Covenant of Blood: Circumcision and Gender in Rabbinic Judaism

by Lawrence A. Hoffman

Book Overview

Central to both biblical narrative and rabbinic commentary, circumcision has remained a defining rite of Jewish identity, a symbol so powerful that challenges to it have always been considered taboo. Lawrence Hoffman seeks to find out why circumcision holds such an important place in the Jewish psyche. He traces the symbolism of circumcision through Jewish history, examining its evolution as a symbol of the covenant in the post-exilic period of the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226347842
• ISBN13: 9780226347844
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.0"