Back To The Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts

Back to the Sources is a collection of essays by eminent scholars in their field on the major texts of the Jewish religious tradition. The topics covered include, Bible, Talmud (includes Mishnah and medieval law codes), midrash, medieval biblical commentaries, medieval philosophy, kabbalah (sans pop stars), hasidic tales, and the siddur (the prayerbook). The essay on the Bible covers the literary aspects of modern scholarship. The Talmud and midrash essays help the reader understand the classical rabbinic mindset that give rise to those literatures - that is, every word and every letter means something, and therefore the parallelism (which to a modern literary theorist is an aspect of style) of the biblical text, becomes a phenomenon to be explained. The essay on medieval biblical commentaries is an excellent survey of all the major figures and amounts to an introduction to the Mikra'ot Gedolot (the biblical text printed with a collection of commentaries on the same page to facilitate study). The essay on medieval philosophy traces the development of Jewish philosophical works and presents the main figures. The essay on kabbalah is the weakest of the collection. It presents only a very superficial account of the major figures, the "official" (Gershom Scholem) story of its evolution, and a very limited introduction to the system of sfirot. It mentions not at all the four worlds, a major failing. The essay on Hasidic tales is excellent.Each essay has a "Where to go from here?" section that points the reader towards translations of the primary sources and other books and articles. The sources cited date primarily to the 1980s and earlier, and that particular section is in need of an update. There are also some glaring omissions in the references. For example, in biblical poetry, James Kugel's The Idea of Biblical Poetry is the gold standard, and not referenced. Nor when discussing Biblical narrative is Julius Wellhausen's Prolegomena to the Study of Israel, which is the foundation text for the Documentary Hypothesis.

this study seems to deal mainly with the Sepher Bahir and the Sepher Zohar. it seems to purposely omit the Sepher Yetzirah. but much to do with Jewish mysticism and spiritual dimensions. i recommend it for those who are fascinated with ancient wisdom and transformative interpretations of the Torah and seek to explore the divine emanations of the tree of life.

Back To The Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts is an excellent introduction to foundational Jewish texts. For a basic book, it contains a great deal of information, scope, and range. It moves from the Torah down to the Hasidic movement, involving multiple readings from religious, historical, psychological and sociological perspectives.But overall, this book examines the place of Jewish texts in Jewish religious life. It explains a fundamental strength of Judaism: the ability of its practitioners to constantly recast the interpretation of Judaism, and what it means to be a Jew.

This book has been incredibly helpful for my Religious Studies class. It is easy to understand while incorporating critical material. I recommend if you're a student or someone looking to further your knowledge.

This is an excellent sourcebook for anyone who wants to study Torah ... whether they are Jewish or not. For someone who is converting to Judaism (my case), it has amazing essays on Jewish religious texts. You could be an agnostic history of religion student and still gain knowledge from this book. I highly recommend it.

After more then 20 years, Holtz's book stands as the best guide to classical Jewish Texts written for the layman. Each chapter offers a succinct description of an area of Jewish texts, e.g. Biblical, Talmudic, et.al. At the end of each chapter there is a bibliography of published books useful to gaining access to the topic of the chapter.

this is one book for a class I really enjoy reading! The subject matter is dense, and for this beginning student, rather difficult to understand, BUT it is written in a very-user friendly manner. Highly recommended for anyone who desires to learn about Judaic literature and sacred texts.

I headed into this book with very low expectations. I expected it to be exceedingly boring. I was very surprised. It was quite interesting. Having sat through countless Friday night Kabbalah services, l thought that there was nothing you could tell me about it that I didn't already know. I learned that there was a lot I didn't know! I now cannot wait to go to ne