God's Echo: Exploring Scripture with Midrash

by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

The Rabbis of old believed that the Torah was divinely revealed and therefore contained eternal, perfect truths and hidden meaning that required elucidation. The meaning of a text was more complicated than simply reading it. And meaning changed over time. This understanding of how the Bible mystically relates to all of life is the fertile ground from which midrash emerged.

"The rabbis believed that nothing in the Bible, not the choice of words or their spellings, not the order of events or the relationship of one text to another, was haphazard or inconsequential. Everything was there with purpose. They deemed it their reponsibility to discover connections and harmony where on the surface none appeared to exist. A text may contain multiple meanings. Time is of no consequence. They felt free to read back into old stories what happened in future eras, and to see in the early stories of Genesis a foreshadowing of future events."

In this engaging book, Rabbi Sasso explores how midrash originated, how it is still used today, and offers new translations and interpretations of more than twenty essential midrash texts.

Genres: Judaism, Nonfiction, Religion, Christianity

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso is the director of the Religion, Spirituality, and the Arts Initiative at IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute. From 1977-2013 she served, along with her husband Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso, as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth-El Zedeck . In June 2013 she became Rabbi Emerita. After receiving her B.A. and M.A. from Temple University, in 1974 she was the first woman ordained from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In addition to being the first woman to serve a Conservative congregation, she and her husband are the first practicing rabbinical couple in world Jewish history.

Sandy has written and lectured on women and spirituality, the discovery of the religious imagination in children., women’s leadership, and reimagining the Bible. She is the author of several nationally acclaimed books. Most notably, in 2004, Sandy received the Helen Keating Ott Award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Literature and, in 2012 took home the National Jewish Book Award for Best Illustrated Children’s Book for The Shemah in the Mezuzah. In 2019 she won the Glick Regional Author’s Award.

Sandy has been honored as one of the “Influential Women in Indiana” by the Indianapolis Business Journal and was featured among “Indy’s Most Influential Clergy” by NUVO News Weekly. She is the recipient of the “Sagamore of the Wabash”, the highest civilian honor awarded by the Governor of the State of Indiana and has been the recipient of Rhe Heritage Keeper’s award for: the Indiana State Museum and the Torchbearer’s Award from the Indiana Commission for Women.

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely little introduction to midrash. Some insights were spot on, while others fell flat. The author explains what midrash is and presents examples throughout, following it with further explication (that at its worst is simply repetition) and her own midrashic musings. This book gave me a glimpse
into the wide world of rabbinic teaching and has made me want to engage with the Bible more creatively and to incorporate midrash into my bible study.

[Alan LaPayover · Rating 4 out of 5]

In truth, I wasn't expecting to get much more than a better familiarity with some core midrashim. Humbly, I submit that I under-estimated the author's ability to, not only make very clear the facts about midrash, but also the truth of midrash and how to convey it to us all again and again. This little book is rich -- for teachers of Torah as well as learners.

[Michael Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

God's Echo is a beautiful, short book with reflections on ancient and modern Midrashim - Jewish moral stories or interpretations of religious text. Sandy Eisenberg Sasso has put together a wonderful collection of interpretations that offer the reader modern reflections on ancient religious wisdom and adds her own reflections on how the stories have impacted her perception of the challenges that we all face in a confusing and complex world.

There is a lot of beauty in her words and much to reflect upon. The life lessons embedded in this book are universal in nature, but the focus on midrashim may have greater meaning for the Jewish community than a general audience.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great explanation of midrash from a respected rabbi, author (love her children’s picture books), and biblical scholar. Good for a non-seminary trained person understand how to read the Hebrew Scriptures with new eyes.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Midrash and reflection from Rabbi Sasso on Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, etc.
Wonderful insight and invitation to God's presence.

[Eneri Troncoso · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great "begginers" book in which Sandy explains what is the Midrash and diferrent forms of Scripture interpretations. I enjoyed this book.

[Joe Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I don’t remember exactly what in our conversation prompted it, Martha Bess, who had heard Sasso at a conference, thought I would enjoy the book and sent me a copy—I think that was probably in Aug, 2011. In short, I started it on our trip to Glacier but didn’t really get any traction with it on that trip and laid it aside in favor of some fiction. A few months later, I packed it for our Christmas trip to Hawaii. The timing was right. Maybe I just needed to be ready to sit with it a little bit more.

The book is in two parts. The first part, introductory in nature, is some 30 pages. The second part consists of shorter chapters that for me seemed more suitable than part 1 as daily devotional/study readings. In each of these part 2 chapters, she presents a small grouping of misrashim along with her explanation of what it’s all about, a personal reflection, and some questions to prompt the reader’s own reflection. Chapter titles include:


How Does Midrash Speak to Us? (Listening to Your Story)
Revelation Takes Place All the Time (Looking into God's Mirror)
Should Have Humans Have Been Created? (Shaping the World Out of Compassion)
What Makes Us Angry? (Eavesdropping on the First Argument [Cain & Able])
Who Is Responsible? (Blaming God for our Shortcomings)
What if the Angels Should Come Too Late? (Getting On With It When You Can't Get Over It)
God Is In This Place, but I Didn't Know It (Finding Holiness in Unexpected Places)
Who Is the First to Cross the Sea (Taking Risks for Freedom)
et al

You get the drift?

The author includes a “beginner’s bibliography” on midrash as well as her acknowledgements and a helpful glossary of “possibly unfamiliar words” and an afterword by Joan Chittister.

I found the work very helpful. It gave me a much better feel for the role and value of misrash. I came to appreciate that this is not just something that Jews do; Christians can “do midrash” and benefit therefrom as well. In fact, I found the readings generally rather stimulating…because of the questions raised and the questioning approach to scripture. It left me interested in including midrash in my reading/study on a continuing basis.

Thanks, Martha Bess.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice little sampling of various midrash texts with an explication of its contemporary significance. Sandy Sasso writes from the perspective of a Jewish Rabbi, but as a Christian I found much that was applicable to my own exegesis. Midrash is about inhabiting the text and learning to ask questions about it. I found her description of midrash and her handling of various texts (and the ways in which the Midrash and the Talmud handled them) instructive.

I also found interesting the parallels and differences between the four senses of Jewish exegesis (plain, allegorical, midrash and mystical), with the four senses in Christian exegesis (literal, moral, anagogical and allegorical). I don't necessarily think that the midrash is right about everything, but I do commend reading the text with that sort of attentiveness.

[Riobhcah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is about how Scripture speaks anew to each person and to each age and generation. Each one hears according to his or her level of understanding. It's a meaningful reading experience. Very well done.

[Deirdre K]

Fr Talkin always emphasized the midrash tradition; love the idea here that we are to continue it in our own stories. Will have to check this one out.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating.