Reviews for The Call of the Torah: An Anthology of Interpretation and Commentary on the Five Books of Moses

The average rating for The Call of the Torah: An Anthology of Interpretation and Commentary on the Five Books of Moses based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-01-17 00:00:00 Rodney Linsangan I DNFed this book because by already the beginning of the second volume I knew everything. The reason that I gave it only two stars even though I really enjoyed the beginning of the first volume is because I don't know how reliable the information is. In a non-fiction history book. I don't know how reliable the information is. Firstly, there are NO SOURCES. No bibliography. This may be a children's history book but it's still a history book. Frankly, I wouldn't give it to read to anyone who doesn't know history well, no matter the age. Secondly, in a map in the second volume Denmark and Norway are mixed up. Now this at first may seem like something little-until you realize that that means the whole book must have been really badly edited. Thirdly, the author(s) mention the Maharal of Prague's golem like it was a real thing. The only problem being, that like every other folk tale across the world that people once believed to be true, the first sources for that folk tale date back to years after the people in it are dead.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-09-30 00:00:00 Victor Paragua In the realm of English translations, the Artscroll translation is a good one, albeit a little flowery - my guess is that the translator's intention is to reflect the poetic nature of the book (Note: when compared to the Artscroll Tanach, the translations differ with the Tanach being much more reader friendly/straight forward without the literary flourish). My chavruta (study partner at synagogue) and I have been "learning" with the volume for about a year now, taking turns reading the Hebrew and translating what we've read. It must be said upfront that although Iyov is a difficult book, it's a pleasure to study in depth. It's a story that is loaded with puns, well crafted, leaving me with the impression that whoever wrote it was brilliant. That aside, the commentary in this volume is very well curated from traditional sources and comprehensive. The commentary doesn't use (secular) scholarly sources, so if that's important to you, you many want to supplement this commentary with another (The Book of Job: A Biography by Mark Larrimore, for example). The commentary also summarizes each character's dialogue at its conclusion, which is a helpful tool to provide extra clarity to the multi-party exchange going on between Iyov and his so-called friends. If you're looking for a commentary on Iyov, this is a good place to start.