Smashing the Tablets: Radical Retellings of the Hebrew Bible

Novelists Lippmann (Lech) and Rogoff (The Castle) take up the midrashic “practice of interpretive engagement with scripture” in this stimulating collection of unorthodox takes on Torah stories. Revising standard biblical interpretations, Rogoff’s “Cain and Abel” reimagines Cain as a loving brother who fails to provide a sufficient sacrifice and is forced by an infuriated God to kill his brother, raising questions about the inherent human desire “to submit, to have rules, to be ruled, to be subordinated.” Max Gross’s bitingly funny and moving reexamination of the Purim story, “Haman,” features a rabbi who grows steadily more antagonistic toward a Hebrew school student before realizing—when the student is cast as Mordechai in a Purim play—that he’s become, for the student, the villain of the story. Some entries stray further from their source material: Elisa Albert’s meandering “Make it Mean Something” discusses how social media has become a kind of “golden calf” that distracts from the “messy uncertainty” of an unpredictable world. The mix of approaches and tones makes for a thought-provoking reevaluation of biblical themes, exploring with particular care how power dynamics are negotiated and which characters are glorified or sidelined. It’s sure to spark conversation. (Apr.)

Correction: A previous version of this review used the wrong first name for editor and contributor Seth Rogoff.