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The translation presented here is not as good as many of its readers might at first think. While the translations are readable, they sometimes vary greatly from the actual Hebrew text. This is because the editors have chosen one particular Torah commentray (Rashi), and have biased the translation in favor of Rashi's interpreation, even when they were only meant to be allegorical. This bias makes Rashi out to be an authority second only to God! Due to this overwhelming bias, all of the other hudnreds of Bible commentators together barely equal Rashi alone - at least in the eye's of this book's editors. While it certainly is important to present a digest of Rashi's views, it is most inaccurate to bias the entire translation according to him. Fortunately, the extensive and well-researched commentary presents a digest of thoughts from rabbis; Unfortunately this commentary is limited to those views that are acceptable a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) point of view. Thus, the commentary is not reflective of the variety that is present within the tradition of rabbinic Judaism. The same goes for midrashim, which are rabbinic exegetical glosses on the text of the Torah. This commentary picks and chooses which midrashim are to be authoritative, leaving the rest to the dustbin of history. While this indeed is illuminatin [it illustrates clearly what the author's biases are] it also gives a terribl narrow picture of authentic rabbinic Judaism. In terms of physical presentation, this work is an elegent example of beautiful typsetting, readable fonts, and a beautiful cover. It is earnest, authentic, and pious. But in the end, it is biased towards the religious extremists, and this in the end shortchanges the reader of what should be a wider and more varied education. I would suggest getting the Soncino Chumash, or the five volume JPS Torah commentary set, instead. However, note that this Chumash _can_ be good, if you already know the breadth of the tradition, and so can avoid its pitfalls.
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