The return to in-depth study of the plain text of Tanakh has brought in its wake new challenges: the response to complex questions raised by Tanakh study – both in its own right, and in relation to various discoveries that have been made in the last few centuries. The aim of this series is to summarize the approach that has been consolidated over the past generation among serious Orthodox Tanakh scholars who are also well-versed in the realm of academic biblical scholarship. The essence of this approach is faith in the sanctity of the Books of Tanakh and their Divine origin, and the belief that with this faith we are able to examine the questions raised by biblical criticism; to determine which of its claims necessitate fresh insights in Torah, and to distinguish them from those which stem from a world-view alien to traditional belief and whose conclusions are not necessitated by the evidence.

 

The following topics will be discussed in this series:

  • The authorship of the Torah
  • The existence of verses in the Torah that appear to be written at a later date than that ascribed to them by Jewish tradition
  • The phenomenon of contradictions and repetitions in biblical verses, and reviews the "documentary hypothesis"
  • The composition of the Books of the Prophets and Writings
  • Topics related to archaeological discoveries of recent generations
  • The precise wording of the biblical text
  • The fundamental question of the study of Tanakh on the plain, or literal, level (peshat)
  • The proper attitude towards the complex description of central characters in Tanakh and the descriptions of their misdeeds that arise from the plain reading of the text
Courtesy of the Virtual Beit Midrash, Yeshivat Har Etzion