Yehuda Amichai Evening

Behold, There Were Twins in her Womb
(Gen19:24)— One Birth, Two Sons, Three Approaches

Jewish Book Week is proud to open the 2007 festival by bringing together three of today’s most admired authorities on the Bible.

The majestic translations of the distinguished Hebrew scholar Robert Alter are enhanced by his literary commentaries which illuminate the Bible in its many dimensions. Avivah Zornberg combines literary insights with theological wisdom derived from a lifelong immersion in rabbinic tradition. Under Yair Zakovitch’s expert guidance, they explore Genesis 19:24, the birth of Jacob and Esau. All three give and discuss their very contrasting possible interpretations.

Robert Alter is Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He has published widely on contemporary literature and literary aspects of the Bible. His translations include The Five Books of Moses and The David Story.

Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg grew up in a world of rabbinic tradition and scholarship and obtained a Ph.D. in English Literature from Cambridge University. She has conducted classes in Torah for thousands of students in Israel, the US, Canada and the UK. She is the author of The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus and The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis.

Yair Zakovitch is Father Takeji Otsuki Professor of Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem . Professor Zakovitch's primary interests are the Bible as literature, the history of beliefs and ideas in the Bible, biblical historiography, and early Jewish and Christian interpretation of the Bible. Professor Zakovitch has written numerous books - most recently:  One, written with Avigdor Shinan, That's Not What the Good Book Says (Hebrew), which was 31 weeks on the best-seller list here in Israel, and "Who Proclaims Peace, Who Brings Good Tidings", Seven Visions of Jerusalem's Peace (Hebrew)- and articles. He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University and has taught at the summer schools of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

In association with the British Friends of the Hebrew University.