A Loose Affiliation

 

Rabbi Pini Dunner is the Senior Rabbi at Beverly Hills Synagogue. This book, Mavericks, Mystics & False Messiahs: Episodes from the Margins of Jewish History, is an interesting view of some of the figures in (more or less) modern Judaism who have inhabited the “margins” of the Jewish experience, and yet had some kind of impact on the center.  There isn’t an overall theme or frame of reference to these examples; Rabbi Dunner appears to pick them because they are interesting.  All in all, this is an informative and even (at times) humorous read.

the documentary hypothesis: Lower Case

 

The Documentary Hypothesis by Umberto Cassuto as it is a relatively early attempt to dismantle the theory that dominated biblical studies for a century.  And certainly, the DH has deep flaws – some of them nearly fatal.  There is a certainty to the theory which the evidence does not and will never hold.  But the arguments that Cassuto brings forward to create his own hypothesis are equally shaky – or plausible, depending how we view the idea of ‘evidence’ and ‘plausibility’ about the biblical texts.  

At this point in the history of biblical study, who would not claim that the bible is a composite text?  It is not the work of one person, or two, but many.  So what is it, how was it created, and what is the history of its composition?  What can we really know with certainty? 

We really need to embrace more post-modern versions of biblical criticism.  Grand theories are over; we should have many theories that both compete and compliment each other.  Grand theories simply no longer hold.

The Comparison Fallacy

 

Gods, Goddesses, and the Women Who Serve Them by Susan Ackerman is an excellent series of essays mainly confined to the topics of the goddess(es) in Ancient Israel, and the Israelite society.  There is a lot of great material here, and much food for thought.  This and all studies like this suffer from the comparison fallacy.  Ackerman compares different rites and cultic activities from Bronze and Iron Age Greece, Mesopotamia, and Egypt.  It provides interesting material, but we have no proof of any connections between these cultures.  This is not the author’s fault – just an impediment to any ancient Israel study.

After the War

 

Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II by Keith Lowe explains with attention and clarity how the displacement, violence, and casual disregard for human life, continued well after the end of the war in Europe.  And not only the deportation of ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia and East Prussia, which are somewhat known.  Lowe goes into great detail about the Greek civil war, where the British and the Americans supported a right wing government to defeat the communists.  The book sheds much needed like on a piece of neglected history.

The Definitive Warhol

 

Warhol a Biography by Blake Gopnik, at 965 pages, appears very nearly comprehensive.  The author explores every aspect of the artist’s life, with sympathy and an eye toward giving us an understanding of this complex man.  Whatever your impression of Warhol before reading this book, afterward it will no doubt change, and for the better.  Warhol was often seen as less than serious when he was alive (and to be fair, that was part of the mission of his art).  Gopnik will disabuse you of this notion.  Warhol deserves his place in the pantheon of twentieth century artists, both at the level of the execution of his art, and its abiding impact.

In Pharoah's Army: Memories of the Lost War

 

In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War by Tobias Wolff is certainly a worthy collection of non-fiction stories about the Vietnam War.  Wolff captures the stupidity and waste of war – especially in the context of Vietnam, which as wars go, was worse than most.  That said, some of the episodes he tells here feel “puffed up” to be humorous. These moments soil an otherwise powerful collection. 

Has Archaeology Buried the Bible?

 

Has Archaeology Buried the Bible? is an excellent overview of biblical archeology, the historicity of the bible (or the lack), and what we can and cannot know about this subject, by William G. Dever.  This is the same book as his other works on the topic, for a general audience.  But if this is your first time on this topic, or if you have been away from it so sometime, this is a great book.