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Expanding the Palace of Torah
Orthodoxy and Feminism
Tamar Ross
Brandeis University Press, 2004
Expanding the Palace of Torah offers a broad philosophical overview of the challenges the women’s revolution poses to Orthodox Judaism, as well as Orthodox Judaism’s response to those challenges. Writing as an insider—herself an Orthodox Jew—Tamar Ross confronts the radical feminist critique of Judaism as a religion deeply entrenched in patriarchy. Surprisingly, very little work has been done in this area, beyond exploring the leeway for ad hoc solutions to practical problems as they arise on the halakhic plane. In exposing the largely male-focused thrust of the rabbinic tradition and its biblical grounding, she sees this critique as posing a potential threat to the theological heart of traditional Judaism—the belief in divine revelation.

This new edition brings this acclaimed and classic text back into print with a new essay by Tamar Ross which examines new developments in feminist thought since the book was first published in 2004.
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The Hermeneutics of Torah
Proverbs 2, Deuteronomy, and the Composition of Proverbs 1–9
Bernd U. Schipper
SBL Press, 2021

This revised and expanded English edition of Bernd U. Schipper’s 2012 Hermeneutik der Tora incorporates the results of his continued research and writings on Proverbs. For nearly a century, many biblical scholars have argued that the main theological traditions, such as the divine law, God’s torah, do not appear in the book of Proverbs. In this volume, however, Schipper demonstrates that Proverbs interacts in a sophisticated way with the concept of the torah. A detailed analysis of Proverbs 2 and other passages from the first part of the book of Proverbs shows that Proverbs engages in a postexilic discourse around “wisdom and torah” concerning the abilities of humans to fulfill the will of YHWH exemplified in the divine torah.

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Loaves of Torah
Exploring the Jewish Year through Challah
Rabbi Vanessa M. Harper
Central Conference of American Rabbis, 2023
Braided and spiral loaves of challah have long been a delicious centerpiece of the Jewish table, but with a few extra twists, the beloved Shabbat bread can become a
work of art that teaches Torah. In Loaves of Torah, Rabbi Vanessa M. Harper— creator of the hit Instagram account @lechlechallah—shapes interpretive challot
for each weekly Torah portion and Jewish holiday. A creative journey through the Jewish year, the book pairs gorgeous color photographs with insightful commentary,
in-depth questions for reflection and discussion, as well as beautiful kavanot. Rabbi Harper also includes blessings, recipes, and tips for creating your own interpretive
challot. A fresh, contemporary commentary on our holiest text, Loaves of Torah will inspire you to think outside the braid and take Torah into your own hands.
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The Scribes of the Torah
The Formation of the Pentateuch in Its Literary and Historical Contexts
Konrad Schmid
SBL Press, 2023

A revised view of the Pentateuch with consequences for the broader literary history of the Bible

This collection of thirty-one studies on the Pentateuch represents more than twenty years of Konrad Schmid’s research and publications advocating for a new view of the Pentateuch’s formation. Schmid’s essays present the case for a Persian period Priestly document that provided a basic narrative thread to the Torah, which included separate, pre-Priestly components of narratives in Genesis and the Moses story. Schmid’s open discussion includes evidence from various fields, such as literary history, comparative cultural history, historical linguistics, epigraphy, and archaeology. The essays are divided into eight sections usefully structured around the themes of the Pentateuch in the Enneateuch, the history of scholarship, the formation of the Torah, Genesis, the Moses story, the Priestly document, legal texts, and the Pentateuch in the history of ancient Israel’s religion.

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The Soul of the Stranger
Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective
Joy Ladin
Brandeis University Press, 2018
Reading some of the best-known Torah stories through the lens of transgender experience, Joy Ladin explores fundamental questions about how religious texts, traditions, and the understanding of God can be enriched by transgender perspectives, and how the Torah and trans lives can illuminate one another. Drawing on her own experience and lifelong reading practice, Ladin shows how the Torah, a collection of ancient texts that assume human beings are either male or female, speaks both to practical transgender concerns, such as marginalization, and to the challenges of living without a body or social role that renders one intelligible to others—challenges that can help us understand a God who defies all human categories. These creative, evocative readings transform our understanding of the Torah’s portrayals of God, humanity, and relationships between them.
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These Words
Poetic Midrash on the Language of Torah
Alden Solovy
Central Conference of American Rabbis, 2023
In These Words, liturgist Alden Solovy distills the Torah into its very essence: the individual words it contains. Echoing the midrash that the Torah has seventy faces, Solovy selects seventy of its Hebrew words that are pregnant with meaning. For each word, he delves into the etymology, translation, and usage, providing deeper insights into familiar texts. Then Solovy presents a beautiful poem—what he calls “poetic midrash”—inspired by and interpreting each word. From b’reishit (“in beginning”) to shamayim (“heavens”) to zachor (“remember”), These Words will change the way you look at the language of the Torah.
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Torah
Irmtraud Fischer
SBL Press, 2011

This volume is the first in The Bible and Women series. It presents a history of the reception of the Bible as embedded in Western cultural history with a special focus on the history of women and issues of gender. It introduces the series, explaining the choice of the Hebrew canon in connection with the Christian tradition and preparing the way for a changed view of women throughout the series. The contributors explore the gendered significance of the canonical writings as well as the process of their canonization and the social-historical background of ancient Near Eastern women’s lives, both of which play key roles in the series. Turning to the Pentateuch, essays address a variety of texts and issues still relevant today, such as creation and male-female identity in the image of God, women’s roles in the genealogies of the Pentateuch and in salvation history, the rights and responsibilities of women according to the Hebrew Bible's legal and ritual texts, and how archaeology and iconography can illustrate the texts of the Torah. Contributors include Sophie Démare-Lafont, Dorothea Erbele-Küster, Karin Finsterbusch, Irmtraud Fischer, Mercedes García Bachmann, Thomas Hieke, Carol Meyers, Mercedes Navarro Puerto, Jorunn Økland, Ursula Rapp, Donatella Scaiola, Silvia Schroer, Jopie Siebert-Hommes, and Adriana Valerio.

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Torah
Functions, Meanings, and Diverse Manifestations in Early Judaism and Christianity
William M. Schniedewind
SBL Press, 2022

The present volume explores the ever-evolving understandings and diverse manifestations of the Hebrew notion of torah in early Jewish and Christian literature and the different roles torah played within those communities, whether in Judea or in the Hellenistic and early Roman diaspora. This collection of essays is purposefully wide-ranging, with contributors exploring and rethinking some of the most basic scholarly assumptions and preconceptions about the nature of torah in light of new critical approaches and methodologies. Contributors include Gabriele Boccaccini, Francis Borchardt, Calum Carmichael, Federico Dal Bo, Lutz Doering, Oliver Dyma, Paula Fredriksen, Robert G. Hall, Magnar Kartveit, Anne Kreps, David Lambert, Michael Legaspi, Jason A. Myers, Juan Carlos Ossandón Widow, Anders Klostergaard Petersen, Patrick Pouchelle, Jeremy Punt, Michael L. Satlow, Joachim Schaper, William Schniedewind, Elisa Uusimäki, Jacqueline Vayntrub, Jonathan Vroom, James W. Watts, Benjamin G. Wright III, and Jason M. Zurawski.

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The Torah
The JPS Audio Version
MD,Norma ,Michael,Elizabeth,Francie Anne,Jonathan,Kathy JPS: The Jewish Publication Society
Jewish Publication Society, 2009
The JPS TANAKH: The Jewish Bible, audio version is a recorded version of the JPS TANAKH, the most widely read English translation of the Hebrew, or Jewish, Bible. Produced and recorded for The Jewish Publication Society (JPS) by The Jewish Braille Institute (JBI), this complete, unabridged audio version of the Torah features over 14 hours of readings by 7 narrators The Torah is the essence of Jewish tradition; it inspires each successive generation. The current JPS translation, based on classical and modern sources, is acclaimed for its fidelity to the ancient Hebrew.
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Voices of Torah, Vol. 1
A Treasury of Rabbinic Gleanings on the Weekly Portions, Holidays and Special
Rabbi Hara Person
Central Conference of American Rabbis, 2011
A new Torah study resource! Discover multiple perspectives on every parashah in this rich collection of commentary written by CCAR members. Includes holiday portions as well. Makes a great gift for students, teachers, and congregational leaders. Will also be available as an e-book and for your Kindle.
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Voices of Torah, Volume 2
A Treasury of Rabbinic Gleanings on the Weekly Portions, Holidays, and Special Shabbatot
Rabbi Sonja K. Pilz, PhD
Central Conference of American Rabbis, 2020
In this second volume of the classic CCAR publication, you'll find a compilation of multiple commentaries written by CCAR members on every parashah, including holiday portions. A great resource for d'var Torah preparation for lay leaders and clergy alike, this volume makes a great gift for students, teachers, and congregational leaders.
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