Introduction: 101 Authors Who Didn't Write the Bible How can the over-representation of Jewish Nobel Prize laureates be explained? The connection between intellectual excellence among Jews in secular studies and the literary tradition originating in the Torah. 33 Comments

Lesson 1: What Torah Thinks of Torah Scroll Down - Part 1 What is the “literary” significance of the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai? The unique status and function of the Five Books of Moses within the biblical canon. 64 Comments

Lesson 2: Moses and the Non-Prophets Scroll Down - Part 2 Given the incomparable significance of the Torah, what is the function of prophecy and of the prophetic books, the Neviim (“Prophets”) and Ketuvim (“Hagiographa”), composed after the Torah was given at Sinai? And why did the era of prophecy end? 39 Comments

Lesson 3: The Written and the Oral Torah Scroll Down - Part 3 What is the “Oral Torah”? What role does the rabbinic tradition play vis-à-vis the Bible? The dialectical interplay, sanctioned at Sinai, between the Oral Torah and the Written Torah. 55 Comments

Lesson 4: Meta-Phor: Exploring Midrash Scroll Down - Part 4 Biblical exegesis, or the interpretation (Drash) of the Torah, was part of the rabbinic tradition since the earliest literary period. What makes certain interpretations valid and others not? Why is interpretation needed altogether? 32 Comments

Lesson 5: The Great Assembly and the Pharisees Scroll Down - Part 5 Who decided which texts belonged to the biblical canon and which texts did not belong? The Oral Torah during the early, pre-mishnaic periods. 24 Comments

Lesson 6: Boiling Point: The Mishnah Is Written Scroll Down - Part 6 Rabbi Yehudah HaNassi put the Oral Torah down on paper in the year 212, in the form known as the Mishnah. What prompted this radical move in the history of Jewish literacy? What constitutes the Mishnah? And what is its function in the Tradition? 25 Comments

Lesson 7: Boiling Over: The Talmud Is Redacted Scroll Down - Part 7 Since the redaction of the Talmud around the year 500, no single text apart from the Torah itself has played a more vital role in the preservation and development of Jewish education. What is the Talmud? 15 Comments

Lesson 8. All Set: The Codification of Jewish Law Scroll Down - Part 8 The first half of the last millennium (1000–1500) saw an explosion in Jewish literacy in many fields: Kabbalah, philosophy, biblical commentary, poetry, and most notably the great codifications of Halachah (Jewish Law). How did these great Codes originate? 20 Comments

Lesson 9. As the World Turns: Modern Jewish Law Scroll Down - Part 9 The second half of the last millennium (1500 until today) saw still newer developments in Halachah, as well as in other fields of literacy. How do these major literary trends (such as Chassidism) define Judaism today and into the future? 8 Comments