Subtitled "a book of Jewish life and culture around the year," this beautifully illustrated book will spark your curiosity with little-known facts about the Hebrew months as well as legends surrounding the holidays.
"Jewish life is lived in cycles of sacred time: weeks from Sabbath to Sabbath, months in the turning of the new moon, and the entire year in a cycle of seasons and festivals. But through the many centuries of their existence, Jews have also marked other dates on their calendars to celebrate the lives of prophets, leaders, and scholars and to commemorate the joys and traumas of their long history. With illuminating essays, Francine Klagsbrun takes the reader through every month of the Hebrew calendar, discussing and analyzing its special days. Subjects range from the crossing of the Red Sea to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 to the symbols and customs of the High Holy Days. Always, the book raises probing questions: What is the significance of the number seven in Jewish thought? Is messianism dangerous for the Jewish people? What was the role of women in the Passover story? Why did rabbis condemn the first Greek translation of the Torah? Included throughout are intriguing explanations for the signs of the zodiac and legends and interpretations that reflect the kabbalists' mystical view of the world. Mark Podwal's stunning paintings and witty drawings bring the year's varying moods even more vividly to life. Uniquely imaginative, Jewish Days will fascinate people who are first learning about Jewish culture and thought and will challenge those who are more knowledgeable. This is a book to be entered in any season and reentered time and again."--Jacket.
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