treatment is greater than the sum of its parts. The author picks up on the way in which the Jonah story redeems the Noah story and with it the chance for human triumph with its stubborn hopeful "perhaps?" over the gravity and despair of our presumed fate.
What links the various essays in the book is the tight literary analysis and its striking methodology of reading texts as "intertextually" related. Stories are seen as sequels that mine and undermine prior tales. No longer seen as ancient statements of monolithic messages, these stories echo into other stories and eventually resound beyond the pages of the Bible. The result is a highly relevant approach to Bible reading that ultimately invites the reader into an ongoing moral and theological symposium.
Most of the book is dedicated to a rereading of various women's narratives in the Bible -from Eve and Sarah, and Rebecca and Rachel of Genesis to Deborah and Hannah, and Mrs. Manoach. Here too, to the satisfaction of traditionalists and feminists alike, the stories are read with a respect for the original stories together with a mindfulness of the ways in which later stories subvert and elevate the status of Biblical women in an ongoing conversation about biblical woman's relationship to self, to man, and to God. Be prepared for a ride. Very highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for beginners and experts, October 30, 2009

By 

Martin Lockshin (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Subversive Sequels in the Bible: How Biblical Stories Mine and Undermine Each Other (Hardcover)

I very much enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it enthusiastically. Judy Klitsner combines classical Jewish close readings of biblical narratives with deep modern literary insights. The results are often astonishing. I learned much from this book--both from Klitsner's skill at interweaving seemingly unrelated biblical texts and from the timely lessons she draws from these juxtapositions. She finds surprisingly modern attitudes in the Bible about the relationships between women and men, humans and God.
Readers do not require background in Hebrew or in Biblical Studies to appreciate Klitsner's work. But even experts in the field will find much new and of value in the book.