David Weiss-Halivni was a specialist in Talmud and rabbinics. He spent thirty years as a member of the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary prior to his appointment at Columbia University. Although he has spent a large portion of his career focusing his attention on Talmudic source criticism, he later turned his attention toward biblical exegesis. His ninth book, entitled Peshat and Derash: Plain and Applied Meaning in Rabbinic Exegesis, appeared in 1991, and his tenth, entitled Revelation Restored: Divine Writ and Critical Responses, was published in 1997. While continuing his multivolume work, Sources and Traditions: A Source Critical Commentary to the Talmud, Professor Weiss-Halivni published his memoir, The Book and the Sword: A Life of Learning in the Shadow of Destruction.