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Together with Ulysses, Abraham is the earliest culture hero in the Western world. More precisely, as Kierkegaard, who called him ‘the knight of faith,’ reminds us, he has remained, throughout the centuries, the prototype of the religious man, of the man of faith. The wandering Aramean from the Book of Genesis, who rejected his parents’ idols and native Mesopotamia to follow the call of the One God to the land of Canaan, started a saga reverberated not only in early Jewish literature, but also in the New Testament (Galatians 3: 6-8), and in early Christian literature.

The post ‘Abrahamic religions’ – From interfaith to scholarship appeared first on OUPblog.

Colleen of Chasing Ray has an interesting post called What a Girl Wants: Representing All the Girls #3 . In both the main post itself and the comments, the discussion about which writers can represent what cultural group in literature is going strong. As I scrolled through the comments, I was reminded of the era in which I searched for books about children like me, i.e. the product of a marriage

SHOW NOTES:

In this episode of The Book of Life, we talk to 2 Jews and get way more than 3 opinions! These two conversations are the last of the material recorded at Book Expo 2008.

> Kathy Bloomfield, owner of the former Jewish book fair company For Words, member of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, and Outreach Program Ambassador for the Union for Reform Judaism's Northeast Council talks about her life as a Jew by choice, and how it affects her reading.

> Laurel Snyder, author of secular books for kids and adults and editor of Half / Life: Jewish Tales from Interfaith Homes, talks about growing up interfaith, raising Jewish children in an interfaith home, and about how questions of Jewish identity affect her writing.

SURVEY:

Do you prefer the regular half-hour shows that includes multiple interviews? Or would you rather have shorter, single-interview episodes? Post a comment, e-mail [email protected], or take the survey in the sidebar here at bookoflifepodcast.com.

NEWS:

The Book of Life has joined the Big Tent Judaism Coalition. This an umbrella group for communal Jewish institutions that strive to be inclusive and welcoming, like Abraham and Sarah in the Bible, whose big tent was open on all four sides to let guests enter. The Book of Life became a Big Tent member to show our commitment to exploring Judaism from new angles and to educating and welcoming a wide variety of listeners. The Big Tent Judaism Coalition is run by the Jewish Outreach Institute. Check out their website at joi.org/bigtent.

AUDIO:

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CREDITS:

Our background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band. Additional background music in this episode includes the song "Bad Writer" by Gokee Quateto from the Podsafe Music Network.

Books mentioned on the show may be borrowed from the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel. (Or if they're too new to be in the library now, they will be once they are published!) Browse our online catalog to reserve books, post a review, or just to look around!

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected]!