On November 6th, 2024, the Zahava and Moshael J. Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought and the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Yeshiva College Honors Program co-hosted an insightful lecture by Dr. Eric Lawee, Professor of Bible at Bar-Ilan University, titled “Tanakh Study and its Discontents in Ashkenazic Tradition.” Attended by over thirty participants, including faculty and students from multiple disciplines, the event sparked rich discussion about the historical ambivalence toward Tanakh study in Ashkenazic communities across the ages.
Lawee began by examining the rabbinic legacy inherited by Ashkenazic scholars before turning to the medieval period, exploring the views of figures such as Rashi, Rabbeinu Tam, Rabbi Yehuda ben HaRosh, Profiat Duran, and Abarbanel. Whereas in the Sephardic world Tanakh study held a more prominent place in the curriculum, Talmud remained the dominant focus in Ashkenazi communities.
In addressing the early modern era, Lawee highlighted the impact of the printing press, which increased access to Tanakh. Figures like Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe (author of the Levush) and Rabbi Judah Loew (Maharal) expanded the genre of supercommentaries on Rashi’s Tanakh commentary.
The final section of the talk examined the complex relationship with Tanakh in the modern and contemporary eras. Lawee illustrated how the Jewish Enlightenment introduced a renewed interest in Bible study, exemplified by the approach of Moses Mendelssohn. He also touched on the work of Nechama Leibowitz, one of the most influential Torah scholars of the twentieth century, as well as the views of David Ben-Gurion, who criticized the idea that Judaism is based solely on the Bible, terming it a “Lutheran bibliolatry.”
The event concluded with a lively Q&A, with attendees raising intriguing questions about the role of Tanakh study in shaping Jewish culture and identity, as well as the proper place of Tanakh in the curricula of today’s Jewish schools. The lecture advanced the Straus Center’s mission of training students to be intellectual leaders well versed in both Torah and Western canon.
