New Readings in the Torahby Ariel Stollman

About the commentary

Ariel Stollman’s commentary begins with the verses themselves: an unanswered question, a small linguistic detail, a repetition, or an apparent contradiction. Close attention to language, structure, and context brings seemingly marginal details into a new picture that illuminates the passage as a whole.

The studies explore narratives and characters, commandments, theological ideas, and moral questions. Alongside close readings of individual passages, they trace patterns and ideas recurring throughout the Torah and uncover connections between seemingly distant portions. This reading engages with both traditional commentary and biblical scholarship.

This approach is committed to a precise, careful reading of the verses’ language, structure, and context. It also explores interpretations that are not the only possible conclusions to draw from the text: a proposal need not be inevitable to be legitimate, provided it offers a reasonable reading of the text’s plain meaning. This cautious interpretive freedom allows unconventional possibilities to be considered while remaining within the bounds of peshat.

At its heart is the experience of discovery: returning to familiar verses, noticing what had escaped attention, and finding a fresh, surprising, and thought-provoking perspective.

About the books

In Search of Lost Meaning contains 27 in-depth chapters that develop interpretations through questions, details, and clues scattered through the text. Peshat in Brief (working title) contains about 170 short, self-contained chapters arranged by the weekly Torah portions. Each focuses on a particular question or subject and can be read in a few minutes.

In both books, every chapter stands on its own and invites readers to return to the verses and examine them afresh.

Alongside the books, the site will include posts with additional ideas and studies that were not included in them, or were written and published later.

About the author

Ariel Stollman is a software architect specializing in identifying and resolving performance problems. His professional experience also shapes his reading of the Torah: exploring unconventional possibilities through systematic, precise work and noticing structures, recurring patterns, anomalies, gaps, and small details.

He is a graduate of Yeshivat Har Etzion and holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and computer science and a master’s degree in computer science specializing in artificial intelligence.

The ideas in his books first appeared as posts on social media and in wide-ranging study and discussion groups. They received many positive responses from readers who appreciated their originality and their surprising solutions to familiar difficulties.