Of Change and Adaptation in Judaism

Judah Goldin

1965

Midrash [ . . . ] is not mere reference to the past: it is the enlistment of the past in the service of the present. Even more specifically, it is a reinsertion into the present of the original divine Word, “memory / making past present,” but a supernatural Word that is not simply the primitive hierogram: that Word is given definition and repeated…

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Creator Bio

Judah Goldin

1914–1998

Born in New York to immigrant parents, Judah Goldin was among the first American Jewish academics to have been trained in the United States, and he became a leader in midrashic scholarship. Goldin studied social science and English literature before turning to the Midrash, and his later work reflects the diversity of his academic training. He taught at a variety of colleges and universities, including Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Iowa, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Yale University.

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