Moses: A Human Life

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, an unprecedented portrait of Moses's inner world and perplexing character, by a distinguished biblical scholar

"Bringing together copious, diverse and sometimes dissonant references (spanning Hasidic masters, George Eliot, Zizek and Beckett, among others), Zornberg gives a new tour of the life of Moses."--Clemence Boulouque, New York Times Book Review

"For those wishing to engage the legacy of Moses more deeply, this is a must-read."--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

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 Jewish Lives:

Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present.

In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award.

More praise for Jewish Lives:

"Excellent." -New York Times

"Exemplary." -Wall Street Journal

"Distinguished." -New Yorker

"Superb." -The Guardian

Author: Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 11/22/2016
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.40h x 6.00w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780300209624


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 09/15/2016
Publishers Weekly 10/10/2016
Library Journal 02/01/2017 pg. 65
Choice 05/01/2017

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.


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