Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary (Hardcover)

In terms of translation to English, I find Etz Hayim enlightening. For example, take the first sentences of Parshat Noah (Genesis 6:9-12). The old Hertz Chumash translates the lines as: "These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generation a man righteous and whole-hearted; Noah walked with god. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. And the earth was corrupt before god and the earth was filled with violence. And god saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth." When you compare this to the UAHC Plaut translation, generations of Noah becomes "the line of Noah", and whole-hearted becomes "Blameless in his age." Violence is translated as "lawlessness." In the Art Scroll edition, the "generations" is translated as "offspring of Noah", violence is "corrupted", whole-hearted is "perfect in his generation" robbery, and violence is "robbery".

The new ETZ HAYIM translates it as: "This is the line of Noah - Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age, Noah walked with god - Noah begot three sons; Shem Ham and Japheth. The earth became corrupt before god; The earth was filled with lawlessness. When god saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth." I find it the best amalgamation of the others

In terms of order and structure: the Etz Hayim is right to left in format, uses a very clear voweled Hebrew font, is well indexed, and includes the Haftorah, both Ash-kenaz and if necessary, S'farad, after each parshat. A P'SHAT commentary which is based on the JPS five volume commentary (by Tigay, Sarna, Levine, and Milgrom) follows under the main text and was edited by Rabbis Lieber and Chaim Potok. A D'RASH section of commentary, edited by Rabbi Harold Kushner, follows on each page of text. It provides the deeper moral meanings of the passage. A running commentary, in shaded boxes, edited by Rabbis Dorff and Grossman, shows how various biblical verses serve as the basis for Jewish Halakha and Conservative practices. The commentaries for the Haftorahs were edited by Rabbi Michael Fishbane. The book closed with 41 essays by leading scholars and rabbis (including Wolpe, Tigay, Scolnic, Hammer, Tucker, Gillman, Sarna, Gordis, Orenstein, Hauptman, and Hanan Alexander).

But the best part of Etz Hayim, I think, are the commentaries. The old HERTZ elucidated on the words whole-hearted, righteous, all flesh, and "Noah walked with God" (comparing Noah's walking with God as a father and young son, to Abraham's walking before God, as a stronger more morally mature leader.) The Art Scroll includes Midrash from Abarbabel, Rashi, and others on why deeds are mentioned before the names of sons, why the sons are not listed in birth order, and discusses whether Noah is being praised or criticized. The WG Plaut chumash comments on the word lawlessness. However, The ETZ HAYIM follows its direct translations with a PSHAT commentary on how the Hebrew Noah flood story compares with other Near Eastern cultural flood accounts; it retranslates "this is the line of Noah" in to "This is the story of Noah:; it compares the idea of righteous (tzadik) with that of blameless (tamim); it mentions that the root word for "corrupt" is mentionned seven times in the narrative; and it discusses that "all flesh' includes animals. In its D'RASH section, Etz Hayim discusses how Noah first gave birth to his good deeds before his children. It then quotes Talmudic sages, such as Resh Lakish, on whether Noah was righteous relative to his generation or in absolute terms. It continues that "lawlessness" (hamas) results in people losing respect for governments and fairness, leading to anarchy.

Whew, and that is just for the four sentences in Genesis 6:9-12! You can see why I highly recommend this new chumash.

There is a second layer of commentary, the derash, which provides spiritual insights that go beyond the plain meaning of the words., and is original for Etz Hayim. These two layers thus have different agendas. The pshat provides what the Torah meant in its time and place. For example, in the Akeda story, Isaac sees no animal for sacrifice, and asks Abraham, "Where are the sheep for offering?" Abraham responds, "God will see to the sheep." The peshat observes "the father's vague reply surely sustains whatever doubts Isaac now feels, especially in an age when human sacrifice was possible." OK, you're right there in the story itself. The derash adds, "One suspects that Isaac at this point intuited that he was to be the offering. Both father and son missed an opportunity for open conversation about a matter of supreme importance to each of them. This father and son never have the opportunity of speaking with each other again." The Derash provides a moral lesson, musar, a spiritual and sometimes mystical dimension . It somewhat resembles the "gleanings" section of the Plaut, but is more focussed and distilled.

There is an additional layer, halakhah le-ma'aseh, practical halakhah. Etz Hayim is the Bible for the Conservative movement, and this layer gives an opportunity to set forth the Conservative movement's views. Unfortunately, it's only a partial success. There isn't a lot of this layer, the entries are quite brief, and usually it's no different from the orthodox. You'll get a lot more of this in the Artscroll. And even when there is a difference, the Conservative view is sometimes unaddressed. For example, it notes disagreement on the kashrut of swordfish, but fails to state that the Conservative movement considers swordfish kosher.

Each Haftorah has a historical introduction, and an explanation about its relationship to the Torah reading, plus some commentary. Its comparable to the Plaut, but now in the same book, although, to be honest, the Plaut commentary is much more substantial, and usually includes an essay or two on issues raised by the Haftorah. This reflects Reform's greater emphasis on the prophetic material vis-ŕ-vis the humash, than we have.

Each of the 5 books has its own introductory essay, although the ones in Plaut are more substantial. The real treasures are the 40 essays in the back, most of them on broad and important topics, and loaded with information. Here is where you will sometimes find more substantial discussions of the Conservative Movement's view of things on this or that topic. Still, if you want an essay on the Conservative Movement itself, and how we differ from other movements, you won't find it here. It's an odd omission.

The translation is the most recent, the 2000 version, of the JPS translation, with a few changes. For example, Khatat, that troublesome word, is not "sin offering", but "purification offering."

Finally, two unique items. Etz Hayim, bless the editor, actually has a first class index. And second, this is the first synagogue Bible commentary to be impacted by women Rabbis, as Rabbis Susan Grossman coedits the halakhah le-ma'aseh section, and two essays are written by women.