Why do the portraits of Biblical heroes contain such flaws? In the ancient world, heroes were taken much more seriously than they are today. Societies often portrayed one person or character as the primary hero of the culture. That person was depicted as being on a higher plane of existence than mere mortals–as partly divine, […]
Q&A: Dan Ornstein, author of Cain v. Abel
What made you cast the Cain and Abel story as a trial? As I mention in the book, one day I was sitting in jury selection for a criminal trial at our local county courthouse. The presiding judge took great care in advising all of us about our grave responsibilities to seek the truth and […]
Michael Carasik completes final volume of famed Commentators’ Bible
How was this project born, and what was it like to live with it for the past 17 years? The project got started more than a year before it was “born.” My wife (a physical therapist and physical anthropologist) got a National Science Foundation grant to spend July 2000 at the University of Alabama and […]
Rabbi Elliot Dorff on the Joys & Challenges of Conservative Judaism
What do you hope people will learn about Conservative Judaism through this book? I have dedicated this book “with deep appreciation for the people and institutions of the Conservative movement, who have gifted me with a form of Judaism that is totally honest and intellectually challenging while also being vibrant, joyful, caring, morally sensitizing, and […]
Gil Troy Ignites a New Zionist Conversation
Updating Arthur Hertzberg’s classic was a monumental task. How did you approach this challenge? Humbly and naively. I knew I had huge shoes to fill – Hertzberg’s book was the Zionist Bible for me and for generations of Israel-lovers before me and after me. Still, I thought many more texts would be easily available on line, […]
Rabbi Barry Schwartz guides readers on the ‘Path of the Prophets’
Ma Nishtanah- How is Path of the Prophets different from all other books on the prophets? I would like to think that this is the first book to make the often challenging message of the prophets truly accessible to teens and adults. I try to accomplish this by melding biography and theology- zeroing in on one crucial […]
Steven & Sarah Levy introduce Rashi study to a new audience
Why did you choose to write a book about the Rashi Commentary instead of other commentators? Rashi is regarded as the biblical commentator par excellence. For over 900 years, his commentary has served as an indispensable companion for studying the Torah, providing both the scholar and beginner with the key to unlock the Torah’s text. […]
Joshua Jacobson returns with new ‘Chanting the Hebrew Bible’
Q. What inspired you to write about chanting the Hebrew Bible? A. I’ve been chanting Torah since I was a teenager. I thought I understood the system of Torah chant until about 25 years ago, when a friend from my synagogue introduced me to the teachings of Michael Pearlman, an Israeli educator who had devised […]
Rabbi Shai Held brings readers into ‘The Heart of Torah’
Q. How did these two volumes of essays come to be? What led to you deciding to publish them? A. The essays that comprise The Heart of Torah began as a series of emails to an ever-growing list of subscribers. From the beginning, what was so striking to me was the sheer diversity of who […]
