ISSN 2577-4921 Zeramim: An Online Journal of Applied Jewish Thought Vol. II: Issue 2 | Winter 2017-2018 / 5778 Zeramim: An Online Journal of Applied Jewish Thought Vol. III: Issue 3 SPECIAL ISSUE: BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP AS A MODERN JEWISH HERMENEUTIC Spring–Summer 2019 / 5779 1 Dear readers, In the 19th century, coming on the heels of Jewish emancipation in a newly nationalized Europe, the antecedents of modern biblical scholarship ruptured the Ashkenazic world. Thus, for example, Rab- bis Abraham Geiger, Zacharias Frankel, and Samson Raphael Hirsch (whose names would later be affiliated—albeit somewhat anachronis- tically—with the three most populous Jewish denominations today), each responded differently from one another as each sought to reconcile the drive that infused meaning in their developing Jewish identities intersected with the wedge of intellectual arguments that attempted to erode any ‘divine’ imprint in the Hebrew Bible. Geiger and his early Reform colleagues accepted the challenge of distancing themselves from the conception of the Torah as an authoritative document for contemporary guidance; Frankel focused his academic criticism on early rabbinic sages and the interpretation of and translations of Biblical texts (paralleling, perhaps presciently, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America’s hesitation even to teach the Pentateuch or the documentary hypothesis during most of the institution’s first century of existence); and Hirsch, championing an enlightened traditionalist camp, wrote a full Torah commentary peppered with the occasional polemic against historical-critical approaches to Judaism’s sacred scriptures. Two centuries later, the greater academy of Jewish studies and Jewish communities that view themselves as modern across the world struggle to make sense of the social, intellectual, and spiritual roles that the Hebrew Bible ought to play in the life of a Jew. Furthermore— especially in light of the critiques that scholars have raised in their study of this ancient anthology—how a modern Jew should appropriately respond to the words of this writ continues divide Jewish circles from one another in their search for meaning in modern Biblical interpretation. Such distinctions have yielded a wide range of beliefs about Sinaitic revelation and a variety of attitudes towards Jewish religious authority—all resulting in questions, answers, and even quips that have defined the character of Jewish movements and institutions today. This special issue of Zeramim opens with David Frankel’s reflection on “Contemporary Jewish Theology in Light of Divergent Biblical Views on Revelation’s Content.” Highlighting the Hebrew Bible’s conflicting records of the words and ideas conveyed at Sinai, 2 Zeramim: An Online Journal of Applied Jewish Thought Vol. II: Issue 2 | Winter 2017-2018 / 5778 Frankel provides suggestions as to how one might find religious meaning in the ‘polyphonic’ nature of some of the Tanakh’s contradictory teachings and might attune one’s ears for a divine voice amidst the multivocality. Reflecting on the work of Bible scholars who have written on ancient Israelite or contemporary Jewish theology, Alan Mittleman critiques the gaps left in the philosophical turns of several oft-cited writers in biblical studies. In his “Reconstruction and Retrieval: On Historical and Philosophical Interpretations of Scripture,” Mittleman suggests both that the lessons taught by historical-critical scholars will be strengthened by familiarity with dominant trends in philosophy and that scholars attempting contemporary Jewish philosophical writing must be prepared to learn from the historical-critical school. The second half of our issue focuses on the transmission of the Hebrew Bible among English-speaking people of faith. Providing a brief introduction to the greater contextualization of how the Tanakh has been translated for Jewish audiences, Adele Berlin’s “On Bible Translations” promotes the study of translations as an entry point for discovering the nuances in, or read into, the Masoretic text. This special issue closes with an early, advance presentation of, and an appended excerpt from, Martin S. Cohen’s forthcoming ambitious ‘targumic’ translation of the ‘Five Megillot’ (i.e., Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther) and the Torah, the latter of which is presented in accord with the ancient Palestinian triennial lectionary cycle (the divisions of which have been restored by such scholars as Shlomo Naeh, whose work supports Cohen’s organizing principles). Cohen’s “Introducing Ḥumash Kol Ha-Tor and M’gillot Kol Ha-tor: Some Preliminary Considerations” provides our readers with insight into some of the particular challenges of conveying the full emotional and intellectual range—as presented in prose and poetry, of texts from many centuries ago—for a modern audience of English readers seeking to delve more deeply in their study of Tanakh. In retrieving the old, Zeramim (meaning “Streams”), representa- tive of a wide range of Jewish thought, seeks to help readers find new meaning in the oldest of Jewish sacred writings—in this special issue and in all our issues, indexed by RAMBI (The Index of Articles on Jewish Studies), and archived on our website at www.zeramim.org. The editors of our journal are honored to publish this issue, shedding 3 some new light on how modern lenses reading the Tanakh can shape Jewish thought today. With gratitude, Jonah Rank, Managing Editor & Designer SENIOR EDITORS: Joshua Cahan Richard Claman Sharon Keller Sara Labaton CONSULTING EDITORS: Judith Hauptman Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi Table of Contents CONTEMPORARY JEWISH THEOLOGY IN LIGHT OF DIVERGENT BIBLICAL VIEWS ON REVELATION’S CONTENT David Frankel p. 5 RECONSTRUCTION AND RETRIEVAL: ON HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF SCRIPTURE Alan Mittleman p. 37 ON BIBLE TRANSLATIONS Adele Berlin p. 59 INTRODUCING ḤUMASH KOL HA-TOR AND M’GILLOT KOL HA-TOR: SOME PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS Martin S. Cohen p. 71 The editors of Zeramim receive and solicit submissions from a range of authors diverse in age, gender, and denominational identity. For information on how to submit original works to Zeramim, please see the back of this issue. 4 Zeramim: An Online Journal of Applied Jewish Thought Vol. II: Issue 2 | Winter 2017-2018 / 5778 CONTEMPORARY JEWISH THEOLOGY IN LIGHT OF DIVERGENT BIBLICAL VIEWS ON REVELATION’S CONTENT David Frankel Introduction Over the past two decades or so, discussion amongst critically oriented biblical scholars has been mounting regarding the possibilities of engaging in what is referred to as “Jewish biblical theology.” Of course, though some important books and articles have given voice to much debate and deliberation, no consensus has emerged as to what a Jewish biblical theology might look like, or what it ought to attempt to accomplish.1 Without denying the legitimacy of the various suggest- ions and approaches that have been put forward, I would like to present here my own conception of how a theological engagement with the Hebrew Bible might proceed, specifically within a Jewish context.2 1 Amongst the many noteworthy contributions to this discussion we mention only a few representative works: Marvin Sweeney, Tanak: A Theological and Critical Introduction to the Jewish Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012); Benjamin D. Sommer, “Dialogical Biblical Theology: A Jewish Approach to Reading Scripture Theologically,” in Biblical Theo- logy: Introducing the Conversation, Leo Perdue (ed.) (Nashville: Abing- don Press, 2009), pp. 1–53 and 265–285; Ziony Zevit, “Jewish Biblical Theology: Whence, Why and Wither?” in Hebrew Union College Annual (HUCA) 76 (2005), pp. 289–340; Isaac Kalimi (ed.), Jewish Bible Theology: Perspectives and Case Studies (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2012); and James Barr, The Concept of Biblical Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1999), pp. 286–311. 2 Cf. also David Frankel, “Israelites and Non-Israelites in the Land of Promise: The Use of Biblical Models in the Construction of a Jewish The- 5 Contemporary Jewish Theology in Light of Divergent Biblical Views on Revelation’s Content David Frankel In order to illustrate my approach, I have chosen to focus on divergent biblical accounts of the revelation in the wilderness of Sinai. I will not be concerned with the question of how the divine will was thought to have been conveyed (verbally or in some other form) and to whom (Moses or Israel or various combinations of the two) in the dif- ferent Pentateuchal accounts. This has been the subject of significant re- cent attention.3 I will focus, rather, on a less talked about issue within the theological context: the question of which specific demands were said to have been conveyed in the different and conflicting biblical accounts of the foundational revelation. This is the kind of question that is usual- ly left in the hands of the biblical critics who attempt, on the basis of these materials, to reconstruct the history of ancient Israelite law and religious institutions. The divergences and conflicts have not, as a whole, been employed constructively in contemporary Jewish theo- logy. Indeed, the great Jewish theologians of the recent past continually underscored the unity of the biblical message and either ignored or downplayed elements of internal incongruity.4 In my view, this one- sided emphasis on unity is unfortunate. The identification of divergent or conflicting biblical views on any issue, including the one to be dis- cussed below, provides rich resources not only for