Announcing a smart, daring, original new take on the Torah. Imagine: 54 leading young Jewish writers, artists, photographers, screenwriters, architects, actors, musicians, and graphic artists grappling with the first five books of the Bible and giving new meaning to the 54 Torah portions that are traditionally read over the course of a year. From the foundational stories of Genesis and Exodus to the legalistic minutiae of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, Unscrolled is a reinterpreting, a reimagining, a creative and eclectic celebration of the Jewish Bible.Here s a graphic-novel version of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, by Rebecca Odes and Sam Lipsyte. Lost creator Damon Lindelof writing about Abraham s decision to sacrifice his son as if Abraham were a mental patient in the wake of that incident. Here s Sloane Crosley bringing Pharaoh into the 21st century, where he s checking out boils, lice, and plague of frogs on WebMD. Plus there s Joshua Foer, Aimee Bender, A. J. Jacobs, David Auburn, Jill Soloway, Ben Greenman, Josh Radnor, Adam Mansbach, and more.Edited by Roger Bennett, a founder of Reboot, a network of young Jewish creatives and intellectuals, Unscrolled is a gathering of brilliant, diverse voices that will speak to anyone interested in Jewish thought and identity and, with its singular design and use of color throughout, the perfect bar and bat mitzvah gift. First it presents a synopsis of the Torah portion, written by Bennett, and then the story is reinterpreted, in forms that range from the aforementioned graphic novel and transcript to stories, poems, memoirs, letters, plays, infographics, monologues each designed to give the reader a fresh new take on some of the oldest, wisest, and occasionally weirdest stories of the Western world, while inspiring new ideas about the Bible and its meaning, value, and place in our lives.

Reader Reviews

Bruce

(5/5)

Apr 27, 2024

enlightening and irreverent - great combo

Allie

(3/5)

This rating/review is based on a free copy of the book I got from a Goodreads giveaway.Done! Finally!This was an interesting read for me; because despite being raised Catholic, I have never read the Torah/Pentateuch. Still haven't. Each section starts with a recap of the biblical text then whatever the contributors wrote/drew/designed -- and to the book's credit there is a pretty wide variety of contributions. Most were kind of boring/uncreative/phoned in, but there were some really stand-out pi...

Ashley

(2/5)

I'm honestly not even sure I'd give the third star. This just didn't do it for me from the very beginning. The background essays on the readings were too simplistic for a market ready to "wrestle." Most of the "wrestling" felt like reading notes someone else took in a class where they didn't get the material. Better idea: Pick up the Torah and wrestle with it yourself.EDIT: There's gotta be a line somewhere in the Torah like "don't give the extra star on Goodreads just because you feel bad about...

Janelle Fallan

You do not have to be Jewish to enjoy this book. Whether you call the first five books of the Bible the Torah or the Pentateuch, this book is entertaining and thought provoking. Leviticus and Numbers especially can be such a dense, long slog. "Unscrolled" gives us short stories (Hagar as a nanny come to New York from the South), a real estate ad for the Ark of the Covenant as a mobile home, the bizarre ritual of the red heifer told from her point of view, Moses dealing with a modern PR firm, car...

Bethany

Excellent reading to go along with the week's Torah portion, or even just to read all the way through. Some of the pieces are really clever, and some are really irritating. (I'm looking at you, Ted from How I Met Your Mother.)

Eric Sbar

I find it tough to have modern discussions when reading about stoning, unblemished red cows, how to deal with corpses, and various forms of sacrifices. I am not sure that the writers did well either. Some were quite clever but often just for the sake of being clever.

Susan Brock

This is an inviting and creative approach to a part of the Bible that can be difficult or intimidating. Short sections of Bible chapters are summarized then followed by stories, poems or artwork that explore the different themes. The explorations are filled with 21st century references (google, graphic art, movies, etc.) so I guess the intention is to make the ancient themes fresh and contemporary. To me the overall effect was somewhat strained and at times needlessly flippant. I did not find th...

Merrily

Creative ? Yes. Enlightening? No. Mainly modern TV and entertainment writers creating modern vignettes, some of it humorous, mostly snarky.

Laurie

(4/5)

Great companion to the weekly Torah reading

Velvetink

tuebl

Tal

It was cool to see different thoughts.

Martin

This book had so much promise, SO much! But it fell flat on its face in its execution. The bible is endlessly inspiring, in terms of spirituality, but more so (at least for me) in terms of creativity. I have created many projects using The Good Book as source material. Here, however, what should have stood out as unique simply wasn't so. 54 writers were commissioned to reinterpret one torah portion each, and I would have expected the editor to ensure that each segment stood out by itself from th...

reading is my hustle

A surprising, sublime, and creative celebration of the Torah. I mean dang.Loved. Loved. Loved.

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Unscrolled: 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle with the Torah

Unscrolled: 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle with the Torah

Unscrolled: 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle with the Torah

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