Rabbi David E. S. Stein

DavidESStein @ aol.com

Selected Publications Available Online

I. Bible: Establishing the Hebrew Text and Its Plain Sense

 

Haftarot for Special Occasions: WeekdaysCourtesy of URJ Press (2008)More info.

 

The Contemporary Torah: A Gender-Sensitive Adaptation of the JPS Translation (Jewish Publication Society, 2006)Based on a comprehensive analysis of the Torah’s gender ascriptionsPhilologically based alternative to the 1962 JPS translationPrimer on social gender in the TorahMore info.

 

The Torah: Documentation for the Revised EditionRefers to The Torah: A Modern Commentary, Revised Edition (2005) published by the Union for Reform Judaism—and popularly known as “the Plaut.”Explains the editing of the Masoretic Hebrew textExplains the adaptation for gender accuracy of the NJPS translation of four biblical books.

 

The Haftarot of Etz Hayim: Exploring the Historical Interplay of Customs, Humashim, and Halakhah.”From Conservative Judaism 54/3 (Spring 2002)In-depth look at Jewish ritual diversity and publishing conventionsFocuses on the history of haftarah selectionsTakes as its starting point the differences in haftarot between the official Conservative movement lection and what is found in the classic (1937) Pentateuch edited by J. H. Hertz. (PDF, 300 KB).

 

Errata in Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary (NY: Rabbinical Assembly / United Syna­gogue of Conservative Judaism, 2001)Collation of correctionsVersion history of the book as it goes through new printingsCheck here before you submit an error: it may already have been noted—and corrected. (PDF, 153 KB).

 

Review of Biblia Hebraica LeningradensiaOn the Hebrew Bible edition by Aron Dotan (Hendrickson, 2001)From Conservative Judaism 55/3 (Spring 2003). (PDF, 38 KB)

 

Preface to the JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh (1999)On the history of the Hebrew text of the Bible(Most of the preface is on the linked Web page.)

II. The Ketubah: Restoring Practical Implications to a Ritual Text

 

Ketubah Kit for Rabbis: A Reconstructionist Approach (2003)Electronic bookMore info.

III. Domestic Violence among Jews: Texts, History, and Historiography

 

Initiatives to Address Physical Violence by Jewish Husbands, 218 B.C.E.–1400 C.E.”From Journal of Religion & Abuse 2/3 (2001)Account of domestic violence among JewsTreats women as history’s subjects rather than as its objectsFocuses on human strengths rather than weaknessesFresh reading of laconic legal documentsMore info.

 

“Did Maimonides Really Say That? The Widespread Claim That He Condoned Wife-Battering May Be Mistaken.”From Journal of Religion & Abuse 6/3–4 (2005)Thorough review of an obtuse legal statement and the controversy it has engenderedMore info.

IV. Jewish Quotations

 

A Garden of Choice Fruits: 200 Classic Jewish Quotes on Human Beings and the Environment (Shomrei Adamah, 1991)Designed for use in ritual and teaching49 pp. (PDF, 372 KB)

 

 

Selected Scholar-in-Residence TopicsPresentations based upon the above works.

 

Last updated 10 July 2008Santa Monica, California, USA