Covenant & Conversation: Genesis–The Book of Beginnings
OU Press and Maggid Books, an imprint of Koren Publishers Jerusalem
Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks does something remarkable in his latest book, Covenant & Conversation: Genesis– The Book of Beginnings—he interprets the Torah through his personality. Rabbi Sacks is one of the most original thinkers and articulate writers in the Jewish world today. In this collection of essays on the weekly Torah portion, he explores foundational concepts as they relate to the Torah and to issues we face as individuals and a community. Through Rabbi Sacks’ eyes, the Torah is an encounter between past and present, tradition and the world in which we live. He fuses Talmud, Midrash and commentaries with Western philosophy and literature, illuminating the Torah path on subjects such as freedom, love, responsibility, identity and destiny. Everything he knows is a tool to decipher the Divine word. Rabbi Sacks won the 2009 National Jewish Book Award in the Modern Jewish Thought and Experience for Covenant & Conversation. This book, the first in a five-volume series, eloquently teaches that not only can the Torah be better understood through wide erudition, but that the wisdom of the Torah sheds light on every major religious, political and philosophical issue of our day.