Essential Torah A Complete Guide to the Five Books of Moses

by ROBINSON, GEORGE

• ISBN13: 9780805241860
• ISBN10: 0805241868
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-31
• Publisher: Schocken

Summary

Whether you are thinking about studying the Bible for the first time or you're simply curious about its history and contents, you will find everything you need in Essential Torah. George Robinson, author of the acclaimedEssential Judaism, begins by recounting the various theories of the origins of the Torah and goes on to explain its importance as the core element in Jewish belief and practice. He discusses the basics of Jewish theology and Jewish history as they are derived from the Torah, and he outlines how the Dead Sea Scrolls and other archaeological discoveries have enhanced our understanding of the Bible. He introduces us to the vast literature of biblical commentary, chronicles the evolution of the Torah's place in the synagogue service, offers an illuminating discussion of women and the Bible, and provides a study guide as a companion for individual or group Bible study. In the book's centerpiece, Robinson summarizes all fifty-four portions that make up the Torah and gives us a brilliant distillation of two thousand years of biblical commentariesfrom the rabbis of the Mishnah and the Talmud to medieval commentators such as Rashi, Maimonides, and ibn Ezra to contemporary scholars such as Nahum Sarna, Nechama Leibowitz, Robert Alter, and Everett Fox. This extraordinary volumewhich includes a listing of the Torah reading cycles, a Bible time line, glossaries of terms and biblical commentators, and a bibliographywill stand as the essential sourcebook on the Torah for years to come. From the Hardcover edition.

Author Biography

George Robinson is the author of Essential Judaism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs, and Rituals. He is the film critic for the New York Jewish Week and is a contributor to the forthcoming revised edition of the Encyclopaedia Judaica. His writing appears frequently in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Newsday. He has received the Simon Rockower Award for excellence in Jewish journalism from the American Jewish Press Association. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	xvii
A Note to the Reader	xxi
1. A Tree of Life...: The Torah in Practice	3	(53)
What Is the Torah?	4	(5)
The Torah Scroll	9	(13)
Seder K'riat Ha'Torah/Service for the Reading of the Torah	22	(22)
How Seder K'riat Ha'Torah Evolved	44	(12)
2. More Than History, More Than Law: An Overview of the Torah	56	(40)
Stories and Meanings	58	(1)
In the Beginning, God	59	(8)
In Search of the Miraculous	67	(1)
In the Image of God	68	(5)
Exile	73	(1)
The Covenant(s)	74	(5)
The Mitzvot	79	(3)
From One Man to a Family, From a Family to Twelve Tribes	82	(1)
From Rabble in Arms to a Nation of Priests	83	(2)
How the Story Is Told	85	(7)
The Torah as Legal Document	92	(4)
3. Black Fire on White Fire: The Writing of the Torah	96	(39)
The Traditional View	97	(2)
Cracks in the Facade	99	(3)
Evolution of an Alternative Theory	102	(2)
The Documentary Hypothesis	104	(2)
History Lessons	106	(3)
Enter J and E	109	(2)
History Lessons Continued	111	(2)
Enter D	113	(2)
Exile, Remorse, Return	115	(2)
And Finally P	117	(3)
The Redactor	120	(1)
Reactions to the Documentary Hypothesis	121	(2)
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Case for Higher Criticism	123	(4)
Alternatives to the Documentary Hypothesis	127	(8)
4. The Rest Is Commentary: Interpreting the Torah	135	(55)
Oral and Written Torah Revisited	137	(3)
Halakhah vs. Aggadah	140	(1)
Following the Thread of Halakhah	141	(1)
Mishnah	142	(5)
Laying Down the Law	147	(2)
Thinking in Code(s)	149	(4)
Halakhah in Changing Times	153	(2)
Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Torah	155	(3)
Four Gates into the Paradise of Aggadah	158	(4)
The View from the Bimah	162	(2)
Midrashim in Three Keys	164	(1)
Your Brother's Blood	165	(1)
The Golden Age of Bible Commentary	166	(9)
The Mystical Strain	175	(3)
Torah + Science	178	(5)
Modernity Confronts Scripture	183	(7)
5. Hearing Silenced Voices: Women and the Torah	190	(32)
(At Least) Two Kinds of Reading	192	(3)
God Herself	195	(4)
The Mother of Us All	199	(6)
Law of the Fathers	205	(4)
Women in the Rabbinic Literature	209	(4)
The Battle for Women's Prayer and Study	213	(9)
6. Troubling Texts	222	(29)
Texts of Terror	223	(3)
Bridging the Gap	226	(5)
The Final and Most Terrible Test	231	(6)
Three Ways of Looking at a Near Tragedy	237	(6)
Can a Queer Jew Get Justice from the Judge of the World?	243	(8)
7. Now Go and Study . . . : How to Study Torah	251	(30)
"Find Yourself a Partner"	252	(3)
Hebrew and English	255	(6)
Choosing Commentaries	261	(3)
One Week at a Time	264	(2)
Why Study Torah?	266	(15)
8. Every Week, Fifty-four Weeks a Year: An Introduction to the Parashiyot	281	(266)
Sefer Bereishit/The Book of Genesis	282	(62)
Sefer Shemot/The Book of Exodus	344	(55)
Sefer Vayikra/The Book of Leviticus	399	(47)
Sefer B'midbar/The Book of Numbers	446	(49)
Sefer Devarim/The Book of Deuteronomy	495	(52)
Appendix 1: Torah and History	547	(4)
Appendix 2: A Timeline of Major Torah-Related Events	551	(6)
Glossary of Torah Commentators	557	(6)
Glossary of Terms	563	(16)
Bibliography	579