Books of Interest: Rambam

Moshe Halbertal’s Hebrew biography of the Rambam (Merkaz Zalman Shazar) is characteristically brilliant.  Although the first and longest chapter, nearly 70 pages, chronicles the Rambam’s life and his role as a communal leader, the book is primarily an intellectual biography, based on Rambam’s major works.  Each chapter is sharp and probing, providing thoughtful insights into the Rambam’s [...]

Books of Interest: Rav Soloveitchik Kinot and Other Books About Prayer

The hottest new publication in the Orthodox book world (I admit we’re not exactly talking about a NYTimes best seller, but nonetheless…) is clearly the Koren Mesorat Ha-Rav Kinot published by Koren and OU Press and edited by Rabbi Simon Posner.  It features a running commentary of the kinot based on the teachings of Rav [...]

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 [...]

From Our Archives: Pesach

The Ten Plagues by Norman Fredman (20:4, Winter 1982)
Rav Safra and the Second Festival Day: Lessons About the Evolution of the Jewish Calendar by J. Jean Ajdler (38:4, Winter 2004)
The Odd and Instructive Habits of Non-Observant Jews: A Look at Berit Milah and Pesah by Emanuel Feldman (41:2, Summer 2008)
Review Essay: Digesting the Exodus Narrative [...]

Books of Interest: Pesach Related Works

Rabbi Norman Lamm, The Royal Table:  A Passover Haggadah, ed. Joel B. Wolowelsky, OU Press, 2010.
The Commentators’ Bible:  The JPS Miqra’ot Gedolot (Exodus and Leviticus), ed. Michael Carasik, Jewish Publication Society, 2009.
Kenneth Chelst, Exodus and Emancipation:  Biblical and African-American Slavery, Urim Publications, 2009. 
Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, אחריך נרוצה, Yediot Aharonot Press [Hebrew].

OU Press has released an enjoyable [...]

Books of Interest: Recent Works in Halakha

Rabbi Elyashiv Knohl, The Marriage Covenant:  A Guide to Jewish Marriage and A Guide to Marital Relations From a Torah Perpsective, Ein Tzurim:  Yeshivat Kibbutz Ha-Dati, 2008.  297 pages + 57 pages pamphlet.  [Translation of 2002 Hebrew edition.]
Rabbi Nachum Eliezer Rabinovitch, Shu”t Siach Nachum, Maaleh Adumim:  Machon Ma’aliyot, 2008.  405 pages + index.  [Hebrew]
Jeffrey I. [...]

Books of Interest: New Writings on the Torah

Joshua A. Berman, Created Equal:  How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought, Oxford University Press, 2008. 222 pages + bibliography & indeces.
Yitzchak B. Gottlieb, Order in the Bible (Yesh Seder La-Mikra): The Arrangement of the Torah in Rabbinic and Medieval Jewish Commentary,  Bar Ilan University Press & Magnes Press, 2009.  423 pages + biblioraphy and [...]

Books of Interest – Recent Works of Rabbi Mordechai Breuer

Mordechai Breuer, Pirqe Miqraot, Tvunot Press – Herzog College, Alon Shvut, 2009.  362 pages.  [Hebrew]
The ‘Aspects Theory’ of Rav Mordechai Breuer:  Articles and Responses ed. Yosef Ofer, Tvunot Press – Herzog College, Alon Shvut, 2005.  369 pages. [Hebrew]
Megadim 50 (Tamuz 5769), 268 pages. [Hebrew]
In 1999, Tradition (33:3) published an essay by Rabbi Meir Eckstein about the [...]