Voices of Genesis: A Biblical Guide on Our Journey from Birth to Death [Hardcover]

Norman J. Cohen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1998

A brilliant blending of modern midrash and the life stages of Erik Erikson's developmental psychology.

How Can the Pain, Pleasures, and Drama of the Great Characters in Genesis Provide Insights for Our Own Life Journeys?

Many of us feel alone in the struggles and triumphs we face during different stages of our lives. Norman Cohen shows how the pathways of our lives are quite similar to those of Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekkah, Jacob, Rachel and Leah, and Joseph.

Voices from Genesis brings to life the leading figures of Genesis to speak directly to us, telling of their spiritual and emotional journeys, struggles, frustrations, and confusions--from birth to maturity to death--as if they were in conversation with us right now.

Combining midrash (finding contemporary meaning from ancient biblical texts) with the developmental psychology insights of Erik Erikson, a twentieth-century psychoanalytic legend, Cohen explores the great characters of Genesis, letting the wisdom of the ancient text resonate with our own modern lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Taking pages from the developmental psychologist Erik Erikson and stories from Genesis, Cohen, the provost of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Midrash, retells familiar stories from the Hebrew Bible. In each story, particular characters from Genesis represent life's many stages. Adam and Eve, for example, represent infancy, while Cain and Abel represent early childhood. Each chapter opens with an excerpt from Erikson's psychology of human growth. Cohen then retells the stories in his own words Finally, he offers a lengthy interpretive section exploring the intersections of psychology and biblical studies. In the story of Isaac, for example, we have an individual struggling to establish his identity by creating his own family structure. Isaac, especially in the moments before his father places him on the altar, also experiences the tensions inherent in striving to understand the difficulties and painful moments of life. Cohen's engaging writing and storytelling bring new life to these familiar biblical stories. Cohen teaches us that these stories continue to help us learn more about ourselves.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Using both the long tradition of midrashic interpretation and psychologist Erik Erikson's insights into personal development, Rabbinic scholar Cohen has produced a fascinatingly idiosyncratic reading of the book of Genesis as a metaphor for the stages of human life, as we develop from the infantile distrust of Adam and Eve to the troubled ego identity of the patriarch Jacob in old age. Not a historical reconstruction of ancient times or persons but a reinvention of traditional Rabbinic approaches, this will please and instruct many Jewish and Christian readers. For most collections strong in religious studies.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879045753
• ISBN-13: 978-1879045750
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,656,840 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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