My Perfect One

"Highly focused and erudite, Kaplan's work is to be commended for providing insight into a heretofore underdeveloped area of research."--Joshua Madden, Reading Religion "Kaplan's book is a fine study of an important and engaging subject. It highlights a beautiful body of texts from a pivotal moment in not only Jewish history but the history of biblical exegesis broadly speaking."--Laura Suzanne Lieber, Reviews of the Enoch Seminar "[Kaplan] argues cohesively for a necessary window of discussion in the development of rabbinic interpretation of Song of Songs, which fits into a larger framework for readers of rabbinics to see the tannaitic period as innovative not only in the realm of law but also in theological development."--Daniel Rosenberg, H-Net Reviews "Song of Songs is love without carpools, in-laws, and budgets, unlike the covenanted love of obligation and loyalty in the rest of Scripture. Later Judaism read Song of Songs as expressing the relationship of God and the Jewish people, fusing intimate love with covenanted love. How did they do that, and why? Kaplan proposes a learned and sensitive answer." --David R. Blumenthal, Jay and Leslie Cohen Professor of Judaic Studies, Emory University "Jonathan Kaplan has engaged both the figurative playfulness of the text and the daring probes of rabbinic tradition. In doing so he is creative enough that he has not only opened for us some of the history of interpretation, but in his bold proposals is a participant in that ongoing history of interpretation. With immense learning and discerning erudition, Kaplan shows how the Rabbis tilted the poetry toward paradigmatic reference points in Jewish history. His book is an uncommon achievement, and a forceful invitation to engage this text in awareness that 'history' is thick with possibility." --Walter Brueggemann, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary "Jonathan Kaplan provides a methodologically cautious but deeply enlightening guide to the earliest interpretations of the Song of Songs as a divine love song. Readers of many backgrounds will find that his close, perceptive textual readings open a world of exegetical creativity that lies at the heart of a two-millennia love affair of profound beauty and historical significance." --Steven D. Fraade, Mark Taper Professor of the History of Judaism