Beginnings; Reflections on the Bibles's Intriguing Firsts

viii, 295, [1] pages. DJ has slight wear and soiling. Meir Shalev (born 29 July 1948) is an Israeli writer and newspaper columnist for the daily Yedioth Ahronoth . Shalev's books have been translated into 26 languages. Shalev was born in Nahalal, Israel. Later he lived at Ginosar with his family. He is the son of the Jerusalem poet Yitzhak Shalev. Shalev was drafted into the IDF in 1966, and did his military service in the Golani Brigade. He served as a soldier, a squad leader in the brigade's reconnaissance company. Shalev fought in the The Six Day War, and a few months after the war was injured in a friendly fire incident. Shalev identifies with the Israeli left and believes that the conflict with the Palestinians can be resolved by establishing two states for two peoples. However, he is disappointed with the extremism in the Palestinian camp, saying,: "Radical Palestinians still say that the only solution would be for all Jews to pack their bags and return to where their grandparents came from. When there are no more Jews left in the Middle East, then the problem is solved, according to their logic. As long as they continue to think that way, there will be no peace. We are here and we are going to stay. Only after that fact is generally accepted can progress be made." The bestselling and prize-winning Israeli author Meir Shalev describes the many "firsts" of the Bible - the first love and the first death, to the first laugh and the first dream - providing a fresh, secular and surprising look at the stories we think we know. The first kiss in the Bible is not a kiss of love. The first love in the Bible is not the love of a man and a woman. The first hatred in the Bible is the hatred of a man toward his wife. The first laugh in the Bible is also the last. In "Beginnings," Meir Shalev reintroduces us to the heroes and heroines of the Old Testament, exploring these and many more of the Bible's unexpected "firsts." Combining penetrating wit, deep empathy, and impressive knowledge of the Bible, he probes each episode to uncover nuances and implications that a lesser writer would overlook, and his nontraditional, nonreligious interpretations of the famous stories of the Bible take them beyond platitudes and assumptions to the love, fear, tragedy, and inspiration at their heart. Literary, inquisitive, and honest, Shalev makes these stories come alive in all their complicated beauty, and though these stories are ancient, their resonance remains intensely contemporary. Best-selling Israeli author Meir Shalev wants readers to pick up a copy of the Bible. Shalev said he is not religious. But from an early age he has been fascinated with the Bible's stories and characters, finding inspiration in them for his own writings. The award-winning Shalev, one of Israel's most prominent writers, is the author of six novels and five works of nonfiction and is a columnist for Israel's most popular daily newspaper. "Beginnings" takes readers on an entertaining and at times provocative literary journey, exploring familiar stories and characters through the lens of firsts -- the first love, the first dream, the first king, the first loving woman. The first love is not in the Garden of Eden, as might be expected, Shalev writes. Rather, love first emerges in one of the Bible's most troubling stories, that of the Binding of Isaac, in which Abraham sets out to sacrifice his son to God. Shalev examines the relationships between father and son, Abraham and God, and later, between Isaac and his mother, Sarah. He also cites the story of Jacob meeting Rachel. "Why did Jacob weep at the well when he met Rachel?" Shalev asked. "It just says, 'Jacob cried.' You have to think about it and fill in the gaps, just as the early Jewish sages did in their midrashim." Throughout the 11 essays that make up the book, Shalev directs readers to go to the source. He said that one of the Bible's greatest qualities is its capacity to inspire the imagination. First Edition [Sta.…