Living and Dying in Ancient Times: Death, Burial, and Mourning in Biblical Tradition

"In this brilliantly researched and clearly articulated treatise, Simcha Paull Raphael takes us on a journey into our ancient past and gives us back our instinctual capacity to understand and do honor to end of life experience and practice. This is one aspect of the human experience which does not beg to be improved upon with technological advances, but rather to be restored to the realms of mystery and intuition." — Rabbi Nadya Gross, Co-Director of Programs, Alliance for Jewish Renewal "Simcha Paull Raphael combines over three decades of therapeutic experience with careful readings of biblical texts to produce a well-crafted book that brings ancient insights into our own contemporary questions about death and dying." — Tamar Kamionkowski, Ph.D., Professor of Biblical Studies, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College "Those already familiar with Simcha Paull Raphael’s classic study Jewish Views of the Afterlife will welcome this insightful essay that almost reads as a prerequisite to his previous work. Here the author presents a dual perspective, both historical and contemporary, and guides the reader through a fascinating maze of biblical and midrashic texts rigorously scrutinized and analysed. Living and Dying in Ancient Times demonstrates that the ancient texts of Biblical tradition provide a valuable source of reflection on the reality of death and dying in our own world." — Jean Ouellette, Ph.D., Études Juives, Université de Montréal