The Burning Word: A Christian Encounter with Jewish Midrash - Softcover

Kunst, Judith M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1557254265 ISBN 13: 9781557254269

Publisher: Paraclete Press, 2006

Synopsis

Discover an ancient and vibrant approach to reading scripture—the rich tradition of Jewish Midrash. Midrash invites us to search the Bible for what is unfamiliar and unclear, and to wrestle with the text, those “burning words,” trusting the God of the Bible will meet us there.

Midrash is a Hebrew word meaning "to search out." This ancient, Jewish method for interpreting the Bible searches not for what is familiar but for what is unfamiliar, not for what's clear but for what's unclear, and then wrestles with the text, passionately, playfully, and reverently. Midrash views the Bible as one side of a conversation, started by God, containing an implicit invitation to keep the conversation going. Kunst invites the reader to explore Midrash for the first time through a conversation, at times humorous, reflective and poetic, offering practical suggestions for personal Midrash-making along the way.

About this title

About the Author

Judith Kunst's essays and poems have appeared in The Atlantic, Poetry, Image, Saint Katherine Review, and others, and in her full-length collection, The Way Through (Mayapple Press 2020). She lives in Evansville, Indiana, where she works as a grant writer for Youth First, Inc.

Reviews

To students of the Bible who seek conformity in interpreting the scriptures, the literary device known as "midrash" must seem a bit odd. Midrash involves finding a puzzling text, suggesting a resolution to the problem and then "find[ing] someone to argue it or expand it." It is an important part of the Jewish textual tradition, producing many volumes containing the thoughts of sages and rabbis. This method, of course, counters the trend of catechistic scripture study where every question requires a single, approved answer. The author, whose background is in literature rather than religion, was raised in a strict evangelical Christian tradition in which a midrashic reading of the Bible would be counterintuitive. However, she is also a published poet with a graduate degree in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Much of this book is anecdotal, reflecting somewhat her transition from evangelicalism to Catholicism, and reflective of her personal quest for understanding. While she attempts to generalize this struggle, offering readers occasional helps for personal practice, her book is more a chronicle of her individual search for her own reflection in the holy text. As such, it lacks the intellectual rigor one might expect in such a primer. (Apr.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Paraclete Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1557254265
• ISBN 13: 9781557254269
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160