Bible Books
004
Torah Today: A Renewed Encounter with Scripture
Pinchas Peli
(Washington, D.C.: B’nai B’rith Books, 1987) 253 pp., $19.95
Writing in a flowing style that combines a nice mix of contemporary biblical exegesis, traditional Jewish interpretation and relevant applications to modern life, Pinchas Peli serves us with 54 essays on the different portions (parashot) of the Torah appointed to be read in the synagogue for each week of the year.
Pinchas Peli is professor of Jewish thought and literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and well known in the United States for his presentation of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik’s teachings On Repentance (Paulist Press, 1984). The essays in Torah Today have been adapted from Dr. Peli’s weekly column of reflections on the readings, which appeared in the Jerusalem Post during 1984–1985. These are presented in order from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy, and average three to five pages in length.
While primarily written for a Jewish audience, his meditations also make a fine introduction for Christians to the rich biblical heritage of Jewish spirituality. They might best be described by Jewish readers as midrashic reflections and by Christians as five-minute biblical meditations. They are so written that each brings out a central insight from the Scriptures for the human situation portrayed in the text, and then draws one or two important lessons that speak to Christians almost as aptly as to Jews. Torah Today is not a technical study but clearly written for the benefit of ordinary people who seek deeper insights into the meaning of Scripture for life today.
The key word is today. Peli provides fresh approaches to age-old questions of the Judeo-Christian faith such as how to understand sacrifice and ritual in our worship, the place of law and the importance of love of neighbor. For example, in his reflection on Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20, he explains the urgency of Moses’ command, “to choose life!” by linking together thoughts from a hassidic teacher, Reb Nahum of Chernobyl, with an observation by Erich Fromm, the psychologist, and with his own meditation on current problems of faith for Jews in New York and Tel Aviv.
Unfortunately, the biblical passage that Peli comments on in each chapter is not named anywhere in the actual chapter, but can be found only in the table of contents. This makes it a little more difficult to use the book for daily meditation on Scripture. And he can’t quite decide what the subtitle should be. On one page it is “A Renewed Encounter with Scripture,” and on the next it is “Torah Today Week by Week.” But despite these minor flaws, Peli has produced a very enjoyable and insightful book on the important role Scripture can play today in contemporary Judaism.
The two books reviewed below both focus on informal Bible study as a complement to formal religious services and education. One is written from a Jewish perspective and describes ways to learn Torah with children in a family setting; the other—from a Christian perspective—considers methods for organizing and effectively running small Bible study groups for adults. BR believes that many Christians and Jews share the objective of trying to create meaningful personal interactions with the Bible in order to incorporate ethical values into life.
We encourage our readers to share information about effective informal study formats that they have created or in which they have participated, as well as to tell us about books that have guided them in their study techniques. From time to time we will publish ideas and review new books.—Ed.
Using the Bible in Groups
Roberta Hestenes
(Philadelphia: Westminster, 1985) 118 pp, $6.95 paperback
Personal interaction with the Bible in the context of a small group is the focus of this book. Although written from a Christian perspective, Using the Bible in Groups could be useful to non-Christians. The author makes the case for the desirability of informal Bible-oriented groups to complement more formal church services, just as in New Testament times, Christian believers met in large groups in the courts of the Temple and in smaller groups from house to house. Although the term “Bible study” is used, the instruction is not the classroom type taught by a knowledgeable professional but is based on class members sharing insights derived from a careful reading of the Bible. Anyone can lead such a group. However, the group leader may become more effective by knowing about techniques that other group leaders have used with success. These suggestions are the focus of the main part of this book.
How does one begin a small group? the author asks. The small group, Hestenes suggests, starts with a “covenant” among 048prospective members, defining their relationship and commitment to the group and to each other. The covenant spells out the purpose and direction of the group. Suggestions are made as to how much time should be spent on Bible study, interacting, prayer and/or refreshments. This understanding among group members—according to the author—should be renewed quarterly.
One chapter is devoted to membership and leadership. Since the group is not a class, but learns through interaction with each other, as they approach a biblical passage, the group leader is not so much a teacher as a moderator. Good small group Bible studies are discussions and not lectures. Thus the secret of success, as far as the group leader is concerned, lies in knowing how to ask the right kinds of questions. The ultimate aim of the group is application, rather than the accumulation of facts.
Two chapters of the book list and describe about 20 Bible study methods that can be used in the small group context, including chapter study, book study, biographical study. The final chapter discusses the relationships that can be built within such a group and suggests how to accomplish the development of relationships that lead to learning together. Each chapter ends with a summary. Sample worksheets are included that may be used to plan meetings. A subject index, an index to Scripture references and a short bibliography are useful aids at the close of the book.
Although the book is small (only 118 pages), the dense type permits inclusion of a lot of material. (It is clear and quite thorough.) If the reader wishes to begin a small Bible group, the suggestions in this book will be helpful.
Torah With Love
David Epstein and Suzanne S. Stutman
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986) 198 pp., $14.95
Torah with Love aims to assist young Jewish families to develop and strengthen traditional Jewish values by suggesting the adoption of regular Torah study with children at the Friday evening Sabbath dinner table. The book encourages Jewish parents to undertake a “do-it-yourself” approach toward teaching moral and ethical values by leading discussions and playing educational games based on the narrative and legal portions of the Pentateuch.
Written with great enthusiasm, Torah with Love clearly reflects the success achieved by the writers in teaching values to their own children by the methods they describe.
The authors offer arguments from contemporary thinking in education and psychology to convince the skeptical reader of the usefulness of their approach. Even so, one is led to suspect that the evident success of the writers in implementing these programs in their homes may stem more from their talents as teachers than from the validity of the particular approach.
Torah with Love is not the only guide to Torah study for the Jewish family to be published in recent years. Torah for the Family by Philip L. Lipis and Louis Katzoff (Jerusalem: World Jewish Bible Society, 1977) assumes that most families will have difficulty in formulating topics or approaches to discussion. They have, therefore, decided to offer the family Torah discussion leader a series of detailed questions, at three developmental levels, for each Torah portion, from which the leader can select the specific questions deemed most suitable for his/her family on this particular Shabbat. Epstein and Stutman, on the other hand, provide a general approach to Bible study, offering such rubrics as “The ten universal questions (that might be asked regarding any Torah passage),’ it being the task of the discussion leader (usually the parents) to decide on the format of that week’s discussion and the aspects of that week’s Torah portion with which to deal.
Epstein and Stutman provide ratings of seven Torah commentaries that they feel will be useful for discussion leaders. Almost all of these commentaries are written at a fairly sophisticated level. Parents who lack familiarity with traditional Bible commentaries, and have not previously done some serious Torah study, may have difficulty in deciphering and utilizing these commentaries. On the other hand, Gunther Plaut’s commentary, which the authors also recommend and which is written from the perspective of Reform Judaism, may be much more useful to the average parent. One wonders why Epstein and Stutman did not include additional works, easily accessible to the average college-educated layperson, written from a non-Orthodox perspective, such as Nahum Sarna’s Understanding Genesis and Exploring Exodus (Bible Books, BR 02:04) in their recommendations.
Notwithstanding these qualifications, this book deserves wide distribution; the authors’ enthusiasm for Bible study in the home will undoubtedly convince many readers that they too can do it.
Torah Today: A Renewed Encounter with Scripture
Pinchas Peli
(Washington, D.C.: B’nai B’rith Books, 1987) 253 pp., $19.95
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