Rachel Weeping

Reviews / Votes

Readers will come away from Strickert's treatment with an appreciation of how a literary character such as Rachel ties all three faith traditions together. They will also glean a new appreciation of how, in the pathos of the current political situation, the ancient image of Rachel's weeping takes on an entirely new significance.Biblical Interpretation This is a book which intermingles beauty and pathos. . . . A book of serious biblical scholarship, but also engaged with present day realities, and a salutary reminder that the book of Genesis still has the power to affect our world for good or ill even in the twenty-first century.Journal for the Study of the New Testament [C]arefully weaves together the textual, historical, and political dimensions of the site, and it tells the story not only of Rachel but of all those who have gone looking for her in memory and in faith.Review of Biblical Literature The book includes an excellent bibliography that even references contemporary political press coverage, as well as useful indices.Interpretation Strickert's approach is both historical and contemporary. He puts the past at the service of the present in hopes of helping to create a more peace-filled future. . . . It's a small gem worth reading.Catholic Studies Fred Strickert has made a unique contribution to the ongoing discussion about the relationships among members of the three monotheistic faiths. He explains the important role Rachel has in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and he explores how her tomb has functioned as a pilgrimage site throughout history. This creative interfacing of person and place is simultaneously a celebration of how people have cooperated in the past and a challenge to reflect on how we might get along better in the future.John Kaltner, Department of Religious Studies, Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee Fred Strickert has written a masterful, one could say definitive, portrait of the life and lament of Rachel. With skill, sensitivity and thorough scholarship, he follows the story of Rachel, a woman 'on the way,' as she is depicted in the Bible and remembered in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Buried along 'the way,' her tomb always provided a place of solace and strength for all who weep, especially women. In recent times this 'sacred space' has been walled in and made a private domain for Jews alone. But are her tears only for some and not others? Can they be privatized? Through this excellent and meticulous study, the author shows that historically the tears of Rachel were for all her children, for all of us. 'We are all hurting and desperately in need of healing' he writes. It is for all, not just the few, that Rachel weeps. Will the tomb again become the universal shrine it has always been? Concluding with Rachel's hope that the 'impossible will become possible,' the author believ With Rachel Weeping Fred Strickert joins a growing pool of scholars and journalists who illuminate the shared religious heritage of Jews, Christians and Muslims. What distinguishes this story of Rachel's tomb in biblical and modern history is Strickert's attention to extensive and diverse sources such as rabbinic, patristic, and Islamic commentaries and eye witness accounts by two millennia's pilgrims. Strickert's integration of biblical narrative, history, and archaeology lifts up Rachel's tomb as a paradigm for the political developments in our time that hinder the sharing of God's Holy Land by the people of these three related traditions.Carol Schersten LaHurd, Ph.D., Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, Illinois, Evangelical Lutheran Church, America Global Mission