Debra Band draws upon her love of both the manuscript arts and the Jewish textual tradition in her acclaimed illuminated manuscripts. She is the author and illuminator of The Song of Songs: The Honeybee in the Garden (JPS, 2005), I Will Wake the Dawn: Illuminated Psalms (with Arnold J. Band) (JPS, 2007), Arise! Arise! Deborah, Ruth and Hannah (with Arnold J. Band) (Honeybee in the Garden, 2012), and Kabbalat Shabbat: The Grand Unification (with Raymond P. Scheindlin) (Honeybee in the Garden, 2016), among other works. Her paintings have been widely exhibited across the United States and Canada. She resides in Potomac, Maryland, with her husband, Michael Diamond, MD, and menagerie.Menachem Fisch is Joseph and Ceil Mazer Professor Emeritus of History and Philosophy of Science at Tel Aviv University, TAU codirector of the Frankfurt–Tel Aviv Center for Religious and Interreligious Studies, and senior fellow of the Goethe University Frankfurt's Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften. He is author of The View from Within: Normativity and the Limits of Self-Criticism (with Y. Benbaji) (Notre Dame, 2011), Creatively Undecided: Toward a History and Philosophy of Scientific Agency (Chicago, 2017), and Covenant of Confrontation: A Study of Non-Submissive Religiosity in Rabbinic Literature (Hebrew) (Bar-Ilan, 2019).

• Foreword by Ellen F. DavisPreface by Moshe HalbertalIntroduction by Menachem Fisch: Making Sense of QoheletIntroduction by Debra Band: Approaching the Book of QoheletThe IlluminationsFrontispieceChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenChapter TwelveChapter Commentary Materials1Introduction: Setting the StageCommentaries on the Illuminations2Introduction: Dashed Dreams of a Lasting AchievementCommentaries on the Illuminations3Introduction: Qohelet's Great Turning PointCommentaries on the Illuminations4Introduction: The Politics of CooperationCommentaries on the Illuminations5Introduction: Foolishness Multiplied: The Religious DimensionCommentaries on the Illuminations6Introduction: The Futility of HindsightCommentary on the Illuminations7Introduction: Breaching the Limits of Self-CritiqueCommentaries on the Illuminations8Introduction: Knowing the Limits of One's StrengthCommentaries on the Illuminations9Introduction: The Case against HedonismCommentaries on the Illuminations10Introduction: A Fool's DystopiaCommentaries on the Illuminations11Introduction: The Beginning of an Optimistic EndCommentary on the Illuminations12Introduction: When All Is Said and DoneCommentaries on the IlluminationsAfterword by Menachem FischMysteries Dispelled: Qohelet in Biblical and Liturgical ContextKey to Bible Translation Abbreviations

Illuminated manuscripts have a rich tradition to which this gem adds creatively. Not only does Debra Band's exquisite micrography, calligraphy, and artwork invite us to marinate in and meditate on Qohelet's suggestive composition, Menachem Fisch adds a unique and penetrating philosophical analysis. This work takes us from the ancient world of the Bible through medieval traditions of illumination and into a reading of Qohelet as a harbinger of post-modern thinking." - Peter A. Pettit, Teaching Pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa"'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,' wrote the mysterious author of the biblical Qohelet—Ecclesiastes, in English, from the Greek. 'There is nothing new under the sun.' For generations, the meaning of this haunting outlier text seemed clear and even merciless: in its endless cycling, nothing in the cosmos lasts, so nothing matters. Even if God is real, human life is in the end unreal and can have no real purpose. Resignation is the only valid response: at best, 'living for the moment;' at worst, existential despair. But what if there were something new under the sun? In this fresh approach to Qohelet, philosopher Menachem Fisch and scholar-artist Debra Band radically re-vision a text whose interpretation was 'settled.' Through exciting exposition that ranges from the history of rabbinical thought to analytical philosophy to the pain of personal loss, and illumined by Band's glowing paintings, the authors return us to the original Hebrew word on which Qohelet pivots:  hevel.  When  hevel is not read 'figuratively' but is restored to its literal meaning as 'vapor' or 'mist,' an unexpected theology is revealed. What if the text were never a meditation on absurdity after all, but instead 'a vivid portrayal of the limits of human knowledge?' These limits can inspire us to return to our deepest human challenge: how should we live? Fisch and Band show how we can take up the question again in fascination—and even more, in hope. An unforgettable book." - Kimberley C. Patton, Professor of the Comparative and Historical Study of Religion, Harvard Divinity School

Debra Band draws upon her love of both the manuscript arts and the Jewish textual tradition in her acclaimed illuminated manuscripts. She is the author and illuminator of The Song of Songs: The Honeybee in the Garden (JPS, 2005), I Will Wake the Dawn: Illuminated Psalms (with Arnold J. Band) (JPS, 2007), Arise! Arise! Deborah, Ruth and Hannah (with Arnold J. Band) (Honeybee in the Garden, 2012), and Kabbalat Shabbat: The Grand Unification (with Raymond P. Scheindlin) (Honeybee in the Garden, 2016), among other works. Her paintings have been widely exhibited across the United States and Canada. She resides in Potomac, Maryland, with her husband, Michael Diamond, MD, and menagerie.Menachem Fisch is Joseph and Ceil Mazer Professor Emeritus of History and Philosophy of Science at Tel Aviv University, TAU codirector of the Frankfurt–Tel Aviv Center for Religious and Interreligious Studies, and senior fellow of the Goethe University Frankfurt's Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften. He is author of The View from Within: Normativity and the Limits of Self-Criticism (with Y. Benbaji) (Notre Dame, 2011), Creatively Undecided: Toward a History and Philosophy of Scientific Agency (Chicago, 2017), and Covenant of Confrontation: A Study of Non-Submissive Religiosity in Rabbinic Literature (Hebrew) (Bar-Ilan, 2019).

• Foreword by Ellen F. DavisPreface by Moshe HalbertalIntroduction by Menachem Fisch: Making Sense of QoheletIntroduction by Debra Band: Approaching the Book of QoheletThe IlluminationsFrontispieceChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenChapter TwelveChapter Commentary Materials1Introduction: Setting the StageCommentaries on the Illuminations2Introduction: Dashed Dreams of a Lasting AchievementCommentaries on the Illuminations3Introduction: Qohelet's Great Turning PointCommentaries on the Illuminations4Introduction: The Politics of CooperationCommentaries on the Illuminations5Introduction: Foolishness Multiplied: The Religious DimensionCommentaries on the Illuminations6Introduction: The Futility of HindsightCommentary on the Illuminations7Introduction: Breaching the Limits of Self-CritiqueCommentaries on the Illuminations8Introduction: Knowing the Limits of One's StrengthCommentaries on the Illuminations9Introduction: The Case against HedonismCommentaries on the Illuminations10Introduction: A Fool's DystopiaCommentaries on the Illuminations11Introduction: The Beginning of an Optimistic EndCommentary on the Illuminations12Introduction: When All Is Said and DoneCommentaries on the IlluminationsAfterword by Menachem FischMysteries Dispelled: Qohelet in Biblical and Liturgical ContextKey to Bible Translation Abbreviations

Illuminated manuscripts have a rich tradition to which this gem adds creatively. Not only does Debra Band's exquisite micrography, calligraphy, and artwork invite us to marinate in and meditate on Qohelet's suggestive composition, Menachem Fisch adds a unique and penetrating philosophical analysis. This work takes us from the ancient world of the Bible through medieval traditions of illumination and into a reading of Qohelet as a harbinger of post-modern thinking." - Peter A. Pettit, Teaching Pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa"'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,' wrote the mysterious author of the biblical Qohelet—Ecclesiastes, in English, from the Greek. 'There is nothing new under the sun.' For generations, the meaning of this haunting outlier text seemed clear and even merciless: in its endless cycling, nothing in the cosmos lasts, so nothing matters. Even if God is real, human life is in the end unreal and can have no real purpose. Resignation is the only valid response: at best, 'living for the moment;' at worst, existential despair. But what if there were something new under the sun? In this fresh approach to Qohelet, philosopher Menachem Fisch and scholar-artist Debra Band radically re-vision a text whose interpretation was 'settled.' Through exciting exposition that ranges from the history of rabbinical thought to analytical philosophy to the pain of personal loss, and illumined by Band's glowing paintings, the authors return us to the original Hebrew word on which Qohelet pivots:  hevel.  When  hevel is not read 'figuratively' but is restored to its literal meaning as 'vapor' or 'mist,' an unexpected theology is revealed. What if the text were never a meditation on absurdity after all, but instead 'a vivid portrayal of the limits of human knowledge?' These limits can inspire us to return to our deepest human challenge: how should we live? Fisch and Band show how we can take up the question again in fascination—and even more, in hope. An unforgettable book." - Kimberley C. Patton, Professor of the Comparative and Historical Study of Religion, Harvard Divinity School

Debra Band draws upon her love of both the manuscript arts and the Jewish textual tradition in her acclaimed illuminated manuscripts. She is the author and illuminator of The Song of Songs: The Honeybee in the Garden (JPS, 2005), I Will Wake the Dawn: Illuminated Psalms (with Arnold J. Band) (JPS, 2007), Arise! Arise! Deborah, Ruth and Hannah (with Arnold J. Band) (Honeybee in the Garden, 2012), and Kabbalat Shabbat: The Grand Unification (with Raymond P. Scheindlin) (Honeybee in the Garden, 2016), among other works. Her paintings have been widely exhibited across the United States and Canada. She resides in Potomac, Maryland, with her husband, Michael Diamond, MD, and menagerie.Menachem Fisch is Joseph and Ceil Mazer Professor Emeritus of History and Philosophy of Science at Tel Aviv University, TAU codirector of the Frankfurt–Tel Aviv Center for Religious and Interreligious Studies, and senior fellow of the Goethe University Frankfurt's Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften. He is author of The View from Within: Normativity and the Limits of Self-Criticism (with Y. Benbaji) (Notre Dame, 2011), Creatively Undecided: Toward a History and Philosophy of Scientific Agency (Chicago, 2017), and Covenant of Confrontation: A Study of Non-Submissive Religiosity in Rabbinic Literature (Hebrew) (Bar-Ilan, 2019).

• Foreword by Ellen F. DavisPreface by Moshe HalbertalIntroduction by Menachem Fisch: Making Sense of QoheletIntroduction by Debra Band: Approaching the Book of QoheletThe IlluminationsFrontispieceChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenChapter TwelveChapter Commentary Materials1Introduction: Setting the StageCommentaries on the Illuminations2Introduction: Dashed Dreams of a Lasting AchievementCommentaries on the Illuminations3Introduction: Qohelet's Great Turning PointCommentaries on the Illuminations4Introduction: The Politics of CooperationCommentaries on the Illuminations5Introduction: Foolishness Multiplied: The Religious DimensionCommentaries on the Illuminations6Introduction: The Futility of HindsightCommentary on the Illuminations7Introduction: Breaching the Limits of Self-CritiqueCommentaries on the Illuminations8Introduction: Knowing the Limits of One's StrengthCommentaries on the Illuminations9Introduction: The Case against HedonismCommentaries on the Illuminations10Introduction: A Fool's DystopiaCommentaries on the Illuminations11Introduction: The Beginning of an Optimistic EndCommentary on the Illuminations12Introduction: When All Is Said and DoneCommentaries on the IlluminationsAfterword by Menachem FischMysteries Dispelled: Qohelet in Biblical and Liturgical ContextKey to Bible Translation Abbreviations

Illuminated manuscripts have a rich tradition to which this gem adds creatively. Not only does Debra Band's exquisite micrography, calligraphy, and artwork invite us to marinate in and meditate on Qohelet's suggestive composition, Menachem Fisch adds a unique and penetrating philosophical analysis. This work takes us from the ancient world of the Bible through medieval traditions of illumination and into a reading of Qohelet as a harbinger of post-modern thinking." - Peter A. Pettit, Teaching Pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa"'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,' wrote the mysterious author of the biblical Qohelet—Ecclesiastes, in English, from the Greek. 'There is nothing new under the sun.' For generations, the meaning of this haunting outlier text seemed clear and even merciless: in its endless cycling, nothing in the cosmos lasts, so nothing matters. Even if God is real, human life is in the end unreal and can have no real purpose. Resignation is the only valid response: at best, 'living for the moment;' at worst, existential despair. But what if there were something new under the sun? In this fresh approach to Qohelet, philosopher Menachem Fisch and scholar-artist Debra Band radically re-vision a text whose interpretation was 'settled.' Through exciting exposition that ranges from the history of rabbinical thought to analytical philosophy to the pain of personal loss, and illumined by Band's glowing paintings, the authors return us to the original Hebrew word on which Qohelet pivots:  hevel.  When  hevel is not read 'figuratively' but is restored to its literal meaning as 'vapor' or 'mist,' an unexpected theology is revealed. What if the text were never a meditation on absurdity after all, but instead 'a vivid portrayal of the limits of human knowledge?' These limits can inspire us to return to our deepest human challenge: how should we live? Fisch and Band show how we can take up the question again in fascination—and even more, in hope. An unforgettable book." - Kimberley C. Patton, Professor of the Comparative and Historical Study of Religion, Harvard Divinity School