Latest Essays
Is Modern Critical Study a Jewish Way of Studying Torah?
Is Modern Critical Study a Jewish Way of Studying Torah?
The works of medieval exegetes such as Maimonides, Rashbam and Ibn Ezra demonstrate that Judaism has a long-standing tradition of studying the Torah critically.
Tikkunei Zohar: Seventy Faces of Torah
Tikkunei Zohar: Seventy Faces of Torah
The Tikkunei Zohar, a kabbalistic work composed in 14th-century Spain, offers seventy interpretations of the Torah’s first word, bereshit. This article traces how: The understanding of the Torah as multivocal culminated in its formulation, “the Torah has seventy faces,” in the 12th-century Numbers Rabbah (Part 1). The Tikkunei Zohar saw this as a key theological principle and applied it programmatically (Part 2). R. Nathan Spira and Ramchal interpreted other words of Torah, and Rabbi Nachman of Breslov wrote his famous stories to prepare readers for the Torah’s seventy meanings (Part 3).
