Black Fire on White Fire - An Essay on Jewish Hermeneutics, from Midrash to Kabbalah (Paperback)

Using the tools of contemporary semiotic theory to analyze classical rabbinic hermeneutics and medieval mystical exegesis, Betty Rojtman unveils a modernity in these early forms of textual interpretation. The metaphor from rabbinic literature that describes the writing of the Torah - black fire on white fire - becomes, in Rojtman's analysis, a figure for the differential structures that can be found throughout rabbinic discourse. Moving through the successive levels of traditional commentary, from early Midrash to modern Kabbalah, Rojtman examines the tension betweeen the fluidity and nuance of the biblical text and the fixed commitment to ideological and theological content. To examine this strain between open text and sacred language, Rojtman scrutinizes the demonstrative, "this," as a word whose signi-ficance changes with every change in context. Her analysis suggests a double-layered meaning for "this," which refers to the existential world in its multiplicity but also to transcendence and the eternal presence of God.

General

Imprint:	University of California Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Contraversions: Critical Studies in Jewish Literature, Culture, and Society, 10
Release date:	February 1998
First published:	1998
Authors:	Betty Rojtman
Translators:	Steven Randall
Preface by:	Moslie Idel
Dimensions:	210 x 140 x 15mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	205
ISBN-13:	978-0-520-20321-1
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Semantics (meaning) > General Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Translation & interpretation > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Ethnic studies > Jewish studies Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Judaism > General Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian sacred works & liturgy > Sacred texts > Criticism & exegesis of sacred texts Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian religions > Judaism > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian sacred works & liturgy > Sacred texts > Criticism & exegesis of sacred texts
LSN:	0-520-20321-6
Barcode:	9780520203211

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