Rabbi Caryn Broitman has an incredible new book out called The Torah is an Open Book in which she shares insights from Jewish interpretations of the Bible and how those interpretive concepts can help broaden how we understand the text. She serves a Reformed congregation in Martha’s Vineyard and was educated and ordained in the Reconstructionist tradition of Judaism. We talk about the importance of the Torah and the Hebrew Bible and how our interpretation of it matters, not just theologically, but in how we live our lives in community.
Highlights of the conversation for me are our discussion of truth and literalism in the Bible; how “The Bible includes within it all of our emotions and instincts,” (146); when our sacred texts contain passages we consider unjust and that contradict our values; and the text as a mirror to humanity.
Mentioned in this episode:
The Torah Is an Open Book: Radical Readings for the Seeker and the Skeptic by Caryn Broitman
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