Believer and the Modern Study of the Bible

Tova Ganzel is the Director of the Midrasha at Bar-Ilan University and one the first trained women’s halakhic advisors (Yoatzot Halacha). She received her PhD from Bar-Ilan’s Department of Bible Studies, and is a renowned figure in the world of women’s Jewish learning. She is the recipient of numerous prestigious academic awards and grants, and is a published author.

“For observant Judaism to survive biblical criticism’s heavyartillery it will have to further articulate the meaning of its faith claims.This will allow it to remain faithful to its traditions while maintaining amature dialogue with contemporary modes of thought. … The authors’sophisticated theological discourse inspires those who care about this tensionto guide that debate towards the theological arena and away from the BeitMidrash. That is the arena in which orthodox creativity is most possible. Thebook convincingly demonstrates that retooling our theological formulations willallow orthodoxy to see these modernizing trends as complementary, notadversarial.” —Rabbi Ysoscher Katz, Marginalia

• IntroductionPreface to the English TranslationAcknowledgmentsAnnotated Anthology—“Wisdom and Knowledge Will be Given to You”Yoshi FargeonArticlesGeneral OverviewA Personal Perspective on Biblical History, the Authorship of the Torah, and Belief in its Divine OriginShawn Zelig AsterThe Sages as Bible CriticsYehuda BrandesThe Tanakh as HistoryMarc Zvi BrettlerKabbalah as a Shield against the “Scourge” of Biblical Criticism: A Comparative Analysis of the Torah Commentaries of Elia Benamozegh and Mordecai BreuerAdiel CohenOrthodoxy and the Challenge of Biblical Criticism: Some Reflections on the Importance of Asking the Right QuestionTamar RossAsk the Rabbi: “Biblical Criticism is Destroying my Religious Faith!”Yuval CherlowThe Theophany at Sinai and the Passages of Revelation“I Shall Fear God Alone and Not Show Favor in Torah”: A Conceptual Foundation for Wrestling with Biblical ScholarshipDavid BigmanRevelation and Religious Authority in the Sinai TraditionsBenjamin SommerThe Torah Speaks to PeopleChezi CohenThe Revelation Narratives: Analyses and Theological Reflections on Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Classical MidrashAvraham ShammahThe Ethical ChallengeThe Binding of Isaac and Historical ContextualityChayuta DeutschManasseh, King of Judah, in Early rabbinic Literature: An Erudite, Unfettered, and Creative Biblical CriticHananel MackJustification, Denial, and “Terraforming”: Three Theological-Exegetical ModelsAmit KulaThe Bible in Historical ContextThe Names of God and the Dating of the Biblical CorpusYoel ElitzurDiscrepancies between Laws in the TorahJoshua BermanBetween the Prophet and his Prophecy: Ezekiel’s Visionary Temple in its Historical ContextTova GanzelThe Torah of Moses and the Laws of the Nations: A Study in the Teachings of Rabbi Tzadok Ha-Kohen of LublinAvia HacohenIlluminating InscriptionsYaakov MedanArchaeology and the BibleHaggai MisgavThe Book of Daniel and the Twenty-First-Century Religious Bible StudentRivka Raviv