Books of Interest: Festchrifts for Rabbi Haskel Lookstein and Rabbi Bernard Lander

Rav Chesed:  Essays in Honor of Rabbi Dr. Haskel Lookstein, ed. Rafael Medoff, Ktav Publishing, 2009 (2 volumes).

Turim:  Studies in Jewish History and Literature Presented to Dr. Bernard Lander, ed. Michael A. Shmidman, Touro College Press / Ktav, 2008 (2 volumes).

Two recent two-volume festchrifts were recently released in honor of two important Jewish communal leaders, Rabbi Dr. Haskel Lookstein and Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander z”l (the latter unfortunately passed away a couple of months ago).

The volumes have a very different tenor to them.  Turim, in honor of Dr. Lander, is a collection of scholarly articles on a range of topics with a definitively academic tone to them (appropriate for a university president, even as his life accomplishments extended beyond the university).  Rav Chesed, on the other hand, includes a variety of different types of articles, reflecting the different realms of activism and activities in which Rabbi Lookstein has engaged in over 50 years of rabbinic service.

Highlight Articles:

Turim:

Judith Bleich, “The Circumcision Controversy in Classical Reform in Historical Context”

Ephraim Kanarfogel, “Returning to the Jewish Community in Medieval Ashkenaz:  History and Halakhah”

David Shatz, “A Framework for Reading Ish ha-Halakhah”

Moshe Miller, “R. Jacob Emden’s Attitude Toward Christianity”

Rav Chesed

Aharon Lichtenstein, “Talmud and Ma’aseh in Pirkei Avot”

Adam Mintz, “Is Coca-Cola Kosher? Rabbi Tobias Geffen and the History of American Orthodoxy”

Jacob J. Schacter, “Tikkun Olam: Defining the Jewish Obligation”

Avivah Zornberg, “Law and Narrative in the Book of Ruth”

Mark Dratch, “I Do?  Consent and Coercion in Sexual Relations”

and a 150-page biography of Rabbi Lookstein written by the book’s editor, Rafael Medoff

- Shlomo Brody