Digital Sh'ma - New Notions of Torah
Source: Digital Sh'ma
This issue of Sh'ma coincides with Shavuot, when, tradition tells us, the Torah was revealed. Jews throughout the world have long marked the eve of the festival with a Tikkun Leil Shavuot, an all-night text study session that includes conversation, reenactments, and explorations of how Torah and learning shape our lives. This issue demonstrates that many are the ways to learn Torah.
The Editor's Introduction:
"Many are the ways to learn Torah, as this issue of Sh’ma demonstrates. Our Roundtable features several unconventional methods of teaching and learning Torah, and an essay on the pedagogy of chevruta, or partnered learning, explores the history of this method of study as well as its present-day potential. Two Bible scholars urge us to read the New Testament to become “better Jews,” and an exchange of letters offers different perspectives on the ways in which Torah infuses us with political and philosophical passions. We also present essays on revelation, on the commandments, and on the musings of a photographer who sees similarities between capturing light in photography and gathering glimpses of Torah. We start the issue with a series of reflections written by rabbinical students on their stances toward sacred texts and on the ways in which they wrestle with Torah as a guide for their spiritual lives."