The Legends of the Jews - Volume 4

by Louis Ginzberg, Henrietta Szold (Translator), Paul Radin (Translator)

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Religion, Judaism, Judaica, Mythology, Fiction, Spirituality

277 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Talmudist and leading figure in the Conservative Movement of Judaism of the twentieth century, professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS).

Reviews

[Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some other reviewers said this volume was less interesting than the others and while I can see their point on that, for me it is exactly that calmer attitude about this one that added a star for more especially compared to the previous two. It still has some weird "we are Jews so we automatically have earned special status from heaven no matter how stupid we may act" moments, but they are not nearly as many nor as prevalent as they had been in the previous two volumes. That was kinda novel and cute in the first volume, but got old, repetitive and rude in volumes 2 & 3. Gratefully it seemed to be toned down some in volume 4, probably because there were so many stupid things done by this "chosen" people that the author knew it would be too big of a stretch to try to write it all off in that manner. The tale of Esther was interesting from the viewpoint given, but probably the weakest since they tried so hard to make it appear as though she lived a good little Pharisaical life and never actually lived the gospel as God actually ascribed it through Moses. I have never been more pleased to be through with a series as I am to be done with this series now and even though it was interesting to gain the twisted viewpoint that the Pharisees and Sadducees spun on the righteous history and tales given in the scriptures, it is so good to be done and I will now appreciate the scriptures all the greater.

[Robert Mills · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the in depth look at the Old Testament. I didn't like the version that I read because of the typos and poorly written syntax.

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed to be less interesting than the other books and I am not really sure why to be honest.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of Jewish oral traditions that is loaded with interesting tidbits like detailed descriptions of mannah and unbelievable (literally) stories about the creation of the world. A number of the traditions are essentially jokes that take Torah stories as jumping off points; some of my favorites are based on the wisdom of Solomon. It's not the kind of book I'd read cover to cover, but it'd be a great resource to keep a class on the Old Testament lively and interesting.