April 2018
131pp
ISBN 9780878201594
Hardcover $26.95
Walter Homolka and Aaron D. Panken
In this volume of essays, eminent Jewish scholars from around the world present introductions to the different parts of the Bible for the wider public. The essays encompass a general introduction to the Torah in Jewish life, and include specific essays on each of the Five Books of Moses, as well as on the Haftarot, Neviim, and Ketuvim. The contributions provide an overview of the core content of each book as well as highlight central themes and the reception and relevance of these themes in Jewish life and culture past and present. These essays, informed by and based on the profound academic research of their authors, together provide an invaluable bridge between high-level academic insight and the study of the Bible both in synagogues and in homes.
“Engaging Torah convenes a world class gathering of the very best scholars of Bible—each of them active participants in Jewish life in diverse and wonderful ways—who have produced a glistening gem of a guide into the ways that biblical study can deepen a personal engagement with Torah as Scripture and as heritage. With this collection, you are invited to a symposium of superstars who will make the Bible come alive, as it must for each generation.”
—Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, American Jewish University
“If you want to understand the Bible, then Engaging Torah is a must have. No serious student of Judaism or the Bible should be without this compendium of scholarly essays. It opens the eyes and the heart to our most sacred texts.”
—Rabbi Denise L. Eger, DD, president, Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Walter Homolka is rector of the Abraham Geiger College and executive director of the School of Jewish Theology, University of Potsdam, Germany.
Rabbi Aaron D. Panken is president of Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute (HUC-JIR), North America’s first Jewish seminary, with campuses in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York.