Studies in the Weekly Parashah

Studies in the Weekly Parashah

Author: Moshe Sokolow

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13:

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This volume contains studies on the weekly Torah portion (parashah/sidrah) evoking the memorable and influential style of Nehama Leibowitz. Using lesser-known published works by Nehama and notes of her private lessons, Moshe Sokolow elucidates the text and its classic commentaries in a manner that engages readers, making them active participants in Torah study.


Covenant and Conversation

Covenant and Conversation

Author: Jonathan Sacks

Publisher: Maggid

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781592640218

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In this second volume of his long-anticipated five-volume collection of parashat hashavua commentaries, Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks explores these intersections as they relate to universal concerns of freedom, love, responsibility, identity, and destiny. Chief Rabbi Sacks fuses Jewish tradition, Western philosophy, and literature to present a highly developed understanding of the human condition under Gods sovereignty. Erudite and eloquent, Covenant Conversation allows us to experience Chief Rabbi Sacks sophisticated approach to life lived in an ongoing dialogue with the Torah.


Stringing the Pearls

Stringing the Pearls

Author: James S. Diamond

Publisher: Jewish Publication Society

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0827610343

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The "how-to" book for Torah study


The Person in the Parasha

The Person in the Parasha

Author: Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb

Publisher: Maggid

Published: 2016-10-01

Total Pages: 648

ISBN-13: 9781592644629

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The Person in the Parasha, Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb's compilation of essays based on his highly popular column of the same name, offers the unique point of view of a world-renowned Torah scholar, community rabbi, and clinical psychotherapist. Each essay begins with an interesting anecdote which the author then connects to a central theme in the parasha, and wraps up with a profound message of inspiration and wisdom for life and spiritual growth. The Person in the Parasha offers a creative and original look at each of the weekly Torah readings, addressing a wide spectrum of human emotions and topics - optimism, grief, integrity, bullying, conformity, envy, aging, parenting, and much more. In this work, Rabbi Weinreb brings the biblical personalities to life, focusing on what motivates them and how we can best emulate their positive traits in our own lives. Rabbi Weinreb offers guidance for daily life its challenges, struggles, and joys alike.


A Year with the Sages

A Year with the Sages

Author: Reuven Hammer

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 2019-01-01

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 0827617895

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A Year with the Sages uniquely relates the Sages' understanding of each Torah portion to everyday life. The importance of these teachings cannot be overstated. The Sages, who lived during the period from the fifth century BCE to the fifth century CE, considered themselves to have inherited the oral teachings God transmitted to Moses, along with the mandate to interpret them to each subsequent generation. Just as the Torah and the entire Hebrew Bible are the foundations of Judaism, the Sages' teachings form the structures of Jewish belief and practice built on that foundation. Many of these teachings revolve around core concepts such as God's justice, God's love, Torah, Israel, humility, honesty, loving-kindness, reverence, prayer, and repentance. You are invited to spend a year with the inspiring ideas of the Sages through their reflections on the fifty-four weekly Torah portions and the eleven Jewish holidays. Quoting from the week's Torah portion, Rabbi Reuven Hammer presents a Torah commentary, selections from the Sages that chronicle their process of interpreting the text, a commentary that elucidates these concepts and their consequences, and a personal reflection that illumines the Sages' enduring wisdom for our era.


Studying the Torah

Studying the Torah

Author: Avigdor Bonchek

Publisher: Jason Aronson, Incorporated

Published: 1997-04-01

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1461630819

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The traditional Jew has always accepted the study of Torah as central to his or her way of life. But without the ability to effectively analyze and interpret the text, one misses the opportunity to gain a deep and authentic appreciation of the Torah's beauty and profundity. In Studying the Torah: A Guide to In-Depth Interpretation, Avigdor Bonchek equips the reader with the proper analytic methods to make reading the Bible both a serious pursuit and a pleasurable pastime. In order for the reader of the Torah text to delve into its veiled, but ultimately visible, layered messages, he or she must first learn the appropriate interpretive techniques. These skills are the same as those used by the classic Jewish Torah commentators (Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, and others), all of whom were experts in what scholars today refer to as a "close reading" of the text. Among the "Keys to Interpretation" discussed in this book are the significance of word order, opening sentences, repetitions, word associations, psychological dimensions, and similarities and differences between texts. Each key is illustrated by several examples that offer fresh insight into otherwise familiar text, and the author offers his own original and comprehensive in-depth interpretation of two central biblical stories: the story of Joseph and the ten plagues.


Unlocking the Torah Text Set

Unlocking the Torah Text Set

Author: Shmuel Goldin

Publisher:

Published: 2014-11

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789652296481

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Unlocking the Torah Text provides an in-depth journey into the Torah portion through a series of studies on each parsha. Each study opens with a brief summary of the narrative and then presents probing questions designed to strike to the core of the text. These questions are addressed through a review of traditional commentaries spanning the ages, combined with original approaches. Deep philosophical issues and perplexing textual questions are carefully examined and discussed in clear and incisive fashion. The actions and motivations of the patriarchs, matriarchs and other biblical figures are probed with an eye towards determining the lessons to be learned from the lives of these great personalities. Clear distinction is made between pshat (straightforward literal meaning) and Midrash (rabbinical exegesis) as both of these approaches to biblical text are carefully defined and applied. Finally, thought-provoking connections are raised between the eternal Torah narrative and critical issues of our time. Each study is thus constructed to encourage continued discussion and study of the Torah narrative.


Parshah Themes in Historical Perspective

Parshah Themes in Historical Perspective

Author: Rabbi Evan Hoffman

Publisher:

Published: 2021-03-28

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9789657023402

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Parashah Themes in Historical Perspective is a two-volume collection of Rabbi Evan Hoffman's essays, arranged according to the annual Torah reading cycle. For each essay, a biblical verse or passage serves as the point of departure for an exploration of broader themes in the history of the Jewish people or the evolution of Jewish thought and practice. Classical rabbinic texts as well as external and non-canonical sources are examined in a spirit of free inquiry. The author seeks to understand the historical context in which the sages and early exegetes offered their respective interpretations. For the layman accustomed to exclusively traditional methods of interpretation, these essays offer entrée to the realm of academic Jewish studies. Scholars, too, will benefit from those essays in which the author breaks new ground. For anyone who has wondered how certain Jewish customs came to assume their current forms, or how other biblical rites ceased altogether to be operative in contemporary Judaism, this work will be of particular interest.