The Seventh and the First: The Divine Thread of the Torah
The exactness of the Biblical language is fundamental in our study of the text; the use of one word instead of another of similar meaning is, simply, significant. Daniel Langer's work forging connections between Biblical passages that use the same word over variant numerical sequences is an important tool in this process. The precise use of word parallels can reveal a deeper meaning across the Biblical text, and this comparison of Biblical episodes can further our understanding of the uniqueness of specific words. --Rabbi Benjamin Hecht, Founding Director of Nishma.orgDaniel Langer's research will fascinate scholar and layman alike with his bold insights based on word parallels and numerical symmetries. Whether or not one agrees with all his conclusions, Langer has challenged close readers of Tanakh with a methodology that takes Cassuto and Buber's attentiveness to word repetition to the next level. Read this book and you will never look at the book of Bereishit the same way you had before. --Rabbi Shmuel Klitsner, Teacher at Midreshet Lindenbaum and author of The Lost Children of Tarshish and Wrestling Jacob