Originally published in Journal of Jewish Studies 35:2 (1984), p. 235. Stephen M. Passamaneck, The Traditional Jewish Law of Sale: Shulhan ‘Arukh Hoshen Mishpat 189-240. Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, 1983. ii, 332 pp. $20.00. Professor Passamaneck has translated the section of Shulhan ‘Arukh, Hoshen Mishpat dealing with the laws of sale. In addition to the original translation…...

Originally published in the Journal of Semitic Studies, 41:1 (1996), pp. 154-5. MICHAEL FlSHBANE, The Kiss of God: Spiritual and Mystical Death in Judaism (The Samuel and Althea Lectures in Jewish Studies). University of Washington Press, Seattle 1994. Pp. xii + 156. Price: $25.00 hardback. ISBN: 0 295 97308 0. This book traces through the history…...

Originally published in the Journal of Semitic Studies, 44:2 (1999), pp. 316-18. Shamma Friedman, Talmud Arukh: BT Bava Mezi’a VI. Critical Edition with Comprehensive Commentary. Volume I: Text; Volume II: Commentary. The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York 1996. Pp. 438 (Vol. 1); 422 (Vol. II). ISBN I 965-456-019-4 (Vol. 1); 0-87334-066-3 (Vol. II) hardback. Alan J…....

Originally published in the Journal of Semitic Studies, 47:2 (2002), pp. 357-8. Aryeh Cohen, Rereading Talmud: Gender, Law and the Poetics of Sugyot (Brown Judaic Series 318). Scholars Press, Atlanta 1998. Pp. iv + 242. Price: $34.95 hardback. ISBN: 0-7885-0499-1. This book started its life as a doctoral dissertation and, although it has evidently been thoroughly revised,…...

Originally published in the Journal of Semitic Studies, 39:2 (1994), pp. 330-2. Tzvee Zahavi (tr.), The Talmud of Babylonia: An American Translation, Vol. XXX.A: Tractate Hullin Chapters 1-2 (Brown Judaic Series 253), Scholars Press, Atlanta 1992. Pp. xiii + 236. Hardback ISBN: 1-555-40-730-7. This volume is the first of a projected three-volume work which will offer a…...

Originally published in European History Quarterly, 28:4 (1998), pp. 578-9. Elisheva Carlebach, The Pursuit of Heresy: Rabbi Moses Hagiz and the Sabbatian Controversies, New York, Columbia University Press, 1990; ISBN 0-231-07191-4; xv + 364 pp.; £16.50 Moses Hagiz, the subject of this superbly well-documented biography, was born in Jerusalem in 1671, became renowned as a…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 25:2 (1984), p. 206. Judaism and Psychoanalysis. Edited by Mortimer Ostrow. Pp. ix, 305, New York, Ktav, 1982, $20.00. In a letter to his Christian friend, the Reverend Oskar Pfister, Sigmund Freud asked, somewhat provocatively and mischieviously: ‘Why was it that none of…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 26:2 (1985), p. 218. Israel Salanter: Text, Structure, Idea. By Hillel Goldberg. Pp. xvii, 358, New York, Ktav, 1981, $17.50. Rabbi Israel Lipkin (1810-1883), known (after the Lithuanian town in which he grew up) as Israel Salanter, was the founder of a Jewish…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 26:3 (1985), pp. 322-3. Joseph Ibn Kaspi’s Gevia ‘Kesef. By Basil Herring. Pp. xii, 301, New York, Ktav, 1982, no price given. Joseph Kaspi was born in Argentiere (argent = kesef, ‘silver’, in Hebrew, hence the name Kaspi) in Southern France in…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 26:4 (1985), p. 479. Understanding Jewish Mysticism: A Source Reader. Edited by David R. Blumenthal. Pp. xv, 208, New York, Ktav Publishing House, 1982, $20.00 (hardback), $8.95 (paperback). In this second volume, Professor Blumenthal presents further texts from Jewish mystical literature in…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 27:1 (1986), p. 72. Toward Old Testament Ethics. By Walter C. Kaiser, Pp. xii, 345, Grand Rapids (Michigan), Academie Books, 1983, £13.95. Dr Kaiser makes it quite clear that his aim is to present Old Testament ethics not only in a favourable…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 29:1 (1988), p. 129. Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment. (The Classics of Western Spirituality.) Translated by Daniel Chanan Matt. Pp. xvi, 320 London, SCM Press, 1984, £11.50. The story has often been told—Professor Matt retells it here with great clarity—of how The…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 29:1 (1988), pp. 143-4. Animal Life in Jewish Tradition: Attitudes and Relationships. By E. J. Schochet. Pp.x, 379, New York, KTAV, 1984, $20.00. This, the first comprehensive work in English (there is little even in Hebrew and in other languages) on an…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 29:1 (1988), p. 143. Evil and the Morality of God. By Harold M. Schulweis. Pp.vii, 168, Cincinnati, Hebrew Union College Press, 1984, $15.00. This is not just another book on the most stubborn problem theism has to face; how a benevolent creator…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 34:2 (1993), pp. 232-3. Seven Jewish Cultures: A Reinterpretation of Jewish History and Thought. By Efraim Shmueli. Pp. xvii, 293, Cambridge University Press, 1990. £39.00. The attempt to discover unifying principles by which to define Judaism, in view of the wide varieties…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 34:2 (1993), pp. 231-2. Interpreting Maimonides: Studies in Methodology, Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy (Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism). By Marvin Fox. Pp. xiii. 356, Chicago University Press, 1990, $21.59. Among Maimonides’ works the two with the greatest influence on Jewish…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 34:2 (1993), p. 231. Maimonidean Studies: Vol. 1. Edited by Arthur Hyman. Pp. 222.42, New York, Yeshiva University Press. 1990, $35.00. The works of Maimonides (1135-1204) have attracted to them through the ages a host of commentaries and super-commentaries but it was…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 34:2 (1993), pp. 225-6. Metaphysical Drift: Love and Judaism. By Jerome Eckstein. Pp. xx, 241, New York, Lang, 1991, $44.95. This is an original, philosophical work by a Professor of both Judaic Studies and Religious Studies at Albany State University, in which…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 35:1 (1994), pp. 71-3. Judaism (The Religious Situation of Our Time). By Hans Küng. Pp. xxii, 753, London, SCM Press, 1992, £35.00. The quote from this massive work on the back jacket sets the tone: ‘A book like this about Judaism is…...

Originally published in The Heythrop Journal, A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 29:2 (1988), pp. 244-5. Jewish Ethics and Halakhah for Our Time. By Basil F. Herring. Pp. xiii, 243, New York, KTAV, 1984, $15.00 (hardback), $9.95 (paperback). A Book of Jewish Ethical Concepts, Biblical and Post-Biblical. By Abraham P. Bloch. Pp. viii, 294, New…...