Overview and Personal Slant   

This blog is intended to share various observations and insights, to allow for a better understanding and appreciate the Hebrew Bible or Tanach – especially the first five books that are variously called the Chumash or Torah in Hebrew, and the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses in English.

The blog has various subsections or headings which reflect its diversity, such as Misconceptions; The Psychology of the Bible; History, Archaeology and Biblical criticism; The Other Side; and Social and Cultural Context.

The focus is on the ‘plain meaning of the text’ and not mystical interpretations, and has a strong anthropological bent. It often asks: What would an objective observer have seen if present when the various stories and experiences described in the Bible took place?

Finally, everyone has personal views based on their education and life experiences. Readers should always know what these are when judging a source and the reliability of information and ideas.

So here are my cornerstones:

› Jewish and left wing Orthodox – yes, there is a left wing to Jewish Orthodoxy

› believer in the Divine nature of the Chumash and the authenticity of the other works of the Tanach

› educated in a Hebrew Day School system but not a Yeshiva

› trained as a historian

› rationalist in approach, generally following Maimonides