Resources for Torah Study - Advanced List

Torah Study Pathfinder
As among the oldest and perhaps the most fundamental activities of Judaism, Torah study holds a special place for most Jews. It is one of the most important rites of passage, bonding for Jewish communities and also among the most important ways to learn about Judaism. This pathfinder will focus on advanced resources, including scholarly examination of the Torah and advanced and medieval commentaries. This pathfinder will include a diverse array of resources to help students of all ages further their study of Torah through audio, visual, print and online sources of Torah, as well as a wide variety of commentaries.


Print Sources

• Torahs:

o English Torahs:

 Friedman, Richard Elliott, Commentary on the Torah with a new English Translation and the Hebrew Text BS1225 .3 .F7 Harper


 Plaut, Gunther, “The Torah: A Modern Commentary”, BS1225.3 P55 UAHC, New York, NY, 1981



 Stein, David, “The Contemporary Torah: A Gender-Sensitive Adaptation of the JPS Translation”, BS1223 .S74 2006, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, PA, 2006



 Various Authors, “The Jewish Study Bible: A Tanach Translation”, BS895 .J4 2004, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 2004



• Medieval Commentaries:

o Moses Maimonides:

 Hartman, David, “Maimonides: Torah and Philosophic Quest”, B759 .M34H36 2009, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, PA, 2009

 Maimonides, Moses, “The Code of Maimonides, (A translation of Mishneh Torah),” BM545 .M54 v.2-4, 8-9, 11-12, 14-16, 19, 21, New Haven, Yale University Press, Volumes 2-5, 8-9, 11-12, 14-16, 19, 21

o Nachmanides:

 Nachman, Rabbi Moses ben, “Ramban: Comentary on the Torah”, BS490 .C40 v.1-5, Shilo Publishing House, New York, NY, 1971, edited by Rabbi Doctor Charles B. Chavel, in 5 volumes

o Rashi:

 Isaiah, Rabbi Abraham ben and Sharfman, Rabbi Benjamin, “The Pentateuch and Rashi’s Commentary”, BS1225 .B4 v.1-5, “Rashi’s Commentary on the Torah in five volumes”, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, PA, 1976

o Other Medieval Commentaries:

 Pelcovitz, Rabbi Raphael, “Sforno: Commentary on the Torah”, BS1225 .S44, Mesorah Publications, 2001, “A Commentary by 16th century Italian Rabbi Ovadiah ben Josef Sforno”

 Loez, Me-am, “The Torah Anthology: MeAm Loez”, BS1225 .M4 v.1-19, Moznaim Publishing, New York, NY, 1987, “A nineteen-volume Sephardic Torah commentary, translated from Ladino”



• Modern and Women’s Commentaries:

o Modern Commentaries:

 Kasher, Menahem, “Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation: A Millenial Anthology”, BS1225 K363 v.1-9, New York, American Bible Encyclopedia Society, “The Text of the Pentateuch with Commentary and Talmudic-Midrashic Interpretations, Volumes 1-9

 Kripke, Rabbi Myer, “Insight and Interpretation: Reflections on the Weekly Sidrah”, BS 1225 .K75 1988, Town House Press, Chestnut Ridge, NY, 1988

 Kushner, Lawrence S., “Sparks Beneath the Surface: A Spiritual Commentary on the Torah”, BS 1225.3 .K87 1993 Northvale, N.J. Aronson, 1993

 Various Authors, “The JPS Bible Commentary: Volumes 1-7”,

BS1225 .J4 v.1-7, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 2001



o Women’s Commentaries:

 Antonelli, Judith, “In the Image of God: A Feminist Commentary on the Torah”, BS1225.3 .A58, Jason Aronson Inc., Northvale, NJ, 1995

 Goldstein, Rabbi Elyse, “The Women’s Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions”, BS1225.3 .G6, Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, VT, 2000

 Newsom, Carol A. and Ringe, Sharon H., “Women’s Bible Comentary: Expanded Edition”, BS491.2 .W66 1998, Westminster John Knox Press, Lexington, KY, 1998



• Torah Study

o Torah Study and the Broader World:

 Carmell, Aryeh, “Challenge: Torah Views on Science and its Problems”, BM538 .S3C45, London: Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, 1976

 Lamm, Norman, “Torah Umadda: the Encounter of Religious Learning and Worldly Knowledge in Jewish Tradition,” BM 538 .S3L34 1990, Northvale N.J. Aronson, 1990

 Petuchowski, Jakob Josef, “Ever Since Sinai: A Modern View of Torah”, BM560 .PK44, New York, Scribe Publications, 1961



o Critical and Historical Scholarship of the Torah:

 Fishbane, Michael, “Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel”, BS1186 .F57 1984, Clarendon Press, New York, 1984

 Friedman, Richard Elliot, “The Hidden Book in the Bible: The Discovery of the first Prose Masterpiece”, BS1181.4 .F72, Harper, San Francisco, 1998

 Friedman, Richard Elliot, “Who Wrote the Bible?”, BS1225.2 .F75 1997, Harper, San Francisco, 1997

 Knohl, Israel, “The Divine Symphony: The Bible’s Many Voices”, BS1192.5 .K545 2003, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, PA, 2003

 Levenson, Jon D., “The Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament and Historical Criticism”, BS476 .L48, Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, KY 1985



o Resources on Torah Study:

 Rosenak, Michael, “Tree of Life, Tree of Knowledge: Conversations with the Torah”, BM103 .R635, Boulder Westview Press, 2001

 URJ Press, “Living Torah: Selections from Seven Years of Torat Chayim”, BS1225.52 L58, URJ Press, New York, NY, 2005

 Heschel, Abraham Joshua, “Heavenly Torah: As Refracted Through the Generations”, BM504.3 .H4713 2005, Continuum Publishing, New York, NY, 2007

 Sipure Hasidim, “A Treasury of Chasidic Tales on the Torah: A Collection of Inspirational Chassidic Stories Relevant to the Weekly Torah Readings”, BM532 .Z2 v.1-2, Mesorah, New York, NY, 1980, in Two Volumes

 Zolty, Shoshana, “And all your Children Shall be Learned: Women and the Study of Torah in Jewish Law and History”, BM726 .Z65 1993, Northvale, N.J. Aronson, 1993



o Women’s Resources:

 Bach, Alice, “Women in the Hebrew Bible: A Reader”, BS1199 .W7W65, Routledge, New York, NY, 1999

 Goldstein, Elyse, “ReVisions: Seeing Torah Through a Feminist Lens”, BS1199 .W7G6, Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, VT, 1998

 Meyers, Carol, “Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, The Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament”, REF BS575 .W5, Houghton-Mifflin, Boston, 2000

 Ronson, Barbara, “Women in the Torah: Commentaries from the Talmud, Midrash and Kabbalah”, BS680 .W7R66, Jason Aronson Inc., New Jersey, 1999

 Shanks, Hershel, “Feminist Approaches to the Bible”, BS521.4 .F44 1995, Biblical Archaeology Society, Washington D.C., Various Authors, 1995



Multimedia



• Audio (also see Audio Meah Lectures)

o Ba’esh, Rabbi Lev, “Introduction to Judaism”, AUDIO ARCHIVE BM700 .I59 v.4 no.1, Temple Israel Boston/Union for Reform Judaism, 2004, Volume 4: Jewish History: Biblical to Rabbinic, Torah and Jewish Texts



o Carmell, Aryeh, “Challenge: Torah Views on Science and its Problems”, BOCD DS 113 .R8 v.2 London, Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, 1976



o Firestone, Reuven, “Burstein Scholar in Residence-2007,” Temple Israel Boston, 2007, Summary: “The Torah portion that will be read this morning is Lekh L’kha when God calls to Abraham and he answers Hineni I am here, I will follow you, God. So was he really the first Jew, or does Muslim tradition have equal or superior claim to him as the first Muslim? Using eerily similar Muslim and Jewish midrashic texts, Dr. Firestone will uncover the roots of Abraham’s stature in both religions. Light refreshments to follow.”



o Rosen, Jonathan, “Torah and the Internet”, AUDIO ARCHIVE Ros, Temple Israel, Boston, 2000, “Jonathan Rosen Speaks about his New Book, Torah and the Internet”



o Zecher, Elaine, “Torah: A Woman’s Commentary”, AUDIO ARCHIVES Torah Study


• Software

o Kolel, “Gates of Torah”, CD-ROM BM657 .G3, Kolel, 1999



Websites



• Advanced Torah Study Websites:

o Chaver.com, http://www.chaver.com/
 “An innovative resource with online ‘woven text’, displaying simultaneously Torah portions and the entire Mishnah in Hebrew”

o Jewish Agency for Israel, “Iyunim – Weekly Insights on the Parsha with Nehama Liebowitz”, http://www.jafi.org.il/education/torani/nehama/indexgil.html
 “An advanced-level commentary on weekly Torah portions”

o Tanach.org, http://www.tanach.org/
 “An expert-level, comprehensive resource in English and Hebrew on Torah Commentary”


• Torah Study from a Reform Perspective:

o Bluethread, “Torah Portions”, http://www.bluethread.com/torah.htm
 “A list of Torah portions and commentary, as well as other Jewish resources, from a Reform/non-denominational perspective”

o Temple Emanu-el, “Weekly Torah Commentary: Archive”, http://www.emanuelnyc.org/torah_archive.php
 Weekly Reform commentaries on the Torah from a large NYC Temple”

o Union for Reform Judaism, “Torah Study”, http://urj.org/learning/torah/
 “Torah portions and Rabbinical Commentary from the official Reform Jewish website”

o Westchester Reform Temple Torah Study Blog, http://wrttorahstudy.blogspot.com/
 “A blog mixing Reform Jewish torah study with practical advice on daily matters – an excellent, frequently updated blog”

o Women of Reform Judaism, “Torah Study Website”, http://www.womenofreformjudaism.org/the-Torah-a-womens-commentary/the-torah-a-womens-commentary-study-guide-program
 “The Women of Reform Judaism organization’s website on Torah commentary; a useful general resource”



• Torah Study from a Non-Denominational Perspective

o My Jewish Learning, “Torah Study: Jewish Learning”, http://www.myjewishlearning.com/practices/Ritual/Torah_Study.shtml
 “Resources on the practice of Torah Study and actual commentaries, including valuable guides to writing a D’var Torah or independent commentary”

o Shamash.org, “Divrei Torah – Commentaries” http://shamash.org/tanach/dvar.shtml
 “A search engine featuring a large section of full-text Torah commentaries, mostly at advanced levels”,

o Torah from Dixie, “A selection of Torah commentaries from Atlanta, GA”, http://www.tfdixie.com/


o Torahnet.org, http://torahnet.org/
 “A very comprehensive, multidenominational list of online Torah resources”



• Additional Resources

o I Love Torah Learning Site, http://www.ilovetorah.com/, “A website featuring hundreds of video and audio lessons on the Torah, from a Kabbalist/Orthodox perspective”

o Torah Educational Software, http://www.jewishsoftware.com, “A website with a large selection of educational materials for all ages and study levels”