But Where Is the Lamb?

“This book makes you feel like a guest at a truly eclectic symposium on the meaning of the biblical story of the Binding of Isaac, featuring Jews, Muslims, and Christians; medieval and moderns; artists and novelists. It is amazing to see how 19 sentences of the biblical account have given birth to so many different interpretations, and one leaves this book with the sense that the discussion is not nearly over yet.” —Jewish Voice, A Selection of the Year’s Best Jewish Books

“Obviously fascinated by the story, Goodman demonstrates great prudence in not offering his explanation but in asserting that the story has many meanings. This refreshing restraint along with the author’s writing skills make his contribution an important addition to the libraries of commentaries about Abraham and Isaac that vainly strive to explain what is ultimately unfathomable.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“A fresh and exciting take on the different ways in which the Binding of Isaac has been understood down through the centuries, and also covers how we should understand it today. He writes as one who is both a son and a father, both a Jew and a person in search of meaning, and, above all, as a storyteller who is fascinated by this ancient tale, and who lets his imagination run free over what it meant and what it means….It is enough to say that this book is a must-read.” —Rabbi Jack Riemer, Jewish News Service

“Interesting. . . . A fast-moving account of a wide-ranging and deeply penetrating religious topic, and Goodman closes with an important reminder on how the subject of sacrifice for religious obedience is relevant to the contemporary issue of religious extremism. A well-researched and stirring account of how various communities, scholars and artists interpret the willingness to sacrifice life for God.” —Kirkus

“But where is the lamb? is a fascinating study that uses a single biblical tale as a lock-pick to turn all sorts of tumblers in the human mind and heart. I found it to be a quick read, which would be surprising except that a few years ago I read Goodman’s Scottsboro Stories and was thoroughly impressed with the elegant fluidity and crisp lucidity of his style as well as his gift for distilling mountains of historical documents into a few pages of cogent exposition.” —Vince Cyyz, ArtFuse

“Who knew that nineteen lines of Scripture could reverberate through the centuries with so many interpretations?  James Goodman has written a fascinating book offering worlds of opinion on one of the toughest stories in the Bible—and best of all, he pulls no punches in offering his own conflicting opinions. Thoughtful, readable, historical and current.” —Rick Hamlin, author of 10 Prayers You Can’t Live Without  

“Genesis 22 rivets: a terrible story of authority, faith, and reason. Moving effortlessly from Biblical time to our own, James Goodman offers an intense yet sparkling chronicle of intellectual, artistic, theological, and spiritual struggle.” —Sean Wilentz, Professor of History at Princeton University, author of The Rise of American Democracy and Bob Dylan in America