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Unlocking the Torah Text Shmot

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Theology books often suffer from a lack of clarity in their audience. While the core of the text is truly directed at a distinct audience who accepts the ideas of the authors there will be bound of major unstated premises and the occasional chapter of pseudo-doubt chock full of strawmen and non-sequitors ; ultimately detracting from the authors credibility. Shmuel Goldin in writing "Unlocking the Torah Text: An In-depth Journey into the weekly Parsha: Shmot" does not suffer from this flaw. One of the most admirable qualities of this text is that Goldin starts off the book clearly listing both his theological starting point, his underlying interpretive assumptions, and the nature of his schools of interpretation. Specifically, Goldin bases his interpretation on the following. First a "fundamental belief in the dive authorship of the text" is assumed. Second the belief that "The treasures of the Torah can only be uncovered when the narrative itself is seen as the truth, comprised of real even that happened to real people." Third, in seeking to understanding the "unfolding narrative" that "no part of the text or its contents will be off-limits." Additionally, he indicates that he will consider both Pshat and drash in interpreting the text. We are told that pshat is the "search for the literal, concrete meaning of the narrative." Whereas, drash considers the writings of the rabbinic community and asks the questions "what are the rabbis trying to teach us?" Regardless of whether the reader agrees with Goldin's assumptions or his understanding of these interpretive paradigms from the outset you can couch your reading in the understanding that this is how the author approached his interpretation of the Torah. Normally, the reader is left to guess at the assumptions of the author and is stuck with trying to piece the interpretive structure into a cohesive whole. The presence of this outline is a substantial gift to the readers.
The text itself is organized into 10 section that are then further broken down into four or five questions. Each sections provides a summary of the parsha and then each question has several answers and usually a section of additional "points to ponder." I usually liked the format although sometimes the structure of multiple answers felt forced. The questions span the likes of: Why does God randomly threaten to kill Moses with no warning early in his journey ?, What is the nature of Pharoh's free will?, Why des God send the Israelites the long way out of Egypt? or Does God condone the Israelites owning slaves? and so on. Generally, the questions are interesting and I believe of merit. Sometimes the questions are not so interesting. For instance: Does Moses' father Yitro leave before or after the Revelation? Fortunately, the interesting questions outweigh the banal.
The greatest issue, for me, is that my personal assumptions on reading the Torah text are quite divergent from Goldins. So when he lists Rabbi after Rabbi trying to explain how a clear contradiction is resolved and he cannot consider the mythological aspects of the story I often find myself disappointed with presented interpretation. Worse is Rabbincal interpretation seems to invent characters and details out of nothing in the Torah and flesh out the stories with their imagination while treating this fleshing out as based firmly in historical truth. Perhaps, there is further basis for these claims that I am unaware of but it seemed that when the cited Rabbis make proclamations on history the expectation is that these statements are truthful and fully grounded. To my knowledge the types of details proffered are far from historically supported and so when they appear I find it difficult to trust their other interpretations.
"Unlocking the Torah Text: An In-depth Journey into the weekly Parsha: Shmot" provides a generally enjoyable weigh to approach the Torah and gain insight into Rabbincal interpretation. While certainly not for any audience those who share Goldins assumptions about the Torah will surely find much to help expand their understanding of the text.

This is the second volume in the series of books delving into the lessons that can be derived from the weekly Torah portion by Rabbi Shmuel Goldin. My previous review of Rabbi Goldin's first volume, on Bereishit, tells some things about the author, the style of his books, the kind of perceptive questions that he raises, his intention not to accept Midrashim as necessarily true, and to extract the teachings of Midrashim and from traditional commentators, as one would extract a moral from a parable. He states that he is presenting the plain meaning of the biblical text. The meanings that he offers are generally lessons on how to act properly.

This volume addresses the portions in the second biblical book, Exodus, called Shemot in Hebrew. Since writing his first volume, Rabbi Goldin's books received the imprimatur of the Orthodox Union (OU), and this and subsequent volumes are published, therefore, by both Gefen Publishing House and the OU Press.

The following are some of the many interesting, perceptive, and thought provoking questions that the rabbi raises in this book. What is the "Oral Law," and why, if it is important, is it not in the written Torah? If every word of the Torah is significant and was written to teach important lessons that help guide human life, as the rabbi believes, why does the Torah dedicate twenty-two sentences to describe the enslavement of the Israelites? Why does the Torah omit the names of Moses' parents in the beginning of Moses' story and only reveal it in a later text? If we take the biblical text literally, as the rabbi does, how can Pharaoh be blamed for persecuting the Israelites when the Torah states that God hardened his heart? If the Torah teaches proper conduct, how can it allow slavery? And, why are the laws of slavery introduced immediately after the Israelites are themselves redeemed from slavery? Why does the Torah say that the punishment is "an eye for an eye" when the rabbis tell us that a person is compensated with money for an injury?

An example of the rabbi's "Approaches," which generally focus on proper behavior, is his discussion on why the Torah instituted the building of a Tabernacle. He cites Rashi and a Midrash that the building was the result of the "sin of the golden calf." He cites the views of others, such as Ramban that the Tabernacle is totally unrelated to the golden calf and that it was intended to be built from the time of creation as "a deliberate act of divine grace and thoughtfulness designed to strengthen the immanence of His presence." He offers his own view why "the Sanctuary is not a replacement for the golden calf at all but a true antidote for its root causes." It teaches us how to act.

An example of "Points to Ponder" is the rabbi's thoughts on the practice of "studying and quoting passages from the biblical text `out of context.'" Another is his discussion on the rabbinic teaching about disagreements among sages: "These and these are the words of the living God."

This is a fantastic teaching tool for educators and students alike. This book presents the tough eternal questions and presents the reponses of many commentators over the centuries in a format that is easy to follow and discuss.

Rabbi Goldin's book is a thought provoking tour-de-force for both the neophyte and the lifetime learner. After summarizing the weekly portion, his review of the views of the various commentators demonstrates just how many different aspects there are to the Torah text. Perhaps the most thought provoking aspect of this work, however, are the "Points to Ponder", which takes the themes of the weekly Torah portion and applies them to contemporary issues. This is a must read for anyone who wants a fresh approach to Torah learning.

As a student of the Bible, I have found that Rabbi Goldin has done a fantastic job of identifying all the essential questions a reader of the Biblical text would ask themselves and he is able to provide a variety of approaches to each of his penetrating questions.

Unlocking the Torah Text is a tremendous resource to someone studying the Biblical text for the first time as well as someone who has been re-reading the Biblical text every year.

A fabulous book. well written, assesible to all levels of Torah knowledge, insightful, creative, and thought-provoking. If you only have time to learn from one book or want to add new dimensions to your knowledge of the weekly parsha, this is the book to read.

Again Rabbi Goldin writes in such a way as to let us all in on the secrets and questions of the Torah. This book, like the first, is a wonderfully filled with straight forward answers to obvious questions not always asked or answered.

I hear there are three more in this series of five. I can't wait to see what happens next.