Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. Introduction 1
5. A Note On the Selections and the Translations 31
6. 1. Rabbinic Parables 35
7. 2. Two Narratives about God 47
8. 3. Jonah and the Sailors from Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 59
9. 4. Sefer Zerubbabel 67
10. 5. Midrash On the Ten Commandments 91
11. 6. The Tale of the Jerusalemite 121
12. 7. Midrash Eleh Ezkerah or The Legend of the Ten Martyrs 143
13. 8. The Alphabet of Ben Sira 167
14. 9. Parables from Sefer Ha-Bahir 203
15. 10. Narrative Fantasies from Sefer Hasidim 215
16. 11. Love in the Afterlife: A Selection from the Zohar 239
17. 12. Asher in the Harem By Solomon Ibn Saqbel 253
18. 13. The Misogynist By Judah Ibn Shabbetai 269
19. 14. The Sorcerer from Meshal Ha-Kadmom by Isaac Ibn Sahula 295
20. 15. Job’s Novella from A Valley of Vision by Abraham ben Hananiah Yagel 313
21. 16. The “Dream-Talks” of Nahman of Bratslav 333
22. In a Turn of the Scroll: An Afterword 349