Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship

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Oral Torah

תורה שבעל פה, Torah sheba'al peh

Anchored in the Authority of Sinai

“Who controls the past controls the future.” – George Orwell, 1984

Dr.

Kevin Mattison

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Can the Torah Be a Moral Authority in Modern Times?

The Torah is often used to highlight various ethical values while its many ethically problematic commandments are ignored or explained away. Is there a way to treat the Torah as a moral authority while honestly confronting the ethical issues it raises?

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Prophecy and Legislation After Moses

Deuteronomy promises the Israelites that God will continue sending prophets “like Moses.” But if the Torah’s legislation cannot be adjusted, what is the role of later prophets? And how can all the changes to Torah law made by the rabbis be justified?

Prof.

Kenneth Seeskin

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Finding Our Portion of True Torah

Prof. Rabbi

Rachel Adler

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Six Criteria that Inform a True Torah

Dr. Rabbi

Marc D. Angel

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Torah Thoughts, Rabbinic Mind, and Academic Freedom

Na’aseh Ve-Nishma

Prof.

Zev Garber

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Torah’s Dynamic Truth

Judy Klitsner

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Our People's Torah

Dr. Rabbi

Amy Eilberg

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The Cycle of Life and Torah: Accepting Our Mortality

Dr.

Moshe Lavee

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Theology, Not Biblical Studies

Dr.

Tova Ganzel

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Revelation and Authority: Author’s Response

Prof.

Benjamin D. Sommer

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Yelamdeinu Rabbeinu: The Exclusivity of the Oral Law

An ancient Yelamdeinu Rabbeinu homily connects the covenantal nature of the prohibition to write down the Oral Law, and recite the Written Torah orally, to a novel reading of Gen 18:17-19: God’s choice of Abraham and his descendants to be exclusive participants in God’s own mystery cult.

Dr.

Shayna Sheinfeld

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Moderating the Stark Truth of the Written Torah

Rabbi

David Bigman

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Trusting in the Process of Torah Mi-Sinai

Contemporary Jewish polemics use the term “Torah mi-Sinai” to mean a doctrinal belief in the Mosaic authorship of the Torah. The Sages, however, use the term differently, to claim that all of Torah, written and oral, including their very own words, come from Sinai. But is this claim meant to be taken literally?  

Rabbi

Yoseif Bloch

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Authority Needs Language

By erasing the boundaries between Written and Oral Torah, and removing any clear content from God’s revelation of law, Sommer undermines the concept of authoritative halakha that he wishes to refine.

Prof.

Sam Fleischacker

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In What Way Is Shavuot Zman Matan Torateinu?

No biblical text states that the Torah was given on Shavuot. What does it mean then that Shavuot is the “time of the giving of our Torah”?

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Ketzos Hachoshen “Truth and Torah in Human Hands”

Rabbi

Eric Grossman

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The Elusive Benefits of Objectionable and Outdated Texts

Tanakh as Beyond the Sum of Its Parts

Prof.

Tamar Ross

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