The First Story: Jewish and Christian approaches to scripture study

Introduction

Months before the ongoing, tragic conflict between Israel and Gaza, F.L.O.W.cast producer Sister Beth Murphy made plans for this conversation between her friends, Rabbi Eve Posen and Natalie Long. She knew that Rabbi Posen—an associate Rabbi at Congregation Neveh Shalom, Portland, Oregon, and Natalie—a self-identified “Catholic-leaning Protestant”—would be the perfect pairing for a conversation about Jewish Torah study and how it might inform our Christian approach to the Hebrew Bible—the Christian Old Testament.

 

About our guest

Rabbi Eve Posen is an associate Rabbi at Congregation Neveh Shalom in Portland, Oregon where she teaches, preaches, engages, and plays with all generations of the synagogue community. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Rabbi Eve attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she received a B.A. in Judaic Studies. She also holds a master's degree in Experiential Education from the American Jewish University’s Fingerhut School of Education and Rabbinic Ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. She is the co-author of Pirkei Imahot: Wisdom of Mothers, Voices of Women. In 2019 Rabbi Eve was honored to serve as a Global Justice Fellow with American Jewish World Service and has become an advocate for justice work for community members of all ages. She is also a member of the Oregon Board of Rabbis. Rabbi Posen is married to Duncan Gilman, and their children Shiri and Matan are a constant source of inspiration.

Read her weekly blog at rabbieve.com.

Our host

Natalie Long has been a member of the Cor Unum community, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, since 2018. She is an attorney with experience in environmental and immigration law. She lived for a time in the states of Chiapas and Guanajuato, Mexico, where she worked to develop environmental and land rights cases for local communities.

 

Takeaways

• What Christians call the Old Testament is the Hebrew Bible for Jews. It is divided into three sections:
  • The books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Numbers)
  • The Prophets
  • The Writings
• Pardes: levels of scripture study in Judaism
  • Peshat: literal meaning
  • Remez: allegorical meaning
  • Derash: “so what” level—used for preaching
  • Sod: mystical meaning
• Midrash: a collection of textual commentaries on the Bible, or a method of interpretation of biblical texts.

Resources from Rabbi Posen

Congregation Neveh Shalom

Rabbi Eve Posen’s Parenting by the Parshah Cor Unum

What the heck is that holiday videos

Resources for Scripture study

New American Bible Revised Edition

Commentary on the Sunday Scriptures from biblical scholar Fr. Leslie Hoppe, OFM

Blue Letter Bible: A digital platform for scripture study