Torah from Heaven: The Reconstruction of Faith

by Norman Solomon

Overview

Traditional Jewish religious belief speaks of a divinely revealed, perfect text, authoritatively expounded. The question this book addresses is one with which the author has struggled all his life: in the light of historical criticism, advances in knowledge, and changing moral attitudes, is the traditional notion of divine revelation and authoritative interpretation still valid? The focus is on Judaism and the examples are mostly drawn from that tradition, but the arguments are easy to transpose to other religions. Norman Solomon's discussion will appeal to those who seek to identify with a religious community but who are troubled by the claim of divine authority made for the scriptures of that community. Ranging across several academic disciplines, it is addressed to people of all religions who find their heads and their hearts are not in accord with each other. It is accessible to a general readership interested in the relationship of scripture, interpretation, and religious authority, though scholars will find original observations and historical interpretations in many areas.

It should find a ready place in university and popular programmes in Jewish studies, general theology, and philosophy of religion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786940858
Publisher:	The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization in association with Liverpool University Press
Publication date:	04/01/2018
Series:	Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	412
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

Norman Solomon retired in 2001 from the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, where he was Fellow in Modern Jewish Thought. He remains a member of Wolfson College, Oxford, and of the Oxford University Unit for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. He was previously Director of the Centre for the Study of Judaism and Jewish/Christian Relations at the Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham.

Dr Solomon was born in Cardiff, and educated there and at St John's College, Cambridge. He has been rabbi to Orthodox Congregations in Manchester, Liverpool, London and Birmingham. He is a Past President of the British Association for Jewish Studies, Vice President of the World Congress of Faiths, and a Patron of the International Interfaith Centre. He has participated in Interfaith Dialogue in over twenty countries on five continents; in 2004 he was Scholar in Residence at Mandelbaum House, University of Sydney. Awards he has received include the Sir Sigmund Sternberg CCJ Award in Christian-Jewish Relations (1993) and the Distinguished Service Medal of the University of San Francisco (2000).

His publications include Judaism and World Religion (1991), The Analytic Movement: Hayyim Soloveitchik and his School (1993), A Very Short Introduction to Judaism (1996), Historical Dictionary of Judaism (1998), and The Talmud: A Selection (2009), as well as numerous articles and reviews. From 1985-91 he was Editor of the quarterly Christian Jewish Relations.

Table of Contents

Note on Transliteration and Classical Sources xvi

Orientation 1

Where I Come From 3

The Seduction of 'True Belief' 4

What Does It All Mean? 5

Philosophical Beginnings 7

Facing the Questions 9

Pulpit and Prejudice 11

Interfaith Dialogue 13

Academic Detachment? 14

Part I Revelation

Torah from Heaven: Growth of a Tradition 17

1 Holy Books 19

What Is 'Torah'? 25

The 'Sacred Canon' 28

Why the Five Books Are Special 29

Philo on Moses and the Ancestral Books 31

Conclusion 32

2 Two Torahs? Scripture and the Rabbis 33

Divine Revelation: The Story 33

Mythic Accounts of Torah 36

The Written Torah and the Oral Torah 38

Rules of Interpretation 40

Interpretation Against the Plain Meaning 43

Conclusion 46

3 Mystics and Kabbalists 47

Pythagoras, Numerology, and the Book of Creation 48

Mystical Significance of the Mitsvot 51

Prophets after the Bible 53

Nahmanides (Ramban) the Mystic 54

Conclusion 55

4 The Great Chain of Being: Philosophers and Kabbalists 56

Platonists and Aristotelians 57

The Ascent of the Soul 58

The Descent and the 'Shells' 60

Reasons for the Mitsvot 62

Conclusion 63

5 Maimonides: The 'Classical' Position 64

Revelation as History 64

The Oral Torah 65

Torah and Dogma 66

Conclusion: Maimonides the Minimalist 67

6 Oral Torah: What Does It Contain? 69

Does the Torah Teach Science? 70

The Torah of Kabbalists and Rationalists 71

Conclusion 72

Summary of Part I 73

Part II Attack

The Counter-Tradition: Hard Questions 75

7 The Counter-Tradition 77

The Alexandrians 77

Sadducees and Pharisees 80

Pagan Philosophical Critiques 82

Gnosticism 88

Later Developments 90

Conclusion 92

8 The Original Torah 93

How Texts Were Written 93

Evidence of the Scrolls and the Ancient Versions 95

The Severus Scroll 99

Can the Original Text be Recovered? 100

The Masoretes 103

Rabbinic Responses to Textual Variation 105

Modern Editions of the Bible 110

Conclusion 111

9 Contradictions, Moral Problems, Factual Errors 113

The Reconciling Hermeneutic 114

Interpreting Aggadah 116

Historical and Archaeological Problems 119

Moral Issues 121

Scientific Inaccuracy 125

Fantasy, Arbitrariness, Superstition 129

Conclusion 131

10 The Rise of Historical Criticism 133

The Beginnings of Biblical Criticism 135

Deists and Sceptics 138

The Bible as Literature 139

From History to Myth 140

Source Theory 141

Archaeology 144

Higher Criticism = Higher Antisemitism? 145

Conclusion 146

Summary of Part II 147

Part III Defenders Of The Faith

Repairing the Breach: In Defence of Tradition 149

11 Defenders of the Faith 151

What Must be Defended 151

Ancient Wisdom Restored: The Renaissance 152

Jewish Bible Commentary Rekindled 154

Conclusion 156

12 The Transformation of Judaism: Interpretation, Interpretation, Interpretation 158

Elijah, the 'Vilna Gaon' (1720-1799) 161

Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786) 167

Torah-Mystical Code, or Source of Values? 170

13 Mendelssohn's Influence 172

Isaac Samuel Reggio (1784-1855) 172

Samuele Davide Luzzatto (1800-1865) 174

Heinrich Graetz (1817-1891) 178

Umberto Cassuto (1883-1951) 179

14 Independents 180

Jacob Tsevi Mecklenburg (1785-1865) 180

Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) 184

Malbim (Meir Leibush ben Yehiel Michel Weiser, 1809-1879) 190

15 In the Steps of the Gaon: Written and Oral Torah Are One 195

Naftali Tsevi Yehudah Berlin (1816-1893) 195

Me'ir Simhah Hakohen of Dvinsk (1843-1926) 201

Barukh Halevi Epstein (1860-1942) 202

16 Hoffman and German Orthodoxy 204

David Hoffman (1843-1921) 204

Hayim Hirschensohn (1857-1935) 205

Benno Jacob (1862-1945) and A. S. Yahuda (1877-1951) 206

Isaac Breuer (1883-1946) 207

Jehiel Jacob Weinberg (1884-1966) 208

Joseph Herman Hertz (1872-1946) 209

Summary of Part III 211

Part IV New Foundations

Torah from Heaven: The Reconstruction of Belief 213

17 Non-Orthodox Reconstructions 215

Moses Mendelssohn: Revealed Legislation 217

Salomon Ludwig Steinheim (1789-1866): Empiricist of Revelation 218

Samuel Holdheim (1806-1860): Radical Reform 221

Progressive Revelation: Krochmal, Formstecher, Hirsch, Cohen 221

Leo Baeck (1873-1956): Essence of Judaism 224

Martin Buber (1878-1965): All life Is Meeting 225

Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929): Creation, Revelation, Redemption 226

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972): Passion of the Prophets 228

Emmanuel Levinas (1905/6-1995): The Face of the Other 233

18 Joseph Dov Soloveitchik and the a priori Torah 237

The Hermeneutics of 'Torah' 240

Historical Criticism 242

The Oral Torah Problem 243

Conclusion 247

19 Feminist Critiques 248

The Sinai Covenant 251

Language and Gender 253

Images of God 254

Equality before the Law 256

The Need for Change 258

20 Four Defences of Traditional Belief 259

David Weiss Halivni: The Maculate Torah 260

Louis Jacobs: Liberal Supernaturalism 264

Menachem Kellner: Rejection of the Dogmatic Approach 266

Tamar Ross: Cumulative Revelation 268

Strengths of the Four Approaches 271

21 Divided by a Common Scripture 272

The Reform Torah 275

The Orthodox Torah 277

The Conservative Torah 281

Go Compare Denominations 286

Summary of Part IV 288

Part V Torah From Heaven 291

22 Options 293

Justifications 293

The Community: Costs and Benefits of Belief 294

The Individual: Costs and Benefits of Belief 296

23 What Is Truth? 299

What Is Truth? 302

Excursus: Consistency and 'Double Truth' 306

In What Sense Is 'Torah from Heaven' True? 309

On 'Narrative Theology' 313

Conclusion. 'Torah from Heaven': A Myth of Origin 313

24 Myth of Origin: Opportunities and Dangers 316

What Torah from Heaven' May Signify 317

History and Myth Do Not Conflict 318

'Torah from Heaven': Uses and Abuses 318

Benefits of Understanding 'Torah from Heaven' as Mythos rather than Logos 320

Dangers from Understanding 'Torah from Heaven' as Logos rather than Mythos 321

Things That Worry People 322

25 Demography versus Reason: The Future of Jewish Religion 325

Does Reason Matter? 328

'Authentic Judaism' 331

Survival of the Fittest 333

Condusion 337

26 Confronting Change 339

A Meditation at the Mountains of Fire (January 2004) 339

Coming to Terms with Modernity 341

Intellectual Violence 343

Who Decides? 345

What I Have Dealt With 345

What I Have Not Dealt With 346

Bibliography 349

Index of Scriptural References 373

Index of Rabbinic References 377

General Index 381

Editorial Reviews

'Solomon intends that his book appeal to both popular and academic readership, a task he rather successfully fulfils. His literary style is characterized by the art of brevity . . . Footnotes are concise and not burdened with endless bibliographic citations. For the interested reader, references throughout the book lead to further reading . . . Theologians will benefit from a plentitude of thought-provoking critique and insight. It is for these reasons that I recommend the book . . . interesting and successful in giving a broad historical perspective as well as provoking thought.'
Dan Baras, Academia.edu

'An excellent resource for researching Jewish intellectual discussion about the Bible.'
Zvi Grumet, Bookjed

'A courageous new book . . . has an impressive range, from scholarship about biblical times to twenty-first century theology and almost all periods in between . . . despite all the detail in the book, it is very readable and comprehensible even for the beginner. It should be required reading for any modern woman or man who thinks seriously about Jewish theology in general and the question of Torah from heaven in particular.'
Martin Lockshin, Canadian Jewish News

'An important book for anyone grappling with traditional Judaism . . . stands with Marc Shapiro's The Limits of Orthodox Theology as a seminal work that delves into the richness of our heritage to show that there is more than one way of looking at core religious ideas . . . This book gives us a history of the issues and how different thinkers over the centuries have dealt with the challenges of the Torah. It is a major contribution.'
Jeremy Rosen's blog

From the Publisher