cover image Exodus in the Jewish Experience: Echoes and Reverberations

Exodus in the Jewish Experience: Echoes and Reverberations

Edited by Pamela Barmash and W. David Nelson. Lexington Books, $95 (270p) ISBN 978-1-4985-0292-4

Barmash and Nelson do an outstanding job of presenting eight differing lenses for viewing how "the events of the Exodus and the celebration of the Exodus at Passover have been, and continue to be, the focus of so much emotional energy and intellectual activity." The distinguished contributors probe the role of the Exodus narrative in the Zionist movement, Jewish law, liturgy, and art, among others. Some of the essays are jargon-laden (Nelson refers to a "microcosmic outgrowth of the greater realm of oral-performative pedagogical interpretation"), but most are accessible to the lay reader. Barmash's contribution, "Out of the Mists of History: The Exaltation of the Exodus in the Bible," stands out, with a pithy but comprehensive look at how the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery is used and interpreted in later sections of the Bible. Abigail Gillman's "From Myth to Memory: A Study of German Jewish Translations of Exodus 12%E2%80%9313:16" is another superior entry that traces how translators' choices serve "distinct national and religious priorities." This volume will appeal to scholars, as well as to non-scholars interested in enhancing their Seders. (May)