Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 10 (1992), p. 291. Shraga ha-Meir, by F. Schneebalg, 6 vols. (Bene Berak, 1977-1990). — The author is a London Rabbi belonging to the Hasidic movement. I, 34: in addition to the seven Noahide laws, is a Noahide obliged to honour his parents?; II, 79: if one of the witnesses in…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 10 (1992), p. 291. Shevet ha-Kehati by S.K. Gross (Jerusalem, 1987).— No.263: It might appear from a statement in the Talmud that a man under 40 years of age is not allowed to render decisions in Jewish law, but the author (himself under 40) defends the right to do so; No.332:…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988), p. 293. Aaron Levine, Zikhron Meir al Aveylut, Toronto: Zikhron Meir Publications 1985, Vol. I, pp. xxxiv, 765. This work is described on the English backpaper as : “A New Encyclopedic Compilation of the Laws, Customs, Prayers and Supplications Pertaining to Sickness, Death, and Mourning”. The Volume…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988), p. 285. Rabbi Eliezer Waldinberg, She’elot uteshuvot Tsits Eliezer, Vol. 15, Jerusalem; Itah Publishing House, 1983, Pp. 200. Rabbi Waldinberg’s output is astonishing. This is the 15th volume of his Responsa, many of them dealing with medical questions, on which he is a world authority. In response…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988), p. 285. Rabbi Issar Yehudah Unterman, Shevet Yehudah, First and Second Series, Jerusalem, Mosad Harav Kook, 1983, pp. 503. In these responsa and legal essays, the former Chief Rabbi of Israel applies in a novel way the methods he had learned in his youth in Lithuanian Yeshivot…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988), pp. 284-5. Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, Divre Yoel, Brooklyn, New York: Jerusalem Book Store Publishing House, 1982, 2 Volumes, Pp. 95, Price: £40.00. Rabbi Teitelbaum, who died a year or two ago, was famed as a Hasidic Rebbe but achieved a reputation as an outstanding Halakhist when he…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988), p. 284. Judah Herzl Henkin, She’elot uteshuvot Bene Vanim, Jerusalem, Weiss Mekor Barukh, 1981, Pp. 226. These Responsa and other essays of the District Rabbi of Bet Shean deal with the contemporary situation in the State of Israel, discussing, for instance, the vexed question of how much…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988), p. 284. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Iggerot Moshe, Orah Hayyim, Part 4; Yoreh De’ah, Part 3, Bene Berak: Yeshivat Ohel Moshe, 1981, Pp. 556, Price £10.50. This is the sixth volume of Responsa by the veteran posek for the Orthodox world. Among the interesting Responsa are two which…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988), p. 274. Judaism, No. 133, Vol. 34.1, Winter, 1985, is devoted to a symposium on Patrilineal Descent. The historian, Dr. Shaya J.D. Cohen, traces the development from an original patrilineal descent to the matrilineal as it has existed for well-nigh two thousand years. Cohen himself refuses to…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988), p. 265. Mordecai David Cohen, Edut ushetarot, Jerusalem: Makhon Yerushalayim, 1983, Pp. 420. The question of evidence given in writing, as opposed to verbal testimony in the Court, is one of the most complicated in Jewish legal theory. The central problem is the apparent contradiction between the…...

Originally published in the Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988), p. 290. Yair Hayyim Bacharach, Mekor Hayyim, ed. Rabbi Eliyahu Dov Pines, Jerusalem: Makhon Yerushalayim, Vol. I, 1982, Pp. i, 356, Price £12.50; Vol. II, 1984, Pp. ii, 541, Price, £14.50. These beautifully produced volumes contain the text of Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim with the Baer Hetev…...

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…...