Reddit reviews Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary

Yes, I think Catholics have a lot of the same tradition sort of perspective vs Protestants so that's interesting. Honestly, there's a lot. If you ever go to a rabbi's office it's like a library. At least in my experience. My humble suggestion to dip a toe in would be read the weekly parasha. So, we divide the Torah into sections and every week at shabbat service one section is read. And that section is paired with a reading from the Prophets that somehow relates to the Torah portion. So, what you could do is, get a translation of the Torah you like (I use Etz Chaim: https://www.amazon.com/Etz-Hayim-Commentary-David-Lieber/dp/0827607121) and hopefully that will include footnotes with blurbs from commentaries and other literature like Talmud etc. Or, you could look here https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/guide-to-weekly-torah-commentaries-online/ and use those to read alongside the weekly portion as well. There's a bunch to choose from. I subscribe to Jonathan Sacks' mail list and also Mechon Hadar's and every week they send an e-mail with some explanation of the portion always citing from our other sources.

"Etz Chaim Chumash" has the official JPS '85 translation considered the gold standard in academia. It's a real, straightforward translation (no allegories) and this printing has outstanding commentaries and summaries of the best meforshim. It comes with Haftarah as well and some other goodies (I think it might come with handy maps of Ancient Israel and the like).

Comes in hardcover and the significantly cheaper/lighter paperback.

If you don't need a translation into English, I'd advise the Koren series.

The sidebar which I'm linking here is a really great place to start. If you want to read the Torah, I suggest picking up a chumash, which is the Torah + commentary (don't read it without commentary). The one I use regularly is Etz Hayim.

You may be 4% interested in Etz Hayim, a modern torah commentary that rejects the historicity of everything before around Judges. https://www.amazon.com/Etz-Hayim-Commentary-David-Lieber/dp/0827607121

You should always get side-by-side English-Hebrew/Greek/Arabic translations, if possible.

I think the Jewish Publication Society has a good translation of the Torah (the Tanakh/Old Testament), but it might be worth it to purchase a Chumash--that is, a Torah (only the first five books) with accompanying commentary, along with the weekly Haftarah readings (from the other books of the Tanakh). I personally have an Etz Hayim Chumash that I really like.