Howard Schwartz is Professor of English at the University of
Missouri-St. Louis. He is the editor of Elijah's Violin & Other
Jewish Fairy Tales, Miriam's Tambourine: Jewish Folktales from
Around the World, Lilith's Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural,
and Gabriel's Palace: Jewish Mystical Tales. Caren Loebel-Fried is
an award-winning illustrator and author of many works on mythology.
Her Hawaiian
Legends of the Guardian Spirits received the 2003 Ka Palapala
Po`okela Award for Excellence in Illustration.
"This remarkable work will be of interest to both the scholar and
the browser."--Booklist
"One of those few books that can be cherished and enjoyed by all
readers, whether scholars or merely those interested in good
stories.... In this massive work, Schwartz gathers nearly seven
hundred myths to show that there is, indeed, a Jewish mythology.
His selections are wisely and cleverly chosen.... No one in recent
times has even attempted to put together such a comprehensive work.
In both the collecting and organizing of his material, Schwartz has
done a
masterful job."--Josepha Sherman, Parabola
"Howard Schwartz offers a resounding rebuttal to the old accusation
that the Jews have no mythology: hundreds of myths, in an unbroken
line from the Tanakh itself to many new, previously untranslated
contemporary retellings from the Middle East and throughout the
diaspora. Tree of Souls illuminates the mythic elements of stories
previously seen as theological or folkloric. Now properly
classified as world mythology, they will for the first time be
more
accurately compared and contrasted with the foundational myths of
other cultures. This is that rare book that is both a fascinating
read for the non-specialist and a turning point for scholarship."
--Wendy
Doniger, author of The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She Was: Myths
of Self-Imitation
"Beyond any of his other books, in Tree of Souls: The Mythology of
Judaism Howard Schwartz offers us his masterwork. If only Joseph
Campbell had lived to see it. Schwartz has brought the underground
streams of Midrash to the surface for the delight and edification
of his academic as well as his popular readers." --Rabbi Zalman M.
Schachter-Shalomi, author of Wrapped in a Holy Flame: Teachings and
Tales of the Hasidic Masters
"Under the complex, meaning-rich, and culturally important heading
of 'mythology,' Howard Schwartz provides a beautifully introduced
and annotated collection of essential stories and scenes that help
to define Judaism in the classical tradition. Schwartz's careful,
erudite method of presentation and his excellent selection of texts
reveals fine mastery of the material and the pleasingly comparative
orientation of the folklorist." --Susan Niditch, author of
Ancient Israelite Religion
"Tree of Souls promises to shatter the myth that Judaism is
mythless. Drawing on primary source texts of the Jewish tradition
itself, storyteller Howard Schwartz introduces us to a dimension of
this ancient path that has for centuries been overshadowed by
attempts at religious correctness and party-line theology. Jewish
mythology, Schwartz demonstrates with ample commentaries, is not
only a fact, it is the very kernel out of which grew the deepest
of
Kabbalistic mystery wisdom as well as the most pragmatic of Jewish
law and lore. Clearly, Judaism owes its survival to its mythology,
and in Tree of Souls Schwartz invites us to discover the mystique,
actually
the very life force, of this very ancient religion." --Gershon
Winkler, author of Magic of the Ordinary: Recovering the Shamanic
in Judaism
"This remarkable work will be of interest to both the scholar and
the browser."--Booklist
"One of those few books that can be cherished and enjoyed by all
readers, whether scholars or merely those interested in good
stories.... In this massive work, Schwartz gathers nearly seven
hundred myths to show that there is, indeed, a Jewish mythology.
His selections are wisely and cleverly chosen.... No one in recent
times has even attempted to put together such a comprehensive work.
In both the collecting and organizing of his material, Schwartz has
done a
masterful job."--Josepha Sherman, Parabola
"Howard Schwartz offers a resounding rebuttal to the old accusation
that the Jews have no mythology: hundreds of myths, in an unbroken
line from the Tanakh itself to many new, previously untranslated
contemporary retellings from the Middle East and throughout the
diaspora. Tree of Souls illuminates the mythic elements of stories
previously seen as theological or folkloric. Now properly
classified as world mythology, they will for the first time be
more
accurately compared and contrasted with the foundational myths of
other cultures. This is that rare book that is both a fascinating
read for the non-specialist and a turning point for scholarship."
--Wendy
Doniger, author of The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She Was: Myths
of Self-Imitation
"Beyond any of his other books, in Tree of Souls: The Mythology of
Judaism Howard Schwartz offers us his masterwork. If only Joseph
Campbell had lived to see it. Schwartz has brought the underground
streams of Midrash to the surface for the delight and edification
of his academic as well as his popular readers." --Rabbi Zalman M.
Schachter-Shalomi, author of Wrapped in a Holy Flame: Teachings and
Tales of the Hasidic Masters
"Under the complex, meaning-rich, and culturally important heading
of 'mythology,' Howard Schwartz provides a beautifully introduced
and annotated collection of essential stories and scenes that help
to define Judaism in the classical tradition. Schwartz's careful,
erudite method of presentation and his excellent selection of texts
reveals fine mastery of the material and the pleasingly comparative
orientation of the folklorist." --Susan Niditch, author of
Ancient Israelite Religion
"Tree of Souls promises to shatter the myth that Judaism is
mythless. Drawing on primary source texts of the Jewish tradition
itself, storyteller Howard Schwartz introduces us to a dimension of
this ancient path that has for centuries been overshadowed by
attempts at religious correctness and party-line theology. Jewish
mythology, Schwartz demonstrates with ample commentaries, is not
only a fact, it is the very kernel out of which grew the deepest
of
Kabbalistic mystery wisdom as well as the most pragmatic of Jewish
law and lore. Clearly, Judaism owes its survival to its mythology,
and in Tree of Souls Schwartz invites us to discover the mystique,
actually
the very life force, of this very ancient religion." --Gershon
Winkler, author of Magic of the Ordinary: Recovering the Shamanic
in Judaism
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