The Heart of Torah, Volume 1
Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion: Genesis and Exodus
Published on 1. September 2017
408 pages
978-0-8276-1333-1 (ISBN)
Description
In The Heart of Torah, Rabbi Shai Held's Torah essays-two for each weekly portion-open new horizons in Jewish biblical commentary.
Held probes the portions in bold, original, and provocative ways. He mines Talmud and midrashim, great writers of world literature, and astute commentators of other religious backgrounds to ponder fundamental questions about God, human nature, and what it means to be a religious person in the modern world. Along the way he illuminates the centrality of empathy in Jewish ethics, the predominance of divine love in Jewish theology, the primacy of gratitude and generosity, and God's summoning of each of us-with all our limitations-into the dignity of a covenantal relationship.
Held probes the portions in bold, original, and provocative ways. He mines Talmud and midrashim, great writers of world literature, and astute commentators of other religious backgrounds to ponder fundamental questions about God, human nature, and what it means to be a religious person in the modern world. Along the way he illuminates the centrality of empathy in Jewish ethics, the predominance of divine love in Jewish theology, the primacy of gratitude and generosity, and God's summoning of each of us-with all our limitations-into the dignity of a covenantal relationship.
Reviews / Votes
"The Heart of Torah is a stunning achievement: textually learned, theologically profound, ethically challenging, spiritually uplifting, and psychologically astute. If you want to know what it can mean to read the Torah today with your whole heart and your whole mind, read this book."-Rabbi Sharon Brous, founder and senior rabbi at Ikar, Los Angeles "Shai Held deftly brings the wisdom of Torah to bear upon the contemporary human condition. Christians who read this book can discover fresh dimensions within the biblical text, see more clearly where there is common ground between Jews and Christians, and better grasp what it means to understand and live in this world as God's world."-Walter Moberly, professor of theology and biblical interpretation at Durham University "Shai Held is one of the most important teachers of Torah in his generation."-Rabbi David Wolpe, author of David: The Divided HeartMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Philadelphia
United States
Illustrations
2 indexes
File size
3,36 MB
ISBN-13
978-0-8276-1333-1 (9780827613331)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
09/2017
Jewish Publication Society
€24.00
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Rabbi Shai Held is president, dean, and chair in Jewish Thought at Mechon Hadar and directs its Center for Jewish Leadership and Ideas in New York City. He is the author of Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence and a recipient of the Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish education. Rabbi Yitz Greenberg is one of the preeminent Jewish thinkers of our time.
Content
Foreword
Acknowledgments
A Note on Translations
Introduction
Genesis
Bere'shit No. 1. What Can Human Beings Do, and What Can't They? Or, Does the Torah Believe in Progress?
Bere'shit No. 2. Created in God's Image: Ruling for God
Noa? No. 1. Before and After the Flood: Or, It All Depends on How You Look
Noa? No. 2. People Have Names: The Torah's Takedown of Totalitarianism
Lekh Lekha No. 1. Are Jews Always the Victims?
Lekh Lekha No. 2. Between Abram and Lot: Wealth and Family Strife
Va-yera' No. 1. The Face of Guests as the Face of God: Abraham's Radical and Traditional Theology
Va-yera' No. 2. In Praise of Protest: Or, Who's Teaching Whom?
?ayyei Sarah No. 1. Isaac's Search: On the Akedah and Its Aftermath
?ayyei Sarah No. 2. People Are Complicated: Or, Sensitivity Is a Dangerous Thing
Toledot No. 1. In Praise of Isaac: The Bible's Paragon of Marital Empathy
Toledot No. 2. Between God and Torah: Judaism's Gamble
Va-yetse' No. 1. Can We Be Grateful and Disappointed at the Same Time? Or, What Leah Learned
Va-yetse' No. 2. No Excuses: Jacob's Sin and Its Consequences
Va-yishla? No. 1. The Fear of Killing: Jacob's Ethical Legacy
Va-yishla? No. 2. The Power of Compassion: Or, Why Rachel's Cries Pierce the Heavens
Va-yeshev No. 1. Against Halfheartedness
Va-yeshev No. 2. Election and Service: What Joseph Learned
Mikkets No. 1. His Brother's Brother: Judah's Journey
Mikkets No. 2. Reuben's Recklessness: What Disqualifies a Leader?
Va-yiggash No. 1. Humiliation: Judaism's Fourth Cardinal Sin?
Va-yiggash No. 2. Saving and Enslaving: The Complexity of Joseph
Va-ye?i No. 1. The Majesty of Restraint: Or, Joseph's Shining Moment
Va-ye?i No. 2. Underreacting and Overreacting: Dinah's Family in Crisis
Exodus
Shemot No. 1. Why Moses? Or, What Makes a Leader?
Shemot No. 2. Gratitude and Liberation
Va-'era' No. 1. The Journey and the (Elusive) Destination
Va-'era' No. 2. Cultivating Freedom: When Is Character (Not) Destiny?
Bo' No. 1. Pharaoh: Consumed by the Chaos He Sows
Bo' No. 2. Receiving Gifts (and Learning to Love?): The "Stripping" of the Egyptians
Be-shalla? No. 1. Leaving Slavery Behind: On Taking the First Step
Be-shalla? No. 2. Bread from the Sky: Learning to Trust
Yitro No. 1. Does Everyone Hate the Jews? And, Is There Wisdom Outside of Torah?
Yitro No. 2. Honoring Parents: (Sometimes) the Hardest Mitzvah of All
Mishpatim No. 1. Turning Memory into Empathy: The Torah's Ethical Charge
Mishpatim No. 2. Hearing the Cries of the Defenseless: Or, We Are All Responsible
Terumah No. 1. Being Present While Making Space: Or, Two Meanings of Tzimtzum
Terumah No. 2. Returning to Eden? An Island of Wholeness in a Fractured World
Tetsavveh No. 1. God in the Mishkan: Present but Not Domesticated
Tetsavveh No. 2. Between Ecstasy and Constancy: The Dynamics of Covenantal Commitment
Ki Tissa' No. 1. The Importance of Character: Or, Why Stubbornness Is Worse Than Idolatry
Ki Tissa' No. 2. God's Expansive Mercy: Moses's Praise and Jonah's Fury
Va-yak'hel No. 1. Whom Do We Serve? The Exodus toward Dignified Work
Va-yak'hel No. 2, Pekudei No. 1. (A) Building with Heart
Pekudei No. 2. Building a Home for God
Notes on Genesis
Notes on Exodus
A Note on Bible Commentaries
Bibliography
Subject Index
Classical Sources Index
Acknowledgments
A Note on Translations
Introduction
Genesis
Bere'shit No. 1. What Can Human Beings Do, and What Can't They? Or, Does the Torah Believe in Progress?
Bere'shit No. 2. Created in God's Image: Ruling for God
Noa? No. 1. Before and After the Flood: Or, It All Depends on How You Look
Noa? No. 2. People Have Names: The Torah's Takedown of Totalitarianism
Lekh Lekha No. 1. Are Jews Always the Victims?
Lekh Lekha No. 2. Between Abram and Lot: Wealth and Family Strife
Va-yera' No. 1. The Face of Guests as the Face of God: Abraham's Radical and Traditional Theology
Va-yera' No. 2. In Praise of Protest: Or, Who's Teaching Whom?
?ayyei Sarah No. 1. Isaac's Search: On the Akedah and Its Aftermath
?ayyei Sarah No. 2. People Are Complicated: Or, Sensitivity Is a Dangerous Thing
Toledot No. 1. In Praise of Isaac: The Bible's Paragon of Marital Empathy
Toledot No. 2. Between God and Torah: Judaism's Gamble
Va-yetse' No. 1. Can We Be Grateful and Disappointed at the Same Time? Or, What Leah Learned
Va-yetse' No. 2. No Excuses: Jacob's Sin and Its Consequences
Va-yishla? No. 1. The Fear of Killing: Jacob's Ethical Legacy
Va-yishla? No. 2. The Power of Compassion: Or, Why Rachel's Cries Pierce the Heavens
Va-yeshev No. 1. Against Halfheartedness
Va-yeshev No. 2. Election and Service: What Joseph Learned
Mikkets No. 1. His Brother's Brother: Judah's Journey
Mikkets No. 2. Reuben's Recklessness: What Disqualifies a Leader?
Va-yiggash No. 1. Humiliation: Judaism's Fourth Cardinal Sin?
Va-yiggash No. 2. Saving and Enslaving: The Complexity of Joseph
Va-ye?i No. 1. The Majesty of Restraint: Or, Joseph's Shining Moment
Va-ye?i No. 2. Underreacting and Overreacting: Dinah's Family in Crisis
Exodus
Shemot No. 1. Why Moses? Or, What Makes a Leader?
Shemot No. 2. Gratitude and Liberation
Va-'era' No. 1. The Journey and the (Elusive) Destination
Va-'era' No. 2. Cultivating Freedom: When Is Character (Not) Destiny?
Bo' No. 1. Pharaoh: Consumed by the Chaos He Sows
Bo' No. 2. Receiving Gifts (and Learning to Love?): The "Stripping" of the Egyptians
Be-shalla? No. 1. Leaving Slavery Behind: On Taking the First Step
Be-shalla? No. 2. Bread from the Sky: Learning to Trust
Yitro No. 1. Does Everyone Hate the Jews? And, Is There Wisdom Outside of Torah?
Yitro No. 2. Honoring Parents: (Sometimes) the Hardest Mitzvah of All
Mishpatim No. 1. Turning Memory into Empathy: The Torah's Ethical Charge
Mishpatim No. 2. Hearing the Cries of the Defenseless: Or, We Are All Responsible
Terumah No. 1. Being Present While Making Space: Or, Two Meanings of Tzimtzum
Terumah No. 2. Returning to Eden? An Island of Wholeness in a Fractured World
Tetsavveh No. 1. God in the Mishkan: Present but Not Domesticated
Tetsavveh No. 2. Between Ecstasy and Constancy: The Dynamics of Covenantal Commitment
Ki Tissa' No. 1. The Importance of Character: Or, Why Stubbornness Is Worse Than Idolatry
Ki Tissa' No. 2. God's Expansive Mercy: Moses's Praise and Jonah's Fury
Va-yak'hel No. 1. Whom Do We Serve? The Exodus toward Dignified Work
Va-yak'hel No. 2, Pekudei No. 1. (A) Building with Heart
Pekudei No. 2. Building a Home for God
Notes on Genesis
Notes on Exodus
A Note on Bible Commentaries
Bibliography
Subject Index
Classical Sources Index
