Ani Maamin: Biblical Criticism, Historical Truth, and the Thirteen Principles of Faith by Joshua Berman
(Ani Maamin, Hebrew: I believe)
“For two centuries the academic study of the Bible has confronted the believing Jew with the most challenging of questions: Are the accounts of the Tanakh historically accurate? Was there an Exodus? Why does the Torah provide multiple versions of its law and its stories? What are the warrants for believing the Torah is a divine text? Can a Jew seeking intellectual honesty maintain fidelity to the Thirteen Principles of Faith?
The credentials Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman brings to address these issues are unparalleled. An internationally acclaimed speaker, writer and educator, Rabbi Berman is also a professor of Tanakh at Bar-Ilan University and the author of two books published by Oxford University Press on the five books of the Torah. This landmark work is the first full-length treatment of these charged issues by an Orthodox thinker, offering the believing Jew an academically and traditionally based approach of spiritual and intellectual integrity.”
Taking It All In by Pauline Kael
“Originally written for The New Yorker magazine between June 1980 and June 1983, her reviews bring to life over 150 films including Blade Runner, Tootsie, The Return of the Jedi. Her scathing essay, ‘Why Are Movies So Bad’ is also included in which Miss Kael takes on the Hollywood money-men whose love of a swift and easy financial return has led to the alarming number of truly bad films which are on show today.”
Out of curiosity, mostly, I order and am reading “Ani Maamin”. My encounters with biblical criticism have been from and out of a Christian faith perspective. Alas, my mental facilities are not what they once were. So, my progress is slow and I’m not getting the import of the work I once might have,
Nevertheless, the question of the historicity of the texts and the questions they invoke are ever before us. The oral transmission of them, when did they begin to be written, in what form, what happened to them in their transmission over the centuries, and what impact does this have on one’s faith. Intriguing questions and ones likely not to be fully answered, ever. Therein, the seed of and the challenge to faith.
Thank you for passing the existence of this volume along. I find Joshua Berman writing quite readable and not overladen with the language biblical scholars are prone to use, often making their work off limits to the lay reader. I wish the blessings of the Almighty upon you and yours. V.A.S.
I am currently reading Erik Larson’s latest book, The Splendid and the Vile, about Winston Churchill’s first year in office during the Blitz. As with everything else I have read of Larson’s, excellent book.