Torah Through Time

by Shai Cherry

Publisher:

Jewish Publication Society

, 2007

Overview

Every commentator, from the classical rabbi to the modern-day scholar, has brought his or her own worldview, with all of its assumptions, to bear on the reading of holy text. This relationship between the text itself and the reader's interpretation is the subject of Torah Through Time. Shai Cherry traces the development of Jewish Bible commentary through three pivotal periods in Jewish history: the rabbinic, medieval, and modern periods. The result is a fascinating and accessible guide to how some of the world's leading Jewish commentators read the Bible.

Torah Through Time focuses on specific narrative sections of the Torah: the creation of humanity, the rivalry between Cain and Abel, Korah's rebellion, the claim of the daughters of Zelophechad, and legal matters concerning Hebrew slavery. Cherry closely examines several different commentaries for each of these source texts, and in so doing he analyzes how each commentator resolves questions raised by the texts and asks if and how the commentator's own historical frame of reference — his own time and place — contributes to the resolution. A chart at the end of each chapter provides a visual summary that helps the reader understand the many different elements at play.

Key Features

• An illuminating forward to Studies In Biblical Interpretation by A.M. Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages Jeffrey H. Tigay
• Twenty-seven essays written by renowned Biblical scholar Nahum M. Sarna
• A bibliography of the published writings of Nahum M. Sarna
• How the Bible became the “Bible,” its origins, content and organization
• A history of Bible translations and how they differ
• A look into popular methods of Bible study
• A look at Jewish Bible commentary through three pivotal periods in Jewish history: the rabbinic, medieval and modern periods.
• An encyclopedia of every person in the Hebrew Bible

Contents

Top Highlights

“The Hebrew Bible, as academics teach it, is a composite text by multiple authors of the ancient Near East. To understand the Hebrew Bible in its original context, one must have familiarity with other ancient Near Eastern narratives and legal texts. It is a time-bound text. The Torah, however, is what the Rabbis believe to be the timeless word of God.⁴ Torah is a Jewish reading of the Hebrew Bible.” (Page 1)

“Act from love’ is our first comment.²⁹ We are to demonstrate our love for God by performing the Divine commandments from love rather than fear. Grammatically, what the Rabbis have done here is interpret love not as a verb, but as an adverb. We are to act lovingly.” (Page 17)

“For the Rabbis, the peshat of a verse was its generally accepted meaning. Peshat can mean unadorned or stripped down, but it can also mean spread out, as in something that is commonly understood.” (Pages 17–18)

“The process of interpreting the Torah is influenced by how one understands the nature of Hebrew.” (Page 10)

“To most people, the Hebrew Bible is an impenetrable book.” (Page ix)

Praise for the Print Edition

Cherry shows how the Torah functions as literature that is fluid, compelling, and persistently generative of new meanings.

—Christian Century

Product Details

• Title: Torah Through Time
• Author: Shai Cherry
• Publisher: JPS
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 208

About Shai Cherry

Shai Cherry is a lecturer in Jewish Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and at American Jewish University, where he teaches Judaism, Darwinism, and Jewish Biblical Commentary. He holds a B. A. (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Claremont McKenna College, and received his Ph. D. in Jewish Thought from Brandeis University. As Dr. Cherry pursued his doctorate, he served as family educator at a Reform temple in the Boston area and taught Rabbinics and Modern Jewish Thought at Hebrew College. He taught Jewish Thought at Vanderbilt from 2001–2005. He is also studying for rabbinic ordination at the Ziegler School for Rabbinic Studies. Professor Cherry has received several awards for his work in community education and continues to teach across the United States and in Israel.