How to Study the Torah

Ariel BerkowitzMarch 201329 min readAwaiting author

Part 1: Reasons to Study the Torah Part 2: Six Basic Hermeneutical Rules for Studying the Scriptures Part 3: Six Rules for Specifically Studying the Torah Part 4: How to Teach the Torah Anyone who has attempted to read and appreciate the Torah has discovered that sometimes the Torah is not easy to interpret. The purpose of this study is to help the student with some important pointers, which should

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Original note: This also applies to what appear to be legal sections. If God said to put a fence around the top of our houses, for example, He does not mean to build fences to protect the Torah! Literally, what is being referred to is a protective enclosure being placed around the top of a house to prevent people from falling off. (In that part of the world, most dwellings had flat roofs, which facilitated people congregating on them.) We have no permission at this point to go beyond the literal face value of the text.

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About the author

Ariel Berkowitz (M.Div) has been an adjunct professor with IBEX (Israel Bible Exchange program) since 1995. His area of specialty is Jewish history, thought and culture. Ariel is also an instructor with TorahResource Institute and Torah Resources International. He taught both full and part time at Israel College of Bible from 1992-2006. He and his wife D’vorah moved from the USA to Israel as citizens in 1992. They have four children and two grandchildren. Their family home is near Jerusalem.

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