Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 34:2. Rachel Elior, Torat ha-Elohut be-Dor ha-Sheni shel Hasidut Habad (The Theory of Divinity of Hasidut Habad: Second Generation). Hebrew University Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 1982. 406 pp. $15.00 This book is a study of the thought of an acute but neglected Habad thinker, R. Aaron of Starosselje (1766-1828), a prominent…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 34:2. Aaron Kirschenbaum, (ed.), Diné Israel – An Annual of Jewish Law: Past and Present, Vol. IX. Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, 1980. Hebrew 229 pp.; English 154 pp. $15.00. The latest volume of Diné Israel is of the same high standard as its predecessors. The majority of the articles are in…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 35:2. M. Russell and Rabbi J. Weinberg, trans, from the Hebrew, The Book of Knowledge: From the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides, Ktav, New York, 1983, xi, 144 pp. $15.00/$7.95 (paper). Fred Rosner (trans.), Maimonides’ Commentary on the Mishnah:  Tractate Sanhedrin, Sepher-Hermon Press, New York, 1981, xix, 215 pp., $14.95. Fred…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 35:2. Bernard S. Jackson (ed.), The Jewish Law Annual, Vol. III, Brill, Leiden, 1980, viii, 257 pp. F1.108. Volume IV of the by now very well-established Jewish Law Annual has appeared, making the present review of Volume III much belated. This volume is the first to be devoted (in Part…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 35:2. Simon Greenberg, A Jewish Philosophy and Pattern of Life. Jewish Theological Seminary of America/Ktav, New York, 1981. xix, 550 pp. $25.00. Dr. Greenberg, Vice-Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, seeks to provide a contemporary, Jewish philosophy of life. With a background of very wide reading in Jewish…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 35:2. David Berger (ed.), The Legacy of Jewish Migration 1881 and its Impact. Brooklyn College Press, New York, 1983. vii, 187 pp. To commemorate the centennial of the mass migration of Jews from Russia in the wake of the pogroms, a conference sponsored by Brooklyn College was convened, the participants,…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 36:2. David S. Zubatsky and Irwin M. Berent, Jewish Genealogies: A Sourcebook of Family Histories and Genealogies. Garland Publishing Inc., New York/London, 1984. xxx, 422 pp. $30.00. Alex Haley’s book Roots and the television series based on it, as well as the American Bicentennial, started millions of Americans in search…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 36:2. Ella Belfer (ed.), Manhigut Ruhanit be-Yisrael (Jewish Spiritual Leadership in our Time). Dvir, Jerusalem/Tel-Aviv, 1982. 309 pp. Papers read by representative Jewish thinkers and leaders at the 1979 international symposium, under the aegis of the Institute for the Study of Judaism and Jewish Thought, have been expanded to provide…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 36:2. David Bleich, Judaism and Healing: Halakhic Perspectives, Ktav, New York, 1981 xiii, 199 pp. $15.00. There is a good deal of discussion nowadays, especially in the United States, of what is known as bio-ethics, the consideration of the kind of ethical questions posed by new advances in medical knowledge…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 36:2. Eliezer Berkovits, Not In Heaven: The Nature and Function of Halakha. Ktav, New York, 1983, vii, 131 pp. $12.50. In this short but compelling book a distinguished Orthodox Rabbi and thinker courageously affirms the human role in the development of the Halakha, coming quite close in the process to…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 34:2. James E. Priest, Governmental and Judicial Ethics in the Bible and Rabbinic Literature. Pepperdine University Press, Malibu, California (Ktav, New York), 1980. xvii, 313 pp. $17.50. The author of this study is a Christian Minister and Professor of Bible at Pepperdine University who had studied Mishnaic Hebrew and general…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 31:1. Robert Goldenberg. The Sabbath-Law of Rabbi Meir (Brown Judaic Studies 6). Scholars Press, Missoula. 1978. ix, 297 pp. $9.00 (members $6.00). Dr. Goldenberg, following the form-critical methodology pioneered by his teacher, Jacob Neusner, examines 76 separate texts from Mishnah, Tosefta and the two Talmuds, each in some way linking…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 31:2. Arthur Green, Tormented Master: A Life of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav (Judaic Studies Series). University of Alabama Press, 1979. viii, 395 pp. $27.50. Nahman of Bratslav, the eponymous hero of Arthur Green’s fine study, established a new branch of Hasidism in opposition, to some extent, at least to the…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 31:2. Z. Dimitrovsky (ed.), Mehkarim u-Mekorot (‘Texts and Studies’, Analecta Judaica, Vol. I), Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Ktav. New York, 1977. 510pp. This is the first volume of a proposed series in which monographs by members of the Faculty and graduates of JTS present the fruits of their…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 31:2. Bernard S. Jackson (ed.), Modern Research in Jewish Law (The Jewish Law Annual; Supplement One). Brill, Leiden, 1980. vii, 157 pp. Fl. 56. Professor Izhak Englard published some years ago in the Hebrew journal Mishpatim a critique of modern research methods in Jewish law. This was followed in the…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 30:2. Leon D. Stitskin, Jewish Philosophy: A Study in Personalism, Yeshiva University Press, New York, 1976, 587 pp. $12.50. Dr Stitskin makes a valiant attempt at formulating a comprehensive Jewish philosophy in terms of personalism, i.e. self-knowledge, both as a basic ideal and as a point of departure for all…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 30:1. Bernard S. Jackson, ed., The Jewish Law Annual, Volume I, Brill, Leiden, 1978, x, 274 pp. Fl. 84. This first volume of an exciting new venture in Jewish studies consists of: Part I, ‘Mishneh Torah Studies’, a symposium in which are considered various aspects of Maimonides’ great Code of…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 25:2. Eugene B. Borowitz, The Mask Jews Wear: The Self-Deceptions of American Jewry, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1973, 222 pp., $7.95. Professor Borowitz believes that many American Jews wish deep down to assert Jewish values (defined as an emphasis on law, family, celebrations, accomplishment and compassion) in their…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 25:2. Jeannette Meisel Baron (ed.), Steeled by Adversity: Essays and Addresses on American Jewish Life by Salo Wittmayer Baron, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1971, xi, 729 pp., $9.00. Although concerned almost entirely with American Jewry, these papers, written by the distinguished Jewish historian over a period of…...

Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 25:2. Eliezer Berkovits, Faith after the Holocaust, Ktav, New York, 1973,180 pp., $7.50. Professor Berkovits makes an honest attempt not exactly to solve the problem of evil but to show how a man of faith can learn to live with it and yet remain secure in his faith. There…...