Book Review: Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary
Reviews Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, the Conservative movement's 2001 successor to the Hertz Pentateuch, examining its layered peshat/derash/halakhah le-ma'aseh commentary structure, its treatment of gendered language about God and people compared to two other contemporary liberal Torah commentaries, and its extensive supplementary essays and haftarah commentary.
Zucker reviews Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, the Conservative movement’s landmark 2001 successor to the Hertz Pentateuch, describing its three-tiered peshat, derash, and halakhah le-ma’aseh commentary and its extensive supplementary essays and haftarah notes. He pays particular attention to how its translation choices around gendered language for God and people compare with two other recent liberal Torah commentaries, situating the volume within a broader shift away from the Hertz Pentateuch’s traditionalist stance on authorship.
David J. Zucker, PhD, is Rabbi/Chaplain at Shalom Park, a senior continuum of care center. His books include The Torah: An Introduction for Christians and Jews (Paulist, 2005). He has published several articles in The Jewish Bible Quarterly.
Cite this article
David J. Zucker. "Book Review: Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary." Jewish Bible Quarterly 38, no. 4 (October – December 2010): 265–271.
David J. Zucker. "Book Review: Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary." Jewish Bible Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 4, 2010, pp. 265–271.