Resources

Resources for the Five Books of Moses
Etz Chayim (what we use in shul) has a good translation and excellent verse by verse commentary. Etz Chayim also has maps of Biblical Israel which will especially come in handy when we reach the Book of Joshua, but are also useful for earlier parts of the Bible. When we finish Deuteronomy and are ready to read Joshua, I recommend The Jewish Study Bible (see below under 'Resources for the Whole Bible').

Link to the Chapter a Day Calendar
http://h-nt.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Reading-the-Bible-Calendar.pdf

Online Resources
Go to Sefaria, http://www.sefaria.org/ and click on Tanach. Then click on Genesis. Highlight verse 1 and it will give you the verse in English. Click on the little dot on the right and it will lead you to over twenty different commentaries on that verse in English translation. At the top of the page you can click on the Hebrew letter to get the text and/or the commentary in Hebrew. You can do this for every verse in the Bible. This is a great resource! (on the other hand, be aware that the commentaries are not modern, and they are not explained; for modern commentaries, use the Etz Chayim and the resources below).

Resources for the Book of Genesis

• Harvey Fields, A Torah Commentary for our Times. Each parasha has easy to read essays about major themes. A good introduction to Torah commentary and how it operates.

• Jonathan Saks, Covenant and Conversation. This is a fabulous on line resource. Go to this website and you will find archives containing five or more excellent essays on every parasha of the Torah. For the archives, go to http://www.rabbisacks.org/category/covenant-conversation/ and search the numbers on the bottom for the parasha you are looking for. For the current weekly parasha, go to http://www.rabbisacks.org/

• Richard Elliot Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible? A very accessible explanation of why modern scholars don't think Moses wrote down the whole Torah, and an explanation of the Documentary Hypothesis, the reigning theory of who did write the Bible.

• Leon Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis. An insightful, thematic approach to the stories of Genesis.

• Aviva Zornberg, Genesis: The Beginning of Desire. Zornberg is one of the most brilliant and unconventional Jewish thinkers on the scene today. She weaves together philosophy, psychology, literature, Biblical text and medieval Jewish commentary in a very unique way. This book is not for the faint of heart. It must be read slowly. Sometimes, you will get lost. But, if you are up for a challenge, the rewards will be great.

• Jon Levinson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil. Levinson believes that Genesis 1 doesn't fully account for the power of evil as we experience it in the world. For this we have to turn to other versions of Creation in the Bible. Extremely insightful book, but this one too must be read slowly.

Resources for the Whole Bible

• The Jewish Study Bible, edited by Marc Brettler and Adele Berlin.  This is the text I most recommend once we get past the Five Books of Moses. It has a good translation, line by line commentaries and informative essays. Click on this link for more information:

https://global.oup.com/academic/search?q=the-jewish-study-bible&cc=us&lang=en; Be aware that Amazon carries inexpensive used paperback editions.