A Rabbi Reads the Torah distils a lifetime of Bible study by a Jewish scholar devoted to popularising the study of the Hebrew Bible in its original language, helped by the wealth of centuries of Jewish interpretation and debate, as well as the best of modern literary approaches. The Jewish tradition of reading a section of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, on a weekly basis during the course of single year, is a challenge to find something new each time in a familiar text. These short studies, based on a popular radio series, offer unexpected insights into the very different materials to be found in these Biblical books, as well as indicating their relevance to the realities of personal, social and political life today. Rabbi Magonet's personal engagement in interfaith dialogue opens the world of Jewish tradition to the widest audience of those within and beyond our different faith communities.

About the Author
Rabbi Jonathan Magonet (born 2 August 1942) is a British Jewish theologian, Vice-President of the World Union of Progressive Judaism, and a biblical scholar

Reviews
Some people manage to write in just a way that mirrors their personality. Jonathan Magonet is one of those outstanding writers - his clarity, warmth, gentleness and deeply knowledgeable and insightful reading of the Bible is both extremely rabbinic and also mirrors perfectly his personality. This book is a superb reading of the Bible for Rabbis and lay people of all faiths and none. -- Laura Janner-Klausner
In fifty-two explorations, one for each Sabbath of the year, we encounter the ancient world of Torah. Its stories are about human foibles as well as great endeavours, and its laws contain moral values which both repel and attract. With his celebrated flourish of anecdote, Rabbi Jonathan turns these texts inside out. He writes for Jew, Christian and Moslem: in his derashah we can search and find an interpretation to inform and challenge contemporary faith. -- Susan Gillingham



Book Information
ISBN 9780334049135
Author Jonathan Magonet
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint SCM Press
Publisher SCM Press