Product Description

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 Zelophephad, 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #366965 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 231 pages

From Booklist
The Torah is the first five books or sections of the Hebrew Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—and is a unique combination of narrative and law. Cherry begins with a chapter providing historical background and what he labels "the theoretical framework through which our commentators view the Torah." Other chapters examine such topics as the creation of humanity; the story of Cain and Abel and the issues of God's justice and human responsibility; the laws of Hebrew slavery; Korah, who led a rebellion in the wilderness against Moses and Aaron; and the five daughters of Zelophehad, who asked Moses' permission to inherit their father's property because there were no male heirs. Cherry has analyzed the biblical commentary of some of the renowned Jewish scholars of the last 2,000 years. The result is a work of excellent scholarship and imagination. Cohen, George

Review
"Cherry has analyzed the biblical commentary of some of the renowned Jewish scholars of the last 2,000 years. The result is a work of excellent scholarship and imagination." -- Booklist, September 2007

"This book provides a highly readable, engaging introduction to Jewish biblical interpretation." -- Jewish Book World, Summer 2007

From the Publisher
Journey through two millennia of Bible commentary

Customer Reviews

generally good, occasional slip-ups early on
Using five chunks of the Torah (the story of the Creation, the story of Cain and Abel, the law of slavery, the story of Korah's rebellion against Moses, and story of the daughters of Zelophedad's attempt to inherit from their father) as examples, this little book shows us how Torah study has evolved through time.

For each chapter, the author begins with commentaries from the era of the Talmud, then discusses medieval commentaries (both rational and mystical) and more modern commentators. I generally liked this book's comparison of the various commentators; however, the first chapter, which generally describes the differences between Talmudic-era, medieval and post-medieval commentators, sometimes oversimplifies those differences. (For example, it states that Rambam describes the Torah's claims about this-world reward and punishment as "a noble lie", which seems hard to believe without a more detailed explanation of his words).

One of my favorite Judaica/Biblical commentary books ever
I'm about halfway through the book and already it's one of my favorite Judaiaca and/or Bible commentary books ever (other favorites include Telushkin's Jewish Wisdom and others and Marc Brettler (who wrote the foreword)'s How to Read the Bible).

The first chapter (after the introduction), called No Word Unturned, was actually so good I read it twice. It's very dense in the sense that a lot of information is packed into a small amount of space but it is written so well that you fly through the pages instead of plodding through thick text. The chapter summarizes the major different schools of (Hebrew) bible commentary. A quote from one of my favorite paragraphs: after explaining how most of the rabbis in the Rabbinic period considered there to be numerous (tens? hundreds?) of interpretations of the Bible's cryptic passages, he notes that some had a more restrictive view. 'Rabbi Ishmael is associated with the legal principle that "The Torah speaks in human language." This notion precludes using every word in the Torah as an opportunity for midrash. In other words, Rabbi Ishmael and those of his schol were opposed to omnisignificance. Even Sigmund Freud conceded that, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."'

The book also has an extensive bibliography, and recommends other books to the reader to other books, such as a recent book by Kugel, so the reader can go more indepth if he wants to.

I've got more to say about this great book but I'm going to a lecture tonight so I've gotta go. Buy this book!!!

Thoroughly Enjoyed "Torah Through Time"
I thoroughly enjoyed "Torah Through Time". I had heard Dr. Shai Cherry speak a number of times and so I was delighted to learn of his first book. I found the book very well organized and written. It is interesting, informative and thought provoking. I highly recommend this book!