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The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought
Neil Gillman
The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought
by Neil Gillman
318 pp., hardcover, $23.95,
ISBN: 1-879045-61-3, Jewish Lights Publishing
This extended survey of Jewish thought on eternal life from pre-history up to the present, by a noted theologian, is a top-notch offering from an excellent specialist publisher. Expecting to be plunged into Old Testament and Kabbalistic crosscurrents, I was surprised to read in the opening chapter a definition of "eschatology," a capsule introduction to myth and human myth-making, a perspective on Jewish thought that incorporates sociology and even anthropology, and quotes from authors including Leo Tolstoi ("The Death of Ivan Ilyich," which belongs on anyone's top-ten story list...), psychologist Rollo May, medical doctor Sherwin Nuland, and several philosophers. For non-studious or fallen-away Jews, as well as interested non-Jews, this book is a superior introduction to the entire history of Judaic thought. After a survey of Biblical and early sources, Gillman offers a lucid chapter on key thinker Maimonides, a brief but brilliant window on Kabbalah including a summary of the
indispensable Gershom Scholem's research, and a thoughtful treatment of contemporary Jewish controversy regarding resurrection-finishing with the author's personal response to the various arguments. Just dipping into this book, as a reviewer can do, wasn't enough for me. Its opening pages fired my interest, and I intend to read it at leisure, savoring and slowly digesting each chapter.
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