Back To The Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts [Paperback]

Barry W. Holtz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 1986

Essays analyze the major traditional texts of Judaism from literary, historical, philosophical, and religious points of view.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 2, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671605968
• ISBN-13: 978-0671605964
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > Jewish Texts

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

114 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to classic texts, March 17, 2002

By 

"krchicago" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Back To The Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts (Paperback)

"Back to the Sources" provides a superb introduction to the classic Jewish texts: the Bible, Talmud, Midrash, medieval Bible commentaries (legal codes are discussed in the chapter on Talmud), medieval philosophical works, Zohar and other kabbalistic works, Hasidic teachings, and the prayer book. Each chapter is written by a different scholar, who is an expert in the text or texts at hand. All of the authors write clearly for non-experts and provide superb guidance, whether you are planning to start reading the texts or simply want to know more about them. Each chapter ends with helpful suggestions for further reading (although these are now somewhat out of date, since the book was published in 1984).

There is an interesting divide half way through the book: the first four chapters (on Bible, Talmud, Midrash and commentaries) focus on the literary characteristics of those texts: how they are organized, how style contributes to meaning, what knowledge they assume, how to read them, and so on. Each chapter does an excellent job of walking you through an extended passage of the text under consideration. Other than these analyses of particular passages, however, there is no systematic attempt to discuss or summarize the content of the work, much less consider its meaning or impact.

The last four chapters, on the other hand (covering philosophy, kabbala, Hasidic teaching and the Siddur), are much more focused on content, on what the texts are saying and what impact that has had in the development of Judaism. These chapters still include close-reading of significant passages of text, but they also provide extraordinarily helpful overviews of what these texts, as a whole, are trying to accomplish. The chapters on medieval philosophy and kabbala are particularly good -- even if I never get around to studying these texts, I now feel like I have a reasonably good grasp of what they are about.

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in these texts or in Jewish intellectual history, even if you have no plans to study the texts themselves.

75 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Text study for the INTELLIGENT beginner!, January 18, 2001

By 

Jennifer M. Macleod "yiddishe supermama" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Back To The Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts (Paperback)

What's the difference between "Mishna" and "Midrash"? Is "Talmud" the same as "Gemara"? What's a "Tanach"?

If you're just getting started in Judaism, it's easy to get bogged down with terminology. There are lots of books on each of these subjects, but very few that cover ALL the classic Jewish sources.

This book provides an excellent introduction, not only to WHAT the texts are, but HOW they are used and studied. Holtz takes us on a step by step journey through a sample section of each text, demonstrating, in a beginner-friendly way, the ways that scholars derive modern meaning from ancient wisdom.

Holtz never condescends -- he makes the rare assumption that the reader is highly intelligent, well-read in other areas and has become interested in learning more about Judaism. Very much recommended before delving deeper into any one Jewish text.

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A broad and clear introduction to Jewish texts, March 30, 2000

By 

David Dressler (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Back To The Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts (Paperback)

If you are interested in a basic understanding of Jewish texts, from Torah to Talmud, and everything in between, this is a perfect book for you. Each chapter contains a different text, and is presented in a clear, manageable style. Soon after reading this book, I took a course in Zohar with a VERY poor teacher; the only thing that saved some of the students in the class from utter confusion was a Xeroxed copy of the chapter on Kabbalah from this book.

Each chapter is self-contained, so it is not necessary to read the book all the way through. It can be used as a reference that you can return to again and again. This strength is also its greatest weakness, however; there is no sense that these texts interact with one another. Each seems to be examined in a vacuum, exclusive of every other text. Also, the section on Talmud actually made me more afraid of studying Talmud than I had previously been. It painted it as a dizzying and impossibly dense text, although the information I gleaned from that chapter was nonetheless useful. (Please don't let that chapter scare you away from studying Talmud yourself!)

I recommend this book to anyone who has a basic understanding of Judaism and would like to begin the process of studying in depth.