The Heart of Torah, Volume 2

Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

Shai Held

• Publisher: The Jewish Publication Society
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780827613362
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Jewish Theology

"Shai Held is one of the most important teachers of Torah in his generation."
—Rabbi David Wolpe, author of David: The Divided Heart

In The Heart of Torah, Rabbi Shai Held's Torah essays—two for each weekly portion—open new horizons in Jewish biblical commentary.Held probes the portions in bold, original, and provocative ways. He mines Talmud and midrashim, great writers of world literature, and astute commentators of other religious backgrounds to ponder fundamental questions about God, human nature, and what it means to be a religious person in the modern world. Along the wayhe illuminates the centrality of empathy in Jewish ethics, the predominance of divine love in Jewish theology, the primacy of gratitude and generosity, and God's summoning of each of us—with all our limitations—into the dignity of a covenantal relationship.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Donor Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• A Note on Translations
• Introduction
• Leviticus
• Va-yikra’ No. 1. Order amid Chaos
• Va-yikra’ No. 2. The Fall and Rise of Great Leaders
• Tsav No. 1. No Leftovers
• Tsav No. 2. Buying God Off
• Shemini No. 1. Is Vegetarianism a Biblical Ideal?
• Shemini No. 2. Of Grief Public and Private
• Tazria’ No. 1. Living on the Boundary
• Tazria’ No. 2, Metsora’ No. 1. Struggling with Stigma
• Metsora’ No. 2. Life-Giving, Death-Dealing Words
• ‘Aḥarei Mot No. 1. Yom Kippur
• ‘Aḥarei Mot #2, Kedoshim #1
• Kedoshim No. 2. Loving Our Neighbor
• ‘Emor No. 1. Covenantal Joy
• ‘Emor No. 2. Between Grief and Anticipation
• Be-har No. 1. Another World to Live In
• Be-har No. 2, Be-ḥukkotai No. 1. God’s Unfathomable Love
• Be-ḥukkotai No. 2. Standing Tall
• Numbers
• Be-midbar No. 1. Divine Love and Human Uniqueness
• Be-midbar No. 2. A Torah for All?
• Naso’ No. 1. On Channeling and Receiving Blessing
• Naso’ No. 2. The Risk of Relationality
• Be-ha’alotekha No. 1. It’s Not about You
• Be-ha’alotekha No. 2. After Pain, Prayer
• Shelaḥ No. 1. The Tragedy (and Hope) of the Book of Numbers
• Shelaḥ No. 2. (Don’t) Follow Your Heart and Your Eyes
• Koraḥ No. 1. Every Jew a High Priest?
• Koraḥ No. 2. Giving, Taking, and the Temptations of Leadership
• Ḥukkat No. 1. When Everything Starts to Look the Same
• Ḥukkat No. 2. Putting Down Ancient Grudges (and Learning Kindness)
• Balak No. 1. The Lampooned Prophet
• Balak No. 2. Not There Yet
• Pinḥas No. 1. When Zealotry Metastasizes
• Pinḥas No. 2. Between Zealotry and Self-Righteousness
• Mattot No. 1. Cattle, Cattle Everywhere
• Mattot No. 2, Mase’ei No. 1. Serving God in All We Do
• Mase’ei No. 2. Do Not Murder!
• Deuteronomy
• Devarim No. 1. “Do Not Be Afraid of Anyone”
• Devarim No. 2. A Bolt from the Blue
• Va-etḥannan No. 1. Coveting, Craving . . . and Being Free
• Va-etḥannan No. 2. A God So Close, and Laws So Righteous
• ‘Ekev No. 1. Will and Grace
• ‘Ekev No. 2. Always Looking Heavenward
• Re’eh No. 1. Opening Our Hearts and Our Hands
• Re’eh No. 2. Women in Deuteronomy—and Beyond
• Shofetim No. 1. The Future Is Wide Open
• Shofetim No. 2. Give the People (Only Some of) What They Want
• Ki Tetse’ No. 1. Let Him Live Wherever He Chooses
• Ki Tetse’ No. 2. Combating Cruelty
• Ki Tavo’ No. 1. Against Entitlement
• Ki Tavo’ No. 2. Between Fear and Awe
• Nitsavim No. 1. Going in Deep
• Nitsavim No. 2, Va-yelekh No. 1. Returning to Sinai Every Seventh Year
• Va-yelekh No. 2. Why Joshua?
• Ha’azinu No. 1. “I May Not Get There with You”
• Ha’azinu No. 2. Hearing the Whisper
• Ve-zo’t ha-berakhah No. 1. The Beginning and End of Torah
• Notes to the Introduction
• Notes on Leviticus
• A Note on Bible Commentaries
• Bibliography
• Subject Index
• List of Classical Sources
• About Rabbi Shai Held
• About Rabbi Yitz Greenberg