Perceptions: Contemporary reflections on the weekly Torah readings

For thousands of people, Perceptions is a welcome and challenging "must" read e-mail every week. That is where they connect with Pinchas Winston, and his essays on the sidrah of the week. Using the Torah reading as his springboard, Rabbi Winston addresses a wide variety of philosophical points, bringing to bear a wide variety of sources from all major areas of Torah study, starting from the Talmud and Zohar, and branching out to centuries of commentators, until our very day. Not the least, is Rabbi Winston's gift for plumbing the depths of a subject and presenting it in lucid, literate terms. In short, he massages the mind and makes his message a pleasure to absorb. The areas of Torah study are many and vast: all the books of the Written and Oral Law, and the countless commentaries that elucidate each one. But it all emanates from the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, which are read in synagogues around the world, and are completed every year on Simchas Torah. It is a day of delirious joy, because the Torah is the soul of the Jew, the source of his intellectual and spiritual fulfillment. The weekly Torah reading often acts as a bridge between all the various aspects of the Torah, weaving them into a tapestry that reveals the profound oneness of the Torah and its Divine mandate. Through an understanding of the parashah, one can become elevated above the mundane, inspired to see the world from its Creator's perspective and become connected to the profound undercurrents of Jewish history. In this masterful book, Pinchas Winston connects the dots and paints the picture. It is a thrilling and illuminating reading experience for anyone with a penchant for challenge and growth.