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Rating: 
Summary: Good but there is better
Review: Baruch Levine's commentary on Leviticus/Vayikra is commendable. The Hebrew text is easy to read with the English translation set out alongside it and the commentary appearing below. Levine ably brings modern scholarship as well as rabbinic commentary to bear when discussing the text. However, for my money, a far better commentary on Leviticus has been done by Jacob Milgrom in the Anchor Bible series. Milgrom's work is far more thorough and groundbreaking. I would recommend that you look at Milgrom's commentary before purchasing Levine's.
Rating: 
Summary: Illuminating and inspiring
Review: Like all the volumes in the JPS Torah commentary series, this volume is simplythe best in its area. It contains the complete Hebrew text of Genesis, the JPS's new English translation, and an extensive original commentary that illuminates the text like a 1000 watt searchlight. On average, each four or five lines of text gets a full page of explanation and commentary, so every subject gets covered in detail. Levine, like all the JPS Torah commentators, makes use of traditional rabbinic commentaries, and the Mishna, Midrash and Talmud. But it doesn't end here: The commentary goes on to make good use of literary analysis and comparative Semitics; intertextual commentary relating each book to other biblical books, and evidence from modern archaeological, discoveries. Especially illuminating is his treatment and analysis of the meaning of Tenple sacrifices, described in the context of the Biblical world's era and ouevre. Unlike the Reform commentary, this work manages to be respectful, religious, and authentic to the Jewish tradition, while at the same time rigorously adhering to the highest standards of biblical criticism and intellectual honesty. Highly reccomended!
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