Engaging Torah

In this volume of essays, eminent Jewish scholars from around the world present introductions to the different parts of the Bible for the wider public. The essays encompass a general introduction to the Torah in Jewish life, and include specific essays on each of the Five Books of Moses, as well as on the Haftarot, Neviim, and Ketuvim. The contributions provide an overview of the core content of each book as well as highlight central themes and the reception and relevance of these themes in Jewish life and culture past and present. These essays, informed by and based on the profound academic research of their authors, together provide an invaluable bridge between high-level academic insight and the study of the Bible both in synagogues and in homes.

One of the cornerstones of the religious Jewish experience in all its variations is Torah study, and this learning is considered a central criterion for leadership. Jewish Women’s Torah Study addresses the question of women's integration in the halachic-religious system at this pivotal intersection. The contemporary debate regarding women’s Torah study first emerged in the second half of the 19th century. As women’s status in general society changed, offering increased legal rights and opportunities for education, a debate on the need to change women’s participation in Torah study emerged. Orthodoxy was faced with the question: which parts, if any, of modernity should be integrated into Halacha? Exemplifying the entire array of Orthodox responses to modernity, this book is a valuable addition to the scholarship of Judaism in the modern era and will be of interest to students and scholars of Religion, Gender Studies and Jewish Studies.

The writings of Rav Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (RABASH), the firstborn son and successor of Rav Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), author of the Sulam (Ladder) commentary on The Book of Zohar, provide us with insights that connect the wisdom of Kabbalah to our human experience. These books disclose the profound knowledge of human nature that the RABASH possessed, and take us on a journey to our own souls. As we absorb the texts, we find that Kabbalah is not some cryptic occultism, but a time-tested method to understand ourselves and improve our lives and the world around us.

A study of the life and work of 'the Maggid"—a major figure in the mystical thought of early Hasidism Enshrined in Jewish memory simply as "the Maggid" (preacher), Rabbi Dov Ber Friedman of Mezritsh (1704-1772) played a critical role in the formation of Hasidism, the movement of mystical renewal that became one of the most important and successful forces in modern Jewish life. In Speaking Infinities, Ariel Evan Mayse turns to the homilies of the Maggid to explore the place of words in mystical experience. He argues that the Maggid's theory of language is the key to unpacking his abstract mystical theology as well as his teachings on the devotional life and religious practice. Mayse shows how Dov Ber's vision of language emerges from his encounters with Ba'al Shem Tov (the BeSHT), the founder of Hasidic Judaism, whose teaching put forward a vision of radical divine immanence. Taking the BeSHT's notion of God's immanence as a kind of linguistic vitality echoing in the cosmos, Dov Ber developed a theory of language in which all human tongues, even in their mundane forms, have the potential to become sacred when returned to their divine source. Analyzing homilies and theological meditations on language, Mayse demonstrates that Dov Ber was an innovative thinker and contends that, in many respects, it was Dov Ber, rather than the BeSHT, who was the true founder of Hasidism as it took root, and the foremost shaper of its early theology. Speaking Infinities offers an exploration of this introspective mystic's life, gleaned from scattered anecdotes, legends, and historical sources, distinguishing the historical personage from the figure that emerges from the composite array of textual and oral traditions that have shaped the memory of the Maggid and his legacy.

This extensively revised third edition, now compatible with Mishkan T'filah, offers many voices and unique, contemporary perspectives on our siddur, the order of the service, and the meaning of individual prayers. It reflects on the ways in which our prayer practices continue to evolve. This is an essential educational resource and is indispensable for bar/bat mitzvah and confirmation preparation, as well as for Introduction to Judaism courses and general adult education. "This timely and creative update of a timeless commentary will inspire a new generation of teachers and learners to explore their own expression of Jewish prayer. The rabbinic source materials, contemporary readings, poetry, and probing questions all come together in a seamless whole that serves to open the heart to ever deeper meaning and possibility in our sacred liturgy." - Rabbi Dr. Lisa Grant, Director of the Rabbinical Program, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York "As a young Jewish educator fresh out of graduate school, I turned to the original edition of this book to teach my b'nei mitzvah students. I have come back to it over the decades for the thoughtful commentary and context it has given me as a teacher and teacher of teachers. As the foreword notes, Rabbi Harvey Fields, a consummate gardener, understood the need to prune a vine to encourage new growth. This new edition showcases that new growth yet continues to provide both the ease and depth that have always made it a "go to" on my bookshelf. The updated explanations, references, and questions reflect Mishkan T'filah's fresh approach to prayer. In short, B'chol L'vavcha is a stunning tribute to Rabbi Fields as well as to those who have come after him to encourage our Movement's evolving relationship to worship. Every page I turned inspired a new idea for a lesson, activity, or wondering I could share with my b'nei mitzvah tutors, religious school students, families, and adult learners. And personally, it sparked a renewal of my own belief in the power of prayer to come from my heart and to fill all of my heart." - Dr. Katherine Schwartz, President, Association of Reform Jewish Educators

Letters of Light is a translation of over ninety passages from a well-known Hasidic text, Ma'or va-shemesh, consisting of homilies of Kalonymus Kalman Epstein of Krakow, together with a running commentary and analysis by Aryeh Wineman. With remarkable creativity, the Krakow preacher recast biblical episodes and texts through the prism both of the pietistic values of Hasidism, with its accent on the inner life and the Divine innerness of all existence, and of his ongoing wrestling with questions of the primacy of the individual vis-a-vis that of the community. The commentary traces the route leading from the Torah-text itself through various later sources to the Krakow preacher's own reading of the biblical text, one that often transforms the very tenor of the text he was expounding. Though composed almost two centuries ago, Ma'or va-Shemesh comprises an impressive spiritual statement, many parts of which can speak to our own time and its spiritual strivings.

The Torahs Seventy Faces: Commentaries on the Weekly Sidrah Compiled by Simcha Raz Edited with an Introduction by Dov Peretz Elkins The weekly Torah portions have served throughout history as a treasure for teaching and preaching, for law and lore, for discussion and dialog. In each portion, one finds viewpoints and background which elevate the soul, give a sense of awe and wonder, spark encouragement in times of crisis, and motivate creativity and human action. It is no wonder that, over the course of generations, wells of wisdom have sprung from the depths of these weekly lections, from which we can sustain our spirit and slake our thirst, each person according to need and temperament. Pearls of wisdom, ethical lessons, parables, wise proverbs, and tales of parents and children: it is all there. * Our task in this collection of commentaries was to assemble a selection of these treasures, and to present to the reader choice nuggets from these hewn stones. Among the selections are sources from ancient rabbis, Talmudic scholars, and masters of the Midrash, as well as teachers from all periods of our history biblical commentators, Hasidic saints, pious educators and purveyors of ethical tales. The commentaries touch on a plethora of subjects, including relations among people, with our Maker, and with ourselves. In all this, we come to know that our holy Torah has never known boundaries. In every generation, the "people of the book" invested their thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs, recognizing that within these chapters of the Torah are embedded not only pathways that reach to the distant past, but also forms of expression for the harried present and for dreams of the future. (From the Preface)

The issue of Judaism's relationship to secular learning and wisdom is one of the most basic concerns of Jewish intellectual history. The authors collected in this study discuss both sides of the issue and collectively offer an eloquent and convincing case for the perpetuation of Judaism's dialogue with the 'outside' world.