Judaism, Academic Scholarship

In a 1927 speech at the inauguration of the Hebrew University’s Institute for Jewish Studies, Dr. Rabbi Felix Perles called on Jewish scholars to be on the forefront of critical Bible study. He compares this effort to how Maimonides, even though he was accused of abrogating the Torah, incorporated philosophical study into Judaism.

Israelite religion developed from a revolutionary idea: monotheism. And religion alone, not external factors, accounted for the remarkable preservation of Jewish national identity and consciousness in exile.

TheTorah.com engages the Documentary and Supplementary Hypotheses, source, redaction, and textual criticism, and even offers moral critiques of Torah laws and narratives, but what is Steinberg really trying to accomplish?

Clue: Seven pairs of kosher animals are brought to the ark so that Noah can sacrifice to YHWH after the flood.

At the heart of the life and career of Moshe Greenberg, z”l, was a search for spiritual meaning through the scholarly study of the Bible.

I went from dismissing biblical criticism to embracing its truth, and having to rebuild my religious identity. Five aspects of my religious life have been profoundly enhanced.

When I encountered TheTorah.com, I experienced a moment of déjà vu. In the early 1970s, I majored in Bible at Yeshiva University and spent my junior year abroad in Jerusalem studying with Hebrew University Bible professors. My goal was to grapple with questions of Pentateuchal criticism in a way that would be meaningful and beneficial for an Orthodox Jew. But then I dropped it. Here is my story.

The works of medieval exegetes such as Maimonides, Rashbam and Ibn Ezra demonstrate that Judaism has a long-standing tradition of studying the Torah critically.

Traditional and Critical Approaches