Thinking About the Torah

Kenneth Seeskin is Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor of Jewish Civilization at Northwestern University. He is the author of several books, including Searching for a Distant God: The Legacy of Maimonides, winner of the Koret Jewish Book Award, and is the coeditor of The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Culture, and Religion, winner of the National Jewish Book Award.

• Preface: A Philosopher's Plea Acknowledgments 1. How to Read the Torah 2. God and Creation: Genesis 1:6 3. Love and Companionship: Genesis 2:18 4. The Ultimate Sacrifice: Genesis 22:2 5. The Name of God: Exodus 3:14 6. The Need for Community: Exodus 25:8 7. Closeness to God: Exodus 33:20 8. Ethics and Holiness: Leviticus 11:44 9. Rebellion and Sin: Numbers 14:1-2 10. Love of God: Deuteronomy 6:5 Conclusion: Choose Life: Deuteronomy 30:19 Notes Glossary of Historical Names Bibliography

“Seeskin writes beautifully. He is a master teacher, and hence his book has a directness and simplicity about it that is captivating, and even stunning at times.”-Michael L. Morgan, coeditor of The Cambridge Companion to Modern Jewish Philosophy“Not only will readers come away with enhanced understanding of and appreciation for key passages in the Torah but along the way they will be introduced to Plato, Aristotle, Maimonides, Spinoza, Kant, Kierkegaard, Cohen, Rosenzweig, Buber, and Levinas . . . [whose words are] made accessible and important for our contemporary understanding of the Torah.”-Menachem Kellner, chair of the Department of Philosophy and Jewish Thought at Shalem College in Jerusalem and author of Must a Jew Believe Anything?