River Jordan

The Mythology of a Dividing Line

Havrelock Rachel

As the site of several miracles in the Jewish and Christian traditions, the Jordan is one of the world's holiest rivers. It is also the major political and symbolic border contested by Israelis and Palestinians. Combining biblical and folkloric studies with historical geography, Rachel Havrelock explores how the complex religious and mythological representations of the river have shaped the current conflict in the Middle East.

Havrelock contends that the intractability of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict stems from the nationalist myths of the Hebrew Bible, where the Jordan is defined as a border of the Promised Land. Both Israelis and Palestinians claim the Jordan as a necessary boundary of an indivisible homeland. Examining the Hebrew Bible alongside ancient and modern maps of the Jordan, Havrelock chronicles the evolution of Israel's borders based on nationalist myths while uncovering additional myths that envision Israel as a bi-national state. These other myths, she proposes, provide roadmaps for future political configurations of the nation. Ambitious and masterful in its scope, "River Jordan" brings a fresh, provocative perspective to the ongoing struggle in this violence-riddled region.

Reviews

"'River Jordan' is a necessary vision of the Jewish past and future. Timely and beautifully written, Rachel Havrelock's book will appeal to a wide circle of readers" – Gary Shteyngart, author of "Super Sad True Love Story" and "Absurdistan"

"Havrelock offers a rich set of perspectives – literary, historical, ethnographic, and otherwise – for thinking about the waters of the Jordan as barrier and source of life. She patiently articulates the politics implicit in differing claims of the Jordan and the Euphrates as idealized boundaries of ancient Israel. She offers a concluding vision of the Jordan as a place of meeting rather than a place of separation. Her frank rather than despairing acknowledgment of the continuing power of ancient models, as of the potential power of other models lost in the din of competing claims, should trouble our frozen notions of ideologies past and identities in the present. And that's exactly the kind of trouble we need from scholars now" – Jonathan Boyarin, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

"Havrelock shows impressive mastery of a vast amount of material, and her theoretical sophistication allows her to formulate sharp questions at every turn. Brave and insightful in its analysis, 'River Jordan' is a rare pleasure: an intriguing and intellectually adventurous book bolstered by Havrelock's sparkling writing" – Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College

"'River Jordan' is a thought-provoking contribution to a growing body of criticism on the Bible as cultural text. The Jordan River is an incredibly rich site for the exploration of the changing significance of biblical traditions in diverse moments of reception" – Ilana Pardes, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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