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Moses: A Human Life
Moses: A Human Life
By Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg
Published November 22, 2016
240 pages
“A rich, erudite study”
—Kirkus Review, Starred Review
An unprecedented portrait of Moses's inner world and perplexing character, by a distinguished biblical scholar
No figure looms larger in Jewish culture than Moses, and few have stories more enigmatic. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, acclaimed for her many books on Jewish thought, turns her attention to Moses in this remarkably rich, evocative book.
Drawing on a broad range of sources—literary as well as psychoanalytic, a wealth of classical Jewish texts alongside George Eliot, W. G. Sebald, and Werner Herzog—Zornberg offers a vivid and original portrait of the biblical Moses. Moses's vexing personality, his uncertain origins, and his turbulent relations with his own people are acutely explored by Zornberg, who sees this story, told and retold, as crucial not only to the biblical past but also to the future of Jewish history.
About the Author
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg lectures on the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic thought at academic, psychoanalytic, and Jewish educational institutions around the world. In 1995 she received the National Jewish Book Award for Genesis: The Beginning of Desire. She lives in Jerusalem.
Author photograph © Joan Roth
Reviews
“A celebrated biblical scholar…Zornberg gives a new tour of the life of Moses.” —The New York Times Book Review
“The author has perfected a distinctive approach to the biblical text.” —Steven Weitzman, author of Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom
“Only Avivah Zornberg could tell the story of Moses in such a way as to situate him on the very cusp of the sacred and the human.” —Jacqueline Rose, author of The Last Resistance and Women in Dark Times
“Zornberg illustrates a touching picture of a man whose speech is limited but reaches his people—God’s chosen people—and others as well.” —Jewish Book Council
