Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship

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Judaism, Academic Scholarship

Why Should the Scientific Study of the Bible Matter to Us?

In a 1927 speech at the inauguration of the Hebrew University’s Institute for Jewish Studies, Dr. Rabbi Felix Perles called on Jewish scholars to be on the forefront of critical Bible study. He compares this effort to how Maimonides, even though he was accused of abrogating the Torah, incorporated philosophical study into Judaism.

Prof.

Marc Zvi Brettler

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Yehezkel Kaufmann: An Academic Defender of Israel’s Religious Spirit

Israelite religion developed from a revolutionary idea: monotheism. And religion alone, not external factors, accounted for the remarkable preservation of Jewish national identity and consciousness in exile.

Dr.

Aly Elrefaei

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Dovid Steinberg’s Ultra-Orthodox Agenda

TheTorah.com engages the Documentary and Supplementary Hypotheses, source, redaction, and textual criticism, and even offers moral critiques of Torah laws and narratives, but what is Steinberg really trying to accomplish?

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Who Wrote the Story of Noah, and When?

Clue: Seven pairs of kosher animals are brought to the ark so that Noah can sacrifice to YHWH after the flood.

Dr.

Lisbeth S. Fried

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Moshe Greenberg: A Spiritual Critical Bible Scholar

At the heart of the life and career of Moshe Greenberg, z”l, was a search for spiritual meaning through the scholarly study of the Bible.

Dr.

Alex Sinclair

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The Religious Value of Biblical Criticism: My Modern Orthodox Journey

I went from dismissing biblical criticism to embracing its truth, and having to rebuild my religious identity. Five aspects of my religious life have been profoundly enhanced.

Rabbi

Noam Shapiro

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Rejecting Biblical Criticism… And Then

Rabbi

Daniel Landes

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A Non-Bifurcated Engagement with Torah

Dr.

Andrew Rehfeld

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On the Relationship between Academic and Traditional Torah Study

Dr. Rabbi

Avital Hochstein

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The Torah is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts

Prof. Rabbi

Dalia Marx

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Biblical Criticism Is Not Science

Dr. Rabbi

Yoel Bin-Nun

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Children Should Be Taught the Myth that Torah Is from Sinai

Prof. Rabbi

Yossi Turner

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Biblical Literalism Makes Judaism a Withered Tree

Prof. Rabbi

Arthur Green

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The Torah Is a Record of a Divine-Human Encounter

Rabbi

Rick Jacobs

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God as an Author Is Akin to Idolatry

Dr. Rabbi

Haviva Ner-David

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Reconstructionism Reconciles Rationalism and Revelation

Dr. Rabbi

Deborah Waxman

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Is it Halakhically Permissible to Study Source Criticism?

Prof. Rabbi

David Golinkin

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How to Not Address Source Criticism

Dr. Rabbi

Adam Mintz

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Source Critics May Be Right, but the Torah Has the Power to Change the World

Dr. Rabbi

Shmuly Yanklowitz

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The Torah’s Essence Does Not Lie in Its Origin

Prof. Rabbi

Shaul Magid

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Torah is from Heaven, Don’t Confuse Mechanics with Philosophy

Dr. Rabbi

Bradley Shavit Artson

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Seek Meaning, and You Shall Find

Prof.

Edward L. Greenstein

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My Abandoned Quest to Integrate Orthodoxy and Biblical Criticism

When I encountered TheTorah.com, I experienced a moment of déjà vu. In the early 1970s, I majored in Bible at Yeshiva University and spent my junior year abroad in Jerusalem studying with Hebrew University Bible professors. My goal was to grapple with questions of Pentateuchal criticism in a way that would be meaningful and beneficial for an Orthodox Jew. But then I dropped it. Here is my story.

Dr. Rabbi

Natan Ophir (Offenbacher)

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The Bible Is a Book of Questions, Not Answers

Prof.

​Francis Landy

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Having Our Bible and Criticizing It Too

Prof.

James Kugel

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The Bible, an “Axe for the Frozen Sea Inside Me”

Prof. Rabbi

Rachel Adelman

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Conflict? What Conflict? Religious Tradition and Biblical Criticism

Prof.

Benjamin D. Sommer

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Tanakh and My Search for Jewish Identity

Prof.

Carl S. Ehrlich

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Kiyyum Mitzvot and Biblical Criticism: Holding On to the One Without Letting Go of the Other (Eccl. 7:18)

Prof.

Baruch J. Schwartz

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From “Kosher Cop” to Academic Bible Scholar

Prof.

Marc Zvi Brettler

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A Conduit to the Divine That Enriches Our Lives

Dr. Rabbi

Jeremy Rosen

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Biblical Authority: A Jewish Pluralistic View

Prof.

Marc Zvi Brettler

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How Can a Torah Commentary Be Source-Critical and Jewish?

Prof.

Baruch J. Schwartz

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The Benefits of Studying Torah with Modern Biblical Scholarship

Staff Editors

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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.

Prof. Rabbi

Marty Lockshin

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The Multifaceted Revelation at Sinai

Prof.

Marc Zvi Brettler

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Sacred Mountains: Connecting the Revelation at Horeb and the Aqedah

Traditional and Critical Approaches

Prof.

Richard Elliott Friedman

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“Who Wrote the Bible?” Challenged My Conservative Jewish Education

A single semester in college led to a crisis of faith and identity.

Lisa Jacobs

God Doesn’t Come Down to Earth Lower than Ten

“The heavens are the heavens for YHWH, and the earth was given to humankind.” — Psalm 115:16. Reflections on the 10-year anniversary of TheTorah.com.

Rabbi

David D. Steinberg

Embracing the Tension between Traditional and Critical Scholarship

Exposing readers to modern critical scholarship and traditional Jewish commentary, not treating them as mutually exclusive, is one of TheTorah.com’s most significant contributions.

Prof. Rabbi

Marty Lockshin

In the Footsteps of Yaʿabetz

Like the biblical Yaʿabetz, as interpreted by the rabbis, TheTorah.com gives wise and compassionate counsel while spreading Torah far and wide.

Dr. Hacham

Isaac S. D. Sassoon

“It Is a Time to Act for the Lord, They Make Void Your Torah”

It takes courage to stand up for truth in the face of dismissal.

Dr. Rabbi

Jeremy Rosen

You Don’t Have to Check Your Brains at the Door

One of modern Judaism’s primary challenges is the lack of educated Jews. TheTorah.com plays a vital role in addressing this issue and making substantial strides toward a solution.

Prof. Rabbi

Tamara Cohn Eskenazi

Renewing the Torah’s Authority

It is time to cut the shackles of encrusted conventions that anchor the Torah in a previous civilization, and that threaten to drag it down to oblivion.

Dr. Rabbi

Irving (Yitz) Greenberg

Pursuing Truth: Our Responsibility Beyond Orthodox Identity

Every age offers examples of the tension between those who welcome new insights and those who uncritically repeat and elaborate on outworn models.

Dr. Rabbi

Norman Solomon

Torah for an Interconnected and Changing World

A Shavuot tribute to TheTorah.com on its 8th anniversary (and my 88th birthday).

Dr. Rabbi

Norman Solomon

A Religious Archaeologist: Ten Questions with Dr. Hayah Katz

On Pottery, Religious Faith, and the Challenges for Women in Archaeology

Dr.

Hayah Katz