Charm of Wise Hesitancy

David C. Jacobson is Professor of Judaic Studies at Brown University. He is author of Modern Midrash: The Retelling of Traditional Jewish Narratives by Twentieth-Century Hebrew Writers (State University of New York Press, 1987); Does David Still Play Before You? Israeli Poetry and the Bible (Wayne State University Press, 1997); Creator, Are You Listening? Israeli Poets on God and Prayer (Indiana University Press, 2007); Beyond Political Messianism: The Poetry of Second-Generation Religious Zionist Settlers (Academic Studies Press, 2011); Israeli and Palestinian Identities in History and Literature, edited with Kamal Abdel-Malek (St. Martin's Press, 1999); and History and Literature: New Readings of Jewish Texts in Honor of Arnold J. Band, edited with William Cutter (Brown Judaic Studies, 2002).

“In his book, David Jacobson offers a wide range of Israeli contemporary commentaries to Talmudic legends. With love, knowledge, and profound commitment, Jacobson explores one of the most fascinating revolutions in Jewish culture in recent decades: the rediscovery of rabbinic literature by Israeli culture.”

• Preface Introduction: Recovering a Repressed PastChapter One: The Rediscovery of Talmudic StoriesChapter Two: Authority, Autonomy, and Interpersonal Relations: The Oven of Akhnai Chapter Three: When Opposites Attract: Rabbi Yohanan and Resh Lakish Chapter Four: Women and Torah Study: BeruriaChapter Five: Eros Repressed and Restored: Rabbi Hiya Bar Ashi and HerutaChapter Six: An Ideal Marriage: Rabbi Akiva and the Daughter of Ben Calba SavuaChapter Seven: Human Failings and National Destruction: Kamtza and Bar Kamtza