Originally published in A.J.A. Quarterly 3:4 (1957), pp. 29-31. Why I am not a Christian and other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects. By Bertrand Russell. Ed. by Professor Paul Edwards. George Allen and Unwin. 16s. The late Rav Kook was fond of saying that the sceptic fulfils a useful function even from the religious point…...

Originally published in World Jewry 1:7 (1958), p. 26. The Credo of Maimonides, by Carol Klein. Philosophical Library, New York, 1958, $3.75. Spinoza, The Book of God. Edited and with an Introduction by Dagobert D. Runes. Philosophical Library, New York, 1958, $3. Maimonides and Spinoza—both “God-intoxicated” men, both viewed with strong suspicion by many conventional believers of…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 5 (1985), pp. 119-120. Jose Faur, “Lessons for Our Day from Sephardi Halakhic Sources”, Proceedings of the Rabbinical Assembly of America 40 (1978), 57-74.—In this interesting, pioneering paper Professor Faur argues that unlike the Ashkenazi Halakhists, who recognised a definite ideology that serves as the cohesive bond of the…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 5 (1985), pp. 119-120. Schalom Ben-Chorin, Die Tafeln des Bundes: Das Zehnwort vom Sinai, Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1979, ISBN 3-16-141332-6, Pp. 191, Price: DM 28.— This is a short but scholarly treatment of the Decalogue both in its historical meaning and its relevance for human…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 4 (1981), pp. 294-5. S. Frankel, ed., Mishneh Torah, vol. 2 Zemanim, New York: Congregation Bnei Yosef, 1975; vol. 3 Nashim, Bnei Brak: Yeshivat Ohel Yosef, 1977.—These are the first two volumes of a splendid new critical edition of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, prepared by a team of scholars in…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 4 (1981), pp. 328-9. R. Gordis, “A Dynamic Halakhah: Principles and Procedures of Jewish Law”, Judaism 28/3 (1979), 263-282.—G. maintains that a century and a half of historical research has revealed the process by which Jewish law has grown and the factors that stimulated its development. He claims that…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 4 (1981), p. 323. Y. Rafael, ed., Sefer hamanhig, Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1978, 2 vols.—This is a sumptuous, critical edition of the work by Abraham b. Nathan of Lunel, based on the Oxford manuscript, supplemented by a number of others. There is a learned introduction and notes and…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 4 (1981), p. 317. E. Weisfish, ed., Hahashmal bahalakhah (Heb. with Engl, synopsis), Jerusalem: Institute for Science and Halacha, 1978, Part I, Pp. 402.—This is a digest of all that has been written on Halakhic questions (other than those in connection with the Sabbath, on which there is to…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 4 (1981), p. 317. E. J. Waldinberg, Tsits Eli’ezer, Jerusalem: E. Itah, 1978, Vol. 13, Pp. 248—In this latest volume, Rabbi Waldinberg discusses, among many other topics: What are the limits of rebuking others for their faults? (129-130); Is the fifth commandment still in force when parents object to…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 4 (1981), p. 317. B. Z. Uziel, Piske Uziel beshe’elot hazeman, Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1977, Pp. 484.—Mosad Harav Kook has had the happy idea of publishing the legal decisions of the Rishon le-Tzion, Rabbi Uziel, on Halakhic questions raised in modern times as a result of new social…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 4 (1981), pp. 316-7. J. L. Graubart, Havalim bane’imim, Jerusalem: Feldheim, 1975, 5 parts in 2 vols.—These responsa on the four a parts of the Shulhan Arukh have been reissued with additions. Among the many legal topics discussed are the following. Is it permitted in Jewish law for a…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 4 (1981), p. 316. S. Braun, Kunteros Aharon, Jerusalem: Feldheim, 1978, Pp. 199.—The four volumes of Rabbi Solomon Braun’s She’arim Metsuyanim bahalakhah, a compendium of Halakhic decisions by famous authorities on questions arising out of the conditions of modern living, are widely used by Rabbis and are something of…...

Originally published in November 1981. Jewish Intellectual History. By Alexander Altmann. University Press of New England. £12.50. Although it is more than 20 years since the author of this profound work of scholarship left these shores, we still cannot help thinking of him as our Dr Altmann who was so influential when many of us…...

Nathan Rotenstreich, Tradition and Reality, The Impact of History on Modern Jewish Thought, xii + 145 pp., Contemporary Jewish Civilization Series, Moshe Davis, ed., Random House, New York, 1972, $1.95. The word ‘History’ in the sub-title of this book does not refer to the story of the past but to the methods by which the…...

Liqqutei Amarim (Tanya). By RABBI SCHNEUR ZALMAN OF LIADI. Translated by Nissan Mindel. New York: Kehot Publication Society. 38s, 6d. The Tzemach Tzedek and the Haskala Movement. By RABBI JOSEPH I. SCHNEERSOHN. Translated by Zalman I. Posner. Same publishers. 8s. 9d. The “Tanya” of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad movement in…...

Joseph Karo—Lawyer and Mystic. By R. J. Z. Werblowsky. Oxford University Press. 63s. Rabbi Joseph Karo is known to history chiefly as the author of the Shulchan Aruch and the gigantic work of legal synthesis, the Beth Joseph, upon which it is based. He also kept a diary (published under the name Maggid Mesharim) for…...

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, February 1971. A matter of interpretation LAW AND TRADITION IN JUDAISM. By Boaz Cohen. Ktav, New York. $6.95. STUDIES IN BIBLICAL LAW. By David Daube. Ktav, New York. $10.00. An interesting feature of the Jewish publishing scene is the astonishing output of reprints. Among the many classical and near-classical works…...

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, 7th June 1985. The Sea of Faith: Christianity in Change. By Don Cupitt. British Broadcasting Corporation. £6.95. This is the book that accompanied the controversial BBC television series. The title, taken from a Matthew Arnold poem, is intended to suggest that the tide of Christian faith flows again after its…...