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New Books on Sefer Breishit
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Chaim Navon, Genesis and Jewish Thought, Ktav Publishers, 2008. 379 pages.
The gem of the new books on Breishit is Rabbi Chaim Navon's series of profound yet accessible philosophical reflections on Sefer Breishit. Navon, who serves as a rabbi in Modi'in and teaches at a number of yeshivot in Israel, uses Breishit as a springboard for philosophical discussions on major topics such as Man's place in the world, Guilt and Shame, The Road to Faith, and The Image of God. Navon uses the full range of Jewish and secular sources, ranging from midrashim to Rav Soloveitchik, Plato to Spinoza. The essays, originally published for a series in the Virtual Beit Midrash, are long enough to provide nuance and profundity, yet are quick reads and remain comprehensible to scholars and laypeople alike. This is a highly recommended work which will be enjoyed as both a reading companion to Breishit and an accessible entry into the world of Jewish thought.
To order, click here.
Yitzchak Etshalom, Between the Lines of the Bible, Yashar Books, 2006. 288 pages.
Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom's first book is a very effective English introduction into the world of peshat-oriented Biblical interpretation that has emerged within the last 20-30 years in the religious-Zionist community. Organized by theme and method, rather than by parasha, Etshalom seeks to delineate central tools that contemporary writers use to explain Sefer Breishit, such as chiastic structures, intra-Biblical parshanut, and historical background. Etshalom also dedicates a number of chapters to showing how literary readings of the Torah can create effective responses to Bible critics. The chapters are clear and informative, and while more advanced scholars might find some of the chapters rudimentary, the book serves as an excellent introduction to modern literary Biblical interpretation and a stimulating companion to Sefer Breishit.
For more information, click here.
Rabbi Francis Nataf, Redeeming Relevance in the Book of Genesis, Urim Publications, 2006. 125 pages.
As the title indicates, Rabbi Francis Nataf's Redeeming Relevance seeks to provide meaningful new interpretations relevant to the contemporary cultural context. Nataf believes that recent generations have become fearful of new interpretations to the Torah, abandoning a long tradition of Torah commentary that addresses, explicitly or implicitly, current issues. The 6 essays in this work use a combination of traditional commentaries and literary awareness to give a reverential yet human depiction of the Biblical characters, and then conclude with a homiletical lesson. These are serious yet accessible essays with thoughtful and timely messages. The book includes a short yet telling introductory letter from Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, praising Nataf for avoiding the excesses of "eye-level Tanakh study" and "fus[ing] reverence for our greatest with awareness of their humanity."
For more information, click here.
Shmuel Klitsner, Wrestling Jacob: Deception, Identity, and Freudian Slips in Genesis, Urim Publications, 2006. 182 pages.
A work that utilizes more nuanced and sophisticated literary technique to explore character development is Shmuel Klitsner's Wrestling Jacob. Longtime teacher of Tanach at Jerusalem's Midreshet Lindenbaum, Klitsner focuses on the 2nd half of Sefer Breishit and the story of Jacob. Klitsner uses unique word choices and parallels to argue that difficult literary passages should not be "resolved," but should rather be understood as delivering a deeper subtext or meaning. Klitsner's uses these literary nuances to analyze Jacob's moral development and his struggle with his family relationships and his own role within the divine covenant.
As he writes, "It would seem that the real drama of the biblical text lay precisely in the thorny complexity of intensely human (and at times tragically faulted) heroes functioning in the arena of morally ambiguous interaction with friends, family, and foes and simultaneously in the orbit of divine covenant."
This is an innovative and scholarly work that deserves careful study.
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Also new from Urim: Moshe Sokolow, Studies in the Weekly Parashah, Based on the Lessons of Nehama Leibowitz, Urim Publications, 2008. 285 pages.
- Shlomo Brody
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