Works
The Book of Revolutions: The Battles of Priests, Prophets, and Kings that Birthed the Torah
Forthcoming September 2022
The Torah is truly the Book of Revolutions, born from a military coup (the Northern Israelite revolution), the aftermath of an assassination and regency (a Judean revolution), and a quiet but radical revolution effected by outsiders whose ideas proved persuasive (Babylonian exile). Emerging from each of these were three key legal codes—the Covenant Code (Exodus), the Deuteronomic Code (Deuteronomy), and the Holiness Code (Leviticus)—which in turn shaped the Bible, biblical Judaism, and Judaism today.
In dramatic historical accounts grounded in recent Bible scholarship, Edward Feld unveils the epic saga of ancient Israel as the visionary legacy of inspired authors in different times and places. Prophetic teaching and differing social realities shaped new understandings concretized in these law codes. Revolutionary biblical ideas often encountered great difficulties in their time before they triumphed. Eventually master editors wove the threads together, intentionally preserving competing narratives and law codes. Ultimately, the Torah is an emblem of pluralistic belief born of revolutionary moments that preserved spiritual realities that continue to speak powerfully to us today.
A completely new translation of the Shabbat and Festival siddur with commentary and contemporary readings throughout. This siddur represents the coming of age of Conservative Jewish liturgy. Publication November 2015
Joy, Despair and Hope walks the reader through the personal struggle of psalmists with their faith, how they are wracked by doubt and how they come finally to a greater understanding of faith. Readers emerge with a new appreciation of and connection to the profound religious life and artistry of the biblical psalmists.
Modernity has provided more than enough reason to give up believing in holiness, still we have learned that to give up the struggle to achieve it means we have become less than human. We choose not to retreat from the world, but to struggle within it, to stain ourselves with sin even as we seek to establish the good.
A translation in a contemporary voice accompanies the traditional High Holiday text. The inviting layout includes commentary explaining the meaning of prayers and readings which provide aids to finding one's own voice in the prayer book.