If All the Seas Were Ink is a celebration of learning - through literature - how to fall in love once again.
Ilana Kurshan is a graduate of Harvard and Cambridge. She has worked in literary publishing both in New York and in Jerusalem, as a translator and foreign rights agent and as the books editor of Lilith magazine. Her writing has appeared in Tablet, Lilith, Hadassah, The Forward, Kveller, The World Jewish Digest, Nashim, and The Jewish Week. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and four children.
"I have now read the book three times ... If All The Seas Were Ink
got me through a difficult year." -- Adam Lenson, Medium "Rich and
evocative.... By the end of Kurshan's enchanting and illuminating
memoir, we feel that we have come to know her as intimately as we
have come to know the Talmud." --Jonathan Kirsch, The Jewish
Journal "Piercingly intelligent...Riveting...What Kurshan has
produced is entirely novel."--The Times of Israel "It takes a
brilliant intellect to study the Talmud the way Kurshandoes...If
All the Seas Were Ink provides a true and clear exampleof text
study that benefits the soul as well as the mind."--The Christian
Century "An elegant, engaging and daunting tale of the many paths
of human passion...This delightful and deep story of life made me
feel as if Kurshan and I had several leisurely dinners together, or
had met regularly at a cafe." --Rochelle L. Millen, Hadassah
Magazine "Gripping." --JewishMediaReview "Kurshan... writes
beautifully about the complexities of love, loss, shame, growth and
the things that matter. .. For her, the ancient pages are alive
with ideas, and in them she finds both light and a new lightness of
spirit." --Sandee Brawarsky, The Jewish Week "Valuable for its
lessons, whether one is religious or not." --Southern Jewish Life
"[Kurshan] is a gorgeous writer, emotionally honest and
perceptive...She has written a beautiful and inspiring book. Both
religious and secular readers will find themselves immensely moved
by her personal story and the raw courage of the journey she has
undertaken." --Elaine Margolin, The Jerusalem Post "I am loving
this memoir...[Kurshan] writes like nobody's business." --Jeffrey
Salkin, Religion News Service "From the moment I picked up If All
the Seas Were Ink, I was not able to put it down...Highly
recommended... No background in Talmud is needed to appreciate
Kurshan's intriguing story. When you turn the last page, you will
walk away feeling talmudically enriched and already hoping for a
sequel." --Rabbi Judith Hauptman, Lilith Magazine "[A] magnificent
new memoir." --Forward "Kurshan's intellectual dexterity and
emotional vulnerability make this a gripping, smart read."
--Kveller "There is humor and heartbreak in these pages...Ms.
Kurshan immerses herself in the demands of daily Talmud study and
allows the words of ancient scholars to transform the patterns of
her own life." --The Wall Street Journal "Lyrical and erudite. ...
Kurshan's memoir gives us insightful contemporary readings of
talmudic passages while demonstrating how life can accrue added
richness when set against the backdrop of the Talmud." --Sarah
Rindner, Jewish Review of Books "[Kurshan] became one with the
Talmudic lessons, seeing them everywhere and applying them to being
a Jew and a mother in the modern era." --The JC "Engaging...a
compelling read, especially for--but certainly not limited
to--students of the Talmud." --The Jewish Exponent "Clever and
witty... Kurshan is a fabulous writer; her clarity and simplicity
propel you along almost unaware that you're reading...So engrossing
I hardly could put it down." --Neal Gendler, The American Jewish
World "Delightful...The most enjoyable feature of the book is the
brilliant and creative integration of the daily Talmudic folio
Kurshan studies with experiences of her life." --Jeffrey L.
Rubenstein, The Lehrhaus "What makes Kurshan's memoir unique is her
explication of the text...this is an introduction by someone who is
trying to live both with and in the text." --Beth Kissileff, Tablet
Magazine "Uniquely beautiful...an amazing feat." --The Jerusalem
Report "Intriguing." --Kirkus Reviews "The splendidly written book
is made all the more compelling by Kurshan's willingness to share
her vulnerabilities. .. This book was a great surprise to me, and
one of my favorites of the year." --Howard Freedman, The Jewish
News of Northern California "[A] brilliant, beautifully written,
sensitive, original new book." --Joanne Palmer, The Jewish Standard
"An important, interesting and often light-hearted book." --David
E.Y. Sarna, Jewish Link of New Jersey "Kurshan weaves together
intensive Talmud study with personal pain, work, spiritual seeking,
and literature." --NJ Jewish News "Kurshan committed herself to the
Daf Yomi...she reports on how this daily discipline brought humor
and wisdom and insight into her life." --Rabbi Jack Riemer "If All
The Seas Were Ink is a book about passion of many
varieties--romantic passion, religious passion, aesthetic passion,
but above all else, passion for knowledge. The word scholarship is
too tame to do justice to Kurshan's wild passion for the written
word, whether the word is found on a page of Talmud or in a sonnet
of Wordsworth. The blend of her loves makes for a rich and
fascinating life, which makes for a rich and fascinating book."
--Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Plato at the Googleplex:
Why Philosophy Won't Go Away "If All the Seas Were Ink is such a
moving memoir. Kurshan's portrait of everyday life in Jerusalem
enriches her recounting of connecting to centuries of intellectual
curiosity and conversing with bygone generations. How wonderful to
explore this great volume with such a sensitive and thoughtful
guide." --Susan Isaacs, author of Long Time No See
"In this deeply personal and often hilarious story, Kurshan shows
us how the Talmud's thousands of strange and demanding pages become
a conversation about how best to live one's life in an imperfect
world. Kurshan awakens us to our imperfect world's hidden
magnificence--and to the power of literature to inspire human
resilience. A stunning, gorgeous memoir." --Dara Horn, author of
The World to Come
"With this memoir, Ilana Kurshan enters the exclusive club of daf
yomi learners, a club that was, for generations, restricted to men.
Hers is a stunningly original voice in the world of Torah and the
world of literature. Go run and read this book." --Ruth Calderon,
author of A Bride for One Night "When a woman as incredibly
well-read as Ilana Kurshan commits herself to studying the Talmud
daily for seven-and-a-half years, the results are mind-expanding,
both for her and for readers of If All the Seas Were Ink. An
utterly original book." --Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Jewish
Literacy, Rebbe, and A Code of Jewish Ethics "An intimate and
eloquent portrait of a young woman's passionate loves and fears...
Kurshan writes as a woman of (as she puts it) 'Dickensonian
sensibilities: ' clinging to her privacy while exposing her
vulnerability, seeking the resonances between her mind, soul and
body, and revealing an acutely sensitive intelligence, a wry
self-awareness, and an active sense of the absurd." --Avivah
Zornberg, author of The Murmuring Deep "Kurshan's beautiful prose
weaves the trials and tribulations of her personal seven-year
journey together with the Talmud texts she's learning. I applaud,
and am awed, by this moving and remarkable memoir." --Maggie Anton,
author of Rashi's Daughters
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