I have been speaking to my rabbi about the fact that I want to share the information I have with others. Of course, it is primarily knowledge I got from books; I certainly never went to rabbinical school (although I did graduate from a Protestant college). He recommended that I teach a three-session class (as a kind of “warm up”). I decided to do my class on the life and legacy of the first of the patriarchs, Abraham. I believe I have written about it on my blog. However, we have discussed it, and I am doing the class January next year. The reason it will not be sooner is I have to do research in October, and in November and December the members of the synagogue are generally busy. (After all, even though Christmas is a Christian holiday, the season affects everyone.) Anyway, I am almost finished with the Sefer ha-Aggadah (I am on page 710 right now and it is 816 pages or so). I am going to reread the part of Genesis on Abraham; Paul’s letters on Abraham; relevant selections from the Quran; the portions on Abraham in the Sefer ha-Aggadah; The Legends of the Jews by Ginsburg; relevant portions of Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis; Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling; and Ellie Wiesel on Abraham in Messengers of God. However, I will also read:
Jon Levenson
Inheriting Abraham
F.E. Peter
Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam.
Jonathan Gottschall
The Storytelling Animal
Jack Zipes:
The Irresistible Fairy Tale
Fairy Tale as Myth/Myth as Fairy Tale
Maria Tartar:
The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales: Expanded Edition
Off With Their Heads
The Heroine With a Thousand Faces
I especially look forward to reading the long list of books here; I believe they’re being new–I haven’t read them–will make them exciting.
I told you that I will have three sessions to the course: Abraham, Past and Present. They will be:
1. The Call
2. Sarah and Hagar
3. The Akedah and It’s Aftermath
I know that knowing my work week may or may not be thrilling, but this is the preparation I will be doing before getting back to a novel I am writing called Oz Revisited. Perhaps I shall write about it sometime soon.