Intro: How We Study – Quiz: Traditional Methods of Torah Study

Please answer these questions and upload the document with your answers.

1. According to Scolnic, what are the various ways we seek to understand the Torah through various methods of study and commentary?
2. What are the 4 elements or traditional Torah study that make up PARDES, and how do they differ?
3. When you look at a page of Mikraot Gdolot, the Torah is at the center, but there is no one definitive interpretation. Scolnic tells us that the Torah texts become clearer and “more true in conversation with others. Is this like any other types of study you have done? Do you think that this method of study increases your understanding of the text? Is the medium of Bible study its message? Are there uniquely Jewish ways to read a text?
4. For you, is the Bible a “fixed” book of truth? When you think about the Bible as a book that demands flexibility and interpretation does this change your relationship to the book? Does the Bible seem less authoritative?
5. Scolnic writes, “Once.. a] verse, or any other verse, is open to non-contextual exegesis, there are no objective standards for validity in interpretation. As an example he uses a reference with a messianic d’rash that has different implications for Jews and Christians. Some controversial texts that could be interpreted differently in our generation might include those that reflect upon the role of women, homosexuality, or relationships with gentiles. To what extent do historical or social circumstances determine what sort of d’rash is valid or acceptable? Historically, who determined what is “acceptable? Who determines this today?
6. What does it mean to say that the bible is an Eternal Book?” How does your study of the Bible help it live up to this expectation?
7. When it come to Chevrutah study (study partners) what is the lesson taught to us by the Talmud in Bava Metzia 84a between rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish?