These are the Developments of the Human by Ethan Daniel Davidson; self-published 2021; ISBN 1978057-883010; 459 pages; price not listed.
By Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California — Ethan Daniel Davidson’s These are the Developments of the Human is a collection of poetic commentaries on thoughts drawn from the Pentateuch. His background is just as interesting as his book. Davidson works as a lumberjack in a remote Alaskan village; he also has sailed the world on cargo ships and worked as a musician.
Having visited Alaska on a cruise, Alaska is a beautiful place for contemplative spirits to exercise their literary creativity. The book stimulates questions and offers creative interpretations about the forces that shape our growth into adulthood, our constant personal evolution, and how we might, or might not, return “home.”
His concept is novel, and it is one that poetry lovers will certainly love. Many of his poetic expositions can be thought-provoking at times. He also includes citations in his expositions from the Midrash, the classical, Medieval rabbis, and modern thinkers such as S. R. Hirsch, Martin Buber, Joseph Soloveitchik, and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, just to name a few.
In Exodus 3:1, the verse states:
וּמֹשֶׁה הָיָה רֹעֶה אֶת־צֹאן יִתְרוֹ חֹתְנוֹ כֹּהֵן מִדְיָן וַיִּנְהַג אֶת־הַצֹּאן אַחַר הַמִּדְבָּר וַיָּבֹא אֶל־הַר הָאֱלֹהִים חֹרֵבָה
Meanwhile, Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock beyond the wilderness, he came to the mountain of God, Horeb. (Exod. 3:1 NAB)
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks:
“To receive the word of God
we must make ourselves open
the way a desert is.”
If I want to hear Torah,
If I want to understand Torah,
I must be open,
I must open myself
I must be ownerless,
Like the wilderness;
I must go
After the wilderness:
I must go
behind the place
where I speak,
m’daber, I speak
or You speak,
But,
to open myself,
to be open myself to You
to be open to Your Torah
to be open to Your speaking
I go acher hamidbar….
The above passage goes on, but I think it gives the reader a flavor of the author’s original contribution to how a poetic Midrash might be constructed.
That being said, I wish to suggest some constructive ideas to the author on how to make his poetic hermeneutic more accessible to a wider readership.
Anyone looking at the book’s title, These are the Developments of the Human, would probably think this book is about psychology or anthropology. The name of the book must convey that it is a poetic rereading of ideas found in the Pentateuch. As an alternative, I would suggest he name: A Poetic Reading of Thoughts from the Torah, or something similar. The book’s present title might make a better subtitle to the book.
As one of his endorsements observed, much of the material reads as a stream-of-consciousness material. I strongly suggest that in his next book that he follows the linear progression of the weekly parsha. As it is presently, the lack of an orderly arrangement makes it a little hard to follow. Stream-of-consciousness material is not for everyone.
Lastly, although the book is self-published, it needs to appear on the Amazon website so people can find the book and order it. As it is, it is, unfortunately, MIA — missing in action.
In short, I think the author’s concept and the presentation of his poetic readings has considerable merit. I look forward to reading more of his books in the future.
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Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista. He may be contacted via michael.samuel@sdjewishworld.com