Note on Transliteration Introduction Orientation Orientation Where I Come From - The Seduction of ''True Belief'' - What Does It All Mean? - Philosophical Beginnings - Facing the Questions - Pulpit and Prejudice - Interfaith Dialogue - Academic Detachment? Part I Revelation Torah from Heaven: Growth of a Tradition 1 Holy Books What is ''Torah''? - The ''Sacred Canon'' - Why the Five Books are Special - Philo on Moses and the Ancestral Books - Conclusion2 Two Torahs? Scripture and the Rabbis Divine Revelation: The Story - Mythic accounts of Torah - The Written Torah and the Oral Torah - Rules of Interpretation - Interpretation Against the Plain Meaning - Conclusion3 Mystics and Kabbalists Pythagoras, Numerology, and the Book of Creation - Mystical Significance of the Mitzvot - Prophets after the Bible - Nahmanides (Ramban) the Mystic - Conclusion4 The Great Chain of Being: Philosophers and Kabbalists Platonists and Aristotelians - The Ascent of the Soul - The Descent and the ''Shells'' - Reasons for the Mitzvot - Conclusion5 Maimonides: The ''Classical'' Position Revelation as History - The Oral Torah - Torah and Dogma - Conclusion: Maimonides the Minimalist6 Oral Torah: What Does It Contain? Does the Torah Teach Science? - The Torah of Kabbalists and Rationalists - Conclusion Summary of Part I Part II Attack The Counter-Tradition: Hard Questions 7 The Counter-Tradition The Alexandrians - Sadducees and Pharisees - Pagan Philosophical Critiques - Gnosticism - Later Developments - Conclusion8 The Original Torah How Texts Were Written - Evidence of the Scrolls and the Ancient Versions - The Severus Scroll - Can the Original Text be Recovered? - The Masoretes - Rabbinic Responses to Textual Variation - Modern Editions of the Bible - Conclusion9 Contradictions, Moral Problems, Factual Errors The Reconciling Hermeneutic - Interpreting Aggadah - Historical and Archaeological Problems - Moral Issues - Scientific Inaccuracy - Fantasy, Arbitrariness, Superstition - Conclusion10 The Rise of Historical Criticism The Beginnings of Biblical Criticism - Deists and Sceptics - The Bible as Literature - From History to Myth - Source Theory - Archaeology - Higher Criticism = Higher Antisemitism? - Conclusion Summary of Part II Part III Defenders of the Faith Repairing the Breach: In Defence of Tradition 11 Defenders of the Faith What Must Be Defended - Ancient Wisdom Restored: The Renaissance - Jewish Bible Commentary Rekindled - Conclusion12 The Transformation of Judaism: Interpretation, Interpretation, Interpretation Elijah, the ''Vilna Gaon'' (1720-1799) - Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786) - Torah-- Mystical Code, or Source of Values?13 Mendelssohn''s Influence I. S. Reggio (1784-1855) - S. D. Luzzatto (1800-1865) - Heinrich Graetz (1817-1891) - Umberto Cassuto (1883-1951)14 Independents Jacob Zevi Mecklenburg (1785-1865) - Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) - Meir Loeb ben Yehiel Michael Malbim (1809-1879)15 In the Steps of the Gaon: Written and Oral Torah Are One N. Z. Y. Berlin (1816-1893) - Meir Simha Ha-Kohen of Dvinsk (1843-1926) - Barukh Ha-Levi Epstein (1860-1942)16 Hoffman and German Orthodoxy David Hoffman (1843-1921) - Hayyim Hirschenson (1857-1935) - Benno Jacob (1862-1945) and A.

S. Yahuda (1877-1951) - Isaac Breuer (1883-1946) - Yehiel Jacob Weinberg (1885-1966) - J. H. Hertz (1872-1946) Summary of Part III Part IV New Foundations Torah from Heaven: The Reconstruction of Belief 17 Non-Orthodox Reconstructions Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86): Revealed Legislation - S. L. Steinheim (1789-1866): Empiricist of Revelation - Samuel Holdheim (1806-1860) - Progressive Revelation: Krochmal, Formstecher, Hirsch, Cohen - Leo Baeck (1873-1956) - Martin Buber (1878-1965) - Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929) - A. J. Heschel (1907-1972) - Emmanuel Levinas (1905/6-1995) - Review 18 Joseph Dov Soloveitchik and the a priori Torah The Hermeneutics of ''Torah'' - Historical Criticism - The Oral Torah Problem - Conclusion19 Feminist Critiques The Sinai Covenant - Language and Gender - Images of God - Equality before the Law - The Need for Change20 Four Defences of Traditional Belief Halivni: The Maculate Torah - Jacobs: Liberal Supernaturalism - Kellner: Rejection of the Dogmatic Approach - Ross: Cumulative Revelation - Strengths of the Four Approaches21 Divided by a Common Scripture The Reform Torah - The Orthodox Torah - The Conservative Torah - Go Compare Denominations Summary of Part IV Part V Torah from Heaven 22 Options Justifications - The Community: Costs and Benefits of Belief - The Individual: Costs and Benefits of Belief23 What Is Truth? What Is Truth? - Excursus: Consistency and ''Double Truth'' - In What Sense Is ''Torah from Heaven'' True? - On ''Narrative Theology'' - Conclusion.

''Torah from Heaven'': A Myth of Origin24 Myth of Origin: Opportunities and Dangers What ''Torah from Heaven'' May Signify - History and Myth Do Not Conflict - ''Torah from Heaven'': Uses and Abuses - Benefits of Understanding ''Torah from Heaven'' as Mythos Rather than Logos - Dangers from Understanding ''Torah from Heaven'' as Logos Rather than Mythos - Things That Worry People25 Demography versus Reason: The Future of Jewish Religion Does Reason Matter? - ''Authentic Judaism'' - Survival of the Fittest - Conclusion26 Confronting Change A Meditation at the Mountains of Fire (January 2004) - Coming to Terms with Modernity - Intellectual Violence - Who Decides? - What I Have Dealt With - What I Have Not Dealt With Bibliography Index.