Jewish Concepts of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction
What do Jews think scripture is? How do the People of the Book conceive of the Book of Books? In what ways is it authoritative? Who has the right to interpret it? Is it divinely or humanly written? And have Jews always thought about the Bible in the same way?


In seventeen cohesive and rigorously researched essays, this volume traces the way some of the most important Jewish thinkers throughout history have addressed these questions from the rabbinic era through the medieval Islamic world to modern Jewish scholarship. They address why different Jewish thinkers, writers, and communities have turned to the Bible—and what they expect to get from it. Ultimately, argues editor Benjamin D. Sommer, in understanding the ways Jews construct scripture, we begin to understand the ways Jews construct themselves.

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Jewish Concepts of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction
What do Jews think scripture is? How do the People of the Book conceive of the Book of Books? In what ways is it authoritative? Who has the right to interpret it? Is it divinely or humanly written? And have Jews always thought about the Bible in the same way?


In seventeen cohesive and rigorously researched essays, this volume traces the way some of the most important Jewish thinkers throughout history have addressed these questions from the rabbinic era through the medieval Islamic world to modern Jewish scholarship. They address why different Jewish thinkers, writers, and communities have turned to the Bible—and what they expect to get from it. Ultimately, argues editor Benjamin D. Sommer, in understanding the ways Jews construct scripture, we begin to understand the ways Jews construct themselves.

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Jewish Concepts of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction

Jewish Concepts of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction

by Benjamin D. Sommer
Jewish Concepts of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction

Jewish Concepts of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction

by Benjamin D. Sommer

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Overview

What do Jews think scripture is? How do the People of the Book conceive of the Book of Books? In what ways is it authoritative? Who has the right to interpret it? Is it divinely or humanly written? And have Jews always thought about the Bible in the same way?


In seventeen cohesive and rigorously researched essays, this volume traces the way some of the most important Jewish thinkers throughout history have addressed these questions from the rabbinic era through the medieval Islamic world to modern Jewish scholarship. They address why different Jewish thinkers, writers, and communities have turned to the Bible—and what they expect to get from it. Ultimately, argues editor Benjamin D. Sommer, in understanding the ways Jews construct scripture, we begin to understand the ways Jews construct themselves.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780814760024
Publisher: New York University Press
Publication date: 10/29/2012
Pages: 347
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Benjamin D. Sommer is Professor of Bible at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Previously, he was the Director of the Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies at Northwestern University. He has served as a visiting faculty member at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and the Brite Divinity School of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, and as a Fellow at the Tikvah Center for Law and Jewish Civilization at the New York University Law School.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

1 Introduction: Scriptures in Jewish Tradition, and Traditions as Jewish Scripture Benjamin D. Sommer 1

2 Concepts of Scripture in the Synagogue Service Elsie Stern 15

3 Concepts of Scripture in Rabbinic Judaism: Oral Torah and Written Torah Steven D. Fraade 31

4 Concepts of Scripture in the Schools of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael Azzan Yadin-Israel 47

5 Concepts of Scriptural Language in Midrash Benjamin D. Sommer 64

6 Concepts of Scripture among the Jews of the Medieval Islamic World Meira Polliack 80

7 Concepts of Scripture in the Schools of Rashi Robert A. Harris 102

8 Concepts of Scripture in Maimonides James A. Diamond 123

9 Concepts of Scripture in Nahmanides Aaron W. Hughes 139

10 Concepts of Scripture in Jewish Mysticism Moshe Idel 157

11 Concepts of Scripture in Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig Jonathan Cohen 179

12 The Pentateuch as Scripture and the Challenge of Biblical Criticism: Responses among Modern Jewish Thinkers and Scholars Baruch J. Schwartz 203

13 Concepts of Scripture in Yehezkel Kaufmann Job Y. Jindo 230

14 Concepts of Scripture in Moshe Greenberg Marc Zvi Brettler 247

15 Concepts of Scripture in Mordechai Breuer Shalom Carmy 267

16 Scripture and Modern Israeli Literature Yail S. Feldman 280

17 Scripture and Israeli Secular Culture Yair Zakovitch 299

Glossary 317

About the Contributors 321

Index 325

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Jewish Concepts of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction is a lucid, engaging, and creative project that promises to expand the ways in which we view the complex relationship between Judaism and its scriptures. This volume includes essays by experts in their field—from antiquity to the present—who, using their scholarly expertise, write essays that exhibit passion for the material refracted through a critical lens. Each essay deftly combines a general thesis supported by many examples and creative readings of scriptural texts. Jewish Concepts of Scripture will dispel many false notions of the role the Hebrew Bible plays in the development of Judaism. It will introduce the reader to the textured way in which Jews throughout history embrace, subvert, sanctify, read and (mis) read, the formative canon of their tradition."-Shaul Magid,Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Professor of Jewish Studies, Indiana University Bloomington

"For anyone seeking to learn or teach about the role of the Bible in Jewish cultural and intellectual history, this book is the academic equivalent of a god-send. It presents cutting-edged research and is very specific in its insights, and yet it is also very clear, accessible, and comprehensive. A great contribution."-Steven Weitzman,Daniel E. Koshland Professor of Jewish Culture and Religion, Stanford University

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