Provocative new readings of biblical texts by major contemporary Jewish writers.
Lot's daughters rebel against their predatory father, Jacob wrestles an angel in a queer underground nightclub, Job arrives in the form of an avaricious former sorority girl-Smashing the Tablets presents a collection of provocative new readings of biblical texts by major contemporary Jewish writers. Behind this groundbreaking collection is the idea that foundational texts must be read anew or they become tools of conservatism and reaction. To achieve fresh readings, it is often necessary to step outside traditional modes of analysis, whether academic or theological, and to violate the conventions of storytelling and interpretation. By challenging dominant readings and identifying underrepresented characters and moments that have been "written out" of the biblical conversation, the essays, stories, and poems in this collection rupture assumptions, unsettle the reader, and give voice to the voiceless. The Bible in this collection is bent, recontextualized, queered, inverted, and smashed to pieces. Smashing the Tablets is one of the most significant Jewish literary collections in decades, a groundbreaking must-read for Jews and others interested not only in the Bible but also in identity, faith, and power.
Acknowledgments
Foreword: You Suck and Other Stories
Shalom Auslander
Introduction
Seth Rogoff and Sara Lippmann
1. Lilith in God's Hands
Courtney Sender
2. Look at Her Xyxs, Her Brxght, Brxght Xyxs
Rosebud Ben-Oni
3. Cain and Abel
Seth Rogoff
4. Cain
Ariana Reines
5. Are You Still Alive
Michael Zapata
6. Ess and O
Anna Solomon
7. Lot's Daughters
Zeeva Bukai
8. Binding Variations
Daniel Torday
9. Bilhah and Zilpah Made Me Yearn for Torah
erica riddick
10. A Little East of Jordan
Moriel Rothman-Zecher
11. The Story of Dinah
Sarah Blake
12. Plagues
Madeline Cash
13. Mount Sinai and Me
Aaron Hamburger
14. Make It Mean Something
Elisa Albert
15. Upon the Hills with Jephthah's Daughter
Erika Dreifus
16. How David Leaves
Temim Fruchter
17. Once a Witch
Matthue Roth
18. Isaiah and Power
Aviya Kushner
19. The Job Book
Steve Almond
20. Root
Ilana Masad
21. Bauhaus City
Omer Friedlander
22. Haman
Max Gross
23. Scroll of Stars
Michael David Lukas
Contributors
Height:229
Width:152
Spine:17
Weight:363.00