Masters of the Word: Traditional Jewish Bible Commentary from the First Through Tenth Centuries (Vol. 1)

When the manuscript Masters of the Word: Traditional Jewish Bible Commentary From the First Through Tenth Centuries came across my desk, I was really excited. I knew that there were already many parshanut books out there, but few, if any, could measure up to this one. - Bernie Scharfstein, Publisher\nMasters of the Word is an in-depth exploration of the rich world of traditional Jewish Bible commentators, from the first through the thirteenth centuries. It analyzes the methodology and style of each commentator against the backdrop of his time and place. It does so by studying each parasha as a unit, according to the views of one commentator, thus giving the reader an in-depth view of the commentators methods in a large, but manageable, passage.\nNot just another "parasha book", this pioneering work addresses such questions as: How did the times affect the commentator and how did he influence his times? What is the commentator's approach and attitude towards the oral law and rabbinic tradition? What were his goals? What kinds of textual problems did he deal with? These problems are dealt with clearly and reliably; the authors comments are fully footnoted.\nThe book of Bereshit is divided into two volumes, with Volume I including the following commentators in chronological order: Chazal, Targumim, Zohar, R. Saadia Gaon, Spanish Linguists and Ba'alei Masorah. Volume 1 ends with Parshat Chayei Sarah.\nRabbi Yonatan Kolatch has been involved in Jewish education for over three decades in the US and Israel.