Etz Hayim: Torah & Commentary is the most celebrated contemporary humash designed for synagogue liturgical usage, featuring the renowned 1985 JPS translation and an authoritative Hebrew text based on the Masoretic tradition.

Published in 2001, Etz Hayim represents the Conservative / Masorti Movement’s reverence for tradition, profound commitment to scholarship and the unique understanding that both are essential to Jewish life. It is uniquely the product of the Conservative / Masorti Movement with essays on all aspects of the Bible by contemporary scholars and Conservative / Masorti rabbis, full color maps of Ancient Israel as well as two separate sections of commentary, representing two approaches to interpreting the Torah.

The p’shat, adapted from the JPS Torah Commentary and edited by Rabbi Chaim Potok, z”l seeks to explain the basic meaning of the text and the d’rash, edited by Rabbi Harold Kushner, includes insights from over 2000 years of Torah study.