Status Updates From The Bible: The Biography

Spinoza, ibn ezra, Maimonides, Yavneh, Pharisees.. I have a lot to catch up on

A decent dive in Midrash chapter, into Yavneh and the Pharisees. A lot of modern day Jewish observance is based on this approach to making sense of post Temple realities. Which handily also work for exilic or at least diasporic and dispersed life. Remind me to dig more into Yavneh and the Pharisees.

However, this is a handy book at bridging the gap between the biblical scholarship of Kugel, and the archaeological history of The Bible Unearthed, and probably will assist significantly by adding the biblical detail to Paul Johnson.

Plus, random comment to remind myself, the destruction of the Temple was the destruction of the literal home of the earthly presence of God. Quite a loss.

I’ve finished the first chapter, about the Torah, and I agree with previous reviewers who point out a frustrating absence of providing evidence and sources for what read like purely factual statements but are in fact often as theoretical as any other bible studies position. I would actually love for the book to be twice as long, with references, so I could cross reference with other books I’m reading.