“New and refreshing insights…. Rabbi Goldin acts as a responsible teacher of Torah, letting the text speak for itself…. Unlocking the Torah Text is a very good book indeed, challenging the reader to use his native intelligence in reading the Good Book as God's Book.”
-Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, Chancellor of Yeshiva University
“Rabbi Shmuel Goldin has rendered an extraordinary service…. Challenging us with fascinating questions, he presents unique solutions to problems that we might never have noticed but which are critical to our understanding of the text. Sabbath discussions in the pulpit or around the table will be greatly enriched by his analysis.”
-Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, spiritual leader of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, New York City
“Rabbi Goldin's book is original, thoughtful, and provocative. Written with clarity, sensitivity and empathy, it will inspire modern readers of the Torah to grapple with the text and to wrest from it contemporary messages of personal meaning and communal significance.”
-Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, senior scholar at the Center for the Jewish Future of Yeshiva University
“Rabbi Shmuel Goldin is a treasured member of our Jewish studies faculty because of the insight, clarity and love of text displayed in this volume. Employing simple but probing questions, he has produced an eye-opening volume, transforming Biblical story into sacred values. It is a delicious read.”
-Richard Joel, President of Yeshiva University
“Superb!…Carefully conceived, conceptually challenging, stylistically elegant…magnificently inviting.”
-Rabbi Maurice Lamm, author of The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning
“In Unlocking the Torah Text, Goldin provides the reader with a useful aid to understanding the biblical text. Writing in a pleasant, lucid style, he identifies the main questions, and in a modern idiom discusses some of the classic approaches. He carries his learning lightly so as to meet the challenges of the text and stimulate debate of the issues. A highly readable and thoughtful work.”
-Dr. Aviva Zornberg, author of Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, winner of the National Jewish Book Award
“What follows… is what makes this book unique: The question is then answered in accordance with several, often radically different, approaches.… The author is not shy to bring up ‘delicate’ and ‘difficult’ topics.… It is advanced but accessible, appropriate for scholars and laymen alike.”
-Rabbi Ari Enkin, Torah Book Reviews