Linetsky Publishes Work On Ibn Ezra

YC Student Makes Contribution to Biblical Scholarship

Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra's commentary to the Torah has long been considered an essential rabbinical contribution to Biblical exegesis and the object of much scholarly analysis. Michael Linetsky of Yeshiva University, has contributed to the circle of Ibn Ezra scholarship with his new book Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra: Commentary on Creation, a translation and critical elucidation of Ibn Ezra's commentary from seder Bereishit until seder Noah.

Linetsky, incidentally, is not a member of the Jewish Studies faculty, nor is he a student in the Bernard Revel Graduate School, he is an undergraduate student at Yeshiva College, majoring in Computer Science.

Linetsky wrote the book to fill what he felt was a gap in the study of Ibn Ezra's perush. Ibn Ezra makes frequent reference to various exegetical and philosophical works as well as translations into Greek and Arabic, all of which were available in his time. Subsequently, however, many of these works disappeared. This created a void in the study of Ibn Ezra, because Ibn Ezra assumes that his reader is familiar with these works. "For example," says Linetsky, "after Ibn Ezra died, Rav Saadia Gaon's commentary, which is referred to by Ibn Ezra was lost and was not seen by later exegetes. In the twentieth century it resurfaced. So Ibn Ezra has, in a sense, resurfaced as well. Various comments of his have come to light. I tried to fill in the gaps."

Linetsky first became interested in Biblical scholarship as a young teenager in Cleveland. "I would study Humash and I took a liking to Ibn Ezra, so I wanted to contribute to the advancement of his perush," he said. The project began while Linetsky attended high school, and he continued it into his college years. A large chunk of the work was done in Yeshiva University's Gottesman Library, which Linetsky describes as an indispensable asset for the required research. Linetsky stated that the YU library has given him access to books that he could not obtain anywhere else and that he has used the library for the bulk of his research.

The book qualified for a letter of recommendation from noted scholar Nahum Sarna, author of many volumes on Biblical studies. Nevertheless, Linetsky reports that people were skeptical at first to the idea of a college student publishing a book. "Various people told me that my commentary wouldn't get published. But within two weeks of writing to publishers, I received a contract from Jason Aronson publishing. In any event," he humbly added, "it was just a matter of identifying references and putting things together. My approach wasn't all that novel."

Asked about his motivation for writing, Linetsky replied that "it's worthwhile to contribute and do something positive with your life." Linetsky explained that he felt that by writing he is able to leave his mark on the world and gain a degree of personal fulfillment unavailable in a computer science career.

Linetsky plans to continue his contributions to Jewish Biblical scholarship. His latest endeavor is an annotated translation of Rav Saadia Gaon's commentary to the book of Genesis from parshat Bereishit until parshat Va'Yetze, which he is currently researching. Linetsky stated that he hopes that this book will be appearing in bookstores by the end of this summer.

The book on Ibn Ezra will be available this month in Barnes and Noble and wherever Jewish books are sold.