Covenant & Conversation: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, Volume 3 Leviticus – From Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was the chief rabbi of England. His book on Leviticus explores the depth of the Jewish idea of holiness. As followers of the One God of Israel, we are called to be holy, but…
Rabbi Shraga Freedman’s book, Living Kiddush Hashem, is a practical guide to living in a way that honors God’s name. As the publisher states, “Underlying our mitzvahs, our Torah study, our ethical and moral lives is one overriding concept: Kiddush Hashem, sanctifying Hashem’s Name. Our primary privilege and responsibility is to increase His honor by bringing…
Paul’s final letter has been the source of a wide variety of Christian doctrines–and Jewish misunderstanding. A careful examination of this text is probably essential to understand why Christians and Jews read it so differently. That’s our task, and in this book study, we will look at each verse, sometimes at each word, as we…
We will look at two rather short books by the same important author, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, of blessed memory, was an American orthodox Talmudic philosopher. His work helps define what it means to live in this world as it is and maintain a Torah-obedient perspective. These two small books represent his instructions about…
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s book, The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious. This is another heavy-weight examination of biblical themes–challenging and incredibly insightful. Our past studies of Zornberg’s work have yielded astonishing results, greatly increasing our understanding of the Bible. This one promises to be no less amazing. For centuries scholars and rabbis have wrestled…
Study of Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s book, Bewilderments: Reflections of the Book of Numbers – One of my favorite contemporary Jewish authors is Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg. Her work combines an impressive understanding of rabbinic midrashim, a keen analysis of the Torah, and contemporary psychoanalysis. Her books are unparalleled in her field. I have read them all. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg…
Study of David Lambert’s book, How Repentance Became Biblical: Judaism, Christianity, and the Interpretation of Scripture – Where did the idea of repenting come from? Most of us grew up in religious cultures where repenting was the expected normal spiritual action needed to experience salvation. We accepted the process of soul-searching, acknowledging sin, regret and remorse, supplication…
Study of Yehezkel Kaufmann’s The Religion of Israel: from its beginnings to the Babylonian exile – Kaufmann’s eight-volume work has been abridged and translated into English. His analysis of the difference between Israel’s monotheism and the pagan world, his critical assessment of the major shift during the classical prophetic period, and his approach to biblical history are…