The
Two Wives Club; Job Requirements for Israelite Kings; David’s Delivery
Service; Dressed to Kill; Private Affair; Nepotism and Regret; Up on
the Roof; Woolly Parable — are these the titles of this year’s fiction
best-sellers or Oscar-nominated films?
No, they are
a sample of the section titles that the reader will find in a locally
published, exciting new volume of studies on the biblical book of
Samuel published by the Ben Yehuda Press.
“Yeshivat
Chovevei Torah Tanakh Companion to the Book of Samuel: Bible Study in
the Spirit of Open and Modern Orthodoxy,” Ben Yehuda Press (2006),
Teaneck, $19.95, 284 pages. |
Teaneck
has become a vibrant locale for Jewish publishing thanks to Larry and
Eve Yudelson. The works coming out of their press provide traditional
Jewish learning informed by what they call "the spirit of open and
modern Orthodoxy."
The
volume on the biblical book of Samuel brilliantly captures oral
presentations on the text and translates them into print. As you work
your way through this "companion" you do feel as if you are accompanied
on your journey of study by rabbis associated with the relatively new
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, who are among the leading lights of modern
Orthodox Bible scholarship.
This well-edited and professionally produced book presents a series of discrete and sometimes overlapping discourses.
Rabbi
Nathaniel Helfgot, chair of the Tanakh and Jewish Thought departments
at YCT, says in the introduction that the contributors adhere to a
common "literary-theological method." But in fact they employ a
potpourri of approaches, which is a shortcoming. Most of the authors do
not seem to be aware of the individuality of their respective methods.
Indeed, they do not show much interest in academic journals.
Helfgot
has taught at the nearby Maayanot and Frisch Schools as well as at the
Drisha Institute. He’s also edited a book containing selected letters
of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and provides two chapters for this
book. The first, "Amalek: Ethics, Values and Halakhic Development,"
treats mostly moral issues. The second, "David and Saul: A Comparison,"
engages in fascinating and close literary readings.
In
the spirit of full disclosure I must admit that in high school I was a
classmate and chavrusa of David Silber, who has since become dean of
New York’s Drisha Institute and a moving force for women’s advanced
study of rabbinic texts. In this book he takes up "The Birth of Samuel
and the Birth of Kingship," a major theme of the text.
Silber
contributes further two chapters that examine other subjects of this
biblical book, including "Anarchy and Monarchy." He addresses there
texts from both Samuel I and II.
Next, Dr. Yehuda
Felix, the Jewish Agency’s educational director for North America,
treats the subject of "Hannah, the Mother of Prayer," reminding us how
davening, the central act of our Judaic piety, was once considered a
great innovation and was instantiated by a woman.
Hebrew
University instructor Leeor Gottlieb then analyzes "The Nachash Story
and the Dead Sea Scrolls," taking the reader into new and rarely
charted territories of comparative study.
In one
chapter Rabbi Hayyim Angel of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in
New York confronts the mystery of "The Theological Significance of the
Urim Ve-Tummim." In a second excurses he asks and answers, "Why David
did not kill Saul: Insights from Psalms."
Rabbi Avi
Weiss, founder and dean of YCT, religious leader of the Hebrew Institue
of Riverdale, and noted author and activist, explores the role of
"Avigayil: Savior of David."
And finally Rabbi
Jack Bieler of the Kemp Mill Synagogue in Silver Spring, Md., decodes
the puzzling chapter on "Uzzah and the Ark."
These
authors convince you that they really do find their texts exciting,
that they do believe the words of the book are sacred and inspired, and
that ordinary householders can and should come along with them to
discover the deeper and more spiritual meanings of Tanakh.
But,
you ask, who really will read and benefit from this work? To that I’d
give one illustration and some speculation. My wife is member of a
women’s Tanakh study group in our area. The group of about 15 mainly
Orthodox women meets on Shabbat afternoon every other week. The members
are professionally accomplished women, who for the most part also are
educated in Jewish texts and learning. My wife and other women in the
group found this volume highly useful in preparing for their group
discussions.
Also, this work indeed does succeed at
being both modern and open. Hence, I speculate that many individual
readers across the spectrum from Reconstructionist to haredi will
discover this book and will use it as a worthy study resource. For more
information, go to www.benyehudapress.com