Torah Study for the Curious and Brave
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September, 2014
Dear Friends, Throughout our 125-year history, JPS's commitment to publishing important new resources for Torah study has never wavered. |
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Next spring will bring two long-awaited titles to our ever-growing bookshelf: The Commentators' Bible, The Rubin JPS Miqra'ot Gedolot: Deuteronomy, by Michael Carasik, and The JPS Bible Commentary: Song of Songs, by Michael Fishbane. Now is a good time to check that you are up to date with the published volumes in all the JPS commentary series.
But here and now consider four recently published works that can enliven your study. Since these books are not at all "conventional," I present them for the curious and brave, in the following order:
Brave-The Bible's Many Voices, by Michael Carasik offers a close textual study of the rich variety of literary genres that comprise the Tanakh. Spend a few sessions with each voice: the historical, theological, legal, prophetic, wisdom, women's, poetic, and foreign. A 24-session syllabus/study guide is available on our website.
Braver-From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths and Legends, by Hebrew University professors Yair Zakovich and Avigdor Shinan. This 30-chapter bestseller from Israel will have you rethink the Bible stories you know, and startle you with the ones you don't!
Braver-The Aura of Torah: A Kabbalistic-Hasidic Commentary to the Weekly Torah Portion, by Rabbi Larry Tabick. Many of these texts have never appeared in English before. The excerpts are brief and the commentary is lucid. These masters provoke a personal encounter with Torah.
Bravest-Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture, by Louis Feldman, James Kugel and Lawrence Schiffman and seventy other scholars of Second Temple literature. Become reacquainted with the biblical family you thought you knew through the daring works that were excluded from the Hebrew canon. An 18-session syllabus/study guide is available on our website, along with a sampling of selected texts from this landmark three-volume anthology.
And just now out: The Lost Matriarch: Finding Leah in the Bible and Midrash, by Jerry Rabow, a student of Rabbi Harold Schulweis, which is also perfect for adult education and has an accompanying syllabus.
Torah study should never grow old. With JPS commentaries at your side, it never will.
With warm wishes for a good New Year,
Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz
Director
"A Rabbi, A Student... a Book"
The Story Behind The Lost Matriarch: Finding Leah in the Bible and MidrashRabbi Harold M. Schulweis is one of the most influential pulpit rabbis in America. Jerry Rabow has been his student and friend for the last 45 years. |
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"Rabbi Schulweis is a true visionary but, above all else, his selfless style gives congregants control over the implementation of his visionary ideas and motivates them to action," says Rabow. Schulweis influenced Rabow to pursue his interest in Jewish study and become an author. As a rational intellectual, with a Harvard College education, Rabow had difficulty with religious thought and theology until he met Schulweis. "Rabbi Schulweis has most affected my life and my writing by serving as my role model for honest, rational inquiry into important Jewish issues in a way that can empower every Jew to contribute to the development of Jewish thought and the elevation of Jewish conduct in the world." |
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Rabow retired early from his successful law practice to read, write and teach. The idea for The Lost Matriarch came to him when he discovered the medieval commentator Rashi's interpretation of Leah , which was still compelling a millennium later. "I became so intrigued by the story-or rather, the apparent absence of any real biblical story of her-that I decided to explore the story of her life as it has been revealed in two thousand years of midrashic commentaries." Schulweis's pride in his student is evident: "With imaginative insight, Jerry Rabow has placed a human face and heart onto the persona of this biblical drama of love, loyalty, and intrigue. The author endows this ancient romance with empathic contemporary relevance." |
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Read more and download Syllabus and Sourcebook, Discussion Questions and Book Group Guide.
JPS Tanakh
The most authoritative and most widely read English translation of the Hebrew Bible.
Available in many sizes, colors and styles in both English-only and Hebrew-English editions.
This new customer guide can help you choose the right Tanakh or Torah for your needs.
Call to Prospective Authors
The Jewish Publication Society, in cooperation with its publishing partner, the University of Nebraska Press, is significantly expanding its publication program:
- We are launching an ambitious ten-year, twenty-volume series of JPS anthologies and documentary histories of Jewish thought and Jewish history.
- We are expanding the acclaimed JPS Bible commentary series into the early Prophets and beyond.
- We are broadening the reach of the JPS TANAKH with a series of JPS study Bibles that will include a JPS B'nai Mitzvah Bible, a JPS Birthright Bible, and a JPS Family Bible.
If you are an academic, rabbi, or teacher that may be interested in one of the projects above, or have your own idea for a book that fits our "accessible scholarship" niche, we want to hear from you! Contact me at bschwartz@jps.org.
Reviews and Resources for A Bride for One Night: Talmud Tales by Ruth Calderon
A Bride for One Night Discussion Guide, prepared by JPS for the Jewish Book Council book club program.
The Jewish Channel interviews Ruth Calderon about A Bride for One Night.
The JPS/Skirball Author Series Video - Ruth Calderon spoke about her book at The Temple Emanu-El Skirball Center in New York City.
Something Was Missing
The Jewish Review of Books reviews A Bride for One Night
Two Books Explore New Perspectives on the Talmud, With a Focus on Women
Tablet Magazine reviews A Bride for One Night.
New Books Offer Fresh Perspectives on Ancient Texts
JWeekly.com reviews A Bride for One Night, The Bible's Many Voices and Outside the Bible.
The Politician With Literary Chops
The New York Jewish Week reviews A Bride for One Night.
Ruth Calderon with JPS director Rabbi Barry Schwartz (left) and Rabbi Joshua Davidson (right), senior rabbi, Temple Emanu-El of New York City.
New Releases
Jewish Meaning in a World of Choice: Studies in Tradition and Modernity |
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By Rabbi David Ellenson An internationally recognized educator and author shares his most popular essays on Jewish religious thought, ethics, and modern Jewish history centering on the push and pull between Jewish tradition and Western culture. Ellenson's book represents the first title in the revival of the JPS scholar of distinction series and will be followed by a volume by Art Green next year. |
The Lost Matriarch: Finding Leah in the Bible and Midrash |
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By Jerry Rabow Rabow offers a unique response to the sparse and puzzling biblical treatment of the matriarch Leah. Commentators have produced fascinating interpretations that reveal the richer story of Leah, who triumphed over adversity by living a life of moral heroism. Rabow reveals Leah's full story and invites readers into the delightful, provocative world of creative rabbinic and literary commentary. |
The Aura of Torah: A Kabbalistic-Hasidic Commentary to the Weekly Torah Portion |
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By Rabbi Larry Tabick Because a welter of details sometimes conceals the Torah's aura of holiness, Jewish mystics and spiritual teachers have for centuries attempted to reveal that aura through creative interpretation of the Torah text. The Aura of the Torah explores these attempts in an effort to bridge the gap between the Torah text and the modern Jewish spiritual quest. |
Bar Mitzvah: A History |
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By Rabbi Michael Hilton How did bar mitzvah develop over the centuries from an obscure legal ritual into a core component of Judaism? How did it capture the imagination of even non-Jewish youth? As cultural anthropology informed by rabbinic knowledge, Bar Mitzvah explores the origins and development of the most important coming-of-age milestone in Judaism. |
Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture |
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By Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel and Lawrence H. Schiffman This unprecedented collection of texts is an indispensable reference for scholars and students of the Bible, early Rabbinic Judaism, early Christianity, and the history of the Second Temple period. Contributed by seventy-one world renowned experts and grounded in the rich scholarship of the past fifty years, this is a resource that will last for generations. |
The JPS/Skirball Author Series
A unique opportunity for learning with world-renowned scholars
In partnership with The Temple Emanu-El Skirball Center
One East 65th Street, New York City
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The Lost Matriarch: |
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Jewish Meaning in a World of Choice |
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As a Driven Leaf: The Heresy of Rabbi Elisha Ben Abuyah |
Admission is free. Register here or call 212-507-9580.
Videos of past JPS events can be found here.
BEST WISHES FROM JPS FOR A HAPPY
AND SWEET NEW YEAR
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING JPS!We are about great books...we hope you will be too. Reminder: Gifts of any size are welcome. If your gift is $1,800 or more, you may choose a future title to direct your gift. Your name will be included on the dedication page. An annual gift of $180 or more entitles you to a 40% discount on JPS books. |
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