The Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies invites you to a lecture -

Nahmanides' Revisions in His Torah Commentary Regarding Hebron, RAchel's Tomb and the Shekel Coin

by Dr. Yosef Ofer

Nahmanides (1196–1270) wrote his Torah commentary while still in Spain, but updated it when he came to the Land of Israel at the end of his life, producing “Addenda” that were incorporated into later copies of his commentary. Comparison of medieval manuscripts of Nahmanides’ commentary enables us to detect these Addenda, and discern the changes in his interpretations.This lecture will focus on three important Addenda that incorporate geographic data and archaeological discoveries Nahmanides learned of in Israel, and how he modified his commentaries on the related biblical passages accordingly.

Dr. Yosef Ofer is Associate Professor in the Bar-Ilan Bible Department and a member of Israel’s Academy of the Hebrew Language. His fields of research are the Masora, medieval Bible exegesis, and the development of modern Hebrew. His published books include Nahmanides’ Torah Commentary: Addenda Written in the Land of Israel (Hebrew, co-authored with Jonathan Jacobs, Jerusalem 2013) and The Babylonian Masora of the Pentateuch, its Principles and Methods (Hebrew, Jerusalem 2001).