This book is dedicated to a wide range study of the different contexts of paradise in different religious and cultural traditions from antiquity to the present. The biblical story tells of 'Garden of Eden (Genesis H - C, X), is where the human story begins and where its basic concepts are defined. In the story of the Garden of Eden the dialogue between the eternal Creator and an ephemeral created man are mentioned for the first time. Also the archetypal division between man and woman, the distinction between innocence and knowledge, the eye opening as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, the shameful hiding, guilt and fear are also present; A distinction between crime and punishment, the naked and dressed/covered, between prohibited and permitted, between controlling and controlled, and the eternal and the temporal. These concepts have all become world cultural infrastructure of the monotheistic religions in many contexts, from the beginning of life to its end.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
A. Garden of Eden in Antiquity
Yair Zakovitch, "Is The Tree of Knowledge The Tree of Life?"
- Nathan Wasserman, "'And the Earth Was Revealed in all Its Beauty': Remarks on the Literary Traditions of Paradise and Creation of the World in Ancient Mesopotamia and in the Bible."
- Leah Mazor, “The Journey of the Magical River from the Temple to the Sea (Ezek 47, 1-12): The Removal of Chaos and a New Creation.”
- Rachel Elior, "'The ‘Garden of Eden was the Holy of Holies and theDwelling of the Lord'."
B. Garden of Eden in Late Antiquity
- Serge Ruzer, “Earthly Paradise as Homeland, Jerusalem as Remotest Exile: Inverted Sacred Geography and Linguistics in the Syriac 'Cave of Treasures'.”
- Sergey Minov, "The question of Sexuality in Paradise as reflected in Late Antiquity Biblical Exegesis - Between the Sages and the Fathers of the Church."
- Hannah Wortzman, "Seduction and Sin in the Greek Life of Adam and Eve."
- Nurit Hirshfeld, “From Which Tree did Adam and Eve Eat in the Garden of Eden?”
C. Garden of Eden in the Liturgy and in the World of the Sages
- Dalia Marx, "'And Mystery is Paradise': The Garden of Eden in Jewish Liturgy."
- AvigdorShinan, "'On Those who Entered theGarden of Eden Alive'."
D. Paradise in the Medieval Period Amitai Harosh, "'And from thence it was parted, and became into four Heads' (Gen 2:10): Paradise in the Writings of Salomon Ibn Gabirol."
- Micha Goodman, "The Law of the Torah as a return to Paradise: Maimonides Perception of the Law."
- Oded Yisraeli, "The Tree of Life and its Roots – A History of a Kabalistic Symbol."
- Elisheva Revel-Neher, "Between Heaven and Earth: the Heavenly Ladder in Jewish and Christian Medieval Art."
- Ithamar Theodor, "The Star of the Cows - the Highest Heaven in the Krishnaite Tradition."
E. Garden of Eden in the Modern Period
- David Fishelov, "'But We Must Cultivate Our Garden': Paradise Lost/Found in Robinson Crusoe and Candide."
- Yahil Zaban: "'A Place for Love': the Literature of the Enlightenment and the 'Pleasant Place.'"
- Yehuda Moraly, "A Revolution in Paradise: Representations of Paradise on the Twentieth Century Stage and Screen."
- Uri Hollander, "Miłosz Enterd the Pardes: On Czesław Miłosz's Utopic Perception."
F. Paradise in Sociology, psychology and Anthropology
- Yoram Bilu, "'The Gateway to Paradise' in Beit She'an: Between Personal Symbol and Cultural Tradition in a Holy Site."
- Chaim Noy, "Touristic Paradises: A Critical Rendering of Modern Vacationscapes."
- Adam Klin-Oron, "End-of-Days Visions in Twentieth-Century Channeling: From the Age of Aquariusto the New Age."
Published in Cooperation with Scholion Interdisciplinary Research Center in Jewish Studies
