Miqraot Gedolot con­jures up an image of some­thing majes­tic but also inac­ces­si­ble. Also called the Commentator’s Bible, it is a page of Bible sur­round­ed by com­men­taries. Rashi and Ibn Ezra, sep­a­rat­ed by more than 200 years, are made to con­verse with one anoth­er as they dif­fer on the
mean­ing of a word or a detail in the nar­ra­tive. In this way we are invit­ed into a con­ver­sa­tion with a throb­bing, liv­ing text. Much like the Stein­saltz Eng­lish Tal­mud, the JPS Commentator’s Bible takes this tra­di­tion­al con­ver­sa­tion­al for­mat and makes it acces­si­ble in Eng­lish. The Leviti­cus vol­ume places the Hebrew text of the Bible as the beat­ing heart at the cen­ter of each page. It is sur­round­ed by trans­la­tion and com­ments from Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Nah­manides, and a selec­tion of oth­ers includ­ing Abar­banel, Ger­son­ides, and David Kim­chi.
 Leviti­cus is a wor­thy addi­tion to this series. This book of com­men­tary wres­tles with ideas rarely appre­ci­at­ed out­side of hous­es of Jew­ish learn­ing, such as puri­ty and impu­ri­ty, or the role of the sac­ri­fi­cial sys­tem in ancient Israel and in the prayer ser­vice today. This book, with its acces­si­ble new trans­la­tion of these com­men­taries, brings a whole world of learn­ing to the Eng­lish-speak­ing Jew­ish world