Artscroll: Windows to the Soul - Vayikra, Bamidbar, Devarim by Rabbi Michael Bernstein M.D.

“Delve in the Torah and continue to delve in it, for everything is in it ... you can have no better portion than it.” So teaches the Talmudic sage Ben Bag Bag in Ethics of the Fathers (5:26). More easily said than done. One way to appreciate the infinite wisdom of the Torah is to see what thoughtful, inquisitive, perceptive people have unearthed in their inquiries. This is such a book.

Rabbi Michael Bernstein, M.D. is a practicing child psychiatrist. His is a craft that teaches its practitioners to notice things that others overlook. In this book, he turns his skills to the Chumash and, like an explorer stripping away covers from ancient treasures, he reveals wisdom and insights that may well have escaped even lifelong students of the Torah. By combining his knowledge of Rabbinic literature and the classic commentaries with his understanding of people, the author shares new perspectives on the Torah.

Always original, sometimes provocative, unusually stimulating, and unfailingly grounded in the timeless tradition of Torah classics, this book casts an exciting light on areas that may have seemed unremarkable to the casual student. This volume contains Rabbi Bernstein’s observations on the Books of Vayikra/Leviticus, Bamidbar/Numbers, and Devarim/Deuteronomy.

In the tradition of the great Mussar thinkers, Rabbi Bernstein relates the narratives and Midrashim of the Chumash to human behavior and thereby enables his readers to subject themselves to the lessons of the Torah. The charm of this work is that it makes the reader think, reflect, and then say to himself, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

The title is Windows to the Soul. Indeed. This exceptional work will open many a window to many a soul -- and all the windows let in the light of the Torah.