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A wide-ranging exploration of the story of Ruth, a foreigner who became the founding mother of the Davidic dynasty
"A virtuoso exploration of the Book of Ruth as an admirable touchstone in the realms of literature, art, and human values. Ilana Pardes foregrounds the timeless emergency of migrants and refugees with compassion and depth."—Galit Hasan-Rokem, author of Web of Life
The biblical Ruth has inspired numerous readers from diverse cultural backgrounds across many centuries. In this insightful volume, Ilana Pardes invites us to marvel at the ever-changing perspectives on Ruth's foreignness. She explores the rabbis' lauding of Ruth as an exemplary convert, and the Zohar's insistence that Ruth's Moabite background is vital to her redemptive powers. In moving to early modern French art, she looks at pastoral paintings in which Ruth becomes a local gleaner, holding sheaves in her hands. Pardes concludes with contemporary adaptations in literature, photography, and film in which Ruth is admired for being a paradigmatic migrant woman. Ruth's afterlives not only reveal much about their own times, but also shine new light upon this remarkable ancient tale and point to its enduring significance. In our own era of widespread migration and dislocation, Ruth remains as relevant as ever.
A wide-ranging exploration of the story of Ruth, a foreigner who became the founding mother of the Davidic dynasty
"A virtuoso exploration of the Book of Ruth as an admirable touchstone in the realms of literature, art, and human values. Ilana Pardes foregrounds the timeless emergency of migrants and refugees with compassion and depth."—Galit Hasan-Rokem, author of Web of Life
The biblical Ruth has inspired numerous readers from diverse cultural backgrounds across many centuries. In this insightful volume, Ilana Pardes invites us to marvel at the ever-changing perspectives on Ruth's foreignness. She explores the rabbis' lauding of Ruth as an exemplary convert, and the Zohar's insistence that Ruth's Moabite background is vital to her redemptive powers. In moving to early modern French art, she looks at pastoral paintings in which Ruth becomes a local gleaner, holding sheaves in her hands. Pardes concludes with contemporary adaptations in literature, photography, and film in which Ruth is admired for being a paradigmatic migrant woman. Ruth's afterlives not only reveal much about their own times, but also shine new light upon this remarkable ancient tale and point to its enduring significance. In our own era of widespread migration and dislocation, Ruth remains as relevant as ever.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
About the Author-
Ilana Pardes is Katharine Cornell Professor of Comparative Literature and the director of the Center for Literary Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the author of Countertraditions in the Bible and The Song of Songs: A Biography.
Reviews-
August 29, 2022 This enlightening entry in Yale’s Jewish Lives Series by Pardes (The Song of Songs), a professor of comparative literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, dissects the biblical Ruth. Pardes suggests that though the Book of Ruth “offers the most elaborate tale of a woman to be found in the Bible,” it is “astonishingly laconic” and requires those studying it to gather “bits and pieces from sparse scenes replete with lacunae” to fully understand it. Pardes is more than up to the challenge and details Ruth’s biography, from her Moabite antecedents to her decision to stay with her late husband’s mother in Bethlehem after his death rather than return to her homeland. Examining shifting historical interpretations of Ruth, the author relates how rabbis came to view Ruth as the “exemplary convert,” as well as how pastoral paintings of her downplay her foreign origins. Pardes complicates Ruth’s reputation as the quintessential convert by noting that the Bible makes no reference to conversion because non-Jews were not asked to convert at the time. The author effortlessly combines scholarly erudition with an accessible tone, providing an insightful exploration of the book’s themes of otherness, kindness, and loyalty. This is a valuable contribution to the literature on Ruth.
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Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
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