'The standard reading of Franz Rosenzweig's life and thought is that the thought culminated with the publication of his magnum opus the Star of Redemption in 1921 and that his life as a Jewish educator in Frankfurt was a realization of the mandate of that great work. But this reading suggests that Rosenzweig's remaining thinking and writing are ancillary to the system of the Star. Benjamin's provocative proposal, which she develops with clarity and intelligence, is that the Star is not the end but rather the beginning of Rosenzweig's life-long project. His entire professional career can be viewed as an effort to read and understand the biblical text. Benjamin's readings of the Bible in the Star, in Rosenzweig's translations and commentary of the poems of Yehuda Halevi, and in the Biblical translation project with Martin Buber map three stages on a journey that lasted until his death in 1929. The book gives us a novel and fascinating picture of this important Weimar Jewish intellectual.' Michael Morgan, Indiana University
