The Bible, the Talmud, and the New Testament: Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik’s Commentary to the Gospels Edited, with an introduction and commentary, by Shaul Magid

Reviewed by Russ Resnik Jesus is Jewish—it’s a truism not just in Messianic Jewish circles, but also in the wider worlds of biblical and historical scholarship. Use of the name “Yeshua” rather than “Jesus” reflects this truth. The open question, though, is just how is Yeshua Jewish? What kind of Jew was he? The ongoing…

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Moses: A Human Life by Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg

Reviewed by Rabbi Ben Ehrenfeld Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s volume Moses: A Human Life,1 is both a continuation of her corpus of work as a biblical commentator and a part of the Jewish Lives biography series published by Yale University. In context of Zornberg’s wider collection of work, Moses: A Human Life is unique not so…

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Jerusalem Crucified, Jerusalem Risen: The Resurrected Messiah, the Jewish People, and the Land of Promise by Mark S. Kinzer

Reviewed by Akiva Cohen Mark Kinzer has established himself as one of the most theologically articulate voices from within the community of Messianic Jewish scholars. His pioneering, provocative (in the best sense of the word), and sophisticated theological proposals have engaged a broad spectrum of issues, such as, Messianic Jewish identity, Oral Torah, eschatology,1 ecclesiology,…

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Prophetic Peace: Judaism, Religion, and Politics, by Alick Isaacs

Reviewed by Paul L. Saal What do Ludwig Wittgenstein, Jacques Derrida, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Martin Buber, and Joseph Soloveitchik have in common? They are all Jewish or of Jewish ancestry. They were each academics and philosophers of sorts. Buber, Heschel, and Soloveitchik were all religious, the latter two were rabbis, the first two mystics. Wittgenstein…

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Jewish Law as Rebellion by Nathan Lopes Cardozo

Having heard Rabbi Lopes Cardozo lecture a few times over the past twenty years, and being familiar with his local reputation as an innovative, engaging Torah teacher, I was not disappointed by his most recent book. Jewish Law as Rebellion: A Plea for Religious Authenticity and Halachic Courage1 is a collection of his short essays,…

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“Remain in Your Calling”: Paul and the Continuation of Social Identities in 1 Corinthians, by J. Brian Tucker

  The primary aim of this in-depth study is to show how Paul negotiates and transforms existing social identities of Messiah-followers in order to extend his mission in Corinth.1 It attempts to accomplish this through a study of 1 Corinthians that builds on the author’s previous doctoral findings in 1 Corinthians 1–4 published in monograph…

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Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle, by Paula Fredriksen

  Paul persists as a polarizing and puzzling figure today. Judging by the New Testament, this was no less true in the first century! But are we stumbled by the same things as his contemporaries? Paula Fredriksen, author of Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle, insists that we misread Paul if we neglect the thorough Jewishness and…

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