Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism
Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism The first anthology of Jewish mythology in English, Tree of Souls reveals a mythical tradition as rich and as fascinating as any in the world. Drawing from the Bible, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud and Midrash, the kabbalistic literature, medieval folklore, Hasidic texts, and oral lore collected in the modern era, Schwartz has gathered together nearly 700 of the key Jewish myths. The myths themselves are marvelous. We read of Adams diamond and the Land of Eretz (where it is always dark), the fall of Lucifer and the quarrel of the sun and the moon, the Treasury of Souls and the Divine Chariot. We discover new tales about the great figures of the Hebrew Bible, from Adam to Moses; stories about God's Bride, the Shekhinah, and the evil temptress, Lilith; plus many tales about angels and demons, spirits and vampires, giant beasts and the Golem. Equally important, Schwartz provides a wealth of additional information. For each myth, he includes extensive commentary, revealing the source of the myth and explaining how it relates to other Jewish myths as well as to world literature (for instance, comparing Eves release of evil into the world with Pandoras). For ease of use, Schwartz divides the volume into ten books, Myths of God, Myths of Creation, Myths of Heaven, Myths of Hell, Myths of the Holy Word, Myths of the Holy Time, Myths of the Holy People, Myths of the Holy Land, Myths of Exile, and Myths of the Messiah.
Customer Review: Wonderful!
Just voting - can't add anything to the wonderful reviews above. This book is a treasure. So glad I found it - thanks to the amazon reviews!
Customer Review: Positives and negatives
I purchased 3 copies (2 for Chanakah presents) and received all three with oil-like smudge marks on the bottom and top of the pages (while the book is closed). I had a similar event happen on my previous order for the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan and another book. In that case, all three books had similar smudge marks and two of the books had damage to the front covers. I returned these only to get new copies that were less than fully clean with one of them having damage to the front cover also. I did not bother to return them again and should have learned my lesson. This time, I did not have the time to return them and also, I was just disgusted. But the people who got them as gifts appreciated them anyway.
Regarding the content, there are positives and negatives. The positives are that many sources are used and most folks could learn new information regarding midrashim, etc. It is also well organized into categorical sections. Among the negatives are a simplistic explanation for the texts that adds very little to the text. The format is mostly cite the text, and then make a comment. Often times the comment is almost antagonistic of the text, poking fun at the text as though it be a silly "myth" and often times attempting to desribe these Jewish legends using "idolistic" explanations. The author shows himself to be nearly an apostate jew, or at best, a man who finds little meaningful signficance in these legends
beyond what the sociologist would find from mythology. For those who view Judaism as a mere philosophy, the current book would be appropriate. For those who find the legends of Judaism sacred, I highly recommend Ginzberg's "Legends of the Jews".