There’s a new Bible on the market, and while it doesn’t have the awesome JPS translation going for it, it does have glossy pictures of celebrities, including the always enticing Angelina Jolie. The new Bible, called Bible Illuminated, so far only comes in a New Testament edition, and is being produced by advertising executive Dan Söderberg. Söderberg eliminated chapter headings and verses, and added sidebars, coverlines, subheads and pull quotes. In Sweden, Bible Illuminated was released in two volumes, and “expanded that mostly secular nation’s Bible sales by 50 percent.”
So be honest—would you be more likely to pick up the New Testament if it had Angelina Jolie on the Cover? And who should be coverboy Moses for the Old Testament edition? Would you go to shul more often if Orlando Bloom was on the cover of the Etz Hayyim?
shul
Pronounced: shool (oo as in cool), Origin: Yiddish, synagogue.