The Book of Revolutions
The Battles of Priests, Prophets, and Kings That Birthed the Torah
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- HUF2,190.00
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- HUF2,190.00
Publisher Description
2023 Top Five Reference Book from the Academy of Parish Clergy
The Torah is truly the Book of Revolutions, born from a military coup (the Northern Israelite revolution), the aftermath of an assassination and regency (a Judean revolution), and a quiet but radical revolution effected by outsiders whose ideas proved persuasive (Babylonian exile). Emerging from each of these were three key legal codes—the Covenant Code (Exodus), the Deuteronomic Code (Deuteronomy), and the Holiness Code (Leviticus)—which in turn shaped the Bible, biblical Judaism, and Judaism today.
In dramatic historical accounts grounded in recent Bible scholarship, Edward Feld unveils the epic saga of ancient Israel as the visionary legacy of inspired authors in different times and places. Prophetic teaching and differing social realities shaped new understandings concretized in these law codes. Revolutionary biblical ideas often encountered great difficulties in their time before they triumphed. Eventually master editors wove the threads together, intentionally preserving competing narratives and law codes. Ultimately, the Torah is an emblem of pluralistic belief born of revolutionary moments that preserved spiritual realities that continue to speak powerfully to us today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This edifying chronicle by rabbi Feld (The Spirit of Renewal) illuminates the history behind three legal codes in the Hebrew Bible. The author consults contemporary biblical scholarship to examine how a trio of biblical-era revolutions led to the Torah's inclusion of sometimes conflicting legal codes: the Covenant, Deuteronomic, and Holiness codes. He lays out the history behind the revolutions, which include a military coup in northern Israel, a royal assassination in Judea, and a theological sea change in Babylonia, and explores how these events each influenced the composition of a code. Feld persuasively suggests that the decision by early editors of the Hebrew Bible to leave in the codes' discrepancies reflects the editors' understanding that "they were heirs to a multiplicity of traditions and did not seek to choose between them to create a common orthodoxy." Extrapolating on the implications for modern practice, the author posits that there's "not a single, right pathway" for practicing Judaism. Feld displays a remarkable talent for balancing accessible language with depth of thought and rigorous research, all while exercising a penetrating insight for how ancient conflicts factor into contemporary discourse. Stellar scholarship makes this an essential religious and cultural history.
