Exodus in the Jewish Experience

Reviews / Votes

The essays in this volume collectively provide an admirable overview of the diverse ways in which the exodus, as the fundamental and formative concept of the biblical past, simultaneously shaped and was shaped by the exigencies of subsequent generations, beginning already in the biblical period. Both academic and general readers will find much of value in these well-written and well-documented studies. * Hebrew Higher Education * If you are looking for ways to deepen your understanding and make your Passover Seder more intellectually rich, I highly recommend you read these essays. You will never think about the Exodus in the same way again. -- Rabbi Rebecca Alpert, Temple University In an impressive array of contributions ranging from articulations of the Exodus experience in the Hebrew Bible to rabbinic reinterpretations and performances, from prayer to Jewish law, and from medieval Jewish thought to modern Zionism, the authors of Exodus in the Jewish Experience have produced a magnificent tapestry of collective Jewish memory and consciousness. This collection stands as a rich and expressive response to the Haggadah's injunction, 'In every generation one must look upon oneself as if he or she had personally left Egypt.' -- Hillel J. Kieval, Washington University in St. Louis This volume of essays makes you rethink, and appreciate anew, Jewish liturgy's foundational phrase 'to commemorate the Exodus.' The contributors trace changes in the meaning of this phrase over time and place. As they examine references to the Exodus in Jewish literature, prayer, art, and philosophy, they deepen its symbolic significance. A highly readable collection of essays by experts in a wide variety of fields. -- Rabbi Judith Hauptman, Jewish Theological Seminary