After One-Hundred-and-Twenty provides a richly nuanced and deeply personal look at Jewish attitudes and practices regarding death; mourning; and the afterlife as they have existed and evolved from biblical times to today. Taking its title from the Hebrew and Yiddish blessing to live to a ripe old age―Moses is said to have been 120 years old when he died―the book explores how the Bible's original reticence about an afterlife gave way to views about personal judgment and reward after death; the resurrection of the body; and even reincarnation. It examines Talmudic perspectives on grief; burial; and the afterlife; shows how Jewish approaches to death changed in the Middle Ages with thinkers like Maimonides and in the mystical writings of the Zohar; and delves into such things as the origins of the custom of reciting Kaddish for the deceased and beliefs about encountering the dead in visions and dreams.After One-Hundred-and-Twenty is also Hillel Halkin's eloquent and disarmingly candid reflection on his own mortality; the deaths of those he has known and loved; and the comfort he has and has not derived from Jewish tradition.
#1688749 in Books Princeton University Press 2008-07-21 2008-07-21Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.06 x .77 x 6.06l; .95 #File Name: 0691136297304 pages
Review
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A Chilling HistoryBy S. MaglioccoMost human societies imagine there are enemies "out there" whose behavior embodies the very opposite of what is right and proper. When these ideas become institutionalized; it can lead to persecutions that target real people; with tragic consequences. David Frankfurter has written a brilliant; chilling history of how evil has been constructed in Western societies; from early medieval times to the present day. The book is organized thematically; taking the reader through the process of the formalization and institutionalization of these cultural projections; using historical examples as illustrations. Frankfurter shows how folk ideas about evil others become systematized through texts; creating a group of experts whose role is to recognize and root out evil. The evil others are imagined as participating in horrific; perverse rites that invert the norms and values (and often the religious rituals) of mainstream society. As this collective fantasy grows and spreads; entire societies can mobilize against evil -- as happened in the European witch persecutions of the period 1350-1750. The tragedy is that there ARE no evil others -- the whole thing is a collective fantasy; and the persecutors themselves end up engaging in the very behavior they find so horrifying and objectionable in imagined others.The examples in this book are primarily drawn from European and North American history -- the witch trials; conspiracy theories of the 19th and 20th centuries; and the Satanic panics of the 1980s. The underlying principles; however; are applicabble cross-culturally; wherever/ whenever folk ideas about evil others are systematized and institutionalized. I used this as a textbook in an upper-division seminar on witchcraft in anthropological perspective. The students really understood the mechanics of how these extreme othering processes work; and were able to apply them to a number of other socio-cultural contexts in their final papers and analyses.More importantly; this book should be required reading for leaders and politicians of all stripes; as well as for any educated person. If we were more aware of the perniciousness of the discourse of evil; perhaps we would be less quick to impute it to others; and less likely to repeat cycles of violence and persecution.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy MichelleA great book for anyone interested in evil or religious violence.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Thank youBy Fumi C.Thank you. Good book.
