Exodus I

If you were to lead a discussion of the book of Exodus, what are some of the verses you would choose for special emphasis? Why would you choose these particular verses?

Genesis III

Please read (or at least skim through) the stories in Genesis 12-50. Choose one of those stories for special emphasis, and explain why that story might be particularly important to include in the first book of the "law," or explain how that story helps show that the Torah is something more than just a law code.

Many sons had father Abraham

"Torah" can rightly translated as "law," but the Torah is a lot more than just rules and regulations. "Torah" might also be translated as "rule," "instruction," or "principle," and it is sometimes useful to think of the Torah as simply "the way," i.e., instruction on the way we ought to live our lives.

As you read through the life of Abraham in Genesis, do you see ways in which Abraham's life is a good example of '"torah" in this last sense? Is there a particular incident in the life of Abraham that stands out to you as especially important or interesting in connection with Genesis as a book of "law"?

A Very Good Place to Start

Please read Chapters 1-11 of Genesis. Pick out a key verse from the assigned chapters and do one of the following:

1. Explain why you think this verse the key to understanding what the selection is about.

2. Explain why you think this verse is the best/most memorable in the assigned reading.

3. Explain why you think this verse is the most difficult/hard to understand in the passage.

Welcome!

How is this blog different from all other blogs? Well, for one thing, it invites you to join in the long tradition that began with the men of the Great Synagogue, continued through the periods of the Tannaim and the Amoraim, (teachers and interpreters), and continues today in churches and synagogues throughout the world. You have here the opportunity to contribute your questions and comments to an ongoing discussion of the most interesting, most important, most studied--and most often misunderstood--books ever written, the books of what Jews call the Tanach and Christians the Old Testament.