Overview

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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Shai Held ,  Irving (Yitz) Greenberg
Publisher:   Jewish Publication Society
Imprint:   Jewish Publication Society
ISBN:  

9780827613003

ISBN 10:   0827613008
Pages:   496
Publication Date:   01 September 2017
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Foreword Acknowledgments A Note on Translations Introduction Leviticus Va-yikra’ No. 1. Order amid Chaos: Connecting to Leviticus Va-yikra’ No. 2. The Fall and Rise of Great Leaders: Or, What Kind of Leaders Do We Need? Tsav No. 1. No Leftovers: The Meaning of the Thanksgiving Offering Tsav No. 2. Buying God Off: Jeremiah and the Problem of Religious Hypocrisy Shemini No. 1. Is Vegetarianism a Biblical Ideal? Shemini No. 2. Of Grief Public and Private: Moses and Aaron Face the Unimaginable Tazria’ No. 1. Living on the Boundary: The Complexity and Anxiety of Childbirth Tazria’ No. 2, Metsora’ No. 1. Struggling with Stigma: Making Sense of the Metzora Metsora’ No. 2. Life-Giving, Death-Dealing Words ‘Aḥarei Mot No. 1. Yom Kippur: Purifying the Tabernacle and Ourselves ‘Aḥarei Mot No. 2, Kedoshim No. 1. The Holiness of Israel and the Dignity of the Disabled Kedoshim No. 2. Loving Our Neighbor: A Call to Emotion and Action ‘Emor No. 1. Covenantal Joy: What Sukkot Can Teach Us ‘Emor No. 2. Between Grief and Anticipation: Counting the Omer Be-har No. 1. Another World to Live In: The Meaning of Shabbat Be-har No. 2, Be-ḥukkotai No. 1. God’s Unfathomable Love Be-ḥukkotai No. 2. Standing Tall: Serving God with Dignity Numbers Be-midbar No. 1. Divine Love and Human Uniqueness Be-midbar No. 2. A Torah for All? Universalism and Its Dangers Naso’ No. 1. On Channeling and Receiving Blessing Naso’ No. 2. The Risk of Relationality: Or, Why Confession Matters Be-ha’alotekha No. 1. It’s Not about You: Or, What Moses Knew Be-ha’alotekha No. 2. After Pain, Prayer: What Moses (and Job) Can Teach Us Shelaḥ No. 1. The Tragedy (and Hope) of the Book of Numbers Shelaḥ No. 2. (Don’t) Follow Your Heart and Your Eyes: Between Numbers and Ecclesiastes Koraḥ No. 1. Every Jew a High Priest? The Meaning of Tzitzit and the Sin of Korah Koraḥ No. 2. Giving, Taking, and the Temptations of Leadership Ḥukkat No. 1. When Everything Starts to Look the Same: Moses’s Failure Ḥukkat No. 2. Putting Down Ancient Grudges (and Learning Kindness): Between Israel and Edom Balak No. 1. The Lampooned Prophet: On Learning From (and With) Balaam Balak No. 2. Not There Yet Pinḥas No. 1. When Zealotry Metastasizes: The Passionate Self-Regard of Pinhas Pinḥas No. 2. Between Zealotry and Self-Righteousness: Or, Was Elijah the Prophet Fired? Mattot No. 1. Cattle, Cattle Everywhere: The Failure of Reuben and Gad Mattot No. 2, Mase’ei No. 1. Serving God in All We Do: Israel’s Journeys and Resting Places Mase’ei No. 2. Do Not Murder! Shedding Innocent Blood and Polluting the Land Deuteronomy Devarim No. 1. “Do Not Be Afraid of Anyone”: On Courage and Leadership Devarim No. 2. A Bolt from the Blue: Or, When God Falls in Love Va-etḥannan No. 1. Coveting, Craving . . . and Being Free Va-etḥannan No. 2. A God So Close, and Laws So Righteous: Moses’s Challenge (and Promise) ‘Ekev No. 1. Will and Grace: Or, Who Will Circumcise Our Hearts? ‘Ekev No. 2. Always Looking Heavenward: Learning Dependence Re’eh No. 1. Opening Our Hearts and Our Hands: Deuteronomy and the Poor Re’eh No. 2. Women in Deuteronomy—and Beyond Shofetim No. 1. The Future Is Wide Open: Or, What Prophets Can and Cannot Do Shofetim No. 2. Give the People (Only Some of) What They Want: Deuteronomy and the King Ki Tetse’ No. 1. Let Him Live Wherever He Chooses: Or, Why Runaway Slaves Are Like God Ki Tetse’ No. 2. Combating Cruelty: Amalek Within and Without Ki Tavo’ No. 1. Against Entitlement: Why Blessings Can Be Dangerous Ki Tavo’ No. 2. Between Fear and Awe: Forgetting the Self Nitsavim No. 1. Going in Deep: What It Takes to Really Change Nitsavim No. 2, Va-yelekh No. 1. Returning to Sinai Every Seventh Year: Equality, Vulnerability, and the Making of Community Va-yelekh No. 2. Why Joshua? Or, In (Ambivalent) Praise of Hesitancy Ha’azinu No. 1. “I May Not Get There with You”: The Death of Moses and the Meaning of Covenantal Living Ha’azinu No. 2. Hearing the Whisper: God and the Limits of Language Ve-zo’t ha-berakhah No. 1. The Beginning and End of Torah Notes on Leviticus Notes on Numbers Notes on Deuteronomy A Note on Bible Commentaries Bibliography Subject Index Classical Sources Index

Reviews

Shai Held is one of the most important teachers of Torah in his generation. -Rabbi David Wolpe, author of David: The Divided Heart -- Rabbi David Wolpe 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 -- Walter Moberly 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 -- Rabbi Sharon Brous

Shai Held is one of the most important teachers of Torah in his generation. --Rabbi David Wolpe, author of David: The Divided Heart--Rabbi David Wolpe (02/27/2017)

Author Information

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.

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