The Digital Renaissance: Review: Torat Ahava

Sunday, November 12, 2023

Review: Torat Ahava - Loving Torah

Torat Ahava - Loving Torah by Rabbi Avi Weiss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a five (5) volume work covering the Jewish Torah (aka The Pentateuch or the first five(5) books of the Christian Old Testament). Right off the bat you recognize that this is an ambitious effort that eventually runs well over 658 pages. Each volume is dedicated to one of the five (5) books and within each volume, the chapters basically cover a specific story within that book, which is further divided into brief commentaries on specific elements within the story. As I come from a different tradition than what can be extracted from these commentaries, I can’t really evaluate how faithfully that represent concepts within the Jewish tradition; however, I can say that I found them to be very thought provoking and enjoyable. Most Christian analysis of these books tend to focus on extracting understanding and support for the message presented about Jesus in their New Testament and in many cases have ignored how our cousins in faith have interpreted their own scriptures … and I think we have lost something there. Mostly, however, what I gained from these book is the idea that there are many different ways to interpret, understand and apply the ideals and concepts presented in scripture and they can all be useful for the spiritual pilgrim.

The Book of Genesis

Chapter 1: Bereishit
Chapter 2: Noach
Chapter 3: Lech Lecha
Chapter 4: Vayera
Chapter 5: Chayei Sarah
Chapter 6: Toldot
Chapter 7: Vayetzei
Chapter 8: Vayishlach
Chapter 9: Vayeshev
Chapter 10: Miketz
Chapter 11: Vayechi

The Book of Exodus

Chapter 1: Shemot
Chapter 2: Va’era
Chapter 3: Bo
Chapter 4: Bechalach
Chapter 5: Yitro
Chapter 6: Mishpatim
Chapter 7: Terumah
Chapter 8: Tetzaveh
Chapter 9: Ki Tisa
Chapter 10: Vayakhel
Chapter 11: Pekudei

The Book of Leviticus

Chapter 1: Vayikra
Chapter 2: Tzav
Chapter 3: Shemini
Chapter 4: Tazria
Chapter 5: Metzora
Chapter 6: Acharei Mot
Chapter 7: Kedoshim
Chapter 8: Emor
Chapter 9: Behar
Chapter 10: Bechukotai

The Book of Numbers

Chapter 1: Banidbar
Chapter 2: Naso
Chapter 3: Beha’alotcha
Chapter 4: Shelach
Chapter 5: Korach
Chapter 6: Chukat
Chapter 7: Balak
Chapter 8: Pinchas
Chapter 9: Mattot
Chapter 10: Masei

The Book of Deuteronomy

Chapter 1: Devarim
Chapter 2: Va’etchanan
Chapter 3: Ekev
Chapter 4: Re’eh
Chapter 5: Shoftim
Chapter 6: Ki Tetzei
Chapter 7: Ki Tavo
Chapter 8: Nitzavim
Chapter 9: Vayelech
Chapter 10: Ha’azinu
Chapter 11: V’zot Haberachah

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#ToratAhava #LibraryThing

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My Ratings Explained ...

[ ***** ] Amazing Read - Perfect story, exciting, engrossing, well developed complex characters, solid plot with few to no holes, descriptive environments and place settings, great mystery elements, realistic dialogue, believable reactions and behaviors; a favorite that I can re-read many times.
[ **** ] Great Read - Highly entertaining and enjoyable, exciting storyline, well developed characters and settings, a few discrepancies but nothing that can’t be overlooked. Some aspect of the story was new/refreshing to me and/or intriguing. Recommended for everyone.
[ *** ] Good Read - Solid story with a 'good' ending, or has some other redeeming feature. Limited character development and/or over reliance on tropes. Noticeable discrepancies in world building and/or dialog/behavior that were distracting. I connected enough with the characters/world to read the entire series. Most of the books I read for fun are here. Recommended for fans of the genre.
[ ** ] Okay Read - Suitable for a brief, afternoon escape … flat or shallow characters with little to no development. Over the top character dialog and/or behavior. Poor world building with significant issues and/or mistakes indicating poor research. Excessive use of trivial detail, info dumps and/or pontification. Any issues with the story/characters are offset by some other aspect that I enjoyed. Not very memorable. May only appeal to a niche group of readers. Recommended for some (YMMV).
[ * ] Bad Read - Awkward and/or confusing writing style. Poor world building and/or unbelievable (or unlikeable) characters. Victimization, gaslighting, blatant abuse, unnecessary violence, child endangerment, or any other highly objectionable behaviors by Main characters. I didn't connect with the story at all; significant aspects of this story irritated me enough that I struggled to finished it. Series was abandoned. Not recommended.