Dry, Weary, Smiling Bones: Finding a ‘Yes’ through Hebrew Narrative and a Reduced Spirituality
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Revise sentence at line 64 to read: “I find this heartbreaking.”
This is not a scholarly paper but rather an attempt at a new theology which is roughly described as “Jewish.” From Hopkins poem to Margaret, from the story of Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones, and from the story of Jacob’s transformation to Israel, the authors attempt to create a theology based on acceptance, faith, and struggle leading to affirmation—a religion of “yes.” The arguments put forward for this are philosophically sophisticated. Christianity and Islam are dismissed somewhat hastily, but there is something to be said for these arguments within the spirit of Judaism. I have no idea where the authors intend to go with this.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your attentive reading and suggestion. I changed the line in question as you indicated. I appreciate too your willingness to take the paper for what it is despite its somewhat experimental style; my feeling is that with other avenues for public intellectual engagement having been lost in the decline of print media Open Access articles might be able to fill in the gap. Or so I hope; this paper is an effort towards that and hence was written to be more accessible to a (potentially) wider audience.
Again, my thanks and best wishes.
Reviewer 2 Report
I read this with some interest. The paper tries to examine something on its own terms, without referring to debates currently ongoing. It also lacks clear structure. It is not until the opening of s3 that the reader gets some idea of what it is the author is after, besides some kind of re-reading of Judaic faith in the light of some general saying yes to life rather than no. This is not sufficient as framing for a scientific article. I would recommend drawing out the structure of the piece more, making clear what it is exactly that the authors are after (some kind of new religious attitude?), and show its fit with ongoing debates. This is what I would recommend for an academic journal; alternatively, this might work better as an essay published on its own. The paper contains interesting reflections.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your time and attentive reading of my work. I appreciate your comments and have made a number of changes in response, which will be outlined. Firstly though, please let me address the issue of style: This paper was not designed to contribute to an ongoing debate because - unless I am greatly mistaken - there is no such specifically on the manner in which my paper seeks to address its topic. There is a certain strain of life-affirmation within, say, the Nietzschean and Heidegger corpora, but not in the "Jewish" sense for which I seek to argue (most obviously not with Heidegger!). Hence the paper rather attempts to provoke a conversation, to start something, and so I have tried to frame it that way. My other reasoning for the style I used is that I think with the decline of print media there has been a subsequent removal of intellectual public works, and my hope is that Open Access articles might be able to fill in this gap. Hence I wrote this in such a way that I think might be more accessible to a possibly wider audience. I admit this is experimental.
As for the revisions you suggested, I am very grateful. I added an opening which discusses the purpose and scope of the paper and then throughout sought to insert clearer markers for the reader's benefit. I also added quite a few scholarly resources and "tightened up" the writing in many areas. I did a thorough re-reading and editing of the entire piece. I think life-affirmation is an important topic, and I think Judaism has something very beneficial to offer the contemporary person conceptually towards this end, whatever one makes of the ritual and community aspects. I hope that my work can be taken as a comment on this; something perhaps of interest, perhaps useful.
With my great thanks again, and with best wishes.
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
no author specific comments.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your time.
