Masking and Unmasking Ourselves: Interpreting Biblical Texts on Clothing & Identity

Dr. Norman J. Cohen is widely recognized as one of the great teachers of his generation. A rabbi, professor emeritus of midrash and former provost of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, he frequently lectures to Jewish and Christian laypeople and scholars on Bible study and midrash-finding contemporary meaning from ancient biblical texts. Cohen was a participant in Bill Moyers's Genesis: A Living Conversation on PBS. He is author of Self, Struggle & Change: Family Conflict Stories in Genesis and Their Healing Insights for Our Lives; Voices from Genesis: Guiding Us through the Stages of Life; Moses and the Journey to Leadership: Timeless Lessons of Effective Management from the Bible and Today's Leaders; Hineni in Our Lives: Learning How to Respond to Others through 14 Biblical Texts & Personal Stories and The Way Into Torah (all Jewish Lights).

Whatever the context in which it is worn, our clothing is often our most powerful form of communication. As in any great literature, the language of putting on and taking off clothing in the Bible especially the narratives that turn on the symbolic use of clothes can provide us with a sense of the overarching worldview of the biblical writers. Yet, by immersing ourselves in the symbolic language and stories of the Bible, we can also gain insight into ourselves and our own lives. In this engaging look at interpretations of clothing in the Bible, renowned Torah scholar and midrashist Norman Cohen presents ten paradigmatic Bible stories that involve clothing in an essential way, as a means of learning about the text, its characters and their interactions. But he also shows us how these stories help us confront our own life dramas, our own stories. In doing so, he presents Torah as a mirror, reflecting back to us our own personalities, ambivalences, struggles and potential for growth.

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