I heard about this book on the Bema podcast (which I would also recommend). Rabbi David Fohrman walks through the early chapters of Genesis providing an interpretation informed by Jewish midrash. It’s a very easy ready but suggests some new ideas and approaches to the text which were stimulating. Fohrman discusses is what he calls ‘the lullaby effect’ – when we have heard a story so many times, and from such a young age, that we fail to hear the actual words and meaning as an adult. The book consciously pushes readers to see with adult eyes the stories which are so familiar and examine them again.
One of the passages which really struck a chord with me was his comments on Genesis 3:20 when after their failure and the judgment scene is complete, God provides clothing for Adam and Eve. Fohrman writes quite beautifully:
“The stark reality is that beings who possess free will don’t always hew to the hopes and expectations of their creators. If this is so with us in respect to God, it is no less so with our children in respect to us. …when our children disappoint us, when they make choices we don’t approve of; when they exchange the world we have carefully crafted for them for a dubious world of their own making – perhaps we too, after all the consequences have been meted out, after all the words have been said, after all the anguish has been absorbed – perhaps we, too, can provide them with clothes for the journey”
Fohrman, David (2021) “The Beast that crouches at the door” Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel and Beyond” (page 76) Jerusalem Israel, Maggid Books
It’s not a long book nor an endlessly footnoted technical commentary but I highly recommend it as useful additional to your library if you are interested in the early chapters of Genesis. Not because I agree with everything Fohrman writes but because it is beautifully written and thought provoking regardless. The book is available through all the usual online stores.
by Daniel Edgecombe
Living Faith 