Self Struggle & Change: Family Conflict Stories in Genesis and Their Healing Insights for Our Lives - Hardcover

Cohen, Dr. Norman J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 168336287X ISBN 13: 9781683362876

Publisher: Jewish Lights, 1994

Synopsis

How do I find greater wholeness in my life and in my family’s life?

"To appreciate the importance of the Bible and gain insight about ourselves from it, both Jews and Christians can use the process of midrash: The attempt to find contemporary meaning in the biblical text. The term midrash comes from the Hebrew root darash which means to seek, search, or demand (meaning from the biblical text). The starting point of our search for personal meaning is the Bible itself.... Each generation, each reader, can approach the text anew and draw meaning from it."
―from Self, Struggle & Change

The stress of late-20th-century living only brings new variations to timeless personal struggles. The people described by the biblical writers of Genesis were in situations and relationships very much like our own, and their stories still speak to us because they are about the same basic problems we deal with every day.

Learning from Adam and Eve, can we find the courage not only to face our other side, but to draw strength from it? Learning from Leah and Rachel, can we stop competing with our loved ones, and begin to accept them and find ourselves? Sarah, Hagar, Lot, Ishmael and Isaac, Rebekkah, Joseph and his brothers, Jacob and Esau...this vibrant cast of characters offers us new ways of understanding ourselves and our families and healing our lives.

A modern master of biblical interpretation brings us greater understanding of the ancient biblical text, and of the insights its characters give us about ourselves and our families today.

By bringing the people in Genesis to life―husbands and wives, fathers and sons, brothers and sisters― Self, Struggle & Change shows us how to find wholeness in our lives.

About this title

From the Publisher:

In his delightfully written book of commentary on commentaries, Norman Cohen shares with his readers what, for many years, he has been giving his students: rare erudition, sensitivity, and insight. Elie Wiesel Presents places where biblical paradigms meet modern complexities. His conclusions will provoke and challenge the modern reader. Dr. Deirdre Good, Th.D., Professor of New Testament, The General Theological Seminary

About the Author:

Dr. Norman J. Cohen is widely recognized as one of the great teachers of his generation. A rabbi, professor emeritus of midrash and former provost of Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, he frequently lectures to Jewish and Christian laypeople and scholars on Bible study and midrash―finding contemporary meaning from ancient biblical texts. Cohen was a participant in Bill Moyers's Genesis: A Living Conversation on PBS. He is author of Self, Struggle & Change: Family Conflict Stories in Genesis and Their Healing Insights for Our Lives; Voices from Genesis: Guiding Us through the Stages of Life; Moses and the Journey to Leadership: Timeless Lessons of Effective Management from the Bible and Today's Leaders; Hineni in Our Lives: Learning How to Respond to Others through 14 Biblical Texts & Personal Stories and The Way Into Torah (all Jewish Lights).

About this edition

• Publisher: Jewish Lights
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 168336287X
• ISBN 13: 9781683362876
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 212