Eternally Eve: Images of Eve in the Hebrew Bible, Midrash, and Modern Jewish Poetry Book

As per the traditional Jewish study of biblical and talmudic literature, Wiesel raises interesting questions in each of his biblical, talmudic, and hasidic "portraits". He dips us into the beautiful world of talmudic and midrashic commentary of biblical stories, providing us with parallel rabbinic perspectives within the talmud and midrash about different biblical figures. I find this kind of "spiritual fan-fiction" (in the most respectful sense of the term) particularly interesting--from both an academic and spiritual perspective--because it presents us the humanity and huge depth to of biblical figures.

Casual reader, beware: Through a stream-of-consciousness style, Wiesel provides more thought-provoking questions than concise answers, which can be frustrating at the beginning, and he often sounds like he is talking to himself out loud, sharing his struggles in attempting to understand the motives of G-d, the prophetic figures, and the sages' commentaries.

My only criticism, really, is the occasional blatant, anti-Arab/anti-Palestinian comments Wiesel makes during his tangents about contemporary Israel (e.g., p. 5). And while I can understand the overall sentiment of a continuity in "Jewish destiny", as he calls it, I can't help but note that the comments seem out of place in a book that is mostly about the past.

Ultimately, this introduction is beautiful not because it paints a classical portrait of definitive truth, but rather because it gives us a montage of what these figures have meant to a community over time.