Qohelet
Searching for a Life Worth Living
Published on 31. July 2023
Book
Hardback
277 pages
978-1-4813-1873-0 (ISBN)
Description
How to live a life of wisdom and fulfillment in a far-from-perfect world? Philosopher Menachem Fisch and artist Debra Band together probe Qohelet's inquiry into the value of life "under the sun" in this brilliant work-the first illuminated manuscript of the entire biblical text, the first philosophical analysis tracing the coherent path of this biblical thinker's full argument. Whereas modern readers influenced by the famous declaration "vanity, vanity, all is vanity" from the 1611 King James Bible have commonly understood that Qohelet found only futility and hopelessness in human life, Fisch restores the literal meaning, "vapor," to Qohelet's key word, hevel, with implications that reveal Qohelet's path to wisdom and even serenity. Through linguistic precision and careful unfolding of the book's philosophical argument, Fisch uncovers Qohelet's twin concerns: life is short, and situated as we are, far below the heavens, we can never be assured of comprehending our world, or understanding divine will and intent. He reveals Qohelet's understanding that since we can never fully predict or understand our fortunes or the heritage we leave behind us, the best we can do is to live our lives fully, relating to others attentively, always aware of the limits of human life.In her glowing, immersive, and discursive illuminated paintings of the entire text, Band imagines Qohelet's teachings, employing the grandest of palaces, the Alhambra, as the central metaphor for the beauty and impermanence of human life and accomplishments. She fills its halls and gardens with often surprising imagery, symbolism, and related poetry, creating a visual midrash that reveals the relationship of Qohelet's thought to other biblical texts and Jewish lore and its reverberations across the centuries and cultures of Western civilization, from ancient Israel to today's America. Each illuminated page is complemented by lucid commentary explaining its full meaning. Renowned scholars Ellen F. Davis and Moshe Halbertal crown the work with a penetrating foreword and preface.
Reviews / Votes
Illuminated manuscripts have a rich tradition to which this gem adds creatively. Not only does Debra Band's exquisite micrography, calligraphy, and artwork invite us to marinate in and meditate on Qohelet's suggestive composition, Menachem Fisch adds a unique and penetrating philosophical analysis. This work takes us from the ancient world of the Bible through medieval traditions of illumination and into a reading of Qohelet as a harbinger of post-modern thinking." - Peter A. Pettit, Teaching Pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa"'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,' wrote the mysterious author of the biblical Qohelet-Ecclesiastes, in English, from the Greek. 'There is nothing new under the sun.' For generations, the meaning of this haunting outlier text seemed clear and even merciless: in its endless cycling, nothing in the cosmos lasts, so nothing matters. Even if God is real, human life is in the end unreal and can have no real purpose. Resignation is the only valid response: at best, 'living for the moment;' at worst, existential despair. But what if there were something new under the sun? In this fresh approach to Qohelet, philosopher Menachem Fisch and scholar-artist Debra Band radically re-vision a text whose interpretation was 'settled.' Through exciting exposition that ranges from the history of rabbinical thought to analytical philosophy to the pain of personal loss, and illumined by Band's glowing paintings, the authors return us to the original Hebrew word on which Qohelet pivots: hevel. When hevel is not read 'figuratively' but is restored to its literal meaning as 'vapor' or 'mist,' an unexpected theology is revealed. What if the text were never a meditation on absurdity after all, but instead 'a vivid portrayal of the limits of human knowledge?' These limits can inspire us to return to our deepest human challenge: how should we live? Fisch and Band show how we can take up the question again in fascination-and even more, in hope. An unforgettable book." - Kimberley C. Patton, Professor of the Comparative and Historical Study of Religion, Harvard Divinity SchoolMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Waco
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 203 mm
Weight
532 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4813-1873-0 (9781481318730)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Debra Band draws upon her love of both the manuscript arts and the Jewish textual tradition in her acclaimed illuminated manuscripts. She is the author and illuminator of The Song of Songs: The Honeybee in the Garden (JPS, 2005), I Will Wake the Dawn: Illuminated Psalms (with Arnold J. Band) (JPS, 2007), Arise! Arise! Deborah, Ruth and Hannah (with Arnold J. Band) (Honeybee in the Garden, 2012), and Kabbalat Shabbat: The Grand Unification (with Raymond P. Scheindlin) (Honeybee in the Garden, 2016), among other works. Her paintings have been widely exhibited across the United States and Canada. She resides in Potomac, Maryland, with her husband, Michael Diamond, MD, and menagerie.
Menachem Fisch is Joseph and Ceil Mazer Professor Emeritus of History and Philosophy of Science at Tel Aviv University, TAU codirector of the Frankfurt-Tel Aviv Center for Religious and Interreligious Studies, and senior fellow of the Goethe University Frankfurt's Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften. He is author of The View from Within: Normativity and the Limits of Self-Criticism (with Y. Benbaji) (Notre Dame, 2011), Creatively Undecided: Toward a History and Philosophy of Scientific Agency (Chicago, 2017), and Covenant of Confrontation: A Study of Non-Submissive Religiosity in Rabbinic Literature (Hebrew) (Bar-Ilan, 2019).
Menachem Fisch is Joseph and Ceil Mazer Professor Emeritus of History and Philosophy of Science at Tel Aviv University, TAU codirector of the Frankfurt-Tel Aviv Center for Religious and Interreligious Studies, and senior fellow of the Goethe University Frankfurt's Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften. He is author of The View from Within: Normativity and the Limits of Self-Criticism (with Y. Benbaji) (Notre Dame, 2011), Creatively Undecided: Toward a History and Philosophy of Scientific Agency (Chicago, 2017), and Covenant of Confrontation: A Study of Non-Submissive Religiosity in Rabbinic Literature (Hebrew) (Bar-Ilan, 2019).
Content
Foreword by Ellen F. Davis
Preface by Moshe Halbertal
Introduction by Menachem Fisch: Making Sense of Qohelet
Introduction by Debra Band: Approaching the Book of Qohelet
The Illuminations
Frontispiece
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Commentary Materials
1
Introduction: Setting the Stage
Commentaries on the Illuminations
2
Introduction: Dashed Dreams of a Lasting Achievement
Commentaries on the Illuminations
3
Introduction: Qohelet's Great Turning Point
Commentaries on the Illuminations
4
Introduction: The Politics of Cooperation
Commentaries on the Illuminations
5
Introduction: Foolishness Multiplied: The Religious Dimension
Commentaries on the Illuminations
6
Introduction: The Futility of Hindsight
Commentary on the Illuminations
7
Introduction: Breaching the Limits of Self-Critique
Commentaries on the Illuminations
8
Introduction: Knowing the Limits of One's Strength
Commentaries on the Illuminations
9
Introduction: The Case against Hedonism
Commentaries on the Illuminations
10
Introduction: A Fool's Dystopia
Commentaries on the Illuminations
11
Introduction: The Beginning of an Optimistic End
Commentary on the Illuminations
12
Introduction: When All Is Said and Done
Commentaries on the Illuminations
Afterword by Menachem Fisch
Mysteries Dispelled: Qohelet in Biblical and Liturgical Context
Key to Bible Translation Abbreviations
Preface by Moshe Halbertal
Introduction by Menachem Fisch: Making Sense of Qohelet
Introduction by Debra Band: Approaching the Book of Qohelet
The Illuminations
Frontispiece
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Commentary Materials
1
Introduction: Setting the Stage
Commentaries on the Illuminations
2
Introduction: Dashed Dreams of a Lasting Achievement
Commentaries on the Illuminations
3
Introduction: Qohelet's Great Turning Point
Commentaries on the Illuminations
4
Introduction: The Politics of Cooperation
Commentaries on the Illuminations
5
Introduction: Foolishness Multiplied: The Religious Dimension
Commentaries on the Illuminations
6
Introduction: The Futility of Hindsight
Commentary on the Illuminations
7
Introduction: Breaching the Limits of Self-Critique
Commentaries on the Illuminations
8
Introduction: Knowing the Limits of One's Strength
Commentaries on the Illuminations
9
Introduction: The Case against Hedonism
Commentaries on the Illuminations
10
Introduction: A Fool's Dystopia
Commentaries on the Illuminations
11
Introduction: The Beginning of an Optimistic End
Commentary on the Illuminations
12
Introduction: When All Is Said and Done
Commentaries on the Illuminations
Afterword by Menachem Fisch
Mysteries Dispelled: Qohelet in Biblical and Liturgical Context
Key to Bible Translation Abbreviations