Hacia un judaísmo heterodoxo: Re/escrituras de Esther Seligson y Myriam Moscona

Abstract

In Orthodox Judaism, the production of Biblical commentary is traditionally reserved for rabbis who usually provide varying textual readings. It is rare, however, to encounter literary works whose themes and references derive from rabbinic interpretative practice while, at the same time, exploring other motifs. In Hacia un judaísmo heterodoxo: Re/escrituras de Esther Seligson y Myriam Moscona I explore the ways in which Esther Seligson (1941-2010) and Myriam Moscona (1955), two Jewish Mexican writers, challenge the limits imposed by tradition as well as the conventions of rabbinic scriptural interpretation. Through close readings of their midrashim (reinterpretations of Biblical myths and legends), autobiographical writings, and their heterodox perspectives on mainstream religious thought, I propose a novel approach to understanding sacred scripture and Jewish tradition. To that effect, my research combines readings of canonical works of Jewish religious literature, such as the Babylonian Talmud and Kabbalistic texts, with contemporary Latin American and Jewish scholarship. Thus, by highlighting these references in their works, this study demonstrates how their writings constitute original Biblical commentaries by challenging and questioning established approaches to text and tradition. I show how Esther Seligson and Myriam Moscona inscribe themselves into the very tradition they challenge. Through this analysis, my study contributes to ongoing debates concerning literary traditions as well as the approaches to the hyphened identity of Jewish Latin American writers.