The Stone Edition of the Chumash by Artscroll states emphatically that every letter of the Torah was revealed by H" to Moshe on Mt. Sinai. The introduction also claims that true Jews believe in this theory of the Torah being the literal word of H", rejecting the documentary hypothesis (although they did not refer to it with those words).
Is it possible to be a H"-fearing, orthodox-ish Jew, believing in the sublime sacredness and holiness of the Torah as the revealed and literal word of H", while accepting as true the documentary hypothesis?
WRS - My favorite verse: “Vayomer E” ‘Yehi or,’ vayehi or. Vayar E" et ha-or, ki tov."
Well, I dunno what our Orthodox friends will say (actually, I probably can guess what they’ll say), but I’m a right-wing conservative Jew who believes in the Documentary hypothesis.
For those who have no clue, the Documentary Hypothesis asserts that the Pentateuch (first five books of the bible) was written by different authors over a long period of time (centuries), and then edited together, all by human authors. The traditional view is that the first five books were dictated by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, word for word and letter for letter, and all written down by Moses.
If you’d like more info on this, check see Staff Report: Who wrote the bible? (part 1).
OK, so I believe that the first five books were written by different authors over time and edited together. I believe these authors were “divinely inspired” (whatever the hell that means) and that the same divine inspiration has imbued the rabbis of the Talmud, Mishnah, and responsas through the ages. Hence, I believe that the Torah and tradition are binding and from a divine source, but I do not believe that each word was written down by Moses on Mt Sinai.
That help?