Reform Commentary Spotlights Women
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The Reform movement is rolling out a new critical commentary on the Torah, written entirely by women scholars. The new tome combines a number of diverse elements, including biblical scholarship, poetry and entries that focus on how women’s issues are dealt with in Scripture.
“The Torah: A Women’s Commentary,” published by the Union for Reform Judaism Press, will be introduced at this week’s biennial convention of the Reform movement. The book, which is a complete critical analysis of the Torah, is the result of 14 years of discussion and planning that has been overseen by the Women of Reform Judaism, the women’s affiliate of the Reform movement.
“We are a moment in history at which, for the first time, there is a critical mass of senior women Bible scholars,” URJ Press editor in chief Hara Person said in an e-mail. “And in addition, there is now also the next generation, their students who are becoming major scholars in their own right. This was an opportunity to highlight the work of these scholars.”
By happenstance, “Women’s Commentary” is being published at the same time as the Reform movement’s new prayerbook, Mishkan T’filah. Both books reflect the Reform movement’s increasing interest in traditional Jewish texts combined with an open-ended approach to how those texts are used.
“Women’s Commentary” is structured around five layers of commentary: a line-by-line critical analysis of the text; a critical commentary on each chapter; an analysis of major rabbinical commentaries on the texts; a modern reflection on the text by nonbiblical scholars, and a section of poetry and other contemporary writings on themes related to the text. The commentaries include works by scholars from all streams of Judaism, as well as material from unaffiliated scholars. In each section, the commentaries will focus largely, though not exclusively, on issues related to women.
According to Person, URJ Press is printing an initial run of 12,500 books and 9,000 have already been presold.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
