People have been telling and retelling stories about disasters for as long as they have been telling stories. One of the oldest of such stories is the ten plagues in the book of Exodus, the series of disasters that forced the Egyptians to liberate the Israelites. These plagues packed enough catastrophe to fill a series of summer blockbusters—rivers of blood, invasions of frogs and insects, mass disease, fiery hail, smothering darkness, and a midnight massacre of the firstborn.
The story of the ten plagues resonates today, as we try to make sense of such calamities of modern life as pandemics, climate change, and war. In Disasters of Biblical Proportions, Steven Weitzman explores how people of later ages—artists, writers, activists, philosophers, believers and unbelievers alike—have reshaped the story of the ten plagues to give expression to their own trauma, outrage, guilt, humor, and hope.
Tracing the interpretation and retelling of each plague across time and space, Weitzman uncovers how this ancient tale found new meaning among Jews, Christians and Muslims and continues to shape how people today understand the present and envision the future. Even as it recounts the history of how the ten plagues have been reimagined, Disasters of Biblical Proportions is also a history of people’s search for shelter from the calamities of their own times—and of humanity’s striving for justice, freedom, and redemption.
Steven Weitzman is the Abraham M. Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also serves as the Ella Darivoff Director of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. He is the author of Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom and The Origin of the Jews: The Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age (91ÌÒÉ«), the winner of a National Jewish Book Award. He is also a coeditor of The 91ÌÒÉ« Companion to Jewish Studies (91ÌÒÉ«).
34230
“Weitzman’s Disasters of Biblical Proportions offers a brilliant exploration of the twists and turns in the exegetical history of the Ten Plagues story, following the paths it has taken in different contexts from late antiquity to the present. In Weitzman’s hands, the plagues become an incredibly rich turf for the exploration of responses to disaster that are only too relevant today.”—Ilana Pardes, author of The Song of Songs: A Biography
“A book of remarkable range and insight—everything from the secrets of stage magic to classical religious interpretations to Frankenstein. Weitzman elegantly explains how the plagues have been understood and still help us understand a scarred and often scary world.”—Rabbi David Wolpe, Maimonides Fund, and author of David: The Divided Heart
“A bracing read whose pages encompass themes as varied as animal rights and meteorology, science fiction and the art of storytelling, this imaginatively argued and generously illustrated account showcases the ways in which the ten plagues figure as critical flashpoints in understanding human nature. Thanks to its novel and abundant insights, you won’t think of the biblical narrative in quite the same way ever again.”—Jenna Weissman Joselit, author of Set in Stone: America’s Fascination with the Ten Commandments
“From the histories of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic interpretation to medieval and modern philosophical debates about free will and determinism to modern film, opera, and art, Steven Weitzman offers a compelling portrait of how the biblical story of the ten plagues has been used to form and transform cultures and respond to historical injustices. Deeply learned yet beautifully written and accessible, Disasters of Biblical Proportions will be of interest to anyone perplexed by the ways in which natural disasters can suddenly disrupt and change our lives.”—Leora Batnitzky, author of How Judaism Became a Religion: An Introduction to Modern Jewish Thought
