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The essays in this volume address the conundrum of how Jewish believers in the divine character of the Sinaitic revelation confront the essential questions raised by academic biblical studies.
The first part is an anthology of rabbinic sources, from the medieval period to the present, treating questions that reflect a critical awareness of the Bible. The second part is a series of twenty-one essays by contemporary rabbis and scholars on how they combine their religious beliefs with their critical approach to the Bible.
“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
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