Norman J. Cohen
How do I find greater wholeness in my life
and in my family’s life?
"To appreciate the importance of the Bible
and gain insight about ourselves from it, both Jews and
Christians can use the process of midrash:
The attempt to find contemporary
meaning in the biblical text. The term midrash comes from the
Hebrew root darash which means to seek, search, or demand (meaning
from the biblical text). The starting point of our search for
personal meaning is the Bible itself.… Each generation,
each reader, can approach the text anew and draw meaning from
it." —from Self,
Struggle & Change
The stress of late-20th-century living
only brings new variations to timeless personal struggles.
The people described by the biblical writers of Genesis
were in situations and relationships very much like our own,
and their stories still speak to us because they are about the
same basic problems we deal with every day.
Learning from Adam and Eve, can we find
the courage not only to face our other side, but to draw
strength from it? Learning from Leah and Rachel, can we stop
competing with our loved ones, and begin to accept them and
find ourselves? Sarah, Hagar, Lot, Ishmael and Isaac, Rebekkah,
Joseph and his brothers, Jacob and Esau…this vibrant cast
of characters offers us new ways of understanding ourselves and
our families and healing our lives.
A modern master of biblical interpretation
brings us greater understanding of the ancient biblical text,
and of the insights its characters give us about ourselves and
our families today.
By bringing the people in Genesis to
life—husbands and wives, fathers and sons, brothers and
sisters—Self, Struggle &
Change shows us how to find
wholeness in our lives.
“Cohen’s commentaries cut to
the quick—his Torah is alive and we are the
protagnists.… The midrash he teaches us is therapeutic,
it results in our growth.”
—Rabbi
Burton L. Visotzky, Appleman
Chair of Midrash and Interreligious
Studies, The Jewish
Theological Seminary of America
“Not just an important book, a gift
to everyone who has sensed that Genesis was holy but
couldn’t explain why.”
—Lawrence
Kushner, author of Invisible Lines of Connection and other books
“Presents places where biblical
paradigms meet modern complexities. His conclusions will
provoke and challenge the modern reader.”
—Dr.
Deirdre Good, ThD, professor
of New Testament, The General Theological Seminary
“In his delightfully written book of
commentary on commentaries, Norman Cohen shares with his
readers what, for many years, he has been giving his students:
rare erudition, sensitivity, and insight.”
—Elie
Wiesel
“A delightful and instructive
book.” —Library
Journal
