KOLEL HOME	Online Courses	Bracha	Course Outline	Class Discussion	Help	Glossary

Classroom Forum Introduction Deciphering Close Reading Asking Questions

ASKING QUESTIONS The purpose of this module is to learn to ask questions, not answer them. We'll examine answers in Module 4. Before we can do that, we have to learn how to read the biblical text. This is not as easy as it sounds. Why? First of all, as we have seen in the previous module, can we be sure that the text we are reading is correct and accurate transmission? And even if it is, since no one today speaks biblical Hebrew, we read the text through the veil of translation. Translation is itself an interpretation. Second, even we could have a perfectly transmitted, translated version, it still might be misunderstood, since every form of communication needs to be interpreted. In this module we will be introduced to 7 pairs of questions that will prove useful to reading the Torah. I also must point out that these categories are by no means 'hard and fast.' Many times there is more than one 'right' question, and the categories often overlap. Many questions, no matter what their category are ultimately also 'Missing Information.' So don't be overly concerned with the categories. The point is simply to sensitize everyone to the different kinds of problems reading the biblical text slowly, carefully, and seriously can yield. How do you feel about discovering these 'problems'? Do you have some way of solving/resolving them? What conclusions can you draw about how you need to read the biblical text? Can you suggest some things you will look for when you study a biblical passage? Mini-Lecture Introduction: Every Message must be Interpreted Two kinds of problems: Deciphering the Biblical text: What does the text say? Interpreting the Biblical text: Understanding the words allows us to ask the next question: What does the text really 'mean' by that? (In other words, just because we all agree on what the words mean, doesn't mean we can have different understandings of what the story/sentence means? WHO we assume to be the author also determines what questions we ask of the text, and what solutions we choose for these problems. If the text 'speaks' to us then the identity of the 'author' doesn't matter, to a certain extent, but remember that the underlying assumption of human authorship is that the document need NOT speak to us. The biblical scholar, like the archaeologist putting together the pieces of a broken jug, is interested in reconstructing the world of the biblical author/listener, and what the text meant to the original listeners, not to today's. The traditional/rabbinic model is that since the text is eternally valid, it speaks to us today with a contemporary message - in fact, sometimes the Rabbis violated the original intent in their reading of the text. As liberal Jews, we have the luxury of using Rabbinic methods when they suit us, or the scholarly, critical methods when we prefer them. Our Three Questions What does the Torah tell us? Why does the Torah tell us this story, ie. What can we learn from this story? How does the Torah tell us this story? Final thoughts There is no right answer to these kinds of questions; there isn't even a right question. Many of the categories of questions that I am presenting here overlap. Do not be overly concerned with the 'category.' They are simply a way to give us a method to examine the biblical text.