Movies and Midrash: Popular Film and Jewish Religious Conversation

Author:   Wendy I. Zierler ,  Eugene B. Borowitz
Publisher:   State University of New York Press
ISBN:  

9781438466149


Pages:   328
Publication Date:   02 January 2018
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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Movies and Midrash: Popular Film and Jewish Religious Conversation


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Overview

"Finalist for the 2017 National Jewish Book Award in Modern Jewish Thought and Experience presented by the Jewish Book Council Movies and Midrash uses cinema as a springboard to discuss central Jewish texts and matters of belief. A number of books have drawn on films to explicate Christian theology and belief, but Wendy I. Zierler is the first to do so from a Jewish perspective, exploring what Jewish tradition, text, and theology have to say about the lessons and themes arising from influential and compelling films. The book uses the method of ""inverted midrash"": while classical rabbinical midrash begins with exegesis of a verse and then introduces a mashal (parable) as a means of further explication, Zierler turns that process around, beginning with the culturally familiar cinematic parable and then analyzing related Jewish texts. Each chapter connects a secular film to a different central theme in classical Jewish sources or modern Jewish thought. Films covered include The Truman Show (truth), Memento (memory), Crimes and Misdemeanors (sin), Magnolia (confession and redemption), The Descendants (birthright), Forrest Gump (cleverness and simplicity), and The Hunger Games (creation of humanity in God's image), among others."

Full Product Details

Author:   Wendy I. Zierler ,  Eugene B. Borowitz
Publisher:   State University of New York Press
Imprint:   State University of New York Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.227kg
ISBN:  

9781438466149


ISBN 10:   1438466145
Pages:   328
Publication Date:   02 January 2018
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Foreword by Rabbi Eugene B. Borowitz Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Truman Show: Truth 2. Magnolia: Confession and Redemption 3. The Descendants: Birthright: Consent versus Descent 4. On Memento: Remaking Memory from the Outside In 5. Crimes, Misdemeanors, and Sin 6. Forrest Gump: Cleverness and Simplicity 7. The King’s Speech: Speaking God’s Word 8. Stranger than Fiction: God as Author 9. A Serious Man: Parables of Jewishness 10. Exam: Tests, Trials, and Attachments 11. The Hunger Games: In God’s Image Conclusion Moonrise Kingdom: And the Youth Shall See Visions Appendix I On the Design of “Reel Theology,” from e-mail archives Appendix II More Movies and Midrash: Additional Film Resources Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

This is a groundbreaking work of originality, insight, and high quality. It will be of great importance not only for Jewish readers but also for non-Jewish readers who long for a non-Christian perspective on popular film. I loved this book! - Eric Michael Mazur, editor, Encyclopedia of Religion and Film


Author Information

Wendy I. Zierler is Sigmund Falk Professor of Modern Jewish Literature and Feminist Studies at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion and the author of And Rachel Stole the Idols: The Emergence of Modern Hebrew Women's Writing.

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