Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson

This was a very interesting read. Some of the etymologies seemed a bit off. Two words may very well share some or all of their letters; however, it does not follow from this that they mean the same or a similar thing. In addition, the presentation was a bit inconsistent. All of the fifty entries had "The Big Idea," a summary of the main point, usually in a witty, aphorism-like statement, as well as "It Happened Once," or a story usually from the Talmud, the Mishnah, the Zohar, or some other Jewish literature. Sometimes "The Big idea" came before "It Happened Once," and sometimes the order was reversed. This was disconcerting. Overall, the book is high quality though and will stimulate my thoughts as a Christian scholar of the Hebrew Bible.… (mer)