Unlocking the Torah Text Devarim

UNLOCKING THE TORAH TEXT provides an in-depth journey into the Torah portion through a series of studies on each parsha. Each study opens with a brief summary of the narrative and then presents probing questions designed to strike to the core of the text. These questions are addressed through a review of traditional commentaries spanning the ages, combined with original approaches. Deep philosophical issues and perplexing textual questions are carefully examined and discussed in clear and incisive fashion. The actions and motivations of the patriarchs, matriarchs and other biblical figures are probed with an eye towards determining the lessons to be learned from the lives of these great personalities. Clear distinction is made between pshat (straightforward literal meaning) and Midrash (rabbinical exegesis) as both of these approaches to biblical text are carefully defined and applied. Finally, thought-provoking connections are raised between the eternal Torah narrative and critical issues of our time. Each study is thus constructed to encourage continued discussion and study of the Torah narrative. With the publication of this final volume, Devarim (Deuteronomy), the five-volume series is complete.

"This is not a Shabbat table parsha book. It is an in-depth study on some of the more relevant themes in the weekly parsha. It is advanced but accessible, appropriate for scholars and laymen alike."
Rabbi Ari Enkin, Torah Book Reviews blog

"In my quest for more insights into Torah and weekly Torah learning, aside from the standards (Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, Or haChaim) and the modern ones I love (Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Rabbanit Nechama Liebowitz, Rabbi Menachem Liebtag) I had ordered Rabbi Goldin's Unlocking Torah Text for sefer Breishit and sighed with relief and a smile at finding another gem. In the style I myself use for teaching Torah, Rabbi GOldin poses questions and investiagates and suggests and ezplains key questions in Torah wording. . I have since ordered all the rest of his Unlocking the Torah Text books."
See this and other reader reviews on Amazon.com

RABBI SHMUEL GOLDIN received his BS in psychology and his MA in Jewish education from Yeshiva University, and his rabbinic ordination from the Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University. He has served as spiritual leader of Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood, New Jersey, since 1984. He is the immediate past president of the Rabbinical Council of America, the largest body of Orthodox rabbis in the world. Rabbi Goldins innovative educational approach to Torah study, Jewish law and Jewish identity is enthusiastically received by traditional and non-traditional Jews alike, as reflected by his inclusion in Newsweeks list of Americas Top 50 Rabbis for 2012 and in the Forward 50, Forward magazines list of Jewish communal leaders who have made a difference in the community at large. Rabbi Goldin and his wife Barbara are the proud parents of five children, and grandparents of ten.