Join major contemporary Jewish writers Rosebud Ben-Oni, Anna Solomon, Max Gross, Elisa Albert, Omer Friedlander, Erika Dreifus, Zeeva Bukai, and Matthue Roth for a conversation moderated by Sara Lippmann in celebration of the publication of the groundbreaking anthology Smashing the Tablets: Radical Retellings of the Hebrew Bible edited by Lippmann and Seth Rogoff, with provocative new readings and discussion on why it is more vital than ever to challenge dominant interpretations of foundational texts, lest they become tools of authoritarianism.
Smashing the Tablets presents a collection of new readings of biblical texts by contemporary Jewish writers. Behind this groundbreaking collection is the idea that foundational texts must be read anew or they become tools of conservatism and reaction. To achieve fresh readings, it is often necessary to step outside traditional modes of analysis, whether academic or theological, and to violate the conventions of storytelling and interpretation. By challenging dominant readings and identifying underrepresented characters and moments that have been "written out" of the biblical conversation, the essays, stories, and poems in this collection rupture assumptions, unsettle the reader, and give voice to the voiceless. The Bible in this collection is bent, recontextualized, queered, inverted, and smashed to pieces. Smashing the Tablets is one of the most significant Jewish literary collections in decades, a groundbreaking must-read for Jews and others interested not only in the Bible but also in identity, faith, and power.

Featuring
Our partner
