Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship

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Torah Min HaShamayim

“Torah from Heaven” – the divinity of the text

An Evolving Torah from an Evolving God

Process Theology posits that God is not a static Being but evolves along with the universe and human action. Our ancestors saw the divine light in the Torah, which we can reclaim by continuing reinterpretation.

Dr. Rabbi

Bradley Shavit Artson

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Torah, Historically Not from Sinai, Can Still Be from Heaven

Prof.

Edward L. Greenstein

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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 Literalism Makes Judaism a Withered Tree

Prof. Rabbi

Arthur Green

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

Dr. Rabbi

Bradley Shavit Artson

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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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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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Louis Jacobs: We Have Reason to Believe

Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs, voted “the greatest British Jew,” is best-known for his 1957 book that denied traditional notions of Torah min HaShamayim, the divine origin of the Torah. The resulting controversy still reverberates today.

Prof.

Marc Zvi Brettler

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Prof.

Edward Breuer

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Biblical Criticism: A Common-Sense Approach to the Bible

Applying our critical faculties to study the Bible, asking questions about its origin, context, and genre.

Prof.

John Barton

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The Dictation Model of Torah Revelation

Rabbi

David Bigman

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Is the Divine Origin of the Torah Really Incompatible with Maimonides’ Philosophical Principles?

Some contemporary scholars have argued that Maimonides only meant to claim for the masses that God revealed to Moses the Torah as we have it today, that he himself could not have accepted the Divine authorship of Torah since it is incompatible with his philosophical principles. Yet, a correct understanding of Maimonides yields no such incompatibility, and, indeed, there is to no reason not to take him at his word.

Prof.

Charles H. Manekin

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“Torah Is from Heaven!” What Do We Really Mean?

Statements that express our feelings are often confused with factual assertions.

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Is the "As If" Approach Sufficient to Maintain Firm Religious Commitment?

Prof.

Tamar Ross

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Torah from Heaven: Redefining the Question

Many Orthodox Jews believe that God composed the Torah, and feel no need to inquire further. Nevertheless, it does occurs to me to inquire further, and find a respectful answer to the question of how people, including myself, come to this belief. An honest question beats a dishonest answer, even if the dishonest answer produces much more comfort.

Dr. Rabbi

Eliezer Finkelman

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Torah from Heaven: A Question of Evidence or Loyalty?

What role does evidence play in believing that Torah is the revelation of God?

Dr. Rabbi

Eliezer Finkelman

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The Challenges of Ancient Near Eastern Antecedents to the Torah

Thoughts on Torah Min HaShamayim

Dr. Rabbi

Michael Harris

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Were Maimonides and Some of His Followers Orthoprax?

Debate over Maimonides’ orthodoxy already began in his lifetime, but for the contemporary believer, the stakes are especially high.

Prof.

Haim (Howard) Kreisel

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Channeling the Divine

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Current Approaches to Revelation and Torah

Staff Editors

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Relating Truthfully to Morally Problematic Torah Texts

Morally problematic halachot remain on the books despite rabbinic attempts to transform or reinterpret them. How do we relate to these texts as Torah from Sinai, coming from God?

Dr. Rabbi

Norman Solomon

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In What Sense Did Orthodoxy Believe the Torah to be Divine?

Decades before Facebook, blogs, and the Internet, at a time Orthodoxy was trying to distinguish itself from the Conservative movement, ten Orthodox thinkers responded to the question of what the divine revelation of the Torah meant in Orthodox Judaism. Did they meet the challenge of Biblical Criticism?

Dr. Rabbi

Lawrence Grossman

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Torah Min HaShamayim: Conflicts Between Religious Belief and Scientific Thinking

Dr.

Daniel Jackson

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A Microcosm of an Imperfect Bible

Dr. Rabbi

Norman Solomon

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Torah from Heaven: A Guide to the Four Questions

According to tradition, must we believe that the Torah is: Historical? Mosaic? Univocal? Perfect?

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Myth of Origin and Narrative Theology: Rabbi Norman Solomon

Prof.

Tamar Ross

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Modern Faith in Sinai

Notwithstanding modern day biblical critical and historical critical claims, applying the tools of contemporary philosophy demonstrates how room still exists to have faith that something extraordinary happened to our ancestors and that this event had a permanent effect on the development of Torah and Judaism.

Dr. Rabbi

Samuel Lebens

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Knowing My Beloved: Rebuilding My Path to Torah with Critical Scholarship

My relationship with Torah began with the romance of mysticism but then gave way to skepticism and disillusionment. To my surprise, it was academic scholarship of the Torah that brought back the spark and helped foster a deeper, more mature relationship.

David Bar-Cohn

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

Prof.

Baruch J. Schwartz

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Heterodox Responses

Prof.

Tamar Ross

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Torah Is Not “Only” a Human Creation

Rabbi

David Wolpe

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Torah MiSinai and Biblical Criticism: Rising to the Full Challenge

Dr. Rabbi

Jeremy Rosen

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Meeting the Challenge of Critical Scholarship with Leviticus

Dr. Rabbi

Irving (Yitz) Greenberg

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Accepting the Torah through the Prism of Chaos Theory

Illustrating four aspects of Shavuot from critical and traditional perspectives.

Dr. Rabbi

Jeremy Rosen

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Can Orthodox Education Survive Biblical Criticism?

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Marrying Your Daughter to Her Rapist

Are the Torah’s laws perfect or do they reflect biblical times and can adapt as society develops? The punishment of a rapist is a good test case for thinking about morally problematic biblical laws.

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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