ISBN:
187904529X
Language:
English
Pages:
XXX, 163 Seiten
,
Ill.
Edition:
1. paperback ed., 4. print.
Year of publication:
2007
Series Statement:
A Jewish Lights classic reprint
Series Statement:
A Jewish Lights classic reprint
Uniform Title:
Me-aggadot ha-aqeda eng
Keywords:
Abrahams Opfer
Abstract:
In this fascinating book, Spiegel traces rabbinic interpretations of the Akedah (the Binding of Isaac) from the earliest sources through the Middle Ages. He begins at the end, with the remarkable fact that during the Middle Ages, European Jews looked to Isaac as a martyr, the prototypical sacrifice and an inspiration to those Jews who killed themselves rather than convert to Christianity under the threat of the Crusaders. Despite the plain language of Scripture -- in which God ultimately tells Abraham *not* to sacrifice (or even harm) Isaac -- many aggadic interpretations suggested that Isaac was actually sacrificed and then brought back to life. In the 12th century rabbinic poem that inspired this book, Isaac is actually killed (and resurrected) *twice.* Spiegel asks how medieval interpretation of the Akedah could have strayed so far from the plain meaning of Scripture, and in particular whether the theme of the redemptive sacrifice of the first born should be traced to Christian influence. Spiegel looks to rabbinic, Christian and pagan sources to try to answer these questions. This is a scholarly work and assumes familiarity with classical rabbinic literature. Some arguments are hard to follow if you do not know the generations of the Tannaim; and if you've never read any midrash, you will find the style very hard going at first. Even so, as a non-scholar with only a beginner's knowledge of rabbinic literature, I felt that I got a lot out of the book, particularly in terms of the history of ideas and the contrasts between Jewish, Christian and pagan notions of sacrifice, redemption and ancestral merit.
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