Early Israel

[Early Israel] is a bold, panoptic book that draws from many fields of knowledge, ancient and modern, in order to offer a startling esoteric understanding of Torah, one that leads us to seek a recovery of Eden, not as a place, but as a state of mind. In its sheer reach and in its fascinating corridors, Alex Kohav's book has the potential to change everyone who reads it. Kevin Hart, The University of Virginia, author of The Dark Gaze: Maurice Blanchot and the Sacred (University of Chicago Press, 2004) Kohav's magisterial volume envelopes the reader with a breathtaking array of disciplines: diverse intellectual and spiritual shovels are put at our disposal with which to dig deeply beneath the biblical text. The intense process of digging is one of being led along a path through a wilderness that is at once a dense forest and a clear-aired desert. The path is toward an unexpected garden of unearthly delights whose myriad blossoms grow from roots that are Hebrew and Greek; ancient and contemporary; Socratic and Husserlian-and are compelling in their strange beauty. Ori Z. Soltes, Center for Jewish Civilization, Georgetown University, author of Magic and Religion in the Greco-Roman World: The Beginnings of Judaism and Christianity (Academia-West Press, 2020) Alex Shalom Kohav argues that much of scholarship on the Torah and the Pentateuch is driven by mistaken methodologies and misapplied theoretical constructs, including inadequate theories of language and communication, misapplied theories of textual interpretation, and overly literal readings of complex mystical texts. The texts operate on two channels: a literal channel intended for the average person, and a mystical Sod channel. Stories such as those of Jacob and Joseph can be interpreted as inspirational narratives but can also be construed as instructions for profound personal transformation, and were understood as such by the ancient Israelite priests. Kohav's revisiting of the ancient text shows that deeply ineffable, but profoundly transformative experiences of divinity are accessible through the Sod channel of the Hebrew scriptures. Laura E. Weed, Dept. of Philosophy, The College of Saint Rose, author of Structure of Thinking: A Process-oriented Account of Mind (Imprint Academic, 2003) Alex Kohav's book is a magnum opus in the fullest sense of this term. Filled with a wealth of information, textual analysis, and data from comparative religion studies, it offers an original view of the Pentateuch, focusing on the notion of Eden as an experiential state of being rather than merely a mythical narrative. Taking its cue from Rudolf Otto's classic study of the numen, the book links its analysis of the Biblical text with the psychological experience of the numinous and the sublime. This highly informative and original work will appeal to religious scholars, historians, and anybody interested in Jewish studies and history of religion. Elana Gomel, Tel-Aviv University, Israel, author of Narrative Space and Time: Representing Impossible Topologies in Literature (Routledge, 2014)