47Chapter 4
Concepts of Scripture in the Schools of
Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael
Azzan Yadin-Israel
Once a year, Israel celebrates “Book Week,” a holiday devoted to the written
word, consisting of book fairs in city centers, deep discounts on books, and
various interviews and panels of authors, critics, and other literary fi gures.
Alongside the mainstream celebrations, there is also “Torah Book Week,”
during which ultraorthodox book vendors sell religious texts and artifacts.
Years ago, I was perusing the booths of a “Torah Book Week” exhibitor,
looking for rabbinic Torah commentaries, when I spotted a series of il-
lustrated children’s books — age-appropriate retellings of Bible stories for
young ultraorthodox readers. Curious, I leafed through the fi rst volume,
which recounted the life of Abraham. Th e book was a heavily bowdlerized
mixture of biblical and midrashic narratives: the story of Abraham destroy-
ing the idols in his father’s house (which occurs in midrashic texts but not
in Genesis itself ) was included, but Sarai/Sarah’s visits to the harems of the
Egyptian pharaoh and Melchizedek (Genesis 12 and 14) were not — which
was all to be expected. I was, however, taken aback by the illustrations. Th e
landscape of ancient Mesopotamia was typical: palm trees, the Tigris or
Euphrates fl owing in the background, the desert sun a constant presence,
and camels meandering throughout. Abraham is in many ways integrated
into these scenes, wandering from Ur to Canaan on foot, doing battle with
the northern kings on camel, greeting angels by his tent, and almost sacri-
fi cing his son on a simple altar of stones. But one detail stood out. Th rough
it all, Abraham is dressed in the long black frock coat and tall fur hat, and
sports the long, curly sidelocks, of the ultra orthodox community that pro-
duced the book series.