Abstract
It has long been assumed in many quarters that the use of critical scholarly approaches to the study of Bible is largely incompatible with (or at least irrelevant to) the goal of fostering Jewish identity. This paper investigates the work of one teacher (one of the co-authors) and his use of critical biblical scholarship—an expression of Barry Holtz's "contextual orientation" to the teaching of Bible—to engage Jewish adults in their twenties and thirties, and to help them develop a significant and textured attachment to the text of the Torah. Analysis of interviews with three students from different backgrounds suggests some of the ways in which this approach serves to connect students to Jewish life and community.