Seventy Facets: A Commentary on the Torah

An independent magazine that covers and is read by the Jewish world, The Jerusalem Report has invited prominent rabbis, Bible scholars, writers and poets, women and men from Israel and the Diaspora - Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and secular - to uncover new meanings in the text that is shared by all Jews. The debate is thought-provoking, on both ethical and theological issues. Tzvi Marx argues the Torah's acceptance of sexual diversity, a sharp contrast to the approach taken by Moshe Tendler. Reuven Hammer takes issue with the late Yeshayahu Leibowitz, who argues that one should worship God purely out of obligation, without deriving any personal satisfaction. The commentaries demonstrate varied ways of reading: Reform rabbi and scholar W. Gunther Plaut examines and Torah's historical context; poet Susan Afterman turns regularly to kabbalistic and hasidic understandings; Hillel Halkin brings a literary critic's eye to the text. Seventy Facets comprises the best articles The Jerusalem Report has to offer - one on each of the weekly Torah portions, the holidays, and the four special Torah readings of the spring.