Book Notes

186 American Jewish Life SHOFAR Fall 1994 Vol. 13, No.1 BOOK NOTES My Daughter, The Teacher, by Ruth Jacknow Markowitz. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1993. 224 pp. $64.50 (c)j $21.95 (P). ISBN 0-8135-1974-8'(c)j 0-8135-1975-6 (P). Teaching was an attractive profession to the daughters of immigrants. It provided status and security, was compatible with marriage, and did not require expensive training. In the interwar years, Jewish women in New York entered teaching in large numbers. In fact, by 1960 the majority of all New York teachers were Jewish women. By interviewing sixty-one retired teachers, Ruth Markowitz re-creates their lives and the far-reaching influence they had on public education. Ancient World and Archaeology The Hidden Scrolls: Christianity, judaism, and the War for the Dead Sea Scrolls, by Neil Asher Silberman. New York: Grosset!Putnam, 1994. 320 pp. $24.95. ISBN 399-13982-6. Neil Asher Silberman here examines the controversial discovery of the dead sea scrolls and suggests that they were written by a group of revolutionary Jews in a last-ditch effort to save their faith from the Roman empire. Social World ofAncient Israel 1260-587 BCE, by Victor H. Matthews and Don C. Benjamin. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1993. 327 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-913573-89-2. The authors look at the most prominent social institutions of the world of early Israel and the period of the monarchy and examine the different roles played in these institutions in order to present a new method for interpreting the relationships and social conventions of that society. Book Notes Biblical and Rabbinic Literature 187 Isaiah's Vision and tpe Family of God, by Katheryn Pfisterer Darr. Louisville, KY: Westminster/.John Knox Press, 1993. 280 pp. $21.99. ISBN 0-664-25537-X. Using a pragmatic, reader-oriented approach and informed by contemporary theory of metaphor and related topics, Katheryn Darr examines the meaning and functions of child and female imagery for readers of the Isaiah scroll. Tracing the tropes of the rebellious child and personified city throughout Isaiah, Darr discloses how the literary work urges readers to align themselves with "those in [Zion1 who repent" while distancing themselves from those leaders who perpetuate Israel's history of rebellion. ]osua und Salomo: Eine Studie zu Autoritii! und Legitimitiit des Nachfolgers im Alten Testament Ooshua and Solomon: A Study of the Authority and Legitimacy of Successors in the Old Testament), by Christa SchaferLichtenberger . Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1994. 400 pp. $125.75. ISBN 90-0410064 -4. ]osua und Salomo puts forward the thesis that the literary figure of the successor was created by circles who strongly relied on the book of Deuteronomy. In order to construct the ideal of a successor they used the characters of Joshua and Solomon and implemented the results of their theological reflection which were unleashed by the complete destruction of the pre-exilic political, social, and religious organization of the nation. The figure ofJoshua combines all the traits of their theological conception of an ideal political leader, whereas the figure of Solomon demonstrates the dangers which are implied in monarchical succession. From the theological perspective ofdeuteronomism , "Solomon" and "Joshua" are opposite characters. (German) Biography, Autobiography, Memoirs, Diaries Gershom Scholem: 1be Man and His Work, edited by Paul Mendes-Flohr. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994. 127 pp. $12.95. ISBN 0-7914-2125-2. In the early part of the twentieth century, Gershom Scholem founded the academic discipline of the study ofJewish Mysticism. This book presents essays by several of Israel's eminent scholars, reflecting on 188 SHOFAR Fall 1994 Vol. 13, No.1 Scholem's impact on the academic and Jewish worlds and his life as a scholar, a Jewish thinker, and an activist. The editor has provided an intellectual and spiritual biography of Scholem, which complements the papers. The Grand Multi: Haj Amin al-Hussaini, Founder 01 tbe Palestinian National Movement, by Zvi E1peleg. London: Frank Cass, 1993. 272 pp.£35.00/$45.00 u.s. (c); £18.00/$22.50 U.S. (p). ISBN 0-7146-3432-8 (c); 07146 -4100-6 (p). Haj Amin al-Hussaini, Grand...