Who Wrote the Commentaries on the Chumash?
In this series with Rabbi David Sedley we will look at the history, personalities and thought of the major commentators printed in the ‘Mikra’ot Gedolot’ Chumash. Where and when did they live? What were their goals in writing their commentaries? We will look at Onkelos, Yonatan ben Uzziel, Masorites, Ibn Ezra, Rashi, Ramban, Baal HaTurim, Seforno and others.
Who Wrote the Commentaries on the Chumash?: Lesson 1
WHO WROTE THE COMMENTARIES ON THE CHUMASH? BOMBERG AND THE TORAH: In this introductory class we will discover what mikraot gedolot (Rabbinic Bible) is, and what it looks like. We will look at the earliest printing of the Torah with commentaries: Who printed it, who they included, and discover differences between the traditional Talmudic text, and the traditional Torah text. We will go from Venice, to Egypt, Aleppo and France along the journey.
Who Wrote the Commentaries on the Chumash?: Lesson 2
WHO WROTE THE COMMENTARIES ON THE CHUMASH? MESORAH: Who or what is ‘mesorah’ in the Torah? Who wrote it? For what purpose? Where and when? We will try to answer at least some of these questions in this class, and also find out when the vowels and cantillation notes were added to the text of Chumash (and what about the verse divisions?).
Who Wrote the Commentaries on the Chumash?: Lesson 4
WHO WROTE THE COMMENTARIES ON THE CHUMASH? ONKELOS: In this shiur we will learn about Onkelos (and whether he was the same person as Akilus or not). We will look at the ideas within Onkelos’ Aramaic translation of the Torah, and Rambam’s claim that Onkelos avoided anthropomorphism in his translation.
Who Wrote the Commentaries on the Chumash?: Lesson 6
WHO WROTE THE COMMENTARIES ON THE CHUMASH? RASHBAM: Biography and Philosphy of Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir, Rashi’s grandson. We will look at how he understood the concept of p’shat, and how his commentary differs from that of his grandfather (both in Chumash and in Talmud)
Who Wrote the Commentaries on the Chumash?: Lesson 7
WHO WROTE THE COMMENTARIES ON THE CHUMASH? IBN EZRA: Avraham ibn Ezra wrote his commentary on Chumash as a philosophical work, as well as an explanation of the text. We will look at his commentary, and some of the more interesting, and radical statements he made in his commentary.
Who Wrote the Commentaries on the Chumash?: Lesson 8
WHO WROTE THE COMMENTARIES ON THE CHUMASH? RAMBAN: Probably the most famous commentator after Rashi, we will look at how Ramban’s commentary differs than those which preceded him. We will look at how his kabbalistic view changes the relationship between text and commentary. We will also look at his life, and the infamous debate in Barcelona against Pablo Christiani.
Who Wrote the Commentaries on the Chumash?: Lesson 9
WHO WROTE THE COMMENTARIES ON THE CHUMASH? BAAL HATURIM: The shortest commentary on Chumash (though Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher also wrote a longer commentary), we will examine the ideas of gematria, acronyms and other techniques used by Baal HaTurim to extract meaning from the text and from the mesorah. We will also look at his other, more fundamental and important work, the Arba Turim which is the cornerstone for modern halacha.
Rabbi David Sedley lives in Jerusalem with his wife and six children. He was born and raised in New Zealand before making Aliya in 1992. He left Israel temporarily (for eight years) to serve as a communal Rabbi in Scotland and England and returned to Israel in 2004. His latest book is "The Elephant of Deliberate Forgetfulness: and other unexpected interpretations of the weekly Torah reading". He has also translated Rabbeinu Yonah's commentary on Pirkei Avos and is the co-author of Sefiros: Spiritual Refinement Through Counting the Omer (both Judaica Press). Over the years Rabbi Sedley has worked as a journalist, a translator, a video director and in online reputation management. He also writes a weekly Torah blog on the Times of Israel.