Stringing the Pearls

by Diamond, James S.

• ISBN13: 9780827608689
• ISBN10: 0827608683
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-03-01
• Publisher: Jewish Pubn Society

Summary

Diamond, a consummate teacher of the Bible, provides a clear and simple (but not simplistic) method for reading and understanding the weekly Torah portions. This is a how-to book, not an interpretive one. It is not a commentary on each week's reading, but rather an "instruction manual" on how each of us can read and interpret for ourselves the 54 Torah portions of the year. Diamond provides a set of structured guidelines to the readings, and then he leads us through one Torah portion from each of the five biblical books to give us examples of how we can continue the "stringing" process on our own. He concludes with a personal guide to recommended Bible commentaries so readers can engage in further study if they choose. Stringing the Pearls is intended for all who would like to reach a greater personal understanding of the Torah, no matter what their biblical knowledge.

Author Biography

James S. Diamond teaches in the Program in Judaic Studies at Princeton University.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
How to Read This Book	p. xv
A Note to the Christian Reader	p. xix
What Is What: Some Basic Terms	p. xxi
Preliminaries: What Are We Talking About?	p. 1
Starting Points	p. 2
The Weekly Torah Portion: What Is a Parashah?	p. 9
What Is the Tanakh?	p. 19
Bible and Torah: What Is the Difference?	p. 25
Reading and Hearing	p. 29
On Reading	p. 30
Reading the Humash	p. 40
On Hearing	p. 42
Hearing the Humash	p. 45
Some Major Approaches to Reading a Parashah	p. 59
Modern Historical-Critical Approaches	p. 62
Premodern Ahistorical Approaches	p. 81
Existential Readings	p. 100
How to Read a Weekly Torah Portion	p. 105
Which Humash to Use?	p. 107
Reading a Parashah: A Four-Step Process	p. 113
What to Look for in a Parashah	p. 120
The Fourth Step	p. 126
Navigating the Parshiyot	p. 130
Commentaries: A Concise Guide	p. 179
Humash Commentaries	p. 183
Other Historical-Critical Commentaries: The Anchor Bible Series	p. 189
The Great Medieval Commentaries	p. 191
Synthetic Commentaries	p. 197
Midrash	p. 199
Women's Commentaries	p. 202
Web Resources	p. 205
Afterthoughts	p. 207
Notes	p. 211
Works Cited	p. 227
Index	p. 231
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