Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel has once again made a significant contribution
to Jewish scholarship entitled "The Unknown English Torah Commentator:
Marcus M. Kalisch on Genesis 1-22." This work promises to be a new
trailblazing series introducing readers to the thinking and teachings of
Marcus Kalisch (1828-1885). Kalisch integrated the best of Judaic
scholarship with the ideas of philosophy, anthropology, comparative
literature, linguistics, and classical literature is unique. People of
all faith and religious traditions will enjoy reading about Kalisch's
novel interpretations of the Bible's most beloved tales. Kalisch always
sought to make the ethical lessons of the Pentateuch meaningful for the
average reader, rabbi, or scholar. The graphical illustrations add an
artistic flare to the commentary, captivating the writer's heart and
imagination. Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin, Onkelos on the Torah:
Understanding the Biblical Text
Marcus Kalisch wrote one of the first extensive commentaries on the
Torah to have been written in English. Kalisch ranks as one of the most
extraordinary exegetes who ever lived. His expansive command of
rabbinical, theological, linguistic, classical, and historical sources
was nothing less than kaleidoscopic. Despite having composed his
outstanding work over 175 years ago, his thoughts and inspirational
content can deeply enrich any biblical student, scholar, or teacher.
Kalisch possessed a complete mastery of ancient Jewish texts and could
cite the writings of Euripides as easily as he could quote the Talmud.
Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel has done a stellar job distilling the best of
Kalisch's sophisticated thought. Kalisch's ideas deserve to be
disseminated to our era and beyond. Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg,
Echoes of the Holocaust: Survivors and Their Children and Grandchildren
Speak Out
Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel is the son of a Holocaust survivor. He holds
two rabbinic ordinations from the Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch Yeshiva of
770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn and holds a D. Min. degree from the San
Francisco Theological Seminary. He is an avid student of the Greek
classics, Biblical and Talmudic scholarship, Jungian Psychology, Western
Medieval Theology, Modern Philosophy, and 20th century psychology. He is
the author of The Lord Is My Shepherd: The Theology of the Caring God
(1996), Birth and Rebirth Through Genesis (2010), A Shepherd's Song:
Psalm 23 and the Shepherd Metaphor In Jewish Thought (2014),
Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Jewish Commentator
(Volumes, 1-5), (2014-2018), Maimonides' Hidden Torah Commentary
(Volumes 1-5) and Gentle Judaic Wisdom for a Troubled World (2019).
