by Edward Feld (Author)
2023 Top Five Reference Book from the Academy of Parish Clergy
The Torah is truly the Book of Revolutions, born from a military coup (the Northern Israelite revolution), the aftermath of an assassination and regency (a Judean revolution), and a quiet but radical revolution effected by outsiders whose ideas proved persuasive (Babylonian exile). Emerging from each of these were three key legal codes--the Covenant Code (Exodus), the Deuteronomic Code (Deuteronomy), and the Holiness Code (Leviticus)--which in turn shaped the Bible, biblical Judaism, and Judaism today. In dramatic historical accounts grounded in recent Bible scholarship, Edward Feld unveils the epic saga of ancient Israel as the visionary legacy of inspired authors in different times and places. Prophetic teaching and differing social realities shaped new understandings concretized in these law codes. Revolutionary biblical ideas often encountered great difficulties in their time before they triumphed. Eventually master editors wove the threads together, intentionally preserving competing narratives and law codes. Ultimately, the Torah is an emblem of pluralistic belief born of revolutionary moments that preserved spiritual realities that continue to speak powerfully to us today.Author Biography
Edward Feld is senior editor of Siddur Lev Shalem, the Rabbinical Assembly prayerbook for Sabbaths and festivals, and its sister High Holiday volume Mahzor Lev Shalem. He is the author of The Spirit of Renewal: Faith after the Holocaust and Joy, Despair, and Hope: Reading Psalms.
Number of Pages: 320
Dimensions: 0.8 x 8.9 x 5.9 IN
Publication Date: September 01, 2022