“For observant Judaism to survive biblical criticism’s heavy artillery it will have to further articulate the meaning of its faith claims. This will allow it to remain faithful to its traditions while maintaining a mature dialogue with contemporary modes of thought. … The authors’ sophisticated theological discourse inspires those who care about this tension to guide that debate towards the theological arena and away from the Beit Midrash. That is the arena in which orthodox creativity is most possible. The book convincingly demonstrates that retooling our theological formulations will allow orthodoxy to see these modernizing trends as complementary, not adversarial.” —Rabbi Ysoscher Katz, Marginalia

“The Believer and the Modern Study of the Bible is an important and accessible collection of articles. For the traditional Orthodox Jew, curious about the ‘modern Study of the Bible,’ this is a highly recommended first work. The book also provides fascinating insights into areas of religious culture and sociology—demonstrating the varied intellectual scaffolding being constructed to bridge two disciplines that are often at odds.”

—David Tesler, AJL Reviews

Chayuta Deutsch is a writer and editor. She is the author of a best-selling biography on Nechama Leibowitz and other books. Previously, she was Editor of the AKDAMOT journal of Jewish thought. She completed her doctoral dissertation at the Department of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University on the subject of encounters between Sages and Matrons in the Talmud and midrashim.

Yehuda Brandes is President of Herzog College in Gush Etzion and Jerusalem. He is the former head of the Beit Midrash at Beit Morasha in Jerusalem, and the author of many books and articles on Talmud, Jewish law, education, and Jewish philosophy. In his books Agada Lema'aseh and Mada Toratekha, and in many of his articles, he examines the connection between law and legend in the Talmud, exposing both the philosophical aspects of religious law and the practical aspect of the Talmudic legend.

Introduction
Preface to the English Translation
Acknowledgments

Annotated Anthology—“Wisdom and Knowledge Will be Given to You”
Yoshi Fargeon

Articles
General Overview

A Personal Perspective on Biblical History, the Authorship of the Torah, and Belief in its Divine Origin
Shawn Zelig Aster

The Sages as Bible Critics
Yehuda Brandes

The Tanakh as History
Marc Zvi Brettler

Kabbalah as a Shield against the “Scourge” of Biblical Criticism: A Comparative Analysis of the Torah Commentaries of Elia Benamozegh and Mordecai Breuer
Adiel Cohen

Orthodoxy and the Challenge of Biblical Criticism: Some Reflections on the Importance of Asking the Right Question
Tamar Ross

Ask the Rabbi: “Biblical Criticism is Destroying my Religious Faith!”
Yuval Cherlow

The Theophany at Sinai and the Passages of Revelation

“I Shall Fear God Alone and Not Show Favor in Torah”: A Conceptual Foundation for Wrestling with Biblical Scholarship
David Bigman

Revelation and Religious Authority in the Sinai Traditions
Benjamin Sommer

The Torah Speaks to People
Chezi Cohen

The Revelation Narratives: Analyses and Theological Reflections on Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Classical Midrash
Avraham Shammah

The Ethical Challenge

The Binding of Isaac and Historical Contextuality
Chayuta Deutsch

Manasseh, King of Judah, in Early rabbinic Literature: An Erudite, Unfettered, and Creative Biblical Critic
Hananel Mack

Justification, Denial, and “Terraforming”: Three Theological-Exegetical Models
Amit Kula

The Bible in Historical Context

The Names of God and the Dating of the Biblical Corpus
Yoel Elitzur

Discrepancies between Laws in the Torah
Joshua Berman

Between the Prophet and his Prophecy: Ezekiel’s Visionary Temple in its Historical Context
Tova Ganzel

The Torah of Moses and the Laws of the Nations: A Study in the Teachings of Rabbi Tzadok Ha-Kohen of Lublin
Avia Hacohen

Illuminating Inscriptions
Yaakov Medan

Archaeology and the Bible
Haggai Misgav

The Book of Daniel and the Twenty-First-Century Religious Bible Student
Rivka Raviv