Leviticus: A Parsha Companion

by David Fohrman

Leviticus is not an easy book to read. It presents topics that seem arcane to the ear, including the laws of animal offerings, the baffling purification ritual for tzara’at, and an origin story for the holiday of Yom Kippur that treats forgiveness almost as an afterthought. In these pages, Rabbi Fohrman shows that an important key to understanding Leviticus lies in the previous books of Genesis and Exodus. In the process, he makes this book accessible and its study deeply meaningful.In this third of five Parsha Companions, Rabbi David Fohrman asks questions that, in hindsight, seem like they were staring you in the face the whole time. He discerns nuance. He detects patterns in the original Hebrew that — once you see them — seem to leap off the page. And he shows how many of these discoveries, astoundingly, aren’t really “new” at all, but were suggested thousands of years ago by the ancient sages of the Talmud and Midrash themselves.

248 pages, Hardcover

Published February 12, 2024

About the author

Rabbi David Fohrman lectures internationally on Biblical themes. He heads the Curriculum Initiative of the Areivim Philanthropic Group, and directs the Hoffberger Institute for Text Study. He currently resides in Woodmere, NY with his wife and children, where he also serves as resident scholar at the Young Israel of Woodmere. Rabbi Fohrman's first book, The Beast that Crouches at the Door, was a finalist for the 2007 National Jewish Book Award. In earlier years, Rabbi Fohrman served as a senior editor and writer for ArtScroll's Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud, and taught Biblical themes at the Johns Hopkins University. His recorded lectures are available at rabbifohrman.com.

Reviews

[Jeff Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid! 3.5. Read this in a small group context. Felt a little slow and repetitive at times, but some beautiful insight into who God is and always enjoy learning from people with new (to me) perspectives on the Bible.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

As noted by the book’s author, Rabbi Fohrman, a lot of his analysis is based on intertextuality, a word that can have a smorgasbord of meanings based on the objectives of those using it. In the academic biblical world, one would assume this would be more so a look at clues in the redaction histories of the text itself and also perhaps other texts written in the same period (ie, a made up example for this review is of taking wording from a P strand in Leviticus and comparing it to a potential P strand in Genesis).

Obviously being a book by a by-the-book Orthodox Rabbi, this is not the method used which does not necessarily detract from his analysis; in fact, the way he looks at how some words repeat in multiple Mosaic books may be less ideal for those analyzing “how the books got here” and more for those wanting to simply better understand the intentions of the Redactor/redactor/redactors (your pick based on your level of religious belief).

Finishing this book and writing “oh wow, I learned so much about Leviticus, I can’t believe it!” would be something of a lie. Books like Leviticus: A Parsha Companion for me at least, are less works of ‘enlightenment’ and more of ‘enhancement’. Playing by the rules of traditional thought can lead to running into walls regular academics disregard, but it also leads to ingenious solutions. A notable one shown early on is attempting to find out how sacrificial offerings became codified and Rabbi Fohrman thus ingeniously goes right back to the beginning with a novel take on Adam/Eve + Cain/Abel that may go unnoticed by other forms of biblical study.

This—the taking of a smidgen of Leviticus in order to go on a journey to other Mosaic books becomes a concern as the chapters pass by. I’m here to learn about Leviticus first and foremost. That on one hand there is an almost James Kugel-like deep dive in the penultimate chapter about how Cain’s distant offspring may have a connection to the Jubilee year which was pretty cool, it also seems like a major tangent (‘major’ as it may be the longest chapter in the book). The anchor of having one’s foot firmly in Leviticus at almost too many times felt unmoored, sliding along an ocean floor of Rabbinical insights that are nice and educational, but also kind of off the mark.

Thus, looking at books—especially ones considered complicated such as the third Mosaic book—through a traditional light has led to insights I’ve never considered before. However, if in some unfathomable situation I could only take one non-commentary work about Leviticus with me onto an uninhabited island, Leviticus: A Parsha Companion may be tempting, but the also ingenious way Mary Douglas looked at Leviticus through the eyes of a non-biblical scholar, non-clerical figure, but as an anthropologist in Leviticus as Literature would be the book that I take on that travel.

As a more ‘frum’ comparison, the only other series that comes to mind based on my past reading is Torah MeEtzion (coincidentally also published by Koren). Both are ‘complete’, both are written from an Orthodox perspective (albeit Rabbi Fohrman’s is originally in English while Torah MeEtzion is a translation), and both rather than being normal verse-by-verse commentaries consist of long-form essays (shiurs) on various subjects from each weekly Torah portion.

While I have not yet read TM’s Leviticus book, if it’s anything like their Exodus, it...honestly...is probably a better choice than this one. Multiple authors, multiple viewpoints, and seems to be written for a more learned audience. Rabbi Fohrman really gets to the bottom of things, but both here and in The Exodus You Almost Passed Over, a great book of his I read a few years ago, but it feels like the target audience are middle school students*. These are fun and at times enlightening reads, but may not really scratch the itch.

*Before closing out this review, one unfortunate issue that may not catch the eye of many can be found in a footnote where Rabbi Fohrman albeit while referencing the “folklore” around the American Thanksgiving tradition positively references an event, even if partially true, is not one that should be seen in such a glamorous light let alone a reference point for the actual todah (thanksgiving) sacrifice. Maggid/Koren’s team should have caught this.


Two ratings this time:
If one is new to Scripture and wants a light-touch book that’s more of a “traditional-oriented Leviticus springboard to other ideas”: 3.5/5
If one already had read a decent amount and wants something mostly focused on the book itself: 2.5/5

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Commentaries on the Bible are rarely page turners. Even the most interesting are more likely to make people nod their head in agreement than encourage them to eagerly continue reading. This is especially true for works on the biblical book of Leviticus, which, with its listing of sacrifices, is of little interest to some contemporary readers. An exception to this is Rabbi David Fohrman’s “Leviticus: A Parsha Companion” (AlephBeta Press/Meggid). A few chapters were so interesting that I couldn’t stop reading until I finished them. Even those chapters whose arguments were less convincing are still worthy of study for the brilliant ways that Fohrman ties his ideas together. Readers do not have to agree with his thoughts to enjoy his work.
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/book...

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every masterpiece of R. Fohrman's has a distinct flavor, and the deeply-satisfying-to-read accomplishment here is his guidance towards appreciating what is - until reading this book - the mundane dullness that is classically the middle part of the Five Books of Moses. Not so, not so at all. R. Fohrman shows just how purposeful the middle part is, how connected it is to what precedes, how vital the understanding is. This is the most revelatory of his work to date, because it's the most unexpected of everything. I thought I was going to be bored, and that well would be too deep to plumb or perhaps the barrel would have no bottom. Quite the opposite. Quite the opposite indeed. And now, at this point in my journey through R. Fohrman's work, I've read everything he's ever written, and I'm dying for what's next. Okay, not dying, salivating? No, hyper-anticipatory. Much better.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a set of zesty little essays on the book of Leviticus (aka Vayikra): one for each Torah portion. Forhman reads each Torah portion in the light of other portions of the Torah- sometimes within Leviticus, sometimes elsewhere in the Torah.

For example, Rabbi Forhman notices that the phrase "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18) is preceded by admonitions to not secretly hate others, to avoid revenge, and to avoid grudges. He also notices that the "love your neighbor as yourself" is preceded by the letter "vav" (or "and"). He therefore suggests that if you avoid secret hatreds, revenge, and grudges and instead work out conflicts constructively, you can repair your relationship with your "neighbor", which in turn leads to loving that neighbor as yourself.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love how patient of a teacher Rabbi Fohrman is. Every time I read his work, I learn things about Scripture Ive never heard before. After K-12 religious education, 27 years of church-going, and a religious studies degree in college, its rare I get both a compelling and a completely new-to-me interpretation of a biblical text. In making the Jewish rabbinical tradition of interpretation accessible to lay readers, thats exactly what I get. I do think, in this one, I sometimes had trouble tying his writings directly to the text of Leviticus. The other works I've read by him followed scripture more line by line. And some chapters of this one does as well. But some parts were more metaphorical and I got less out of that.

[Israel Drazin · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this third excellent volume of Rabbi David Fohrman’s Parasha Companion series, “Leviticus,” which follows Genesis and Exodus, the rabbi raises interesting questions, offers possible answers, makes the biblical book Leviticus meaningful, and causes us to think. Without the rabbi’s help, Leviticus is difficult to understand and relate to the modern age. Rabbi Fohrman overcomes this obstacle.

The book is not only easy to read but also remarkably easy to read. It is entertaining and eye-opening. He tells us that Leviticus contains a “treasure trove of interesting connections. In law after law, passage after passage, Leviticus picks up threads in Genesis and Exodus and weaves them into rich tapestries of meaning; indeed, contrary to appearances, Leviticus is emphatically not a book that stands alone.” He introduces us to a game, “Where did I hear these words before? It shows us that by doing so, we can see Leviticus is not two but three-dimensional. He gives us a new, exciting, and deeper view of Leviticus.

Regarding the weekly biblical portion Tzav, Rabbi Fohrman tells us that the Talmudic rabbis in Berachot 54b identify four types of people required to offer Thanksgiving Offerings. Three of the four are similar, but the fourth stands out. He introduces us to a Sesame Street game, “One of the things is not like the others.” He shows us this is not only a simple childish game but a delightful educational one, even for adults. (The technique is used in IQ tests.) Using the game, he shows quite a few lessons that the portion Tzav teaches us that are relevant today. They make us better people.

[Josiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent! It gave exceptional insight into the various features of Leviticus, not to mention offer insights to discuss as a family and community.

[Crispin Newmarch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic addition to Fohrman's parsha companion series. The Leviticus addition is insightful and illuminating.