tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68675256013305684872024-03-17T20:02:44.921-07:00The Rachack ReviewBook Reviews for Jewish books related to history, halacha, hashkafah, homiletics, and Hebrew; as well as philosophy, philology, philanthropy, and psychologyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-51514268261379841742024-01-18T12:22:00.000-08:002024-01-18T12:22:43.212-08:00Zimzum: God and the Origin of the World<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/48o8UOS"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="296" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcyDcqY7lk_CI3A_4Yh4rwhAPh0jlnDEPIys5dHdBT8DThnBOS4rmT7cTnOO-wM4rjiNesYQSiPj0IctHPxeMU-LQyx2i9zGYsMshwBu_Io4pm9vXHFkHssPcyDFYHFa65EzLFBXgHhF3JXREEf29s_FKf37un0zzWEMcrRi83y8JjVM5lara9TDYCYq0/s320/419-vXnIDuL._SY445_SX342_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/48o8UOS">Zimzum: God and the Origin of
the World</a></i> (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023), by Christoph Schulte <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This scholarly work is an intellectual
history of the reception of the concept of <i>tzimtzum</i> in various circles. The
concept of <i>Tzimtzum </i>refers to the Kabbalistic notion of Divine “contraction”
or “withdrawal.” In Lurianic Kabbalah, it is fundamental for understanding how
the infinite Divine essence interacts with the finite world. According to this
concept, before creation, God — often referred to in Kabbalistic literature as
the <i>Ein Sof</i> (“infinite”) — filled all of existence, such that in order
for creation of the finite world to occur, God needed to make space for
creation by “withdrawing” or “contracting” His infinite presence. This
withdrawal created a void or space, which resulted in a “place” for the finite
world to come into existence outside of God Himself. Various emanations
typified by the <i>partzufim</i> and the <i>sefirot</i> percolate from this
highly spiritual “place” down to the material world which we occupy. The first
and most supernal of these emanations is known in Kabbalah as Adam Kadmon, and
it is from that realm that everything in creation emanates.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The first chapter discusses the
emergence of the concept of <i>tzimtzum</i> in the teachings of Rabbi Yitzchak
Luria (1534–1572), known as Arizal. That chapter shows how even in the first
generation after the Arizal, the correct interpretation of Lurianic Kabbalah
became subject to dispute, as the Arizal’s prime disciples Rabbi Chaim Vital (1543–1620)
and Rabbi Yisrael Sarug (d. 1610) disagreed over whether their master’s
teaching was meant to be taken literally, or was merely a metaphoric way of
relating a concept that actually lies beyond human comprehension. This
difference of opinion continued into later generations and the debate engaged such
important figures as Rabbi Menachem Azariah da Fano (1548-1620) Rabbi Avraham
Cohen de Herrera (1570-1635), Rabbi Yishaya Horowitz (1558-1630), Rabbi Yosef
Shlomo Delmedigo of Candia (1591-1655), Rabbi Yosef Ergas (1685-1730), and Rabbi
Immanual Chai Ricci (1688-1743).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The way Rabbi Moshe Chaim
Luzzatto (1707–1746) — known as the Ramchal — explains the idea of <i>tzimtzum</i>
follows the traditional Kabbalistic view of identifying the Ein Sof with God
Himself. Accordingly, he explains that because at the level of Ein Sof, God is
infinite and unlimited, He therefore has no particular “goal” or “purpose,”
because such objectives would, by definition, necessarily limit Him. Yet,
because in His eternal benevolence, He wanted to create the world, He sought to
"reign in" His infiniteness through <i>tzimtzum</i>, which allowed
Him to create the world and achieve His goal of being ever-beneficent to
something outside of Himself. This means that although He himself is limitless,
He consciously chose to put constraints on Himself in order to create the
finite world as we know it. When discussing Luzzatto, the author does not
explore the idea found elsewhere in Ramchal’s writings that God’s <i>tzimtzum</i>
was integral for man’s freewill.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">An entire chapter of this book is
devoted to how the concept of <i>tzitzum</i> was received in early Hassidic
thought. In that chapter, the author focuses on how one of the foremost
students of the Baal Shem Tov (1698–1760), Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch
(1704-1772) — known as the Maggid of Mezritch — took the concept of <i>tzimtzum</i>
as instructive in how man can accomplish <i>imitatio dei</i> by likewise
“retreating” from worldly pleasures and focusing as much as humanly possible on
immaterial, spiritual matters. Although this ascetic approach did not become a
cornerstone for all Hassidic sects, it certainly influenced many later Hassidic
Tzaddikim. Other Hassidic thinkers that this book treats are Rabbi Shneur
Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812) and Rabbi Nachman of Bratslov (1772-1810), who also
used the concept of <i>tzimtzum</i> in their respective Hassidic theosophies. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In the century after the Arizal’s
passing, a Christian scholar named Knorr von Rosenroth (1636-1689) translated
some important texts of Kabbalah into Latin, and his popular work brought the
ideas of <i>tzimtzum</i> to a wider audience. From there, knowledge of <i>tzimtzum</i>
spread to many Christian Hebraists and so-called Cabalists. As the author
documents, there were varied reactions to these ideas in Christian circles.
Some scholars took the ideas of Kabbalah, and particularly of <i>tzimtzum</i>,
as universal ideas taught by Judaism and used that to look upon Judaism and the
Jewish people more favorable as purveyors of these universal truths. Others
offered Christological reinterpretations of the doctrine of <i>tzimtzum</i>, conflating
Adam Kadmon (which does not actually refer to a person) as referring to none
other than Christ himself. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Some Christian interpreters associated
the Kabbalistic concept of <i>tzimtzum</i> with the heresy of pantheism, that
is, the belief that God is equal to nature. In doing so, they painted all Jews
in a bad light as though Kabbalists were followers of Spinoza, using that as
fodder for the furtherance of anti-Semitism. One figure particularly associated
with this approach is Johann Georg Wachter (1673–1757), who translated some
Kabbalistic texts into German. It is actually his visual depiction of <i>tzimtzum</i>
that appears on this book’s cover. Another figure who wrote something similar
was the German philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743–1819), who accused
his fellow philosopher Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) of holding views in
line with Kabbalah and Spinozism, seeing the two as interchangeable. Of course,
the traditional Jewish approach to Kabbalistic cosmology sees God as
encompassing the entirety of creation but also surpassing it, rather than
equaling it (see responsa <i>Chacham Tzvi </i>§18).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Interestingly, the author shows
how the famous German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
(1775-1854) incorporated elements of the idea of <i>tzimtzum</i> into his
Trinitarian way of explaining the contraction of the Divine (although the
author admits that Schelling never actually used the word <i>tzimtzum </i>and
seems to not have had any direct engagement with Kabbalah texts written in
Hebrew).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Christians were not the only ones
to reappropriate the Lurianic concept of <i>tzimtzum</i> for their own
ideological purposes. In the writings of Sabbatian theologists like Abraham
Miguel Cardozo (1627-1706) and Nechemia Chiyya Chayun (1650-1730), the concept
of <i>tzimtzum </i>is presented in a different way. In contrast to the standard
reading of Kabbalah that equates the Ein Sof with God, these Sabbatians used
the concept of <i>tzimtzum</i> to support their contention that the Ein Sof is
somehow something from which the God of Israel is born in a quasi-mythological
way through <i>tzimtzum</i>, but is not <i>equal</i> to Him. This is important
for Sabbatian antinomianism, as these Sabbatians recognize that the God of
Israel gave the Torah which contains certain commandments and strictures, but
they argue that the will of the ultimate Ein Sof might not always line up with
that of the God of Israel, which according to their theology justifies their
abrogating the Torah’s laws.<span dir="RTL" face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="HE" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Other chapters in the book
explore how <i>tzimtzum</i> is depicted in secular art and literature in more
recent times. If I properly understood the author’s intent, he sees an example
of a sort of secular deistic reading of <i>tzimtzum</i> in private letters
written by the late scholar of Kabbalah Dr. Gershom Scholem (1897–1982). It
seems that Scholem understood God’s apparent absence from This World as a
reflection of His purposeful minimizing His presence through <i>tzimtzum</i>
and retreating to allow nature to run its course. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Other recent appearances of <i>tzimtzum</i>
that the author does not discuss include Hareidi pop culture, like Naftali
Kempeh’s recent song <i>Ohr Ein Sof</i>, whose lyrics are drawn from Rabbi
Chaim Vital’s account of <i>tzimtzum</i>. Similarly, Avinoam Fraenkel’s 2015
work <i>Nefesh HaTzimtzum </i>is a digest on Rabbi Chaim Volozhiner’s <i>Nefesh
HaChaim</i> and how it differs from Hassidic conceptions of <i>tzimtzum</i>.
The author acknowledges Fraenkel’s work in his introduction, but does not
actually engage with it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In conclusion, <i>Zimzum: God and
the Origin of the World</i> offers an insightful exploration into the intricate
realm of <i>tzimtzum</i>, providing invaluable snippets of historical context
that enrich the understanding of its diverse integrations across various
contexts. Because this book is a translation from the author's earlier German
study, it occasionally suffers from awkward verbiage and slightly inaccurate
translations. However, these pitfalls should not detract from the reader's
overall experience, as the depth of knowledge and the scholarly analysis
presented within its pages offer a commendable resource for those delving into
the nuanced complexities of <i>tzimtzum</i> and how it has been presented over
the ages.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-28539222492062662472024-01-06T13:44:00.000-08:002024-01-06T13:44:32.720-08:00The Choice to Believe & Reason to Believe<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqQDx0iYa0Z9kTjVCguiLrhhcLcfaQBaiTjAfQEzYb8Xync8mW8-zPzzz_l_Re5wJkboVuqjgVvPUHHVWp_iebpnneZbU9JwjF_fuYNchF5VG8g0QmuHe6WJ-C7NaCO4eGiZQv8FVTJiUv_dQ6X6pcH7yysD6UOjn4MxBWoPj5A8Cwr_OfKPBC3KfJdg/s478/feldman.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqQDx0iYa0Z9kTjVCguiLrhhcLcfaQBaiTjAfQEzYb8Xync8mW8-zPzzz_l_Re5wJkboVuqjgVvPUHHVWp_iebpnneZbU9JwjF_fuYNchF5VG8g0QmuHe6WJ-C7NaCO4eGiZQv8FVTJiUv_dQ6X6pcH7yysD6UOjn4MxBWoPj5A8Cwr_OfKPBC3KfJdg/s320/feldman.png" width="208" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_vD7KMgkDJgJjo0OEg5aDv67KSFAuRf-FyUgtTjNYOFJ3kMHnN8KXCV4IoIH7niMVihaVCywZH3VelFNUgKtR5-rCxj74Tq0JEeXHSho4eJy2LLQhjydnWM4iVcyqHDEu67crfgBSIME0lO7xkdaH-ASJxNWNPX2EPSZ5nUJSlUEhBuxBNMvEEoXbDn4/s385/gottlieb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="262" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_vD7KMgkDJgJjo0OEg5aDv67KSFAuRf-FyUgtTjNYOFJ3kMHnN8KXCV4IoIH7niMVihaVCywZH3VelFNUgKtR5-rCxj74Tq0JEeXHSho4eJy2LLQhjydnWM4iVcyqHDEu67crfgBSIME0lO7xkdaH-ASJxNWNPX2EPSZ5nUJSlUEhBuxBNMvEEoXbDn4/s320/gottlieb.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><span style="text-align: justify;"><p><a href="https://amzn.to/3PIK7hA" style="text-align: left;"><i>The Choice to Believe: </i><i>Based on the shiurim of Rav Moshe Shapiro, z"l</i></a><i style="text-align: left;"> </i><span style="text-align: left;">(Mosaica Press, 2023), by Rabbi Aryeh Feldman</span></p><p><i><a href="https://amzn.to/46j6obi">Reason to Believe</a> </i>(Mosaica
Press, 2017), by Rabbi Dr. Dovid Gottlieb</p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (Rachack Review)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Although both of these books have
similar titles and are ultimately aimed at bringing the reader to believe in
the same thing — namely, the tenets of Judaism — these two books take quite
different approaches towards that end. Both authors agree that there is no such
a thing as an ironclad logical proof that can demonstrate the existence of God
in the way of a mathematical theorem. But how each author advocates for belief
in God despite this admitted limitation widely differs.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Rabbi Dr. Gottlieb, a philosopher
of science and former professor, uses philosophical/logical arguments to make
his case that there is ample reason for a person to believe in Judaism. He is
always careful not to claim that he is “proving” Judaism, but rather shows the
reader that deciding to believe in Judaism is not at all an illogical or
irrational choice. In doing so, Gottlieb uses Socratic maneuvering to force the
reader to admit that his arguments are sound and logical.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In the beginning of the book,
Gottlieb focuses a lot on epistemology with discussions about how people “know”
things and what threshold of evidence is typically acceptable in what sorts of
circumstances.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">To summarize Gottlieb’s main two
points: one aspect of the believability of Judaism lies in its predictive effectiveness,
as the Torah already supplied a plausible reason for Jewish Survival and what factors
could lead to upending the Jewish presence in the Holy Land before the events
that eventually caused the exile and dispersal to happen actually occurred. After
surveying all the possible natural reasons for Jewish Survival and rejecting
them, Gottlieb concludes that this phenomenon can be nothing short of a Divine
miracle.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The second aspect is what
Gottlieb calls the Kuzari Principle, which essentially states that a National
Experiential Tradition must be true and since there is a tradition that when
the Jews accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai, they underwent such an experience,
it is perforce true. Rabbi Gottlieb elaborates on exactly how to define the
Kuzari Principle and under what circumstances it is or is not relevant. As
opposed to other religions which were based on the testimony of only a few
individuals claiming to have been privy to Divine revelations.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In general, Rabbi Dr. Gottlieb
provides very specific examples to sharpen his points. His argumentation is very
well thought-out and the core of his argument has clearly been refined and
reworked over the years to be very specific. Of course, the author is a
well-known public speaker and long-time educator Yeshivas Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem, so he
has had much chance to debate interlocutors on these questions, and those
critiques (which he often cites verbatim) has given him the opportunities to
hone his craft. In his footnotes, Gottlieb often refers the reader to
supplementary “appendices” to his book that are available on his website and go
into more detail about the various claims and arguments that he makes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, Rabbi Feldman
takes a totally different approach. His book presents the teachings of his
esteemed father-in-law Rabbi Moshe Shapiro (1935–2017), under whom he studied
for over forty years. His book presupposes that the reader already believes in
Judaism and its basic dogmas and practices. What Rabbi Feldman does is presents
the reader with a metaphysical framework by which the observant Jew can
conceptualize his Jewish theosophy and practices. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Rabbi Feldman devotes much
discussion to the duality of God’s revelation in the physical world (through
Creation) and in the spiritual world (through the Torah). He sees parallels
between these two worlds in various aspects, like numerology (the physical
world was created through ten utterances, just like the spiritual world of the
Torah can be summed up in Ten Commandments) and the like. In doing so, Rabbi
Feldman explains how <i>Emunah </i>(“belief”) in God is the quintessential <i>mitzvah</i>
that bridges these two worlds and reveals God’s presence in the physical world.
Following this, he teaches that in the future, purely spiritual concepts (like
the holiness of the Sabbath vis-à-vis other days of the week) will be
manifestly visible in the physical world. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One of the most common terms that
Rabbi Feldman uses is “greater existence” which points to the notion that man is
not at the center of everything. Rather, it is incumbent upon man to recognize
that his very existence hinges on God and God’s will. This entails making the
proper decision to view life and existence in that way. A person must see himself
as <i>obligated</i> to believe in God and follow His commandments due to him
being totally dependent on God for everything. With such an attitude in place,
a person can more easily take his <i>Emunah </i>to the nth degree and be
willing to even sacrifice his life for the sake of God — after all, it is God
who gives him life in the first place.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This <i>weltanschauung </i>contrasts
with the approach always taken by idolators, heretics, and evildoers who put man at the center of everything and deny that they are
dependent on anything else but themselves. The demand for empirical or logical
proof of God’s existence is itself a symptom of the idolatrous attitude that
sees man as the ultimate arbiter of reality. As Rabbi Feldman shows, it takes a
person with a special knack to connect to things outside of himself to be able
to buck this trend. He calls this skill <i>daas, </i>usually translated as
“knowledge,” but sometimes meant in the sense of “connection.” Although, Rabbi
Feldman also warns about a false sense of <i>daas </i>whereby one is selfishly
motivated to consume news and other media information under the guise of
connecting to a greater existence, while actually doing so merely for one’s own
benefit.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">A major theme discussed
throughout Rabbi Feldman’s book is what made Abraham so special and how we can
learn from the level of <i>Emunah</i> that Abraham achieved. Abraham was the
perfect foil to the generation of the Tower of Babel that viewed all of
creation as something meant to serve them. Instead, Abraham introduced the
paradigm shift that taught that God is at the center of creation and creation’s
role is to serve Him — not vice versa. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As Rabbi Feldman clarifies, whatever
a person <i>chooses </i>to believe will always be reinforced by what he sees in the
world, so if a person chooses to believe in God as his starting point, he will
see proofs to God’s existence time and time again. And conversely, if a person
<i>chooses </i>to disbelieve in God as his starting point, he will see apparent proofs
to support that view because he has already defined the world as something
devoid of God.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Besides for the general approach
and content, these two books differ from each other in terms of tone, as well.
Gottlieb’s book maintains the tone of a teacher who is speaking directly to his
student/reader and trying to convince them of his arguments. To do so, he often
uses slightly less formal language and tries to summarize information and bring
it down to the reader’s level. In contrast, Rabbi Feldman always maintains a
very formal tone of writing that resembles the style of a preacher who is very careful
with his words in trying to get his message out. Rabbi Feldman is also somewhat
more repetitive in trying to hammer in certain key ideas, rather than trying to
build an overarching argument like Rabbi Dr. Gottlieb. On the other hand, while
Gottlieb spends a lot of time exploring alternate explanations and debunking
possible refutations to his arguments, Rabbi Feldman simply asserts things to
be as they are, without even seriously entertaining the rival theories. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">What both books have in common is
that they are masterfully decorated with the stunning cover designs and
pleasant typesetting that has become Mosaica Press’ signature in the Jewish
Book World.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-51263895431423934472023-12-09T12:29:00.000-08:002023-12-09T12:29:21.161-08:003 Book Reviews<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3R1UcFS"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUjG6_81piOzwUoEzMuzOLuZVCSQbp3Z3aVChzq9B_EjKtk-tX8D9WDghojI9B7j93wZQIWc1_XkZcvGrFkJ6m-iE_EVqzTTUeWZhj8ovugNYCbKsQiruaDys4lcRguP5vMxNKwk66RfmwOeDNqO24d77GDODuGxbOOdFgaey2SyRKxFmg31i4s3b-p5Y/s320/71RETNMpsLL._SL1350_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3R1UcFS">Temptation Transformed: The Story of How the Forbidden
Fruit Became an Apple</a></i> (The University of Chicago Press, 2022), by Azzan
Yadin-Israel<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Professor Azzan Yadin-Israel's
latest work is a fascinating exploration that delves into the evolution of a
concept taken for granted in popular discourse. The Biblical account of Adam
and Eve consuming the Forbidden Fruit leaves the specific identity of this
fruit shrouded in the generic term <i>pri</i>, which simply means "fruit"
in Hebrew. However, over time, this “fruit” has been widely perceived as an
apple in pop culture. In this work, Yadin-Israel meticulously unravels the
roots of this prevalent notion through an in-depth scholarly investigation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Conventional wisdom says that the
apple came to be understood as the Forbidden Fruit because the Latin word <i>malum</i>
means “evil,” and its homonym <i>malum</i> (cognate with the English word <i>melon</i>)
means “apple.” The popular theory goes that since Adam and Eve sinning by eating
this fruit wrought evil upon the world, the very fruit in question must have
been an apple which is linguistically associated with “evil,” i.e. the apple — because
of the aforementioned homonym.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">However, Yadin-Israel decisively debunks
this theory by showing that it remains unsubstantial when one studies early
Latin commentators to the Bible. Through a masterful grasp of textual,
literary, visual, and artistic references to the Fall of Man, the author eruditely
navigates through proofs and counter-proofs, while conclusively discrediting
the unsubstantiated Latin-based understanding.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The one attractive point of the <i>malum</i>
theory is that the tradition associating the fruit with the apple is unknown in
Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek sources — thus lending credit to the notion that it
must have sprung up from something related to Latin. However, the author
rejects this point by noting that early Latin authors rarely referred to the Forbidden
Fruit by the Latin term <i>malum</i>, instead using more generic words like <i>fructus</i>
(“fruit”).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">After rejecting this folk
explanation, the author harnesses a wide array of sources in order to pinpoint
exactly when and where the notion that Forbidden Fruit was an apple came into
existence. At that point, he shifts the focus to iconographic and artistic
representations of the Fall of Man, tracing the emergence of the apple in such depictions
to 12<sup>th</sup>-century France. Prior to this period, visual portrayals of
the Forbidden Fruit simply did not feature apples.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Yadin-Israel intriguingly
connects the rise of the apple theory in 12<sup>th</sup>-century France to the
evolving semantic meaning of the French word <i>pomme</i>, transitioning from a
generic term for "fruit" to specifically denoting an
"apple." Similar semantic shifts later occurred in Germanic languages
like German and English, whereby <i>apple/apfel</i> transitioned from a generic
word for “fruit” to a word that specifically means “apple.” The author makes
the strong case that it was these internal semantic shifts within various European
languages that actually lead to the widespread misconception regarding the Forbidden
Fruit's identity. In other words, once the word for “fruit” came to
specifically mean “apple,” people began to think that “forbidden fruit”
actually just meant “forbidden apple.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Before the apple theory gained traction
and wide acceptance, there were earlier traditions that identify the fruit as
something else. For example, various Jewish traditions (found in rabbinic
sources, as well as in apocryphal literature) identify the Forbidden Fruit as
either a grape, fig, wheat, or citron. These traditions were also adopted by
early Christian sources, who further conjectured that the fruit in question might
have been a pomegranate (a word incidentally cognate with the French <i>pomme</i>
mentioned above). Yadin-Israel meticulously documents these and other alternative
theories as to the identity of the fruit in question, including less popular
suggestions like the date and the banana.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book is a testament to the
value of rigorous scholarship, highlighting that nothing should be taken for
granted, but rather all assumptions could and should be called into question.
It also illustrates the idea that scholarship should not be confined to a
single field, but rather flourishes in multi-disciplinary milieu. Yet, this
book is written in easy English rather than dense academic jargon. It is also relatively
short — I read it in one sitting. Indeed, this book presents a fascinating scholarly
narrative that reads like a mystery novel, with the author acting like a detective
uncovering the origins of the popular wisdom. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book also includes beautiful
pictures from various libraries that make up some of the iconographic evidence from
which the author draws. Accompanying these stunning visuals are extensive
endnotes and a bibliography that aid the reader in delving further into the
topic. Moreover, the book goes beyond
its pages, offering a companion website, <a href="https://treeofknowledgeart.com/">https://treeofknowledgeart.com/</a> where
the author has collated hundreds of additional iconographic depictions of the Tree
of Knowledge, enriching the reader's exploration further.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In essence, <i>Temptation
Transformed</i> invites readers on a journey through the annals of history,
challenging preconceived notions, and revealing the intricate story behind the
genesis of a pervasive cultural belief.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3QSUWNo"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="279" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZCndc9Sy8TZYdRuL8IGHzKIDwE5gCvJ8s17s185fRB0wl8zoxuPiB5HEkeF4OoYhqcfWS1XMr2EYfuci-xU_gvH7NiHOJk9vmYM5tQ-h8KVLt2kPbG7trDuZTbKi8mqN09tUjIP7sQdV7bGJpSTyBd7XhYQmY0hKDLBjREzql7nRJHLhkyb2EwLP-smU/s320/51pT4mjpx7L._SY445_SX342_.jpg" width="201" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3QSUWNo">The Musaf Prayer: Background
and Commentary</a> </i>(Mosaica Press, 2023), by Rabbi Elchanan Adler</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<span style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein (</span><a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com" style="text-align: justify;">Rachack Review</a><span style="text-align: justify;">)</span><br />
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Rabbi Elchanan Adler, a
distinguished Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan
Theological Seminary for over a quarter-century, brings his erudition to life
in this insightful exploration of the Musaf prayer recited on Shabbat. The
author has already written many books in English and Hebrew, and holds degrees
in Psychology and Education. But in his newest work, Rabbi Adler offers a fascinating
adaptation of his earlier Hebrew work dedicated to this very topic.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Tapping into the rich background
of the Musaf prayer's history, the book touches on the history of the text of
the regular Shabbos Musaf prayer, often comparing variant traditions
side-by-side. However, the book’s <i>tour de force</i> lies in its
comprehensive word-by-word explication of the standard version of the weekly Musaf
liturgy. Notably, the author also dedicates chapters to the special Musaf
prayer recited during the rare occurrence of Rosh Chodesh falling on Shabbat.
Here too, Rabbi Adler shows the reader different versions of the prescribed blessings,
explicates each word of the prayer, and presents a digest of pertinent Halachic
insights/rulings.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Rabbi Adler’s exhaustive research
draws from a wide array of traditional sources, spanning from Medieval sages who
commented on the <i>Siddur </i>(such as Machzor Vitri, Ri Bar Yakar, Siddur
Rabbi Shlomo of Worms, and Abudarham) all the way down to contemporary rabbinic
figures (like Rabbi Eytan Kobre, Rabbi Hershel Schachter, and Rabbi Avigdor
Nebenzahl).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Throughout the book, recurring
themes emerge, showcasing Rabbi Adler's keen observations within the Musaf
prayer and his ability to connect related motifs found in different sources.
Central among these is the fervent yearning expressed for the Ultimate Redemption
and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. This longing is deeply
intertwined with the aspiration to once again offer the Musaf sacrifices on
Shabbat and holidays, a vision resonating throughout Jewish history and
tradition.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In short, Rabbi Adler’s work
masterfully navigates the intricate layers of the Musaf prayer, offering both a
historical panorama and a nuanced commentary. His skillful elucidation not only
enriches the reader's understanding, but also invites deeper contemplation on
the profound spiritual and theological significance embedded within the prayer's
text. This book thus deserves a place on the Jewish bookshelf as an invaluable
resource that illuminates the depths of this sacred liturgical text, while also
highlighting the timeless aspirations and hopes embedded within it.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/47Wuoln"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1050" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsiEhvvc9ViaTgrAm5m-pZO-51mWeL1sMiKhiuzHI1MWno4rU1E8tw9XHUrSGepcI3gl3XNUs3LbNg9av1FlA-1Si2C4bnLKD9wb8bVjL85Ch-wLiPWB4V_OQN39swbiB-DlbuB-9owGla6w3R_qeLxFg8BygUceWreUfD3VQgwshaHCpGkFumQZ28rs/s320/A1J7o6Wp9ZL._SL1500_.jpg" width="224" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/47Wuoln">The Jewish Bible: A Material
History</a></i> (University of Washington Press, 2017), by David Stern</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<span style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein (</span><a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com" style="text-align: justify;">Rachack Review</a><span style="text-align: justify;">)</span><br />
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book serves as a scholarly
exploration that diverges from “traditional” textual analyses by delving into
the physical aspects and cultural significance of the Jewish Bible as a
physical artifact. In doing so, the author departs from the exhaustive textual
scrutiny that has dominated scholarly discourse on the Bible, and instead chooses
to explore the material properties and cultural contexts of these revered
objects.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The book's first chapter
meticulously dissects the earliest known specimens of <i>Sifrei Torah</i> (“Torah
Scrolls”), focusing on the materials on which scrolls were written (papyrus vs.
parchment), the scripts in which the scrolls were written (<i>ktav ashuri </i>vs.
<i>ktav ivri</i>), the scrolls’ physical dimensions, and the scribal layout of
ancient scrolls that are still extant. While only touching on the stabilization
and canonization of the Masoretic Text, the author’s primary focus remains on
the Torah Scrolls' physical attributes. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In this chapter, Stern also adeptly
traces the evolution of Hebrew Bibles (including those from the Dead Sea
Scrolls) and sheds light on the number of "books" contained in each physical
scroll. Moreover, he brings to the fore various scribal practices, drawing
comparisons between those who penned the Dead Sea Scrolls and those who adhere to
traditional rabbinic specifications. In doing so, he also highlights how these
scribes may have mirrored or deviated from the norms of the larger scribal
culture of the Mediterranean world. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Within this exploration, the opening
chapter also ventures into the "para-material" aspects of the Torah Scroll.
It particularly details their placement within synagogues, the rituals
surrounding their removal and return to the Ark, and the ornamental elements that
typically adorn the Sefer Torah’s case and mantle, as well as its assorted accompanying
paraphernalia (like silver crowns, bells, and pointers).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The second chapter moves from
scrolls to codices, discussing such famous Biblical Codices as the Aleppo
Codex, the Leningrad Codex, Hilleli Codex, and various fragmentary pieces from
the Cairo Genizah (like Codex Babylonicus). These codices differ from regular Torah
Scrolls by including vowelization marks, cantillation marks, and Masoretic
glosses (while in Torah Scrolls, only the consonants of the text are written).
Stern elucidates the collaborative nature of creating these manuscripts
involving multiple people like the <i>sofer</i> (“scribe”), who writes the consonantal
text of the Torah; the <i>nakdan</i> (“punctuator”), who adds the vowelization
and cantillation marks; and the <i>masran</i>
(“Masorete scholar”), who adds the Masoretic notes and functioned much like a
copyeditor. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In doing so, the author unravels the
intricacies of the aforementioned Masoretic notes and who exactly was involved
in the Masoretic movement. This chapter also discusses in what ways the texts
of Biblical codices mirrored the way the text was laid out in Biblical scrolls
and how the Masoretic notes were incorporated in that layout. In addition, this
chapter also talks about decorative “carpet pages” (so called because their
design resembles the design typically woven into carpets) found in many codices,
and speculates about their various purposes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The final chapters of this book
cover the evolution of printed Jewish Bibles, tracing their history from the
mid-1400s to the present day. In those discussions, Stern unveils the shift
from Masoretic glosses, once so central to Biblical codices, to their near
extinction in printed versions. An interesting thing about printed Jewish
bibles is that they were originally made to look like handwritten-codices and
did not initially try to look as more innovative or up-to-date than the older
handwritten technology. Stern contrasts this with the situation in Yemen —
where printing only arrived much later than in Europe — where the opposite
phenomenon was found, as Jewish Yemenite scribes would often write manuscripts
that were intended to look like printed editions.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The book is adorned with many beautiful
photographs of the manuscripts (be they scrolls or codices) discussed, as well
as of examples of the sorts of items and features discussed in the book. These
photographs generally come from items housed in various university or private
libraries from around the world.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Because this work is written from
an academic perspective, it often diverges from religious (Orthodox) Jewish
sensibilities, by using critical inquiry into religious assertions and their
origins, occasionally clashing with traditional beliefs. For example, the
author asks questions like why the rabbis would claim that certain rules about
writing a <i>Sefer Torah</i> would be a <i>halachah l’Moshe m’Sinai </i>(“rule
[transmitted] to Moses from Sinai”), instead of taking such rabbinic assertions
at face value as reflecting a genuine oral tradition. The book’s body text
contains references to primary sources (like the Bible and relevant rabbinic literature),
while the endnotes contain more detailed references to secondary sources and
scholarship, as well as more technical discussions.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One of the overarching themes throughout
the book is the question of to what extent Jewish decorative practices for
these items were influenced and/or mimicked outside (often Christian or Muslim)
artistic norms versus to what extent Jews marked their religious items with a
specific Jewishness. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In conclusion, David Stern's work
stands out as a significant scholarly contribution, breaking from conventional
studies centered on textual content to delve deeply into the material
properties and cultural contexts of Jewish Biblical artifacts with the same
scholarly rigor. Through meticulous research and insightful analysis, Stern
illuminates the intricate physical aspects of Torah Scrolls, codices, and
printed Jewish Bibles. His extensive notes, comprehensive bibliography, and
detailed index not only enhance the book's scholarly credibility, but also
provide readers with a rich wellspring of sources for further exploration. This
work cements itself as an invaluable resource, offering a fresh perspective on
the tangible essence of these revered artifacts, reshaping our understanding of
the Jewish Bible's material journey across centuries.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-63408218545617462582023-10-29T12:31:00.000-07:002023-10-29T12:31:18.100-07:00Not a Real Enemy: The True Story of a Hungarian Jewish Man’s Fight for Freedom<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3tHQ4CF"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="907" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PNj_7LPiAWO_pIRQRhEZY08qPpQJMw58NqDYprsO5zxsfI7xAh8WuC-UcCCkLR4vvZoe7dnIRDfNY00KkqHlaL2A6jWnIJ3O46BwazUlHy1wKrua56qhWpIT0tvVyuDBlnT83qPh4mMEDArrAQJPyrBth2GlYHY1FoxlWY0YU-K7px7U_PpvFIqaizY/s320/71gwnL0xe4L._SL1360_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3tHQ4CF">Not a Real Enemy: The True
Story of a Hungarian Jewish Man’s Fight for Freedom</a> </i><span style="text-align: justify;">(Amsterdam Press,
2022), by Robert Wolf, MD</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Shira Yael Klein
(<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">At its core, this book is a
fairly typical Holocaust memoir, yet it is undeniably a stellar five-star read,
as attested to by the multiple awards it earned. The book chronicles the life
of a young Hungarian Jewish man from his childhood as a coddled only child of
well-to-do parents, through the harrowing depths of the Hungarian forced labor
camps during the Holocaust, and eventually to adulthood in post-war Communist
Hungary. While the Holocaust narrative may be familiar to many readers, the
latter part of the book offers a unique perspective, delving into the
relatively-uncharted territory of post-war Communist Hungary. The
acknowledgements in the back of the book reveal that there were many rounds of
editing and proofreading, and a lot of people were involved in producing this wonderful
book. All those efforts shine through in this beautifully-written,
well-executed masterpiece. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">What sets this book apart is its
distinctive narrative structure. Surprisingly, a significant chunk of the
narrative doesn't focus on the young protagonist, but instead pivots to his
father's story. The reader is transported back to his father’s boyhood and
follows his father’s journey through marriage and early adulthood. It is a
gripping account of a young man’s struggle to succeed in an anti-Semitic society,
highlighting the resilience and perseverance he displayed while pulling himself
up by the bootstraps to become a highly-successful Jewish doctor. This legacy
of success doesn't stop with the protagonist’s father, but — spoiler alert — it
extends to the protagonist himself and even to the author, who happens to be
the protagonist’s son. Remarkably, all three generations of men were Jewish doctors.
This familial echo adds a poignant layer to the narrative, underscoring the multi-generational
impact of the father's resilience and determination.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Another integral facet of the
protagonist's identity was his strong connection to Hungarian high culture—the
arts, opera, music, and theater. This cultural immersion was synonymous with a
certain higher standard of living. A poignant scene in the book paints this
picture vividly: during summer swims, while other swimmers on the riverbanks
settled for humbler lunches, his housekeeper would present him with a sumptuous
multi-course meal served on delicate chinaware. These refined sensibilities
continued to shape the protagonist's life, anchoring him to the world of
Hungarian high culture.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As an aside, my husband's family is
of Hungarian Jewish heritage, and all four of his grandparents hail from
Hungary (at least in the Jewish geographical sense). One of the characters in
this book was named Uncle Laci, and he is somewhat reminiscent of my husband’s
great-uncle Laci, who was affectionately known as Laci Basci (with <i>basci</i>
being the Hungarian term for "uncle"). My husband's great-uncle was a
true Hungarian gentleman, who cherished the theater and classical music.
Reading this book helped me better understand another facet of our Uncle Laci.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Yet, there were aspects of the
protagonist's choices and experiences that left me dismayed as an Orthodox
Jewish reader. The protagonist and his father very conspicuously identified as
Jews; they not only believed in God, but also in the efficacy of prayer. This
Jewish pride led the protagonist to hate having to feign being Christian during
the Holocaust (when he could not openly admit to being Jewish). But although they
were proud to be Jews, there was only a vestigial remnant of Jewish observance.
For example, the protagonist fasted on Yom Kipper and had a Jewish wedding (even
under communist rule, when this was forbidden). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One particular incident that
stood out was when the protagonist casually partook in a meal consisting of
potatoes and lard. This did not transpire under starvation conditions, wherein
one obviously eats whatever one gets in order to stay alive. The protagonist
seemed to disregard fundamental principles of Jewish dietary observance without
hesitation. It was rather disconcerting that somebody could be so proud of
being Jewish, yet stray so far from Judaism. Of course the protagonist (clearly
a good and moral person) cannot be blamed for these shortcomings, because he
was raised secular, but nonetheless I found it unsettling.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">However, I was even more
disturbed by a different part of the story: During a financial depression, the
protagonist's parents relocated to an Orthodox neighborhood in an attempt to
save money. At that time, the protagonist was still a young child, so he
transferred to the local Orthodox school, but he was unable to make any
friends. This left him a very lonely little boy (especially considering he was
an only child, so he didn't have any siblings). Later in life, he realized that
the other, religious, Jewish families in the neighborhood forbade their
children from playing with him. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This dynamic comes up again, in
the work camps. There, the religious boys shunned the non-religious Jewish boys
(many of whom came from families that had converted to Christianity). They were
all stuck in the same work camp together because they were all Jews, yet the
religious boys still viewed the non-religious ones with animosity. I wanted to
go back in time and yell at them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In the work camps, the conditions
were harsh, with grueling labor and meager rations that bordered on starvation.
However, the protagonist's work group seemed to fare better than most others
(perhaps because many of the boys had converted to Christianity). It's notable
that none of the boys in this particular work group succumbed to the relentless
labor or starvation. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Another heartening and
distinctive aspect of this Holocaust memoir was the presence of human decency
amid the darkness. The Jewish boys in the work camp would often sneak off at
night to beg or buy food from sympathetic peasants in the vicinity. In Hungary,
there were still some good people left, who recognized that Jews were people
too and that the persecution they endured was unjust. Some went to great
lengths to extend a helping hand, even at the risk of their own safety. This
contrasted with some other memoirs from Holocaust survivors in Poland and other
parts of Europe, where it seemed like the whole world had gone mad and
absolutely everyone was out to get you.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Despite the unsettling moments
and observations, this book remains a truly excellent five-star read, an
engrossing page-turner that provides unique insights into a complex and
challenging era.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-43405248524938693102023-10-16T06:01:00.000-07:002023-10-16T06:01:24.933-07:00America First: The Story of Sol Bloom, the Most Powerful Jew in Congress During the Holocaust <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/44X8M6w"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="671" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBcChql6F2K5OCRIR2_432edHI22qFv3neTJO5QtDxaMlGk11Vo0oeeUKvD5Fkz_1T72lBAi27Ipq9z83D2hglPw9-6W2KXcaiItsT0_szb9bQvqxVxaNRLJW9Zh4Ah8_r0jI1oMWw27oqzpCYSc-jHiftH0JRreC4WVsPi6V4fmaqj9oJL0RU1KJuAE/s320/71n607tz1lL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="215" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><i><a href="https://amzn.to/44X8M6w">America First: The Story of Sol Bloom, the Most Powerful
Jew in Congress During the Holocaust</a> </i>(Brenn Books, 2023) by Elliot Resnick,
PhD</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In this book, Elliot Resnick — a former
editor of the <i>Jewish Press</i> and scholar of Jewish History — offers a
scholarly biography of Sol Bloom (1870–1949), the U.S. Congressman who served
as Chairman of the House Foreign Affair Committee from before World War II
until after the war. Bloom has been much maligned by some Jewish historians for
failing to help save the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust despite his
prominent position in Congress. In this book, Resnick convincingly argues that
Bloom never betrayed the Jewish People, but continued to do whatever he could
to help fellows Jews. Instead, as alluded to in the title of Resnick’s book,
Bloom decided to put his responsibility to America and the American people
first, and only helped the global Jewish community when that did not conflict
with how he perceived his role as an elected member of the House of
Representatives. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In the early chapters of the
book, Resnick sets the tone by introducing the reader to the biographical
details of Bloom’s early life growing up in San Francisco to a family of Polish
immigrants. Although Mr. Bloom was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family and he
proudly identified with that stream of Judaism, he was not personally observant.
The author gives us a glimpse of Bloom’s early ambition and spunk by discussing
his early career as a promoter and his prominent role in the 1893 Fair in Chicago
that celebrated the 400<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Christopher Columbus’
discovery of the Americas. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Eventually, Bloom relocated to
New York and entered politics, representing the 19<sup>th</sup> district of New
York in the House of Representatives. In that early part of his career in
Congress, Bloom showed just how proud he was of his Jewishness by standing up
to the anti-Semitism espoused by carmaker Henry Ford’s newspaper <i>The
Dearborn Independent</i> and calling him out on his unacceptable
characterization of Jews. He also vigorously fought the proposal to switch the
calendar to an eight-day week because he recognized the hardship that would
bring upon observant Jews keeping the Sabbath.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Throughout his career, Bloom
gained a reputation of being the go-to guy for Jews in need. Many families and
important Jewish leader turned to him for help in smoothing along whatever bureaucratic
or legal issues stood in their way. Yet, despite having maintained a sterling
reputation in the Jewish community both before and after World War II,
Congressman Bloom has often been maligned in some circles for his behavior
during the World War II and the Holocaust. They claim that Bloom even
deliberately sabotaged the strategic-level rescue activism by such heroes as Hillel
Kook (aka Peter Bergson). It is claimed that Bloom colluded with progressive
Jewish leaders like Stephen S. Wise (a prominent Reform clergyman) and Nahum
Goldman (head of the World Jewish Congress) to block rescue efforts that tried
to save Jews in Europe who were susceptible to the Nazi’s nefarious
machinations. They argue that Free World Jewish leaders including Bloom have
blood on their hands for their inaction during the Holocaust. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">However, as Resnick makes it
clear, these accusations invariably fail to consider all the nuances and
circumstances behind Bloom’s opportunities. For example, when appointed to
represent the U.S.A. in the 1943 Bermuda Conference in which the US government
officials and their British counterparts discussed the question of Jewish
refugees from Nazi-occupied territories in Europe, Bloom was given clear
instructions that opening the U.S. or British Mandator Palestine to more Jewish
immigration was not on the table. His hands were tied before the discussion
could even begin.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Moreover, Resnick adduces
documents — including numerous “thank you” letters — as clear evidence that
even when Bloom seemingly did not act in the best interest of European Jewry,
he continued to help those who turned to him behind the scenes to secure for
them safe passage or naturalization whenever possible. Yet, Bloom’s strong
moral convictions led to him resolve never to go against the law, so all the
good work he did in helping others was always within the framework of whatever
laws existed on the books. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Indeed, Bloom never criticized
the U.S. immigration policy and its quotas on how many Jews may be admitted
because he did not want to jeopardize his close relationship with fellow
Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) and his administration,
which might hinder his ability to help those who turned to him. He also saw the
spirit of the time as supporting American isolationism and felt that any effort
to overturn to those immigration policies would ultimately backfire and lead to
even more limitations.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Resnick convincingly argues that
if Bloom had pushed more to save Jews, it could have majorly gone wrong and compromised
popular U.S. support for England, which would potentially have made for an even
more disastrous Holocaust had the Nazis been able to subdue their greatest
opponent in Europe.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Resnick’s book brings to light
much nuance that has been lost in discussions about the Holocaust and who acted
nobly. Indeed, the whole topic is a bit murky, but Resnick provides the reader
with enough information to make his own informed decision. He essentially
concedes that the historians have valid arguments in their claims against Bloom,
but that the situation was far less black and white than they portray it to have
been. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In doing researching for this
book (which was based on his doctoral dissertation), Elliot Resnick availed
himself of the Bloom papers held in the NYPL archives, as well as other
archival documents and publicly-available newspaper articles and press
releases. He often employs strategically-placed direct quotations from these
primary and secondary sources to make his points, instead of simply asserting
them himself. This reflects the due diligence of a scholar interested in mining
the depths of history to find the truth — as opposed to a rhetorician
advocating for a certain position or a propogandist trying to whitewash
history. Indeed, even as Resnick defends Bloom’s actions and words, he also duly
criticizes Bloom when he feels necessary. All in all, Resnick shows that Sol
Bloom was a life-long proud Jew and dedicated Zionist, cogently deflecting much
of the criticism levelled against him as misdirected. <o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-39768313534420296222023-10-03T03:25:00.001-07:002023-10-03T03:25:40.882-07:00Kohelet: A Map to Eden — An Intertextual Journey <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3PEGmIS"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="989" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqX-T6zBDrkRo80Vblxyfs5qIHmazKuOUczPaKJtP8Ia7gjX4XrTYNo-eXA-bNAwWJJhx9iCYy-QHdqGNmtAM6l2BoR1Y-6zlsU1YV7NiahPw3zRP_qRkLNk9Hj91rLC56w5VeIb4WfqiUoJ29l2akzoiNZquXdzJ-Gbv2SZf0KF5QoyBNeVh2saG7KA4/s320/8184s1mUIJL._SL1500_.jpg" width="211" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3PEGmIS">Kohelet: A Map to Eden — An
Intertextual Journey</a></i><span style="text-align: justify;"> (Maggid Books, 2023), by David Curwin</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (Rachack Review)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This work is a highly enjoyable
and refreshingly-original exploration of the Book of Koheles (Ecclesiastes). David
Curwin employs a non-linear approach in his commentary to that book that delves
deep into select passages from different parts of Koheles to provide the reader
with a broader and more profound perspective on this notoriously enigmatic Biblical
text.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One of the book's unique features
is its application of a Modern Midrash methodology developed by Rabbi David
Fohrman of Aleph Beta. This methodology focuses primarily on the literal
reading of Biblical verses, drawing thematic connections between different Biblical
passages through the appearance of shared keywords. In other words, Curwin is
wont to highlight the appearance of certain keywords in two different Biblical
passages to see common themes related to both contexts. This is loosely similar
to the hermeneutical device known in the Talmud as <i>gezeiras shavah</i>. While
Curwin occasionally references classical rabbinic sources, medieval Jewish commentators,
and modern Biblical scholarship, he mainly adheres to the literal
interpretation of the verses themselves in giving readers a fresh perspective
on Koheles, although he does sparingly draw from those other sources.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The book begins by setting the
stage with an outline of King Solomon's life and achievements, leading up to
his spiritual downfall. This makes sense because the Book of Koheles is
traditionally ascribed to none other than King Solomon. In this opening section,
Koheles is seen through the lens of the author's methodology, with different
parts of the text mirroring various points in Solomon's life. For example,
after King Solomon realized the folly of trusting one's own judgement instead
of hewing closely to Hashem's divine commands, he retrospectively admitted that
a human being cannot add to or subtract from Hashem's doings (Ecc. 3:14). The
wording of that particular verse mimics the language of the Pentateuch’s prohibitions
against adding or taking away from the commandments given in the Torah (Deut.
13:1). These sorts of nuanced approaches add much depth and richness to our
understanding of Koheles's timeless messages.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The second section of the book
offers a similar exploration, this time charting the story of Adam, who began
at the pinnacle of creation, but dramatically fell from grace after eating from
the Tree of Knowledge. The author convincingly argues that Koheles contains
references to Adam's lofty place in the Garden of Eden and his idyllic life
there, his subsequent sin, and the punishments he suffered thereafter. For
instance, Curwin interprets the repeated use of the word <i>hevel</i> (“breathiness”
or “vanity”) in Koheles as the utterances of a mourning father lamenting the
loss of his son Abel (<i>Hevel</i> in Hebrew). In these self-reflective bouts
of remorse, Adam attributed the tragic murder of his son Hevel to his own sins,
essentially making the argument that had he not eaten from the Forbidden Fruit,
Kayin would never have killed Hevel. This line of interpretation thus adds another
layer of complexity to the text of Koheles by also connecting it to the Biblical
narratives of Adam and Abel.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As Curwin frames the story of the
Tree of Knowledge, Adam's sin was that he ate from the Tree of Knowledge with
intention to become like Hashem — in other words, he sought to become the final
arbiter of good and evil, instead of simply following the more objective metric
of Hashem's command and carrying out what Hashem has already decided. Solomon
too did not just want to serve as a judge to carry out the Law as it was given by
Hashem, but he wanted to use his own intellect to decide what is considered
acceptable. This led him to breaking the law and going beyond what was allowed
for a king to do. Thus, the book's central argument revolves around the idea
that both Adam and King Solomon sought to use their own rationality to decide
what is right and wrong, disregarding Hashem's objective commandments in favor
of their own judgment. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This same paradigm, the author
contends, played a role in the story of the Ten Spies sent by Moses to scout
the Promised Land. Instead of conducting an objective fact-finding expedition,
the spies altered the scope of their mission to allow them to subjectively decide
for themselves whether the land was truly "good" as Hashem had
promised. The book continues to discuss how the commandments given immediately
after the story of the Ten Spies — the commandment of wine libations and
wearing <i>tzitzis </i>— were meant as correctives to offset the spies'
mistaken worldview. As mentioned earlier, these profound connections between Koheles
and other parts of the Bible are always buttressed by identifying keywords in
the texts that appear in parallel Biblical passages. Finding such parallels
allows the author to draw thematic comparisons that shed light on the hidden
wisdom within Koheles.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The reader will find this book to
be a quick and engaging read, thanks to its short chapters and straightforward
presentation. Much of the book simply quotes the text of Koheles in English and
Hebrew alongside the relevant parallel texts being analyzed. The footnotes are especially
concise and succinct, as they are primarily used for source citations. Appendices,
including a discussion on why Koheles is traditionally read on the holiday of
Sukkos, are also appended to the book and provide additional, somewhat
tangential insights. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The end of the book contains a helpful
index of the Biblical sources discussed. This is particularly useful for
finding the author's interpretations of specific verses in Koheles because, as
mentioned above, his work is non-linear in nature, so the passages are
explicated out of order and sorted by thematic relevance. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">All in all, Curwin’s book takes Koheles
— which has often been looked at as a closed enigmatic book riddled with
internal contradictions — and offers a fresh perspective that helps the reader
begin to make sense of the hidden messages and lessons King Solomon has wisely embedded
within it. Through his innovative methodology and careful analysis, the author
brings to light these deep lessons, making them accessible and understandable
to contemporary readers. This book indeed is a valuable resource for anyone
seeking a deeper understanding of Koheles and making sense of its profound
insights.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">On a personal note, I have been
an avid fan of David Curwin’s language blog <a href="http://www.balashon.com/">Balashon</a> since I was a teenager. I
often look to that blog and its archives for inspiration in penning my weekly <i><a href="https://ohr.edu/this_week/whats_in_a_word/">What’s in a Word?</a> </i>column, and appreciate the author’s hard work in uncovering the
hidden gems of the Hebrew Language. I have also read some of his other articles
in <i>Tradition</i> and <i>Hakirah</i>, and was very honored to have received a
complimentary review copy of his work on Koheles. I sincerely hope that Mr.
Curwin is planning on writing similar books on other obscure books of the Bible
like Proverbs and Job.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-61685175133901511512023-08-10T06:50:00.000-07:002023-08-10T06:50:27.864-07:003 New Book Reviews<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3DnoE6R"><img border="0" data-original-height="1273" data-original-width="860" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM80ZGAK_IjMmJk6nFdcW0vVL1zG_-gzyxOmFVgQkQtRuxcfnFDRFuEMpaGO_MNSGCwCqrd-8vMrj5Fg5-qBitE4n0zsZ6sB3yHrXhUMh0JetAalEYqClE9HWyghFCsrWkngofq-Q9yROaWPH1xwTZZMVjIGsBiJjrnbV6F23--I_X16hSrm5S5eNoMhk/s320/9781684581504.jpg" width="216" /></a></span></div><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3DnoE6R">First Impressions: Sefer Ḥassidim
and Early Modern Hebrew Printing</a></i><span style="text-align: justify;"> (Brandeis University Press, 2023), by
Joseph A. Skloot</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com/">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Through this fascinating work,
the author embarks on a scholarly journey into the first two printings of the
renowned pietistic work, <i>Sefer Chassidim</i>. That seminal work is known for
its moralistic lessons, presented in the form of stories akin to <i>aggadah</i>,
as well as pietistic customs (<i>minhagim</i>) and rulings reminiscent of
Halachic decisions. Skool’s captivating yet meticulously-researched work
explores the first two printings of <i>Sefer Chassidim</i> and offers readers a
unique perspective on the authorship, paratexts, and the historical context
surrounding these editions. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Skloot first focuses on the
initial edition of <i>Sefer Chassidim</i>, published in 1538 by "the
Partners" — a consortium of Jewish merchants in Bologna, Italy and then
turns his attention to the second edition, printed in 1580 by Ambrosius Froben,
a well-known Christian printer with Italian roots based in Basel, Switzerland. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The study also takes into account
significant historical events that transpired between the two printings, and
shows how they influenced aspects of the printing world. Most prominent among these
developments are the 1553 banning of the Talmud in Italy and subsequent efforts
by the Catholic Church to actively censor Jewish works as part of the
Counter-Reformation. Moreover, the emergence of the Great Ashkenazic Yeshivos in
Eastern Europe and the organization and establishment of the Vaad of the Four
Lands, further contributed to the backdrop that helped the author show the
differences between the two historical milieu in which the two printings
happened.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In discussing these two early
prints of <i>Sefer Chassidim</i>, the author touches on the quasi-philosophical
question of what authorship means, examining the motives behind ascribing <i>Sefer
Chassidim </i>to Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid of Regensburg, the 12<sup>th</sup> century
leader of the <i>Chassidei Ashkenaz</i> movement. However, it is important to
note that unfortunately this work does not extensively explore the reception of
<i>Sefer Chassidim</i> nor its publisher’s claims of its authorship by Rabbi
Yehuda HaChassid. Additionally, the book does not provide a comprehensive
analysis of the content of <i>Sefer Chassidim</i> within the broader genre of <i>Chassidei
Ashkenaz</i> literature.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Beyond <i>Sefer Chassidim</i>
itself, the author explores other books printed by the aforementioned
publishers, shedding light on the individuals involved in those publishing
houses and their relationships with the Catholic Church and the growing
Protestant movement. The book also explores who exactly the intended audiences
of these works were (i.e., whether they printed for the Jewish elite, Jewish students,
or Christian Hebraists).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The author displays a keen
interest in the physical characteristics of the books he discusses, such as
size and typeset font. However, the focus primarily lies on the paratexts (including
the title pages, introductions, and colophons), which surround the actual text
in the two editions under scrutiny. While the discussion of the text itself largely
takes a backseat, the author does touch on censorship within the book that was
intended to conform to Christian sensibilities (especially in terms of how non-Jews
and their holy sites are referenced), and such textual modification are
analyzed with attention and nuance by comparing them to extant manuscripts of <i>Sefer
Chassidim</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Each chapter concludes with a
succinct summary of its main points, aiding the reader in navigating the book's
rich content. With hundreds of well-sourced endnotes and a robust bibliography,
the author provides ample resources for further exploration. The inclusion of a
well-structured index enhances the book's accessibility, allowing readers to
easily locate specific topics discussed within its pages. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">By employing the scholarly
paradigm of microhistory, the author masterfully uses the stories behind the
two printings of <i>Sefer Chassidim</i> to shed light on broader questions
surrounding the early days of the printing press. This approach illuminates the
profound impact of the growing use of this technology on geo-political and
geo-religious dynamics. By zooming in on these particular editions, the author
provides valuable insights into the interplay between Jewish literature, the
printing press, and the complex sociocultural landscape of the time.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/43yoggA"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="323" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxHbLYIr2uUW8VmzT2caWyAH8xXJiDaZ2pX1BYzlNsEPvb7-Zi-Vsvf07eZYVIIcXaLIBb_Cf7ZkmAvkIqg0joIakTb-tFo_EFiiW79rsDVDcoh5WviNYg95ryRDtugj15AA9_GwacWUn2dt-g_wSJ4Is_gEUoCQSJ7Zt86z6vez1Wy3NEEsulUM_ieA/s320/1512823376.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" width="207" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/43yoggA">Jewish Blues: A History of a
Color in Judaism</a></i> (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022), by Gadi Sagiv</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com/">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In this interesting book, the
author presents a scholarly exploration of the color blue within the context of
Jewish heritage. Focusing on the concept of <i>techeiles</i>, a blue-dyed wool
mentioned in various biblical contexts (such as the Tabernacle, the High
Priest's garments, and the commandment of <i>tzitzis</i>), the book delves into
the multifaceted nature of this enigmatic hue.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One of the book's strengths lies
in its comprehensive historical overview, which draws upon a wide range of
archeological and scientific sources. Through meticulous research, the author
traces the evolution of <i>techeiles</i> throughout Jewish history, shedding
light on its significance as a distinctly "Jewish" color. This
intriguing distinction emerges as the author compares the Jewish connection to
blue with similar associations of red with Christians and green with Islam,
providing a unique perspective on the symbolic power of colors within different
religious traditions.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Linguistic analysis forms another
compelling aspect of the book, exploring the various terms associated with
"blue" in Jewish texts. By unraveling the nuances of terms like <i>kachol</i>
and <i>puch</i>, the author uncovers the rich palette of bluish and
blue-adjacent colors referenced in Hebrew literature. Notably, the book
illuminates the historical significance of Jews in Muslim countries adopting
dark clothing, with blue becoming a popular choice due to its cultural importance.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">A particularly captivating
chapter delves into the esoteric realm, decoding the semiotic meaning of the
color blue in Jewish thought. Here, the author explores mystical associations,
depicting how blue is said to mirror God's Throne of Glory and the profound
symbolism of blue fire. Furthermore, the book explores the protective qualities
attributed to blue gemstones and the color itself, including its reputed
defense against the malevolent forces of the Evil Eye. Looking at the color from
a Kabbalistic perspective, the author reveals the profound connections between
the color blue, the <i>sefirot</i>, and the unity of God.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Sagiv’s book skillfully tackles
the intricate debate surrounding the derivation of blue dyes, particularly <i>techeiles</i>,
from various sources. While the color blue can be obtained from several venues,
the author highlights the significance of <i>techeiles</i> being derived from a
specific marine animal known as a <i>chilazon</i>. Throughout the ages, the
question of which mollusk dye precisely constitutes <i>techeiles</i> has
sparked intense discussion, with classical rabbinic positions maintaining that
the identity of the crustacean has been lost and will only be unveiled in the
future. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Notably, this question strikes at
the core of contemporary debates that grapple with reconciling normative
Halacha with scientific findings. The book examines the differing viewpoints,
such as the Radziner Rebbe's preference for the common cuttlefish (<i>sepia
officinalis</i>) and Rav Herzog's scholarly endorsement of the <i>murex
trunculus</i>, offering readers many insights into the ongoing discourse within
the wider Orthodox world. In doing so, the author posits an intriguing
connection between the quest for restoring ancient <i>techeiles</i> and
Messianic motives. In these chapters, the book highlights the profound
religious and spiritual implications associated with the color blue within
Jewish tradition by exploring the fervor surrounding the potential revival of
this historical practice.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In a nutshell, this book is a
meticulously-researched and captivating exploration of the color blue's
profound role in Judaism. From its prosaic historical usage to its mystical and
esoteric associations, the book provides the reader with a comprehensive
understanding of <i>techeiles</i> and its wider implications. As an engaging
and thought-provoking edifice, this scholarly study sheds light on the
intricate interplay between tradition, faith, and the symbolic power of the
color blue.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/44CzjGM"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjOCv-lH4VVlPad3Gk02Ewaht_qR7bLLSJ_BLTA2wOXJH9-j40BWrfxUeSWOt5U7QfnMgowp1hU7zYy-DUUAH9vFXYjPIfWZ9LgRHc1TR4e5BdEAHX64KCxr3Q-r4_4TedYZtPnWJSrzpMtjq0Jz90Chd105MLetVO3gn6VxuQudPS-di6j_EjbaaOQWo/s320/large-90%20Seconds%20Gift%20Edition%20eli%20beer%20hatzalah.jpg" width="236" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/44CzjGM">90 Seconds: The Epic Story of
Eli Beer and United Hatzalah</a></i> (Shaar Press, 2023), by Rabbi Nachman Seltzer</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Shira Yael Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com/">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The beginning of the book started
off by vividly depicting Eli Beer as a little kid traumatized from seeing a bus
bombing and not knowing how to help. He was bright and entrepreneurial, successfully running all kinds of side hustles (<i>dalet minim</i>, bus trips
for families, and even a <i>gogo</i> bank), but he could never make it in
school. His whole family is very Haredi, and all his brothers were very
successful on that track. But this kid Eli was just different. You can even see
it in the pictures: Eli is a blue shirt, leather <i>kippah</i> type of a guy,
and the rest of his family is in classic Haredi black and white.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The trauma of the bus bombing
that Eli witnessed at the age of five, compounded by the repeated tragedy of
people who could have been saved dying before the ambulance got there that he
saw time and again as a young MADA volunteer, filled him with a burning
passion: Something must be done to save <i>more</i> people, to save people <i>better</i>,
and to save people <i>faster</i>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">And Eli did it. At its inception,
Hatzolah was an underground organization. They used a radio that Eli bought at Radio
Shack and smuggled into Israel to hack into MADA’s internal broadcasts. The
minute they knew where there was an emergency, the nearest teenaged-volunteer would
run over and start doing CPR, keeping the guy alive until the MADA ambulance
got there. It was a bare bones operation, but it worked. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One day, a teenaged Eli Beer was
manning the radio (instead of helping his father in his <i>sefarim</i> store), when
he hears that there’s been a car accident right next to him. He races out to
the street and sees a man lying there, bleeding profusely from a torn artery in
his neck. Eli whips his <i>kippah</i> off his head, shoves it into the hole in
the guy’s neck, and saves his life.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">That was a good story. I would’ve
loved more stories like that.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Teenage Eli, saving people with his
band of undercover superheroes, grows up to be Eli Beer, the head of <i>Ichud
Hatzlolah</i>. Hatzolah has come a long way from its humble origins. It is now a
household name, and a major, organized force in saving lives. Nowadays,
Hatzolah volunteers have defibrillators. And ambucycles. All of this takes
money. Lots and lots of money. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">At some point, the book shifts into
showing how Eli becomes an incredible fundraiser. I would have been interested
in reading more heartwarming stories about the work that Hatzolah volunteers do
day in and day out, and less about Eli Beer’s flights all over the world,
hobnobbing with the upper crust and getting million-dollar donations. This is
truly a praiseworthy and wonderful thing, but as a reader it got kind of boring.
Ultimately, I read the book and I even enjoyed it. But I was really hoping for more. <o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-24045487347027489102023-07-21T02:45:00.000-07:002023-07-21T02:45:21.841-07:00England’s Jews: Finance, Violence, and the Crown in the Thirteenth Century<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/43kZkcu"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMU2Eb0mfWsJAoL3Wgaoc9G4PULiZaWp7K10Ix4KYSmEJfRghjxA1H_ioOvBND3Vg_XvFe4O-ZV6n6f91Tht5Zapy0HXiBVh8b9rS49jP7znacnE1PauvEBg8-h9ysO0P6N8nqbwd30chz3OV6BKUwR90EnqKpwa_Ef344jnbv6CJmuMDlOmKFfxZb/s320/1512823899.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/43kZkcu">England’s Jews: Finance,
Violence, and the Crown in the Thirteenth Century</a> </i><span style="text-align: justify;">(University of
Pennsylvania Press, 2023) by John Tolan</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This scholarly book offers an
in-depth look at the Jews' place in English history during the 1200s. The
author meticulously researched the topic and provided exact dates, names of
people and places within the context of the events that it describes. Although
that sort of attention to detail makes the book somewhat overwhelming, the
comprehensive index makes it easy to find specific topics.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Two major overarching topics that
the book delves into are the Jewish involvement in the moneylending industry in
England (a topic that has always been controversial) and how the Jews were
precariously positioned in the rigid class of Medieval England. In discussing
the second point, the author stresses how successive kings of England consistently
referred to the Jews in the possessive "our Jews," and sought to
assert their direct authority over them. However, as often happened throughout
history, the Jews served as pawns in a greater power struggle between the
Plantagenet Kings of England, English and French nobleman, the local English
clergy, and the Pope in Rome.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Another interesting point
emphasized in the book is how the Jews' situation and treatment in neighboring
France was often even worse than in England itself, where anti-Jewish
sentiments were even stronger and more official. Throughout the 12<sup>th</sup>
and 13<sup>th</sup> centuries, Jews were expelled from France multiple. One of
the factions pushing for the expulsion of Jews was Church officials, who wanted
to separate Jews from Christians to avoid social and sexual fraternization
between them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Besides the occasional massacres
in which English Jews were actually killed, the author provides detailed
accounts of the "punishments" levied against Jews for simply being
Jewish, including special taxes called tallages and inheritance taxes
("Death Taxes"), making them wear distinct clothing, and forbidding
Christians from working as maids and nurses in Jewish homes. The book also the
aforementioned massacres against Jews, in addition to the various limits placed
on the Jews’ ability to lend with interest and outright debt forgiveness for
monies owed to Jews. Interesting, this book documents how ordinance that
compelled Jews to wear special embroidered tablets to show their Jewishness was
sometimes enforced by local grocers refusing to sell food to Jews who did not
follow those rules, but was also sometimes not enforced on certain Jewish
individuals or communities who paid for special exemptions. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The author also documents how
Church officials commonly made up stories about Jews who were accused of unfair
lending practices, insulting the Christian faith (especially desecrating the
host and the cross), and even kidnapping Christian babies to circumcise them or
kill them (“fake news”). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The book also covers the Jews'
relationship to the Magna Carta and hones in on specific Jews who were active
in lending money (such as Isaac of Norwich, David of Lincoln/Oxford, and Aaron
of York). Although the primary focus of the book is on the reigns of King Henry
III and his son Edward I, other important figures from English history (including
Stephen Langton, Robert Grosseteste, and Simon of Montfort) are also discussed
in the context of their role in the treatment of the Jews.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Overall, this book is an
excellent resource for anyone interested in the Jews' place in English history
during the 1100s–1300s. The author has done an outstanding job of meticulously
and critically piecing together information from documents and rolls of
chancery records, plus other archival sources, to provide a comprehensive
account of the Jews' role in English society during this period. The book ends
with the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290 under King Edward I,
bringing the story to its logical, yet unfortunate, conclusion.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-46406838131791304822023-06-15T09:50:00.000-07:002023-06-15T09:50:18.417-07:003 New Book Reviews<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3J0ZbTZ"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin-oGDx5WYwC5r3sF8vfmIaAhEHmbL7C1_JnKHPPDvZkSI12HvKuiHYe2Ml3ef5l9lSdtLg39IokuRKBO3XQ52Enq9WTA8EkrLy7aEWi8Vekr4rmxW4mYMwqSqLdOpQVnUlFhM6yLIOSDZdD-D9aE8ahuG7LU6XVyVOIHmp6edwGJ9Oo5XF-he3eln/s320/51NQFEDBTbL._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="211" /></a></span></div><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3J0ZbTZ">The Anochi Project: Seeking God’s
Identity</a> </i><span style="text-align: justify;">(2017), by Paul M. Hamburger</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In this work, Paul M. Hamburger — a lawyer by profession and author of
several legal books — assumes his alter ego Shlomo Mordechai Hamburger to take readers
on a profound exploration of the meaning of the word <i>anochi</i> in the
Torah. He begins by distinguishing between the Hebrew word <i>anochi</i> and its
more common synonym <i>ani</i>, both of are used by the first person to refer to
himself (“I/Me”). In doing so, the author emphasizes the meaningful difference
between the two words, with <i>anochi </i>representing God’s “signature” in
This World (so to speak), which shows His hand in everything. The book then
proceeds to examine classical rabbinical and Hassidic (especially, but not
limited to, Chabad Chassidus) writings on the topic, drawing out a consistent
and deeper meaning conveyed by the word <i>anochi </i>throughout the Torah,
from Bereishis to Devarim.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book offers a fresh perspective on God's identity and the process
through which His Essence was revealed to the world. One of the practical
lessons Hamburger presents addresses the challenge of reconciling one's Jewish
identity with a desire to engage with the outside, secular world. To do so, he
highlights the example of Abraham negotiating his place in a non-monotheistic society
while facing the demands of Avimelech, an idol-worshipping Philistine king.
Hamburger reveals how Abraham's response in Gen. 21:24, <i>Anochi Ishavei'a</i>
(“I will swear"), holds a deeper significance because by swearing
allegiance to Avimelech and simultaneously affirming his faith in God, Abraham
exemplifies the ability to maintain a Jewish identity while participating fully
in the world-at-large.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book is a treasure trove of knowledge, meticulously analyzing the
references to the word <i>anochi</i> in the Torah and offering profound
insights. Readers will find the book insightful, inspiring, and incredibly
interesting, yet presented in a readable English making it accessible to
readers of various backgrounds. Of course, Hamburger's research is well-sourced,
supported by numerous references and endnotes. Essentially, the author's
erudition shines through in his clear and concise analysis, while presenting a
fascinating thesis. While the accuracy of the research cannot be verified by a
non-scholar, the wealth of supporting evidence and well-placed notes certainly lend
credibility to Hamburger's assertions.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Although he comes from a totally different world than the largely
Hassidic teachings that Hamburger cites, it is worth noting that Rabbi Shmuel
David Luzzatto (1800-1865), also known as Shadal, in his commentary to Exodus
suggests parsing the first of the 10 commandments differently than its common
rendering. He reads it as: “I (<i>anochi</i>) Hashem, am your God who took you
out of the Land of Egypt (Exodus 20:2),” with innovation of the revelatory
aspect of this commandment being the fact that Hashem — the name of God that
the Jews had already known from their forefathers — is the very selfsame God,
who took them out of Egypt. The standard way of rendering this verse is “I am (<i>anochi</i>)
Hashem, your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt,” with the emphasis on
the fact that He who is revealing Himself at Sinai is none other than Hashem
who had taken the Jews out of Egypt.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Either way, what sets this book apart is Hamburger's ability to convey
complex and sophisticated mystical ideas in plain English. He skillfully
bridges the gap between profound concepts and everyday understanding, making
the text relatable and engaging. No doubt, this book’s clarity and the author's
ability to communicate intricate ideas effectively are results of Hamburger’s
professional standing as an international lawyer. His dedication to lifelong
learning is evident, and his words have the power to captivate and inspire.
Although this is his first book exploring Jewish texts and philosophy, this
reviewer hopes it will not be his last!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In conclusion, <i>The Anochi Project: Seeking God's Identity</i> is a
remarkable work that uncovers the depths of the Torah, providing readers with a
profound understanding of God's Essence and our relationship with Him. The
author’s insightful analysis, well-researched references, and engaging writing
style make this book a must-read for anyone seeking to explore the hidden
truths within the Torah. <span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-font-kerning: 1.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3CioUni"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaVm0CDm8rhMDmbYBRjVHc1dxo-pcWTgysNXX0aE8sqqKoCdNHWoWc1943Ipn5vKq4DaLyqichRzrgjpIzPglOWW4BADEquikZ_YpImsajDmjVPuw5TaKxoa8GOE2WHyN5zETmJ_azrtHqPkYDj-p9PW63aT2xN-QmrW8hhmakGfk2qEIa4eRBs8r/s320/0567696553.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3CioUni">Paul and Asklepios: The
Greco-Roman Quest for Healing and the Apostolic Mission</a> </i>(T&T Clark,
2023) by Christopher D. Stanley</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This fascinating study on healing
and medicine in the Classical World divides into two parts. The first half of
the book offers a detailed account of the different health care options that
pagans in the Greco-Roman world had. The author shows how there were
essentially four “systems” of health care that operate side by side in that
milieu. Namely, home remedies, “religious” remedies, “magical” remedies, and
proto-medical care. The dominant modality used for run-of-the-mill sicknesses
which was especially practiced by families in the countryside was the “home remedy”
tradition that often passed down from generation to generation, but sometimes
something stronger was needed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In those cases, Greco-Roman
pagans would turn to the many gods for a “religious” remedy, which usually
entailed offering a sacrifice or a prayer to a specific god with intent that
the deity help cure one’s ills. In particular, this book devotes much
discussion to the healing centers associated with temples Asklepios (a Greek
god associated with healing), but the aid of other gods were also invoked for
their supposed healing abilities. This mode of healing was officially accepted
as part of the civic religion practiced by pagan Greek and Romans. In addition,
other “unsanctioned” modes of healing — termed “magical” — were also available.
This often entailed appealing to freelance sorcerers who used various sorts of
drugs, amulets, and dream interpretation to help cure the ill by forcing the
hand of the gods. Finally, people living the Classical World also had access to
physicians who practiced early forms of what we now would recognize as medical
practice.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The first part of the book ends
with the author showing how these four systems worked side-by-side, but were
not as distinct as might be commonly thought. Instead, there was much overlap
and cross-pollinization between them, with different systems adopting and/or
adapting elements of other systems and incorporating them into its own. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The second part of the book
explores what the prevailing Jewish attitudes to health care may have been
during the first century of the Common Era. This part of the book draws from
the Bible, extra-Biblical Jewish literature, and rabbinic literature to try and
tease out what sorts of medical practices were acceptable to Jews and what was
considered beyond the pale. The author asks such questions as to what extent
Jews followed the Biblical bans against diviners and augurs when somebody’s
health might be at stake, and how Jews viewed pagan and polytheistic medical
practices that were explicitly associated with foreign gods and even invoked
their names. The book concludes with two chapters that speculate about how
Early Christians may have fit into this discussion and what positions the early
Christian leader Paul may have taken given his originally-Jewish upbringing.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3qAfOPS"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="356" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYksbfGy8jFG538Gd9v3LcYP30yRV6sAY-2l4Ta5cQ8aMZ8S_wsdLzLRZ4DOw6h3FAlxLJ3YYMZESZNrDDPShy40b1FhFuK2j23NkCq-MAg1hg_MMzBG2qNDd9qI-6zdDWuzuTYHNd7Z7HnrmmWadti3TeqI0h5e-OCxKCp79WoN5kh3ltByANAQai/s320/411UFm2hSXL._SX354_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="228" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3qAfOPS">The Six Days of Creation: The
Garden of Eden, Dinosaurs, and the Missing Billions</a></i> (Mosaica Press, 2023)
by Alexander Hool</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">By now, Rabbi Alexander Hool has
already gained a reputation for wading into questions that nobody else feels
like they can attempt to answer. In this work, he tries to deal with the
age-old question of the age of the universe. Like many other books devoted to
reconciling Torah and Science, Rabbi Hool is bothered by the wide gap between the
billions of years that science claims has elapsed since the creation of the
Earth and the mere ~5,783 years documented by traditional Jewish sources. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Like his previous books, Rabbi
Hool proposes an original and ingenious way of reconciling Torah Tradition with
secular sources. This time around, he draws on scholarship in the world of
physics — particularly Einstein’s Theory of Relativity — to draw a distinction
between fundamental time and general time. Based on that distinction, he argues
that during the Six Days of Creation, time was stretched to amount to what we would
nowadays consider a long duration of time than merely six days. This explains
why some elements of cosmology and the earth sciences seem to point to the
notion that the Earth is 13.8 billion years old. Rabbi Hool then demonstrates
how traditional Jewish sources were already aware of the notion that the
universe was expanding, but notes that according to those very same sources
this expansion stopped during the Fifth Day of Creation. Later on, Rabbi Hool
discusses the idea that dinosaurs once roamed the earth, and likewise argues
that these giant reptilians went extinct on the Fifth Day of Creation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In this intriguing work, Rabbi
Hool also engages in Jurassic paleogeography and the study of plate tectonics to
discuss how the earth’s continents may have looked in Biblical Times (Pangaea).
He does this in order to shed light on where the Garden of Eden might have been
located, how the Holy Land was located at the geographic center of the world,
and where the gold of Ophir might be found. Overall, Rabbi Hool shows great
familiarity with scholarship on geography, geology, archeology, astrophysics,
and other fields of science. His arguments are sound and well-formed, but it
would take a real expert on these topics to truly assess the accuracy of what
he presents. Whether or not what Rabbi Hool proposes is factually or
historically correct, his charming book is chockful of information on the Bible’s
creation story and how it collides with or merges with the findings of contemporary
science.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-33547492910769732972023-06-15T02:47:00.004-07:002023-06-15T12:00:35.981-07:00June 2023 Jewish Book Carnival<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjooWM-Bb-MwW56T_Z59xnXkSHfR7aDutT9dT0lK5oBiDDM9-fVfD0inD5SEo5GHi7sgepVfaGhBJfvVXa3r9q_DURA6Ucubg665nFoSafEK6vq3ij4vl40xU92wVA0-tefL3E5O44l9SKLCM8w9nd6qIWGt7zWxa06VV1OtUluceEqM92w9-HYr2D_/s1024/_03e3f714-c24e-4624-9b6c-05f3b6778525%20-%20Copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjooWM-Bb-MwW56T_Z59xnXkSHfR7aDutT9dT0lK5oBiDDM9-fVfD0inD5SEo5GHi7sgepVfaGhBJfvVXa3r9q_DURA6Ucubg665nFoSafEK6vq3ij4vl40xU92wVA0-tefL3E5O44l9SKLCM8w9nd6qIWGt7zWxa06VV1OtUluceEqM92w9-HYr2D_/w400-h400/_03e3f714-c24e-4624-9b6c-05f3b6778525%20-%20Copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com" style="font-family: inherit;">The Rachack Revew</a> <span style="font-family: inherit;">is proud to serve as the June 2023 host for the <a href="https://jewishlibraries.org/Jewish_Book_Carnival_HQ/">Jewish Book Carnival</a>, “a monthly event where bloggers who blog about Jewish books can meet, read, and comment on each others’ posts.” The posts are hosted on a participant’s site on the 15th of each month. Here are the latest book-related blog posts from the last month or so...</span><p></p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://gilagreenwrites.com/blog/author-interviews/interview-with-tara-ison" style="font-family: inherit;">Gila Green</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> interviews Tara Ison about her new book that explores Vichy France under Nazi Occupation (<a href="https://amzn.to/3JfJB7d">Amazon</a>). </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.lubavitch.com/review-my-quarrel-with-hersh-rasseyner-by-chaim-grade/">Sarah Rindner</a> reviews a newly translated book by Chaim Grade about two ex-Yeshiva students (<a href="https://amzn.to/3N8Sxw3">Amazon</a>).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/book-review-two-new-books-on-medicine-and-halacha/">Ben Rothke</a> takes a look at two new books on Medical Halacha (Both on Amazon: <a href="https://amzn.to/3Xpefkt">here</a> and <a href="https://amzn.to/3N9xg5A">here</a>).</span></li><li><span><a href="https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/american-jewry/13891/satmar-american-style/">Allan Arkush</a> introduces us to a book that explores Satmar Hassidic life in America (<a href="https://amzn.to/3NuA1jk">Amazon</a>).</span></li><li><span><a href="https://thelehrhaus.com/commentary/reclaiming-dignity-reviewed/">Laurie Novick</a> offers us a scholarly review of the newly released Reclaiming Dignity Reviewed, an edited volume with essays from many different authors on the topic of what a woman's role should be in contemporary Judaism and how that fits with the ideals of <i>tznius </i>(<a href="https://amzn.to/43GCpJv">Amazon</a>).</span></li><li><span>Over at <a href="https://seforimchatter.buzzsprout.com/1218638/12749040-with-rav-shnayor-burton-discussing-the-mitzvah-to-reside-in-eretz-yisrael-and-his-new-sefer-on-the-topic">SeforimChatter</a>, the host spoke to my friend Rabbi Shnayor Z. Burton about his new book that discusses the <i>mitzvah </i>of living in Eretz Yisroel (<a href="https://amzn.to/3XbZJfN">Amazon</a>).</span></li><li><span><div>On her <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bit.ly/2xeCE1Q&source=gmail&ust=1686333193819000&usg=AOvVaw1smjjq5-GdzVrw2SsMB3BL" href="https://bit.ly/2xeCE1Q" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">My Machberet blog</a>, Erika Dreifus routinely curates "Jewish Literary Links." <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://wp.me/p4x0h8-cQs&source=gmail&ust=1686333193819000&usg=AOvVaw2W8Aqq7Fj78gjdu2WY6kuw" href="https://wp.me/p4x0h8-cQs" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Here's one of the most recent posts</a>, sourced by London's Jewish Book Week; the upcoming Yetzirah poetry conference; the Yiddish Book Center; new publication Yafeh Zine; and more.</div></span></li><li><span><a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/one-of-the-best-english-commentaries-on-the-torah/">Israel Drazin</a> sings the praises of Koren's translation of the Pentateuch (<a href="https://amzn.to/43IjD4f">Amazon</a>).</span></li><li><span><a href="https://jewishbooksforkids.com/2023/05/18/interview-with-chris-baron-author-of-the-gray/">Barbara Bietz</a> interviews Chris Baron about his newest middle-grade novel, <i>The Gray </i>(<a href="https://amzn.to/3X61paB">Amazon</a>).</span></li><li><span><a href="https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/books/book-reviews/halachah-medicine-and-the-pandemic/2023/05/25/">Rabbi Aryeh Klapper</a> tells us about the first volume of hopes to be an annual journal dedicated to contemporary questions of medicine and Halacha published by Mosaica Press and Touro University (<a href="https://amzn.to/43KEWSQ">Amazon</a>).</span></li><li><span>Jewish fictional protagonists and historical figures are discussed in <a href="https://veronicaleighauthor.wordpress.com/2023/05/21/celestial-persuasion-a-review/">Veronica Leigh</a>'s book review of <i>Celestial Persuasion (</i><a href="https://amzn.to/3oZYLqj">Amazon</a><i>)</i>. </span></li><li><span>If you're into real Yeshiva-style scholarship, you might want to find out about what new <i>sefer </i><a href="https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/2179217/new-sefer-released-of-rav-pinchas-wachsman-shlita-shiurim-on-pesach.html">Rabbi Yair Hoffman</a> is ranting and raving.</span></li><li><span style="color: #333333;"><span><a href="http://lifelibrary-ksp.blogspot.com/2023/06/can-whole-world-be-wrong.html">Chava Pinchuk</a></span></span> recently attended a bookstore event at the famous Pomeranz book store in Jerusalem about media bias against Israel.</li><li><span>Mrs. Rachel Reese wrote a <a href="https://amzn.to/3WIAcKP">fascinating book</a> about the Jewish perspective on Christianity and the Messianic Movement.</span></li><li><span><a href="https://thewholemegillah.wordpress.com/2023/06/01/authors-notebook-the-silk-factory-by-michael-hickens/">Barbara Krasner</a> interviews Michael Hinkins about his memoir, <i>The Silk Factory: Finding Threads of My Family's True Holocaust Story </i>(<a href="https://amzn.to/3NuwWje">Amazon</a>).</span></li><li><span><div dir="ltr"><a href="https://deborahkalbbooks.blogspot.com/2023/05/q-with-susan-rubin-suleiman.html">Deborah Kalb</a> interviews Susan Rubin Suleiman about her new memoir, <i>Daughter of History </i>(<a href="https://amzn.to/3Jc2ckv">Amazon</a>).</div></span></li><li><div dir="ltr">And last but not least, my own blog, the <a href="https://rachack.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-formation-of-modern-rabbi-life-and.html">Rachack Review</a> has a book review about a biography of a Reform rabbi whose innovations continue to influence Judaism denominationally (<a href="https://amzn.to/3zrLZT0">Amazon</a>).</div></li></ul></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-46769755073415924332023-06-07T12:38:00.000-07:002023-06-07T12:38:55.658-07:00The Formation of a Modern Rabbi: The Life and Times of the Viennese Scholar and Preacher Adolf Jellinek <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3zrLZT0"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-wP2eVxAKw4m0XviuZEyriB4mvCdAHm3ki87TikgchBBAjeJw3AqtsI3AzyEvoErgqIyfvsBk06O-tGGV2J_8g9d5QeMb43AqXT_gT8x0OpDuuA8pJA1LOSEN_3XJIghQmQX3Ye2GOUkcxeA6t-PVpO_RGTdHufSgDGt9MG4gkz1x37zHSNpHaR7/s320/1951498917.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3zrLZT0">The Formation of a Modern
Rabbi: The Life and Times of the Viennese Scholar and Preacher Adolf Jellinek</a> </i>(Brown
Judaic Studies, 2022), by Samuel Joseph Kessler<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book is an intellectual
biography and study of the Moravian-born Adolf (Aharon) Jellinek (1821–1893).
In his time, Jellinek was a prominent rabbi and scholar who made significant
contributions to the development of contemporary Judaism. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Jellinek was born in Drslavice, a
small, traditional town in Moravia (then part of the Austrian Empire). He was
raised in a traditional Jewish family and received a traditional Jewish
education. His father was a respected rabbi, and his mother came from a
prominent rabbinical family. Like other children in his time and place, Jellinek's
early education focused on traditional Jewish studies (Torah, Talmud, and Halacha),
but he also studied secular subjects, such as German, mathematics, and history,
which was fairly uncommon for Jewish children at the time. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">After completing his primary
education, Jellinek went on to study at the yeshivas in Ungarsich-Brod, Prostějov,
Nikolsburg and Prague, where he became known for his exceptional intellect and
his ability to memorize large amounts of material. He was also deeply
interested in Jewish history and theology, and began to develop his own ideas
about the nature of Jewish faith and practice. Despite his traditional
upbringing, Jellinek began to question some of the traditional practices of
Judaism, particularly the emphasis on ritual and the strict adherence to Jewish
law. In doing so, he began to explore new ways of thinking about Judaism that
would be more compatible with the modern world, and would eventually become a
leading figure in the Reform movement, serving the communities of Leipzig and
later of Vienna.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In framing the rise of Reform
Judaism, the author unfortunately chose to present these liberalizing and
secularizing trends as simply the inevitable result of Jewish urbanization. The
way he presents it, as Jews moved to bigger cities and towns, they became
increasingly less concerned with the sorts of religious considerations that their
forefathers had meticulously ekpt for generations. In doing so, the author ignores
the many counterexamples in Eastern Europe where Jews also flocked to big
cities like Krakow, Lublin, and Warsaw, yet mostly continued to remain
traditional until the interwar period. Instead, the truth is that these
“enlightened” liberalizing trends are the direct results of antinomian
agitators in Western Europe, who deliberately attempted to water down Judaism
as a religion to make it more acceptable to their German Protestant neighbors.
The author obfuscates this point in order to paint Reform Judaism in a better
light and show Jellenik’s contribution to Judaism in general.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One of Jellinek's major
contributions to Reform Judaism was his emphasis on ethical monotheism, which
emphasized the ethical principles of Judaism over the traditional rituals and
practices. He believed that the Jewish faith should evolve and adapt to modern
society, while still maintaining its essential values and beliefs. This
emphasis on ethical monotheism and cultural expression influenced the thinking
of many other Jewish scholars and leaders, and helped to shape the direction of
the Reform movement.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As the author demonstrates, Jellinek
also promoted the idea of Jewish worship as a form of cultural and spiritual
expression, rather than a strict adherence to traditional religious practices. In
doing so, Jellinek advocated for the use of vernacular languages in prayer
services, rather than the traditional Hebrew, to make the services more
accessible to congregants. Jellinek's ideas and writings had a significant
impact on the development of Reform Judaism, particularly in Europe. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Under Jellenik’s influence, the
major space in which Judaism was practice moved from the home to the synagogue.
It was in his times that the prevailing paradigm developed in which a rabbi is
attached to a particular synagogue, instead of to a particular community at
large. This paradigm is the <i>modus operandi</i> of Reform and Conservative synagogues
and even influences the Orthodox communal model. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Moreover, in a precedent set by Jellenik,
it became the synagogue rabbi’s role to deliver a weekly sermon that serves to present
a “Jewish spin” on ideas discussed in current events. Previously, the rabbi’s
role was focused on issuing rulings on Halachic matters and dealing with other
community affairs, while special preachers were assigned to giving sermons.
Yet, with the Reform jettisoning of Halachah, the role of the rabbi had to be
redefined if it was to remain relevant. So instead of confining the rabbi’s
sermons to special events (like Shabbos HaGadol or Shabbos Shuvah), the rabbi’s
sermon became increasingly more prominent and frequent. These developments
continue to be standard in many denominations of Judaism nowadays, but were
considered innovative in Jellenik’s time.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Jellenik’s sermons often broached
the same general topics that were in vogue in liberal circles during his time,
like truth, freedom, and justice. In doing so, he taught about the notion of a universal
moralism shared by all of mankind, the ideal of loving the stranger, and called
for more robust interfaith relations (by embracing Christianity as Judaism’s daughter
religion to diffuse the animosity that came from centuries of Christian persecutions).
He also preached about the need to show loyalty to the government (the Habsburg
Empire in his case) and the importance of the Hebrew language and Jewish sacred
texts.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In addition to the theological musings
expressed in his sermons, Jellinek was also a prolific writer and scholar. Despite
his Reform tendencies, he appreciated rabbinic literature — especially Midrash
— and often used those teachings as springboards for discussion in his sermons.
In his capacity as a scholars of rabbinics, Jellenik authored numerous works on
Jewish history, theology, and philosophy, including a commentary on the Book of
Psalms and a biography of the Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. His most
famous work is the six-volume set <i>Beis HaMidrash</i> (published between 1853–1878),
which is an eclectic compendium comprised of a number of smaller Midrashim,
ancient and medieval homilies, and folk stories. Some of those works were later
reproduced by J. D. Eisenstein in his work <i>Otzar Midrashim</i> (New York,
NY, 1915).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="text-align: justify;">In one his more daring statements,
Jellenik wrote: “Judaism is not just a religion of the gray antiquity, but even
more a religion of the future.” Indeed, Jellinek helped shaped what would
become the future of Reform Judaism by emphasizing Modern ideas like ethical
monotheism, cultural expression, and the role of the synagogue rabbi, while deemphasizing
normative Jewish Law and dogma. Nonetheless, this watering-down of the religion
does not seem robust enough to withstand the pressures of post-Modernity, and
will likely lead to the eventual downfall of heterodox denominations, while
orthodoxy will continue into the Messianic Era.</span> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-8999003193466510752023-04-27T13:04:00.001-07:002023-04-27T13:04:18.911-07:00Greatness: Portraits of Torah Personalities Past and Present<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/409dDyT"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZVWtBQkEa101ybQafdqZ_76AX0rUXb8qS5QClERA6jvJ4ullLjxmFM98VxfYk7XyA101ZWzi8XnlyWZgBXXK7zDylhYEEWAPqchBFOKBiEpVRBIIm4pb1Jq7AfUdenTTja-NMPHKZ00-CUGqQxC04Vxw7nAI-qWf4C-3qqjL4kio2Z4DQ_9uK9sv/s320/41QLVjKkTQL._SX313_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="202" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/409dDyT">Greatness: Portraits of Torah
Personalities Past and Present</a> </i><span style="text-align: justify;">(Mosaica Press, 2022) by Eytan Kobre</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book contains a collection
of essays that Mr. Kobre wrote in <i>Mishpacha Magazine</i> outlining the lives
and achievements of various <i>Gedolim</i> (“Great Rabbis”) who lived in
America. Each chapter discusses a different rabbi and in many of the chapters,
Mr. Kobre interview students and family members of the rabbi, and in some cases
even the rabbis themselves. One interesting aspect of this book is that it does
not just discuss the <i>Gedolim</i> that many of already know about and have
read biographies on them, but rather also devotes chapters to rabbis whose names
people may have heard in the <i>Beis Midrash</i>, but are otherwise unfamiliar
with them. Likewise, this book is not confined to just discussing rabbis of
generations past, but even deals with contemporary rabbis who still walk among
us (although, unfortunately, some of those rabbis passed away since Mr. Kobre originally
wrote the chapters on them).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In presenting the stories of
these various <i>Gedolim</i>, this book does an excellent job of striking a
balance between presenting a fawning hagiographic account of the various rabbis
it discusses and giving the reader a more realistic down-to-earth sketch of the
same rabbis. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The chapter on Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
(1895–1986) was presented as the minutes of a meeting in which his various
students reminisced about their beloved Rosh Yeshiva. Rather than focusing on
Rabbi Feinstein’s role as Halachic decider for Orthodox Jews across the USA and
abroad (which has been written about at length elsewhere), Mr. Kobre chose to focus
on Rabbi Feinstein’s role as Rosh Yeshiva and mentor to many students in the
two yeshivas at whose helm he stood.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">No <i>Gedolim</i> biography can
be complete without a chapter on Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan (1838–1933) — the <i>Chofetz
Chaim </i>and his son-law Rabbi Mendel Zaks (1898–1974). For this chapter, Mr.
Kobre interviewed the <i>Chofetz Chaim</i>’s grandson Rabbi Yisroel Meir Zaks
at his home in Flatbush in order to hear more about these two great paragons of
righteousness and scholarship. In doing so, Kobre provides us with new miracles
stories (like the time that the <i>Chofetz Chaim</i> somehow knew about a local
Jew’s secret desecration of Shabbos), but also puts these stories in
perspective by citing a quip from Rabbi Avrohom Yehoshua Soloveitchik who
denied the possibility that the <i>Chofetz Chaim</i> had a special ramp in his
house to practice the rituals in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. A later chapter
is devoted to Rabbi Mendel Zak’s son Rabbi Hillel Zaks (1931–2015).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The author interviewed Rabbi
Yechiel Perr about Rabbi Yosef Yoizel Horowitz (1847–1919known as the Alter of
Novhardok, and about Rabbi Aharon Kotler (1892–1962). Indeed, an entire chapter
is dedicated to Rabbi Aharon Kotler, and a subsequent chapter is dedicated to
his daughter-in-law, Rebbetzin Rischel Kotler (1923–2015). There is also chapter
devoted to Rabbi Moshe Heinemann chronicles some of Rabbi Heinemann’s
experiences as a student of Rabbi Aharon Kotler and the guiding principles
behind Star-K.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Some lesser-known, but equally important
rabbis (if not more so) were treated to chapters in this book as well. For
example, there is a chapter devoted to Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin (1881–1973) —
one of the greatest rabbis in America in the first half of the 20<sup>th</sup>
century. This chapter particularly focuses on Rabbi Doniel Osher Kleinman’s
efforts (at the behest of Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky) to republish Rabbi Henkin’s
Halachic rulings and present them to the next generation and Rabbi Kleinman’s budding
friendship with Rabbi Henkin’s descendant Rabbi Eitam Henkin (1984–2015), who was
tragically murdered by terrorists. (The junior Rabbi Henkin was known to his fellow
researcher and colleagues online on the Otzar HaChochmah Forums as <i>Toch Kdei
Dibbur</i>).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Likewise, another chapter tells
the tragic story of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Grodzinski (1857–1947), a world-class <i>Talmid
Chacham</i> who served the Orthodox community in Omaha, Nebraska until he was
unceremoniously deposed in favor of younger blood. The bulk of this chapter is
actually dedicated to the efforts of Rabbi Myron Wakschlag and Shalom Jacob to publish
Rabbi Grodzinski’s remaining unpublished works.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In another chapter, Mr. Kobre
treats the reader to an interview he conducted with the now-deceased Rabbi
Shlomo Carlebach (1925–2022), a Holocaust survivor and scion of the Carlebach
rabbinic from Germany (not to be confused with the singer Rabbi Shlomo
Carlebach, who actually does make an appearance in another chapter). After the
War, Rabbi Carlebach came to America, where became a student of Rabbi Yitzchak
Hutner — eventually serving under him as <i>Mashgiach</i> of Mesivta Chaim
Berlin. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Rabbi Chaim Epstein (1936-2015)
is a name that those who learn in the <i>Beis Midrash</i> may have heard of (because
of his famous work on the <i>Rashba</i> to <i>Bava Basra</i>), but aren’t that
familiar with. He served as the Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta of Eastern Parkway
(also known as Yeshiva Zichron Melech) one of the most prominent students of Rabbi
Aharon Kotler and was very much sought-after for his advice. As you may have guessed,
Mr. Kobre devotes an entire chapter to telling us more about Rabbi Epstein.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">There is also a chapter about Rabbi
Levi Yitzchok Horowitz (1921–2009), known as the Bostoner Rebbe, and how he transformed
the Jewish community in Boston and touched the lives of many people, including
academic-trained professionals like Dr. Meir Wikler and Rabbi Dr. Dovid
Gottlieb. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Each of the oldest Yeshivas in
America are represented with chapters on their respective Roshei Yeshiva: For Yeshivas
Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan (Yeshiva University), there’s a chapter on Rabbi
Dovid Lifshitz (1906–1993) and Rabbi Moshe Meiselman. For Mesivta Torah VoDaas,
there’s a chapter on Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky (1891–1986). And for Ner Israel
Rabbinical College, there’s a chapter on Rabbi Dovid Kronglas (1910–1973) and another
one on Rabbi Yakkov Yitzchok Ruderman (1900–1987). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Mr. Kobre’s interview with Dr.
William Helmreich (1945–2020) concludes the book as an appendix. Dr. Helmreich was
a frum sociologist, who famously interviewed various Yeshiva heads and students
to provide a unique study on the Yeshiva World.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">All in all, Mr. Kobre’s book provides
a compelling collection of essays about lesser-known and well-known great
rabbis who lived in America, striking a balance between presenting hagiographic
accounts and realistic sketches of these rabbis. Some of the stories the author
relates presents us with the human side of these great Torah luminaries, with
the implicit lesson that we too can become like them. Yet on the other hand, the
same book spells out what exactly made these rabbis special and unique. Mr.
Kobre's interviews with family members and students of the rabbis add a
personal touch to the stories. This book will make you laugh, it will make you cry, but above all it will inspire. Overall, the book provides an insightful and
informative read for anyone interested in the history and lives of these influential
rabbis in America (and it has a really cool cover, thanks to Mosaica Press' graphics talented team).<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-42534391272600857262023-04-21T06:55:00.000-07:002023-04-21T06:55:08.975-07:00The Jewish Intellectual Tradition: A History of Learning and Achievement <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3lYxenH"><img border="0" data-original-height="2240" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs114xcg7gI8W_5v5mrgG4FmhLhGD2h0k4wzcyze2QJ4f-uNl9-QqbHC1OvgTsYBEfmr9TwTGE7pw2ZVTEX79HlDAbrTdk3jzNQf4pKut-9-rC1KVxH8_QFMQNEX_P78ItJZAdVg9rJzQDmlPnDAAuS3HHP1RO8k4BuxH9ON6ZnRaQ-CaKwWSaGETD/s320/9781644695340%20(1).jpg" width="214" /></a></span></div><p><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3lYxenH">The Jewish Intellectual
Tradition: A History of Learning and Achievement</a></i><span style="text-align: justify;"> (Academic Studies Press,
2022) by Alan Kadish, Michael A. Shmidman, & Simcha Fishbane</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The Jewish intellectual tradition
is a rich and complex tapestry woven from centuries of study, contemplation,
and creative expression. The literary output produced by that tradition broadly
spans many different genres, including the study of Talmud (Halacha and
Aggadah), Kabbalah, Morality/Ethics, Philosophy, Language, and Science
(including Physics, Astronomy, and Medicine) — not to mention creative writing
in prose and poetry. In this book, the authors provide a comprehensive overview
of Jewish history as a story of learning and scholarly achievement, exploring
the ways in which Jewish thinkers, scholars, and artists have shaped the course
of Western civilization.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In the first part of the book,
the authors trace the place of learning and intellectual achievement from the
High Middle Ages to contemporary times. In doing so, they highlight various key
figures (some more well-known than others), like Rabbi Shmuel HaNaggid
(993–1056), Nachmanides (1194–1270), Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh de Modena (1571-1648),
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808–1880), and Dr. Harry A. Wolfson (1887–1974).
In doing so, the authors use a refreshing literary device of imagining to
document the personal libraries of these famous historical figures, and
contemplating what works might have been there and how they may have affected
the figures in question. The authors would also hone in on one particular event
in the biographies of these figures by painting a complete picture of that
moment and the context in which it transpired.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In this book, some important
genres of Jewish intellectual tradition are given the short shrift, even though
they are fundamental to some parts of the greater community. There are even
some genres in which there was ample output within the Jewish intellectual
tradition, yet the authors chose to omit them entirely, like the folk magic/<i>segulah</i>
literature (as a separate field from Kabbalah), polemics (like the many
anti-Christian works produced), and homilies (especially those that focus on
the weekly Parashah or holidays).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One recurring theme in this work
is the balancing act in which Jewish intellectuals throughout the ages had to
engage. On the hand, reverence and awe of tradition and precedent are
long-established values in Jewish thought. Yet on the other hand, intellectual
thinkers are always creative and innovative in ways that do not necessarily
jibe with the past. Especially in the realm of religion, new ideas have to come
in communion with old ideas already in place. The authors show how the various
scholars discussed in this work grappled with this issue in different ways.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">A core part of the authors’
argument is that the same guiding principles that contributed to various <i>religious</i>
Jewish intellectual output also influence <i>secular</i> Jewish intellectual
output. This point remains unproven but is asserted multiple times by the
authors. It essentially means that thoroughly irreligious Jews who helped shape
Western civilization, like Albert Einstein (1879–1955) and Sigmund Freud
(1856–1939), were influenced by Jewish concepts of education and learning, even
though they themselves were not practicing Jews and not continuing in the tradition
of their forebearers, per se.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One of the most impressive
aspects of the book is the breadth of the authors’ knowledge, which, of course,
matches the wide scope of the topic they are writing about. They draw from a vast
range of sources — from classical texts to contemporary academic research — to
provide a comprehensive overview of the Jewish intellectual tradition. At the
same time, they write with precision, clarity, and passion, thus making the
material accessible to readers of all levels of expertise.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Overall, this book is an
outstanding contribution to the field of Jewish studies, and a must-read for
anyone interested in the Jewish intellectual tradition at large. Its insightful
and engaging exploration of the ways in which Jewish thought has shaped Western
civilization is sure to leave a lasting impression on readers for years to come.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-57637546538878513372023-03-30T04:25:00.000-07:002023-03-30T04:25:13.292-07:00The Cultural Legacy of the Pre-Ashkenazic Jews in Eastern Europe<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3YNKxoI"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQP-br2Om6Nbm0qycZgIAMBZ87En6BWUC2JnxCJHfKGXqU1heFAv2ed3FwJfXvR0wOrmjPipZJYnlX9_p_6nBfskCE8K_2wumZ1lxPsLQ9o3L1LOR5ul2tf8eH7k6L8mk5MwX9dIrTpkHrXjKt59Zb0rTnYX3o3G_kRJnHRmRTfkHWDyOv83w6X_OR/s320/0520390784.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3YNKxoI">The Cultural Legacy of the Pre-Ashkenazic Jews in Eastern Europe </a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(University of California Press, 2023) by Moshe Taube</span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e4e6fdb8-7fff-277d-7dea-c2685b5ac22a"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While many of us think of Ashkenazim as ubiquitous to Eastern Europe, there was a time when the Jews who lived in the areas now called Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus, were not actual descendants of the original Ashkenazim who lived in France and Germany about a millennium ago. Before the rise of such rabbinic luminaries as Rabbi Yaakov Pollak (1460-1541), Rabbi Shalom Shachna (1510–1558), Rabbi Shlomo Luria (1510–1573), and Rabbi Moshe Isserles (1530–1572), the Jews native to Eastern Europe were a simple and rather ignorant folk. This community is not well-known squarely because it failed to produce any important rabbis or scholars. Rabbi Yitzchok Ohr Zarua of Vienna (1200–1270) already decried the ignorance of the Jews living in Poland, Hungary, and Russia in his times.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first Jews of Eastern Europe were of a distinct variety who spoke a Judeo-Slavic dialect known to scholars as Knaanic. This dialect was later rendered obsolete by the arrival German/Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazim, whose language became somewhat influenced by Knaanic, but also essentially caused it to fizzle out. These Slavic Jews came from the south, that is, areas that were under the Byzantine Empire, as well as from Persia and Babylonia. The presence of these Jews in Eastern Europe even predated the Christianization of Kievan Rus, as these Jews are already attested to starting from the tenth century. Interestingly, the pre-Ashkenazic Jews in Eastern Europe had their own onomastic traditions, which include peculiar personal names that are neither Ashkenazic or Sefardic (like Chanuka, Sinai, Gostyata, Kibar, and Kupin).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dr. Moshe Taube has written extensively on this little-known Jewish community and this book specifically focuses on one particular aspect of that community: translations produced under their auspices.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dearth of scholarship coming from pre-Ashkenazic Eastern European Jews makes whatever small pieces of their literary output that do exist all the more interesting. Even though as far as we know, these Jews did not produce much original scholarship, they apparently engaged in translating. Thus, the “cultural legacy” alluded to in this book’s title refers to three groups of texts produced by these early Russian Jews which show their engagement with intellectual scholarship.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first translated text that Taube discusses is a rendering of the Biblical Book of Esther in the Ruthenian dialect of Eastern Slavic. In a lengthy discussion on this specimen, Taube argues that this translation does not prove that the early Russian Jews in question were familiar with Hebrew, because he finds that this translation was actually of a Judeo-Greek rendering of the Biblical book, and was therefore not directly translated from Hebrew.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The second group of translated texts that Taube addresses are Slavic renderings of Hebrew books like </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yossiphon</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (written in tenth century Italy, but loosely based on the writing of the Jewish-Roman historian Flavius Josephus) and the pseudo-Midrashic work </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Divrei HaYamim L’Moshe Rabbeinu</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. These translations were written in Cyrillic and while the textual interpolations show that the editors or translators were learned in Jewish texts, they also contained anti-Jewish Christological teachings. Regarding these texts, the author argues that they were probably written for a Christian audience by Jews who converted to Christianity. Part of his reason for making this argument is that unlike in Europe were a Christian Hebraist movement sprung up at various times and places, in the East Slavic lands no such phenomenon existed, such that if somebody could read Hebrew, he was most likely Jewish.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, a third group of texts were translated from Hebrew into East Slavic in the 1400s. These texts are largely scientific (mathematical, astrological, and medical) and philosophic works, with some Biblical texts as well. Some of those works were originally written in Arabic and then translated into Hebrew, so that the Slavic translations were actually translations of translations. Taube concludes about some of these texts that they were produced as collaborations between Jewish translators and Slavic scribes from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regarding the Biblical texts that these translators produced, some scholars have claimed that they written for Christians living in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who wanted to read the Bible in its original Hebrew alongside a translation in their Slavic vernacular, while other scholars claim they were produced for Jews living in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who did not know Hebrew. Taube rejects both of those theories as unsupported by the evidence available. Interestingly, Taube notes that when it comes the Biblical Book of Daniel, the Ruthenic translation only translated the Hebrew parts of that book into the contemporary dialect of East Slavic, but the Aramaic parts of the book were rendered in the Old Church Slavonic, which was by then considered largely archaic.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the book’s final chapter, Taube introduces the reader to the first rabbinic authors in Eastern Europe who — surprisingly — were not of Ashkenazi descent. The earliest of these was Rabbi Moshe HaGolah of Kiev (1449-1520), who originally hailed from Constantinople. He wrote more than five </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">seforim</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and was known for helping establishing the Crimean </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nusach</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which incorporated elements of the Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Italian, and Persian rites. Another figure from that time was a Jewish scribe and copyist named Zechariah (Scharia/Skhariya) ben Aharon HaKohen. Taube associates the latter with the so-called Heresy of the Judaizers that was strongly persecuted by local church officials. That Jewish “mission to the Slavs,” Taube surmises, was based on the eschatological views of Rabbi Moshe HaGolah who saw the End of Days as arriving on or near 1492. Based on all of this, Taube suggests that perhaps the third group of translations were associated with these proselytizing Jews.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All in all, Dr. Moshe Taube (Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and Slavic Studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem) — who is considered one of the world’s leading experts on pre-Ashkenazic Eastern Europe Jewry — has produced an interesting study on a topic that is not well-known outside of the circle of scholars who study it. </span></p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-32130631169937295722023-03-13T12:00:00.000-07:002023-03-13T12:00:04.836-07:00Godly: To be or to Become, A Scientific Approach <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3jP2AMn"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_eZ5Wr93CQtGf-O8o3K0FkO32zz66IzhFic5xSnONkISWBDlIT6pQ-_zA7CIY4CgLv1rDdCqwK6KWNS4siaNCWUftsF-WFgSDooeNSCvTfScbMCehpkyWiWoi61lWbtDl8q3if1Z8yK7vy7ecuijma3u8n6ITkMPJpnQWGqhvazO7Aa7LnYCCxzmT/s320/B09WZY3NT6.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3jP2AMn">Godly: To be or to Become, A Scientific
Approach</a> </i><span style="text-align: justify;">(2022) by Pashang Salehi</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book delves into the idea of
belief and how it shapes our understanding of life, consciousness, and
individuality. It challenges the reader to question their preconceived notions
and dogma. In doing so, the author invites readers to set aside their
preconceived ideas about God, creation, religion, and even science to
reconsider the world from what he considers a fresh and unbiased perspective. Mr.
Salehi combines teachings from ancient Sufism and Zoroastrianism with Spinoza’s
Naturalism and scientific discussions in an attempt to redefine what we know
about the world and shed new light on the nature of existence.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book does a great job of
showing the limits of science. Yet, while the author would agree that there are
questions that science cannot answer right now, he remains committed that
science will eventually be able to answer all those questions. He compares this
to a Magic Eye picture, whereby one cannot see the hidden picture at first, but
by just looking at it, one will eventually come to see the hidden picture. Of
course, this is a religious-like belief in the primacy of science. It is
essentially the <i>theism</i> in a<i>theism</i>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Yet, true to his Spinozist
influences, the author balks at the notion of being called an atheist. Benedict
Spinoza held a monist view of the universe, in which everything (including God
and nature), was seen as a single substance, rather than a duality of the
physical and spiritual. He believed that God and nature were effectively synonymous,
and that everything that existed was the result of natural processes and laws.
He was considered a heretic by the religious because he essentially limited God
to that which is perceivable by scientific inquiry, but is also seen as
persona-non-grata in the scientific world because he ultimately believed in a
Prime Mover that guides all the natural processes of which he spoke so highly. Instead
of accepting the atheist label, the author seems himself as a deist (or at best
as a sort of agnostic), who admittedly remains ignorant of the real
underpinnings of the world. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One important theme in the book
is man’s insignificance vis-à-vis the rest of the vast and magnificent creation.
A major part of Sufi thought is that man cannot understand or perceive all of
reality. Similarly, from a purely scientific perspective, man looks like a blip
on the screen. In expanding on this idea, the author likens man's place in the
world to a small virus' place inside a person’s body. I found this a very
intriguing idea, but am comforted by Jewish teachings that still tout man’s
centrality to creation, even if it cannot be quantified on a scientific level. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The author presents Zoroastrianism
(the Old Persian religion before the advent of Islam) as a monotheistic
religion and partially adopts elements of its theology in his worldview. In
general, Zoroastrianism is usually not considered monotheistic, because it believes
in Dualism with Hurmuz (Ahura Mazda) and Ahriman as two separate deities who
compete with each other. However, Salehi argues that because this Dualism is
ultimately played out in one world, it must not represent a true contradiction.
This means that the two opposite forces are two components of one holistic
unit, but are not necessarily pitted against each other. He notes that once we
realize who we are, then we can understand that every aspect of life is made of
a balanced interaction of seemingly opposite forces. These forces do not cancel
each other out, but complement each other. In this view, duality is actually the
fabric of nature and is so deeply embedded that it is impossible to deny. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The author takes a very Naturalistic
approach to the complexities of man's thoughts and how it relates to his actions.
In essence, Salehi reduces the mind to simply various neurons shooting around
randomly in one’s brain telling a person what to think and do. This
deterministic approach has many ugly implications. The author fails to mention
that even in the world of science, there has been much research as of late into
consciousness, which is something beyond a mere neurological pattern. Professors
like Dr. David Chalmers and Dr. Roger Scruton have proposed understanding the
brain through paradigms similar to what religious people call a
"soul." <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In this reviewer’s opinion, the
author somewhat overstates the objectivity of science — even when it comes to
the so-called “hard sciences.” In the academic world, even mathematics and
physics have become subject to the very subjective barometer of wokeness, and
are not as objective as they once were. In fact, "accepting your
biases" has become the mantra of the social sciences, and has turned
science into a sort of religion. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The classically religious person,
on the other hand, believes that there are things higher than science. These
things cannot be perceived by the eye or by any sensory input and never will
be. For example, things like values and morals cannot be derived from science.
That is where religion comes in. The only thing science can tell us about these
sorts of things is "the survival of the fittest," which creates a
dreadful world where only the fastest and strongest people can live and
reproduce, everyone else can legitimately be just knocked off and killed. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">That is exactly the picture view
of mankind presented by anthropologist Yuval Noah Hariri (whom the author
fondly cites). Hariri describes a horrible world with much competition, wherein
people banded together in order to survive. The way he puts it, the mere fact
of humans joining together caused man to be more successful than other
creatures. According to this thoroughly secular and “scientific” view, there is
nothing inherently special about man. Hariri’s anti-anthropocentrist approach
is similar to what the Mr. Salehi presents in this book.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">A major thesis that the author
argues is that the answer to most questions is that one has to know oneself.
I'm not sure exactly how this is supposed to work and what influence “knowing
oneself” should have on one’s epistemology and how it can answer life’s deepest
questions unless the author is calling for a relativistic approach whereby
multiple truths can concurrently be true for multiple people.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Interestingly, besides the
prosaic discussions of science and its contours, the author also intersperses several
English poems that he wrote in the style of Persian poetry. These poems provide
a breath of fresh air to the book, and help make the heavy information a bit
lighter to digest. I found this very fascinating because poetry tends to be a highly
individualized and subjective form of expression, while science is supposed to
be cold, calculated, and objective. The author himself, of course, would reply
that this either-or duality is just a mirage, because science and poetry can,
in fact, live side by side in harmony.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">After finishing the book, my
initial reaction was disappointment that the author did not actually propose a
new idea that answers all of the questions that he raised; he merely put to
paper different ideas for his reader’s consideration. Yet, upon further
reflection, I was relieved to find that I am not the only person who does not
have all the answers. At worst, this book can serve as a useful refresher on
the state of science (especially biology) as it is holding now. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Born to a secular Muslim family
in Pahlavi Iran, Mr. Salehi studied science in America before settling in Rowland
Heights, California. He bases his worldview on science, alongside the unlikely
combination of Sufism, Zoroastrianism, and Spinozism. A major part of Salehism
is the notion that “we see things as we are, not as they are.” Throughout his
book, the author makes very interesting connections and raises quite intriguing
questions that the reader will enjoy thinking about and chewing over. In the
interest of transparency, I must disclose that Mr. Salehi was my high school
science teacher at Yeshiva Gedolah of Los Angeles, where he taught for close to
thirty years. In this book, I have encountered a far more mellow and humble Mr.
Salehi than the persona he played in the classroom.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-55643786828788975792022-12-01T11:02:00.000-08:002022-12-01T11:02:41.805-08:003 Books from 2022<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3Gyk08K"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_K0K0OfNr_QHAeM41ZNIGOAyFAY_nFi1Q7Vcsky-dD-gKdmiaTsZNZ_UNFzNWMwvi9XoFmt_oRuQIpELEGOI19HrnDqR1ya8nqp-NhdETgSMREYLks3yvwwscnps0zObh6Goo6A8a6Ls3slpsIZOVxQpuVSWTpmavke_h_QqXBX3vuh6xnENJflRk/s320/41lf-W4PeeL._SX313_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="202" /></a></span></div><p><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3Gyk08K">Gematria Refigured: A New Look at How the Torah
Conveys Ideas Through Numbers</a></i><span style="text-align: justify;"> (Mosaica Press, 2022), by Rabbi Dr. Elie
Feder</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com/">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Many of us have long been turned
off by the way that unsophisticated preachers and popular speakers have abused
the modality of <i>gematria </i>(“alpha-numerical calculations”) to superficially
“prove” all kinds of ideas that make us uncomfortable. On the one hand, we know
that Chazal call <i>gematria</i> “toppings to wisdom” (<i>Avos</i> 3:18), yet
on the other hand we’ve seen many unwise people harness <i>gematria</i> for all
sorts of purposes. How do these two notions jibe?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Rabbi Dr. Elie Feder, a <i>maggid
shiur </i>and professor of mathematics, offers a partial answer to this
question in his excellent, thought-provoking book. He offers a framework that
shows how Chazal (and especially Rashi’s commentary to the Pentateuch) used <i>gematria
</i>in a very controlled way and for very specific purposes. He argues that
Chazal understood that <i>gematria </i>is an appropriate
exegetical/hermeneutical tool when used to unpack textual ambiguities in Tanach
that must refer to a quantity, but do not explicitly do so. Meaning, when the
Scripture uses a word in the exact context where we would otherwise expect it
to provide a number, the rabbis understood that that word (or set of words)
must be interpreted in a number-like fashion — that is, <i>gematria</i>, which
empties a word of its semantic meaning and finds meaning through its numerical
value.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Using this novel methodology, the
twelve chapters of this fascinating book elucidate fifteen different cases in
which Chazal invoked <i>gematria</i> as part of their textual interpretation. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">To give one example, in Chapter
6, the author discusses the Talmudic assertion that the default duration of a
Nazirite vow is thirty days (<i>Nazir</i> 5a). This rule is derived by way of <i>gematria
</i>from the word <i>tihiyeh </i>in the verse, “all the days of his Nazirite
vow, a razor shall not pass over his head; until the completion of the days
that he had separated himself for God, he shall be (<i>tihiyeh</i>) holy
..." (Num. 6:5). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In explaining the logic behind
this exegesis, Feder offers a scholarly analysis of the meaning of the Nazirite
vow and follows the Maimonidean understanding that the Nazirite vow is a useful
device to help wean a person from unbridled indulgence towards a more moderate
lifestyle. After providing the reader with that background, Feder makes it
clear how this would mean that the Nazirite vow, by its very nature, is only a
temporary treatment that will help shift a person into the right gear. Yet, if
the Nazirite vow is inherently only to be used as a temporary fix, why then
does the Torah not provide us with a clear quantifiable amount of time that the
vow is to last? In lieu of explicitly providing us with such a quantity, the
Torah merely uses the vague term <i>tihiyeh </i>(“he shall be”) without
qualification. As Feder explains it to us, it is precisely in cases like this
where Chazal understood that the lexeme in question should be understood
through a different paradigm than its normal semantic sense, and therefore they
employed <i>gematria </i>to argue that since the alpha-numerical value of the
word <i>tihiyeh </i>is thirty, the standard/default duration of a Nazirite vow
is thirty days.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Rabbi Feder’s book is brimming
with these sorts of well-grounded discussions and insights that support the
argument that <i>gematria </i>(as used by Chazal) is not mere sophistry, but is
a valid and sound methodological tool. Throughout the book, Rabbi Feder provides
the reader with many other interesting thoughts about things like the names of
God, the nature of idolatry, the story of Esther, and the prohibition of
counting Jews. Time and again, the author stresses the importance of taking
quantity into account (like when weighing one’s inevitably sins versus one’s deliberate
<i>mitzvos</i>) and not just viewing things from a qualitative perspective. His
ideas are clearly informed by the sort of Rationalist Judaism taught by his
teacher Rabbi Israel Chait, and his analogies often draw from the world of
science. In short, this book is innovative, thought-provoking, and quite
interesting.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3C0R7hT"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="326" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6z0DAF-bLDdvofLikjE4-139SBgTXX7rMxIbgIP_xysLRfsBO1fKm3Z62i1mSPAiFwZivkJc6gxfDR2pVKFbHga3Cg0pM6jpDXBITXCPy8xqXNq-roFnmRNAihiCJBAanUM8cf9FbC-COdHkKJibAp6WNOteTBYaDdVPnzAvYIkP_fvk6owlfEsGh/s320/41tT1oHm9EL._AC_SY780_.jpg" width="236" /></a></span></div><a href="https://amzn.to/3C0R7hT"><br /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3C0R7hT">Rays
of Wisdom: Torah Insights that Light up our Understanding of the World</a></i><i>
</i>(Eshel Publications Inc., 2022), by Rabbi Mattisyahu Rosenblum</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com/">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book offers a sophisticated,
modern way of looking at some very decidedly Orthodox ideas and notions. The late
author was a graduate of Yale University and long-time Rebbe at Machon Yaakov
in Jerusalem. (His is also the younger brother of the world-renowned Chareidi
author and journalist Jonathan Rosenblum). Unfortunately, the author passed
away at a young age and was unable to see the actual publication of this book
into which he had poured his last energies.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">About half the essays are
presented as Rabbi Rosenblum’s correspondence with a former student (“Jordan”),
and the rest are well-written stand-alone compositions (mostly related to the Weekly
Parashah and yearly events). In almost every essay, the author translates deep,
almost-Kabbalistic ideas into an easily-accessible English. Many of these ideas
are drawn from the teachings of the late Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, plus <span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">יבלחט"א</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span lang="HE"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> </span>Rabbis Aharon Lopiansky and Beryl Gershenfeld — although
the author often adds his own spin to the discussion.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book grapples with questions
like how to care about the environment from a traditional perspective, and how
a nuanced Ultra-Orthodox take on such ideologies as Relativism, Zionism, and
Feminism might look. The essays are both illuminating and inspiring, showing a
level of sophistication and erudition that befits an intellectual Torah Scholar
of the author’s caliber. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3RDTL3A"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_esj2PxTBIvg7HmmqIeeNtBffYi6Oki2WnpEL4Xs7VED2zSL9Fdh5kwiQ8Ka7J5Woypn1eyQ3kFqBZmgOQumfvIHdl3c7qo1x9tQGyC07p76IF1FaMms0-y5OFVCEWEsoVpU2d5_jN2OT_Md_ivOAM5R2vMxs45ThJnb6jrFGyDWmmMc5m5AxVvi/s320/41d4imVw9sL._AC_SY780_.jpg" width="202" /></a></span></div><a href="https://amzn.to/3RDTL3A"><br /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3RDTL3A">The Shofar: Halachos, Minhagim, and Mesorah</a></i><i> </i>(Mosaica
Press, 2022), by Benzion Ettlinger</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com/">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book is a fascinating collection
of everything you ever wanted to know about the laws/customs of blowing the <i>shofar
</i>and its associated rituals. The author — a descendant of the great Rabbi
Yaakov Ettlinger, author of the <i>Aruch L’Ner</i> — is a seasoned <i>baal
tokeia</i> from the KAJ community in Washington Heights. He collected many
Halachic rulings and customs related to the <i>shofar</i> and the various ways
of fulfilling the commandments of Rosh Hashanah from many different sources. These
sources include a wide variety of <i>seforim </i>and mimetic traditions. The
author was very close with Rabbi Shimon Schwab and cites him along with other
important figures from his community.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One of the things that makes this
book unique is that he talks about customs practiced by many different types of
Jewish communities (including Yekkes, Sephardim, Teimnanim, Briskers, and
more). In doing so, he discusses things like how to blow the <i>shofar</i>, how
many blasts each community is accustomed to blowing, what to look out for when
buying a <i>shofar</i>, and whether it is permitted to have a <i>kiddush</i> on
Rosh Hashanah morning before fulfilling the commandment of <i>shofar</i>.
Ettlinger’s work also features inspirational insights related to the <i>shofar </i>mostly
drawn, of course, from the theological works of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch,
but also from Chassidic thinkers like the <i>Sefas Emes</i> and the Novominsker
Rebbe. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately, the bilingual
presentation of the book makes following the footnotes somewhat confusing, and
in the publisher’s great haste to release the book before Rosh Hashanah, there
were multiple typographical/editorial oversights which should be fixed before
the next edition. But these issues should not detract from a very interesting
and easy-to-read compendium on all matters related to the <i>shofar</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-59189532100202727602022-10-26T03:45:00.003-07:002022-10-26T03:45:40.057-07:00 Strauss, Spinoza, & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3LBJRgP"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fJcIvR-PkFb9CPNB9KXHTKtnOtTLOb6Umhy7GYiwhEU_JqS6AdJHO42Kx7XUWFjfXCTJyFTjxkKDsLA7F75GzBGRoYwqnxAjOD92Qz_9j7DBLG3TE152G4pz2oFI8sRvpwdR4FM19-yrhn2PLwlI_SDBBi5sS6BNrGuHXvUPbxST10gyIA5jBWee/s320/9781947857728.jpg" width="214" /></a></span></div><p><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3LBJRgP">Strauss, Spinoza, & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism
and Modern Questions of Faith</a></i><span style="text-align: justify;"> (Kodesh Press, 2022), edited by Jeffrey
Bloom, Alec Goldstein, & Gil Student</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I love the basic premise of this book.<span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span> </span>For the uninitiated, Leo Strauss
(1899–1973) is known in scholarly circles for bringing the dichotomy between
philosophy (Athens) and revelation (Jerusalem) to the fore. Benedict (Baruch)
Spinoza (1632–1677) is infamous as the prototypical Jewish heretic, who left
the fold without converting to Christianity or Islam and purported to have
presented a philosophical refutation of Judaism that continues to influence
secularist attacks on religion to this day. Yet, in one of his many philosophical
musings, Strauss commented that Spinoza’s refutation only applies “if orthodoxy
claims to <i>know</i> that the Bible is divine revealed, that every word of the
Bible is divinely inspired, that Moses was the writer of the Pentateuch, that
the miracles recorded in the Bible have happened, and similar things.” Yet,
Strauss concedes “but the case is entirely different if orthodoxy limits itself
to <i>asserting that it believes </i>the aforementioned things…” This book
explores whether Strauss’ back-handed defense of Orthodoxy can be acceptable
from an Orthodox perspective.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">To do that, the editors of this
volume solicited essays broadly aimed at answering this particular question from
various contemporary Orthodox Jewish thinkers. The book consists of seventeen such
essays (arranged in alphabetical order by author’s surname), plus an
introduction by Jeffrey Bloom that lays out the question and a conclusion. As
to be expected, there is much overlap within the discussions of the various
contributors; but unfortunately, the book does not have a proper index which
could help the reader map out where similar issues are broached. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Most of the essayists — like
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz and Rabbi Shalom Carmy — understandably reject the notion
that Judaism suffices with a call for <i>belief</i> in God and the Torah,
instead clarifying that Judaism is about <i>knowing </i>Him and His Torah in a
sort of <i>personal</i> way. On the other hand, Rabbi Gil Student toys with the
idea that <i>belief </i>itself is a form of <i>knowledge</i>, or that <i>belief</i>
can only come into play once we’ve reached a stalemate on the question <i>knowledge</i>.
Rabbi Dr. Ari Kahn similarly contends that the question of <i>belief </i>versus
<i>knowledge</i> boils down to one of semantics and really depends on how one
defines those terms. As is his way, Kahn musters the force of many difference
sources within Jewish tradition to highlight these various possibilities. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Other contributors, like Rabbi
Avraham Edelstein, take this discussion in a slightly different direction,
dismantling the logical moves that Spinoza made and showing how Judaism is the
most viable hypothesis, even if to some extent, it requires a leap of faith.
They elaborate on how biases and preconceived assumptions (under the guise of
unchallengeable “axioms”) color the objectivity of “scientific” inquiry into
the reality of God and the Torah. The postmodern world has come to realize the
presence of such biases more than ever, and Mrs. Simi Peters offers a nuanced
take on how this affects the question of Strauss’s defense of orthodoxy. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In his unique way, Rabbi Jeremy
Kagan offers a synthesis based on the unlikely combination of teachings from
Dr. Karsten Harries of Yale University and Rabbi Moshe Shapiro. Using the two
thinkers together, he criticizes the sort of self-centered thinking that
motivated Spinoza and his ilk, seeing their approach as the eventual consequence
of a shift in mental paradigms. This shift causes modern man to no longer feel
the urgent need to worship a higher force/deity, that was more palpably felt during
ostensibly more primitive times. In lieu of worshipping a god, modern man turns
inwards and hubrically worships himself. While this approach appears esoteric
and metaphysical on its surface, the Axial Age revolution which brought about
this paradigm shift has actually been recognized and studied by philosophers,
historians, and anthropologists.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Rabbi Meir Triebitz similarly
criticizes Spinoza’s very limited definition of <i>knowledge</i>. He draws a
distinction between <i>reductive</i> reasoning (which haughtily seeks to <i>reduce</i>
all of reality as subject to knowable rules) and <i>emergent</i> reasoning
(which meekly takes at face value whatever <i>emerges</i> from the unknowable
Divine via revelation), arguing that while Spinoza (and paganism in general)
follow the first approach, classical Judaism calls for a blend of the two
methods.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Another trend in this book is the
pivoting away from the sorts of formal logical arguments championed by
pre-Kantian philosophers. This pivot leads to appeals for Judaism that are not
rooted in the sort of Cartesian logic on which Spinoza bases his arguments.
These sorts of approaches find evidence for Judaism in its value as the
continuation of a specific legacy/tradition, in the Torah’s aesthetic beauty,
in the pragmatic benefits of the religion, and in appeals to religious
experience. These arguments are developed at length by Dr. Joshua Golding and
Alec Goldstein, who show the pros and cons of such approaches. Rabbi Eliezer
Zobin expands on the Hassidic notion of self-knowledge of God (possibly the
same thing as experiential knowledge of Him) as a legitimate form of knowledge
no less compelling than deductive or inductive reasoning. Whenever discussing
pragmatic reasons for adopting Orthodox Judaism, Pascal’s Wager always looms
large. But several contributors pointed out that Pascal himself was not swayed
by his own argument, and instead was pushed toward religion by his own
first-hand encounter with the Divine.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In what I personally consider a particularly
compelling argument, Mrs. Simi Peters makes the case that the major appeal to
Judaism comes from history and the unique identity forged by Jewish memory. But
that’s just my personal taste, because I like to consider myself
historically-oriented and naught but a link in the chain of the transmission of
Jewish tradition.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Several of the authors who
contributed to this volume used well-developed parables to sharpen their
points. Notably, Dr. Moshe Koppel employed an amusing analogy that compared the
discussion at hand to something that might occur in the fictional city of
Metropolis, whose residents might debate the reality of Superman. Rabbi Dr.
Samuel Lebens offers a similar analogy to a debate with conspiracy theorists
who argue that William Shakespeare was merely a penname for somebody else.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Paul Franks challenges the reader
to consider whether Maimonidean-style inquiry can still serve as a model of a
rational form of Judaism nowadays. In doing so, he explores the value of
approaching God from a Buberian I-Thou model. This seems to be rehashing the
experiential angle with slightly different terminology. Shmuel Philips deals
with a similar problem and presents a reading of Maimonidean philosophy in
which the whole purpose of religion is to help one shed one’s subjectivity and
achieve objectivity.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">R. Dr. Mark Gottlieb and Dr.
Joshua I. Weinstein are the only contributors who really delved into Strauss’
other writings and betray a deeper understanding of Strauss’ thought as a
whole. Gottlieb argues that while Strauss’ noble defense of Orthodoxy does not
quite line up with what Orthodoxy itself maintains, it is nonetheless a useful
philosophical unmasking of the motives and biases of those who claim to have
refuted Orthodox Judaism. Weinstein similarly points out the serious flaws with
Strauss’ writings on Judaism and Maimonides, by noting that Strauss is woefully
uninformed about Judaism and is simply ignorant of basic rabbinic sources like
the Talmud and Midrashim. This makes it much harder for one to take seriously
anything that Strauss claims about Judaism or Maimonides.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The real question that undergirds
the entire book is the epistemological question of what constitutes valid
sources of information in arguing for or against Judaism. This question is
implicitly asked on every page but is barely addressed explicitly. Because each
contributor employs slightly different epistemological assumptions, some of the
well-argued essays in this work end up in unexpected places, like offering what
seem to be sound philosophical defenses of such theologies as <i>Da’as Torah </i>and,
<i>l’havdil</i>, Orthopraxy. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">While a cynical reader might
simply dismiss this book as mere apologetics, the discerning reader can
recognize its value as a well-spring of intellectual frameworks for answering
the basic questions of Judaism in modern times. The end of Rabbi Gil Student’s
essay offers several helpful strategies for reducing the sort of destructive cynicism
that is so rampant nowadays. These include “personal acquaintance with saintly
rabbis” (page 262), which may help lead to establishing rabbis — both
contemporary and historical — as trustworthy figures and bearers of tradition.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">After presenting all of these
essays, the book closes with a conclusion by the editors that summarizes and
compares the different approaches taken up by the various contributors. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I, for one, would have enjoyed reading
essays on this topic from even more contemporary Jewish thinkers that I otherwise
read or listen to, like David P. Goldman (whose writings are dripping with nihilism
vs. existentialism), Ben Shapiro (whose 2019 book argues that the influence of
Jerusalem on Athens has often been understated), Moshe Halbertal (whose
scholarship features a rare combination of rabbinics and philosophy), Natan
Slifkin (whose blog serves as the mouthpiece of “Rationalist Judaism”), David
Bashevkin (whose work in the forefront of Jewish Education directly relates to
the questions at hand), Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz, Rabbi Dr. Dovid Gottlieb
(from Ohr Somayach), Rabbi Yitzchak Adlerstein, Rabbi Johnny Solomon, and Rabbi
Arnie Wittenstein (who are all well-educated <i>Talmidei Chachamim</i> that
undoubtedly have important and interesting ideas to contribute to the
discussion). I’ve been told that some of these figures were offered to contribute but were ultimately unable to do so.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-68033411743006930342022-10-13T08:57:00.000-07:002022-10-13T08:57:05.934-07:00Not your typical Parashah Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3CazDjc"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiL2ZJiyJRSMbfX0frfFwmYN573CEpOkIAbafgnBx0Ep-NI7WQQzNPBTFTu7tLxeIefjA7xwFbqFHpNIVV9p433Fh4I1HtqTyD2GWlJCGZXJIWob3aFv5IA3BX9PEVrGh7F0gjYNUlDOpjlJ4NAmjFuzm5dDIWG6HtAcuvKoKZ1xHfheve-1jXyFWp/s320/71ENONmP+wL.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><p><a href="https://amzn.to/3CazDjc"><i>Bedtime Reading for
Briskers: Lomdus and Life-lessons from the Laws of Korbanos on the Weekly
Parsha</i> </a>(2021), by Rabbi Ephraim Meth</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein
(<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com/">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Please allow me to first explain
the meaning of this book’s cheeky title. “Briskers” refer to the stereotypical Yeshiva
students reputed to engage in pilpulistic casuistry (termed “lomdus”), who are
especially known for their peculiar practice of studying the Order of <i>Kodshim</i>.
The tractates within that Order of the Talmud broadly deal with the laws of
ritual sacrifices and the other rites in the Holy Temple. Those laws have a
reputation of being dry and arcane, making them accessible to only the most expert
Talmudic scholars. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Rabbi Meth turns all this on its
head by offering an easily-accessible work mostly dedicated to the laws of the
Temple and its various rituals. For each Parashah, Rabbi Meth finds some related
theme (sometimes more loosely than others) and offers a learned study on that topic.
Sometimes, his essays are more of a Halachic nature, while sometimes, they are
more Aggadic, and sometimes, somewhere in between — but they are always
interesting and original.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">True to form, most essays revolve
around some difficult passage in Maimonides or <i>Sefer HaChinuch, </i>which<i>
</i>Rabbi Meth typically illuminates with a novel thought or by citing an earlier
scholar who dealt with the issue at hand. When dissecting a topic, Rabbi Meth provides
the reader with the requisite background to the Talmudic discussions in plain English,
often with analogies that help bring home the point being discussed. Additionally,
the author draws from a wide range of sources that people not might be familiar
with, like Rabbi Moshe Isserles’ <i>Toras HaOlah </i>(a comprehensive synthesis
of philosophy and Kabbalah dedicated to the topics of <i>Kodshim</i>) and Rabbi
Meir Simchah of Dvinsk’s <i>Meshech Chochmah</i> (a deeply insightful commentary
to the Pentateuch). He also cites more familiar sources like Malbim, Rabbi
Samson Raphael Hirsch, and the rabbis of the famous Soloveitchik dynasty. This
was a fun book to read, and just to make the author smile, I made a point of
reading it at night before going to bed.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3RAb4l8"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="258" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzX5wEH4fciT6WvFFpBK7QFKJmwpmiPgjyDkYAv_kIcPITfVpwu6-F-HqdwwLJbQv3n0H85W3wm78QRmqET-dPEQo81ic5Uz2AEYnZo9UBu4feUVGXxWgQnVbCxKK72D9kY5ufunOqZVT5LDLch6tzDEe5DIzsvIwo5gOaKsTxiQpAiz3_ke9gkD1W/s320/511h1MrkSBL._SS400_.jpg" width="210" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3RAb4l8">From Forbidden Fruit to Milk and Honey: A
Commentary on Food in the Torah</a></i> (Urim Publications, 2018), edited by
Diana Lipton</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein
(<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com/">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The basic premise of this book is
refreshingly original. For each Parashah, the book presents an essay written by
a leading Jewish academic that focuses on some aspect of the Parashah related to
food and offers some sort of insight into that topic. Then, the editor herself
offers her own thoughts on various passages in each Parashah, usually also
somehow relevant to talk about food. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Famous scholars who contributed
to this volume include Professor Jack M. Sasson (a professor in Vanderbilt
University and administrator of the Agade email listserv, who is himself a
noted scholar of the Ancient Near East studies), Professor Robert Brody (arguably
the world’s expert on the Geonim and Geonic literature), Rabbi Jeremy Rosen (a
student of the Mir Yeshiva and Cambridge University, who is a well-known blogger,
pulpit rabbi, and lecturer), Professor Gary A. Rendsburg (a renowned authority on
Hebrew and other Semitic language at Rutgers University), Professor Chaim Milikowsky
(a scholar who dedicated much of his efforts to <i>Seder Olam </i>and preparing
a critical edition of that rabbinic work, he is also a former son-in-law of
Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky and the current husband of the Mrs. Lipton), and
Professor Athalya Brenner (a scholar who wrote an eye-opening work about colors
in the Bible and later focused on Feminism and the Bible). Somewhat surprisingly,
these scholars tended to offer relatively conservative readings of the Parashah
and did not seek to replace traditional understandings with newfangled ideas.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3Svoz7a"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1612" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4dI3WfmISmS_vCl9KWjX0msV1cY9tsSb6O8HkjQvUswC-yTaHGnzM5_uniewdJAR_RvAmzrP1muIhuQzAP8I5F7EvFei-1A0Vh8Oe5GuOT0Pm2_8MhK36A1pBcDatypCudn23VxPE5gKS5_M6WeCRuzsvLRmuhAyUcO0nNTR1MUUGhV3A2fVFkJyF/s320/81rVkNEyrFL.jpg" width="202" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3Svoz7a">The Journey to your Ultimate Self: An Inspiring Gateway
into Deeper Jewish Thought through the Lens of the Weekly Parashah</a> </i>(Mosaica
Press, 2022), by Rabbi Shmuel Reichman</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein
(<a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com/">Rachack Review</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The title of this book truly gives
away exactly what this book is really all about: It’s a self-help book based on
the Parashah that offers inspiring ideas that can help a person achieve their true
potential. The author presents quasi-Kabbalistic insights (largely based on the
teachings of the late Rabbi Moshe Shapiro) along with practical advice to make
the book a guide for self-betterment. Interspersed are grey boxes with interesting
stories that really sharpen the author’s points and make them come alive more
poignantly. The book bears rabbinic approbations from esteemed authorities like
Rabbi Asher Weiss, Rabbi Michael Rosenzweig, and Rabbi Zev Leff.<span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The young author is already a well-travelled
speaker who has established himself as a go-to person for inspiration and
coaching. He founded the Self-Mastery Academy, an online self-development
course (based on Torah principles and high-performance psychology). He also
holds graduate degrees in Jewish Thought and Jewish Education from Yeshiva
University, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Psychology at University of
Chicago. Like his venerated father Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman, the younger Rabbi
Reichman is also a recognized authority on Jewish medical ethics and has lectured
on that topic internationally.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-82499165939737341012022-08-24T06:46:00.001-07:002022-08-24T06:53:14.136-07:00Lily’s Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the Strength to Live<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3PneCGg"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqOHeeT_B_2LbeJ91e1FdamHIO5HjYQaAzZbpxg6hPsAVG6TIzIegDjT45o32K9UP-mEbJ8YvchlSa_hjIgDP98uqdTwK_jz3ZXnTUUURhYZK2HMYoEc9_IsZwx0zoQYmrxjElkW0GD5bMOIH2KtsWt_LPuDdNY5QYrY6VJV5IfyqZ8qlam7mLP8B/s320/51nIivtKsRL.jpg" width="211" /></a></span></div><p><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3PneCGg">Lily’s Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the
Strength to Live</a></i> (Macmillan, 2021) by Lily Ebert and Dov Forman</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book really hit home—and not
just because I read the whole thing over <i>Tisha B’Av</i>. The protagonist of
this largely autobiographical Holocaust book is a scion of the famed Engelman
family from the Hungary town of Bonyhad. The Engelmans lived there for centuries,
where the Jewish community seems to have been established in the mid 1700’s.
The Engelmans were even the first signatories on the document that officially
established the Orthodox Community of Bonyhad as a breakaway from the Neolog Community.
Throughout the generations, the Engelmans have proven themselves to be
resilient, brave, and steadfast Jews, and Lily’s story simply follows that trajectory.
[By the way, other prominent members of the extended Engelman family include Benjamin
Engelman, a well-known nuclear physicist in Jerusalem, and his son Mordechai
Matanyahu Engelman, the current State Comptroller/Ombudsman of Israel.]<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Lily’s story opens with a vivid
description of her idyllic childhood and upbringing in the quaint Hungary town
of Bonyhad. She was the oldest of several siblings, and was doted on by her
loving parents. Already from a young age, Lily shows herself to be a
responsible and reliable doer, as well as a figure to whom her younger siblings
looked up. Although for most of Hungarian Jewry, the tragedies only began in
1944 when the Nazis occupied Hungary, for Lily’s family the first tragedy came
in 1942 with the death of their father. On her father’s deathbed, Lily promised
that she will take care of her siblings—a promise which she truly kept.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">And then in the summer of 1944,
the Jews of Bonyhad were rounded up and confined to the makeshift ghetto — before
they were quickly deported to Auschwitz, where most of them sadly perished (on
the 18<sup>th</sup> of Tammuz). Lily too was forced into the ghetto and then
deported to Auschwitz, along with her mother and siblings. In one of the most
moving scenes in the book, Lily’s mother gives over her shoes (in whose soles was
hidden precious jewelry) as she realizes that she will not survive the camps, leaving
it to Lily to figuratively walk in her mother’s shoes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Along the arduous and grueling
path that her story took, Lily held steadfast to her faith and to her
responsibility to her younger sisters. She literally held the hands of her two
younger sisters, Piri and Rene, as they survived together the concentration
camp at Auschwitz and the forced labor at Alternburg. At the end of the war,
they were liberated by soldiers from the American Army, who led them into
freedom. Lily and her sisters were directly aided by the efforts of the
legendary US Army chaplain, Rabbi Herschel Schacter (1917–2013), who helped
them find refuge and recovery in Switzerland; and from Switzerland they found
their way to the British Mandate of Palestine through the efforts of Agudas
Yisrael.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The Engelman sisters were later
reunited with their lone surviving brother Imre (Imi), who eventually joined
them in Israel after having been held up under the Soviets for several years.
Lily’s mother and other siblings did not survive the horrors of the Nazis. Lily
and her sisters settled in the Holy Land and married, with Lily wedding a
fellow Hungarian immigrant Shmuel Ebert, with whom she established a family in Tel
Aviv. Eventually, with Shmuel’s health failing, the Eberts moved to London,
where they have by now established multiple generations of God-fearing Jews. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">After the death of her husband,
Lily became more open to the idea of publicly speaking about the Holocaust and
her experiences during the war years. She frequented the speaking circuit and
was a common guest at schools where she lectured about the Holocaust. However,
during the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020, all of this came to halt, as the
lockdowns prevented public gatherings and essentially confined her to her home.
This is where the book’s co-author Dov Forman comes in. He is Lily’s
great-grandson and a high school student in London. He teamed up with his spunky
nonagenarian ancestor to research some aspects of her story on social media,
and eventually they wrote this book together to bring her story to a wider
audience.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book was especially
meaningful to me because my own grandmother, Roszi Klein (nee Kuttner), also hailed
from Bonyhad. In fact, my grandmother’s older sister, Sari Blau (nee Kuttner),
who currently lives in Brooklyn, was Lily’s classmate and is even mentioned in
her book (on page 162). Her husband, the late Leslie Blau (1921–2021), wrote <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3QrB5DI">Bonyhad: A Destroyed Community</a> </i>(Shengold, 1994), so many of the characters that
appear in Lily’s story (like the endearing town doctor Dr. Litzman and the
Engelman girls themselves) were already familiar to me through his work. For
those who want to be inspired by a tale of resilience, bravery, and commitment,
<i>Lily’s Promise</i> is an excellent choice.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-58552726899947895942022-07-22T02:06:00.000-07:002022-07-22T02:06:29.548-07:003 Book Reviews<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3Psw1hl"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="323" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJOUS3D_v3bHtXK29Klap5SNKLuRPL9VEMkGN4PTpEzu_DN7y9-9cnVxeT3VzoFGMmYyIcXCfUjm3XqGze_fj7mA7BDSlxceVdhVvx6f2atINM9WUIClzJIj1kcDMw7Kx88f9BKoUuKd8vbb_A4zSJKjRn2BLKo03FPoc-Nck9IHZWM4AD9o_KyZX/s320/41T3UiFW3eL._SX321_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="207" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3Psw1hl"><br /></a></div><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3Psw1hl">The Revelation at Sinai: What Does
‘Torah from Heaven’ Mean?</a> </i><span style="text-align: justify;">(KTAV Publishing House, 2021), edited by Yoram
Hazony, Gil Student, and Alex Sztudent</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Jewish Tradition tends to view
the Sinaitic Revelation as a one-time event wherein God revealed His will as
expressed in the Torah to the Jewish People. This book is a compilation of
various scholarly essays that explore the hard questions about what exactly
that means. For example, what was the nature of the content revealed at Sinai?
Did it include all or some of the Written Torah as we have it? Did it include
the Oral Torah? What about other rabbinic enactments?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Other matters probed in this book
include the meaning of Divine communication. Did God actually present the Jews
with a <i>verbal</i> message, or was His will somehow expressed in some other
fashion? Rounding out the topics that appear in this compilation are discussions
of Moses’ precise role in relaying God’s Divine Will and a comparative study about
how the laws given at Sinai line up with the Hammurabi Code. This book also
offers erudite critiques of the concept of an “on-going revelation” championed
by Professor Benjamin D. Sommer of the Jewish Theological Seminary and others.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Overall, the essays in this book
are all well-written, well-sourced, and definitely well-thought-out. Besides
the three editors, it also includes contributions from scholars like Rabbi H.
Norman Strickman, Rabbi Shalom Carmy, Lenn Goodman, Jeremiah Unterman, and more.
Some essays are better than others, and I felt about at least one or two essays
do not actually belong in this book, but I’ll leave that to the reader to
decide.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3uR2rKC"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="311" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZtFFl7kmxBtl8S2V5BQI71hdYB0opMdPgGHneEI3s3M7bmqtAnFdEdR44snC9wrf5fXSfwBhuaSqwdA_M2KvTWVbWdZf1K13DANh9N3jkLCoKmw1Ez6u2LXC7MRaKZLlRBrGWrx-BRbm0O6Ce8EtkBJMN3xRi3dsE5VMoIrWPIvMskpaXVqyU3R1/s320/41SND9nZ+EL._SX309_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="199" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3uR2rKC"><i><span lang="EN-GB">The Age of the </span>Parákletos</i><i><span lang="EN-GB">: A Historical Defense of Rabbinic
Knowledge</span></i></a><span lang="EN-GB"> (Rowman
& Littlefield, 2022) by Ron Naiweld</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein</span><i><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The author begins this book with an
introduction that criticizes French intellectuals like Ernest Renan for
excluding rabbinic knowledge from within the accepted window of discourse. He
finds it appalling that French historians would ignore such important rabbinic
figures as the great Tosafist Rabbi Yechiel of Paris, and when they do not simply
omit any mention of the Talmud (which was publicly burnt in Paris in 1240),
they give it the short shrift. As the author formulates it, “rabbinic knowledge
was deemed by Christian authorities and intellectuals to be blasphemous,
dangerous, and false” (page xiv) which eventually led to the reality that in
France rabbinic knowledge was not to be taken seriously on its own terms, but
only as mere data points to be manipulated for the benefit of greater causes
(like French historiography). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Despite this promising introduction, the author
then goes ahead and continues following the very trend that he decried. In the
ensuing chapters, he offers an account of the origins of rabbinic knowledge and
its underpinnings by appealing to such outside disciplines as Christology and
Biblical Criticism. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In doing so, the author mythologizes the Bible
by characterizing it is a book aimed at merging two distinct conceptions of the
deity (branded YHWH and Elohim) and the tensions behind that merging. This book
also contrasts the more grounded worldview that it attributes to the rabbis
with the loftier worldview attributed to Christianity. In that context, it
argues that the First Century rabbis were more concerned with the practical
ramifications (or parallels) to their theology in the actual political power
structure applicable to their personal lives (e.g., in the way they related to
the Romans who occupied the Holy Land) than their Christian brethren were. It
is definitely an interesting read, but is sometimes hard to take too seriously.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3IISnc4"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="398" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3rQ_9vm_7U_1RAYDIKqxmkLQEuzd3O0cQDjV5tPMVp-bB0LA8IKVMIiVLJsYN3NR0n3AlCdhPezVGmqmyXJG2YCVxDNoF2_C5Bc-AfT-OeaXzJeUvNO5CJAvs4zW3Z3kfyevI4XAiEMS1eR5Wbam9bW8m5XR2XVgIcQYN76ORhCkbggM_4L1M1lo1/s320/la180t_2061_detail.jpg" width="212" /></a></span></div><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3IISnc4">Patient: Taking Tefillah,
Emunah, and Humor on a Journey to Healing</a></i> (Tfutza Publications, 2020) by
Ann Goldberg<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Shira Yael Klein<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book is a strange
combination of a personal memoir about surviving cancer, combined with a book
about<i> tefillah</i> (“Jewish prayer”) — a combination which I understand in
theory, but I found rather incongruous in practice. I was very interested in
the personal story, but didn’t want to be bothered with the parts of the book
that wanted me to take them seriously and actually change something in my life.
I just wanted entertainment! I’m not sure if this is a shortcoming in the book
or myself.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The “story” component of the
book, which was the bulk of it, is both interesting and well-written. The
author’s candid and detailed account taught me a lot of things about cancer and
chemo that I didn’t know before. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I was very touched by how the
author’s whole family came together to support her and her husband with love,
devotion, and efficiency from beginning to end. The supportive children and siblings
vied for the great privilege to help. The author and her husband, for their
part, worried about not overburdening their already-busy children. Everybody
worried about everybody else, which meant that the family pulled together in
the most beautiful way.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I’m very happy that {{SPOILER
ALERT}} there’s a happy end to the story. I wish the author and her family a
healthy and happy life until 120!<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-64975850474754484252022-07-15T00:59:00.054-07:002022-07-15T03:18:14.474-07:00July 2022 Jewish Book Carnival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://jewishlibraries.org/Jewish_Book_Carnival_HQ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMNYqECgwWRcuu6-j97ZrSmI2N0EoQqerllU7c7kttP7ubj3DkIGZai-OY8d8YlaVHWSR6kcvM95Xds_zDhWXT7DFxHz4uRE-INd9uBpcQScPjLL0bMDiXOyu3YEArbUC8zmbOqNfJX-TQVqs2DrsTJUyjNmp-2iLLQwB29a2kSEB4wTW04HNoB9Mu/w400-h300/book%20carnival%202022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://rachack.blogspot.com">The Rachack Revew</a> is proud to serve as the July 2022 host for the <a href="https://jewishlibraries.org/Jewish_Book_Carnival_HQ/">Jewish Book Carnival</a>, “a monthly event where bloggers who blog about Jewish books can meet, read, and comment on each others’ posts.” The posts are hosted on a participant’s site on the 15th of each month.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">By the way, the <a href="https://jewishlibraries.org/">Association of Jewish Libraries</a> -- which started the blog carnival -- held a very successful conference in Philadelphia at the end of June. You can read about it in ALA's <a href="https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/saving-our-stories/">American Libraries magazine</a>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Without further ado, here's my round-up of some new book reviews and author interviews over the past few weeks:</p><p><b style="text-align: justify;">Book Reviews:</b></p><p><span style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://lifelibrary-ksp.blogspot.com/2022/07/leaving-eastern-parkway.html">Chava Pinchuck</a> reviews <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3c30Drj">Leaving Eastern Parkway</a></i> by Matthew Daub.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/book-review-pain-is-a-reality-suffering-is-a-choice/">Ben Rothke</a> talks about a new Mosaica Press book about suffering, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3I8idGr">Pain is a Reality, Suffering is a Choice: Grappling with Divine Justice</a></i>.</span></p><p><a href="https://heidislowinski.com/2022/06/29/bookreview-bookofv-annasolomon/" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">Heidi Slowinski</a><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> recently reviewed </span><i style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3OQojNM">The Book of V</a> </i><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">by Anna Solomon that presents a contrarian version of the Book of Esther by casting Vashti as a hero.</span></p><div><div><a href="https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-708404" style="font-family: inherit;">Alan Rosenbaum </a><span style="font-family: inherit;">(the former VP of Davka Corporation) writes a positive review of Mitchell First's work, </span><i style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3nzHIH3">Links to Our Legacy</a>.</i></div></div><div><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.02em;"><a href="https://thelehrhaus.com/timely-thoughts/how-can-we-know-orthodox-judaism-is-true/">Steven Gotlib </a>presents us with a review of the book </span><a href="https://amzn.to/3AmPLic"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strauss, Spinoza, and Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith</em></span></a> <span style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;">(Kodesh Press, 2022) edited by Jeffrey Bloom, Alec Goldstein, and Gil Student. I haven't actually read his review yet, because I'm hoping to read the book first!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;"><b>Author interviews:</b></span></span></div><div><p><a href="https://18forty.org/podcast/malka-simkovich-the-mystery-of-the-jewish-people/">David Bashkevkin</a> interviews scholar and author Dr. Malka Simkovich about the mystery of Jewish continuity.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.melissastoller.com/post/3-question-interview-ann-d-kofsky">Melissa Stoller</a> offers an interview with author Ann D. Kofsky about her <a href="https://amzn.to/3OIZ3cK">newest</a> children's book. </span></p><div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://deborahkalbbooks.blogspot.com/2022/06/q-with-scott-lenga.html">Deborah Kalb</a> interviewed Scott Lenga about his new book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3ADdfzR">The Watchmakers</a> </i>- a Holocaust book about brotherhood and survival.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Talia Carner was <a href="https://frankfigliuzzi.com/untold-until-now-the-sex-trafficking-of-young-women-from-russia-to-south-america/ ">recently interviewed</a> about her work of <a href="https://amzn.to/3nzGgob">historical fiction</a> that explores the shameful story of Jewish girls who were trafficked from Russia to South America. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="direction: ltr;">Over at <a href="https://seforimchatter.buzzsprout.com/1218638/10815930-with-prof-kenneth-stow-discussing-the-diary-of-anna-of-rome-and-the-book-he-wrote-about-the-diary">Seforim Chatter</a>, Professor Kenneth Stow talks about the Diary of Anna of Rome and his book about the diary, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3OX2Nqt">Anna and Tranquillo: Catholic Anxiety and Jewish Protest in the Age of Revolutions</a></i>.</div></div><div style="direction: ltr;"><br /></div><div style="direction: ltr;"><a href="https://jewishbooksforkids.com/2022/06/22/interview-with-emi-watanabe-cohen-author-of-the-lost-ryu/">Barbara Beitz</a> interviews author Emi Watanabe Cohen about her new kids' book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3yDHCV9">The Lost Ryu</a></i> about a dragon that disappeared.</div><div style="direction: ltr;"><br /></div><div style="direction: ltr;"><a href="https://www.gilagreenwrites.com/index.php/blog/author-interviews/interview-with-eileen-grace-brill">Gila Green</a> interviews author Eileen Brill about her <a href="https://amzn.to/3R2fMt7">debut novel</a> that began with finding a letter in the wall of her very own home. </div><div style="direction: ltr;"><br /></div><div style="direction: ltr;"><a href="https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2022/07/catnip-for-librarians-smart-kids-talk.html">Heidi Rabinowitz</a> talks with two very smart Jewish kids about their lives as readers.</div></div><div style="direction: ltr;"><br /></div><div style="direction: ltr;">In case you didn't know, Erika Dreifus's <a href="https://www.erikadreifus.com/blogs/my-machberet/">My Machberet</a> blog curates links from the world of Jewish books and writing each week. Here's <a href="https://wp.me/p4x0h8-cGO">one recent example</a>.</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><u></u><u></u></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-63110059633456651422022-07-09T12:31:00.001-07:002022-07-09T12:31:21.277-07:00The Yeshiva and the Rise of Modern Hebrew Literature <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3PaWpfs"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="907" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP8FQsxy0VrlcAF5-blOcLmxeEWPGm7jHbV5DBOVXmYIaJtzV6BQO_-4TrTiL284qtB3Mm_rRXSv2IadQaTLUCwXeGjgbeXRAumrstdWhfnuZJPUup3QrbXhJgCmW90cEnbG1vPesVJ9-PFTFxHT1EyGInBHmNek_qUCq9pS590Zr30MEYNZrWdhW5/s320/61lo1oiS-OL.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3PaWpfs">The Yeshiva and the Rise of
Modern Hebrew Literature</a> </i>(Indiana University Press, 2022) by Marina
Zilbergerts<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Conventional wisdom says that
although most of the heroes of early Modern Hebrew literature and poetry were
born and raised in traditional families, their very foray into the world of the
Haskalah and Eastern European intelligentsia demonstrates their total break
from that religious milieu. Instead, these writers were said to have completely
shed their “backwards” upbring in order to become participants in an
“enlightened” republic of letters. They were said to be so thoroughly engrained
in secular culture, that their discarded background is of no use to scholars
trying to understand what these writers meant and what drove them to write in
the ways that they did.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In this scholarly study,
Zilbergerts upends the conventional take on those early Modern Hebrew writers.
She painstakingly details how various aspects of traditionalism and religious
thought continued to influence and inform even the most secular of Modern
Hebrew writers. In doing so, this book focuses on the lives and times of
various early Modern Hebrew writers, most notably Avraham Uri Kovner
(1842–1905), Moshe Leib Lilienblum (1843–1910), Micha Yosef Berdichevsky
(1865–1921), and Chaim Nachman Bialik (1873–1934). All of these figures
rejected the Yeshiva way of life and the Yeshivas rejected them, yet there
always remained some vestigial residue from their former lives. The author thus
examines the life-trajectories and writings of these famous writers, highlighting
along the way the various ways in which they were unable to escape the
expectations and, to some extent, ideologies of their religious upbringing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One overarching theme that
emerges from Zilbergerts’ study is the concept of <i>Torah lishmah</i>. This
Talmudic ideal was understood by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin (1749–1821) to refer
to the notion that one ought to study Torah “for its [the Torah’s] own sake.” That
formulation of this Talmudic concept became the motto of the Yeshiva World that
developed in Eastern Europe, and especially in the former Grand Duchy of
Lithuania. As Zilbergerts explains it, when reduced to its core, this ideal represents
the notion of an autotelic textuality that encouraged Yeshiva students to study
religious texts simply because they were religious texts, with no alternative motives.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">She sees evidence of this staunch
devotion to textuality in the writings and lives of the writers mentioned above.
Many of those writers had previous attended and study in the halls of the
Yeshivas that advocated for <i>Torah lishmah</i>, and throughout their lives
they continued to devote themselves to reading and writing texts — albeit, they
simply swapped the holy texts of the Talmud and Halacha for the non-holy texts
of the Haskalah, Zionism, and other intellectual movements. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">For Zilbergerts, one of the most
persuasive pieces of evidence for this trend was the early Modern Hebrew
writers’ general resistance to Russian Nihilism. That movement tended to reject
textualism in favor of more materialistic or pragmatic endeavors. Yet, the
Russian Haskalah (which followed some of the other trends of Russian
intellectualism) bucked this trend or simply paid lip service to it, as those
Maskillic exponents continued to devote themselves to reading and writing more
and more texts, with an almost-religious fervor.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Another aspect of traditional
life that Zilbergerts looks at is its conception of marriage. In the Yeshiva
World, the ideal student would marry a girl from a rich family and would
continue to study the Talmud uninterrupted, while being supported by his
parents-in-law (called “eating <i>kest</i>”) and/or having his wife tend to his
financial affairs. In this way, the elite Yeshiva student’s devotion to his
studies and texts superseded his responsibilities to his wife and family. Zilbergerts
shows how this traditional outlook influenced some early writers of Modern
Hebrew, many of whom had entered failed/unhappy marriages in their younger
years, which bequeathed to them an unhealthy — and even cynical — way of
viewing the entire endeavor of matrimony.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Many of these debates continue to
rage on in contemporary times. For example, the virtue of textuality is at the
center of one of the most hotly contested discussions in the Knesset. The outspoken
secularist Avigdor Lieberman echoes many of the Nihilist talking points in his
attacks against the modern Yeshiva movement in Israel, while Ultra-Orthodox
apologists tend to affirm and reaffirm their commitment to studying the Talmud
and, thus, to textuality. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In summation, this fascinating
book is a well-sourced study on how different aspects of early Modern Hebrew
writers’ religious upbringing continued to influence their lives and writings well
after they shed their religiosity and became more thoroughly secularized. It
shows how even when these writers were following whatever intellectual trends
were in vogue at the time, they were still also heavily informed by their
experiences in the Yeshiva and the ideologies imparted to them by their
upbringing. With this book in hand, the reader can contextualize many of the
debates that continue within the global Jewish community about the nature of
textuality and the importance of Yeshiva Students.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-28778969281542504102022-05-06T04:56:00.001-07:002022-05-06T04:56:09.070-07:00Ma’ase Tuviya (Venice 1708): Tuviya on Medicine & Science<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNARXezPfoiwx1JgQv9orksGDwrVcSXBkxglZ2feoJGp07eQOA_qmiQqCUU79hIC-MgOWVVbAjOzWiqVmnBQ0aqt-_dxLbFYx0avM5h7qZChSpWNWlH4p7_Udi41OnjgovvqXfUa-QwUnfINoOTd40yNG7o93dCt7-FgGmNB6MjScGshDGvVpaBXnc/s706/port.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="545" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNARXezPfoiwx1JgQv9orksGDwrVcSXBkxglZ2feoJGp07eQOA_qmiQqCUU79hIC-MgOWVVbAjOzWiqVmnBQ0aqt-_dxLbFYx0avM5h7qZChSpWNWlH4p7_Udi41OnjgovvqXfUa-QwUnfINoOTd40yNG7o93dCt7-FgGmNB6MjScGshDGvVpaBXnc/s320/port.png" width="247" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Ma’ase Tuviya (Venice 1708): Tuviya on Medicine &
Science </i>(Muriel and Philip Berman Medical Library, 2021), edited by Kenneth
Collins, Samuel Kottek, and Helena Paavilainen</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I first came across the work <i>Ma’ase
Tuviya </i>as a teenager in my Yeshiva library, but I was never sure about what
to make of it. Who is its intended audience, and why was it written? <i>Ma’ase
Tuviya </i>represents an eclectic mix of theology, science, geography, astronomy/astrology,
and medicine in a sort of encyclopedia that freely quotes from Greek doctors
and rabbinic literature in the same breath. The book under review is a scholarly
volume that presents various academic essays that look at <i>Ma’ase Tuviya</i>
from different angles. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book contextualizes <i>Ma’ase
Tuviya</i> by revealing biographical details about its author and the
sociocultural milieu in which he was active. Rabbi Dr. Tuviya HaKohen Katz
(1652–1729) originally came from the town of Metz (on the French-German border)
and was actually a stepbrother to Rabbi Yair Chaim Bachrach (1639–1702), Chief
Rabbi of Worms and author of the popular responsa <i>Chavos Yair</i>. He
studied medicine in Krakow and Frankfort-on-the-Oder, but quickly relocated to
the prestigious University of Padua, where he received his degree. In Padua,
Tuviyah was one of many Jewish medical pupils throughout the generations, and
it was largely for the benefit of such students that he penned <i>Ma’ase Tuviya</i>
as a primer on the basics of medicine geared towards students firmly grounded
in Torah literature. As this book makes clear, Tuviya’s purpose for writing <i>Ma’ase
Tuviya</i> was two-fold: He sought to help prepare Jewish students for the
European world of study and to prove to the world at large that Jewish
literature can positively contribute to the sciences.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">After completing his degree,
Tuviya practiced medicine in Poland and eventually relocated to Adrianople and
then Constantinople (Istanbul), where served as the capitals of the Ottoman
Turkish Empire. As a renowned doctor, Tuviya served as the personal physician
to five successive sultans. It was during this period of his life that in the
year 1708, Tuviya published <i>Ma’ase Tuviya</i> (first printed in Venice), and
then spent the years 1709–1713 preparing to publish the works of
his deceased father, Rabbi Dr. Moshe Narol. After publishing his
father’s works, Tuviya immigrated to Jerusalem (which was under Turkish rule),
where he lived for the rest of his life. Ari Morgenstern’s essay published in
this book speculates about the different reasons that may have led Tuviya to
relocate to Jerusalem and his role in helping the impoverished Ashkenazic
community there.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In the first chapter of this
book, Kenneth Collins provides the reader with an account of Tuviya’s
schooling, including the anti-Semitism he faced before transferring to the
University of Padua, and generally how Jewish students were able to fare in
their medical studies in the Italian city of Padua. In the subsequent chapter,
Samuel Kottek provides more of the context and cultural milieu in which Tuviya
operated. Particularly, he discusses how Tuviya’s understanding of biology and
medicine are shaped not only by ancient Jewish and Greek sources, but also by the
burgeoning research of Renaissance physicians like the Swiss doctor Paracelsus
(1493–1541), who began to question the assumptions found in Galenic,
Aristotelian, and Hippocratic literature. Dr. Jeremy Brown (author of the
Talmudology Blog) contributed a chapter that compares and contrasts Tuviya’s
medical works with those of other physician-scientists of his time and
considers whether Tuviya’s information really presented the latest state-of-art
research.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman
presents a fun— but highly informative —essay that explores how Tuviya’s
diploma from Padua may have theoretically looked. He draws on precedents seen
on the diplomas of other medical graduates from Padua to piece together how
Tuviya’s might have looked. R. Dr. Reichman reproduces facsimiles of several
such diplomas and speculates on which of those features might have been present
on Tuviya’s. This essay has several counterparts in Reichman’s series on Jewish
medical history published on Seforim Blog. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinSvNV0raCgocvvxClBXB8Uj3S1hjdD3Y6pzB37aP20X_zbvsPrqSNy4yMmyUmPSK5xMePxuZKbgKcKoMf6trpPfFhfbOx7eAJDUQ63hRBld2gNXAPzkTpfR_2W7sMdSD36u59QkXyIUmgIwSkCPg3ko5deRNqClpbvUAcwKW0ovQAmVJl1_glRo-l/s543/repro.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="424" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinSvNV0raCgocvvxClBXB8Uj3S1hjdD3Y6pzB37aP20X_zbvsPrqSNy4yMmyUmPSK5xMePxuZKbgKcKoMf6trpPfFhfbOx7eAJDUQ63hRBld2gNXAPzkTpfR_2W7sMdSD36u59QkXyIUmgIwSkCPg3ko5deRNqClpbvUAcwKW0ovQAmVJl1_glRo-l/s320/repro.png" width="250" /></a>Several other essays zone in on
very specific aspects of <i>Ma’ase Tuviya</i>: Etienne Lepicard’s essay focuses
on <i>Ma’ase Tuviya</i>’s presentation of female physiology and the roles of
each gender in the reproductive process. As far as this reviewer knows, <i>Ma’ase
Tuviya </i>is actually the first Hebrew work to make reference to the clitoris.
Another essay, penned by Shalom Sabar, focuses on the artistic aspects of <i>Ma’ase
Tuviya</i>, particularly looking at its title page, author portrait, and
various scientific diagrams. Helena Paavilainen offers a learned case study of
Tuviya’s explorations of headaches and how to deal with them. She surveys the
various etiological explanations for headaches and the remedies that Tuviya
recommends for treating such ailments.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Another contemporary scholar
whose presence looms large in this book, but does not contribute an essay of
his own, is the celebrated author of Jewish medical works, Rabbi Dr. Fred Rosner
(father of Rabbi Shalom Rosner, a popular Daf Yomi lecturer and rabbi in Bet Shemesh).
His esteemed presence bookends this scholarly volume with a foreword and words
of appreciation at the beginning, as well as a lengthy appendix in which he
translated excerpts of <i>Ma’ase Tuviya</i> into English at the end.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">All in all, this reviewer
thoroughly enjoyed learning more about <i>Ma’ase Tuviya</i> and its colorful
author. With this scholarly work in hand, I have access to all the necessary
background to understanding the medical parts of <i>Ma’ase Tuviya</i> and can
now finally understood what this book is really all about. I’m looking forward
to future scholarship that will explore other parts of <i>Ma’ase Tuviya</i> and
shed light on those sections of the encyclopedia. In the meantime, <i>Ma’ase
Tuviya (Venice 1708): Tuviya on Medicine & Science</i> is a great work that
will open up new worlds of future scholarship.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-38483147896638047402022-04-30T14:10:00.000-07:002022-04-30T14:10:24.485-07:004 Book Reviews<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/371lbOG"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4nfF0uX5VcDUW8rK0xz8qfuEacX7hLOG9wzcaBiY3kpFod3xhWsEMKsvcIYuhaZhFWgu0OePLIGsbYXdyaLBrarPJvUjz9Rqe5aRn720oo_36e55OtGTl-EB853fyAKObWzwDE0kjk3puZyZpsxvnEfjkfB60-h-5COvxAxgpqoJKxdbl-q_4edmi/s320/B08YRFJNSL.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/371lbOG">Disputed Messiahs: Jewish and
Christian Messianism in the Ashkenazic World during the Reformation</a></i><span style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/371lbOG"> </a>(Wayne
State University Press, 2021) by Rebekka Voss</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book offers a fascinating
study on the interplay between the different eschatological expectations expressed
by Jews and Christians in Western Europe during the sixteenth century. The
inter-Christian schism between Catholics and Protestants, the growing threat of
the Ottoman Turkish Empire during the Reformation Years, and the expulsion of
Jews from the Iberian Peninsula a few decades prior caused many Jews and
Christians to think about the End of Days, and those Messianic speculations are
recorded in various contexts. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One important point that the author stresses is
that in many instances, it was dangerous for Jews to express their true
Messianic beliefs for fear of Christian reprisals (because Jewish eschatologies
often entailed the end of Christendom). This reality led to public figures like
Josel of Rosheim needing to straddle the line between fully expressing their
real Messianic beliefs and issuing apologetics for pragmatic political
considerations (like quelling Christian suspicions). </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book also discusses
the various permutations of the legend of the Red Jews, who were said to be a
contingent of Jews from the Ten Lost Tribes across the Sambatyon River. In some
versions of the legend, they would pose a military threat to the reigning
Christians by allying with the menacing Moslem powers, while in other versions
they joined together with Christian Europe to ward off the Moslem threat. This
book also explores the stories of false messiahs like Asher Lemlein, David
HaReuveni, and Shlomo Molcho, with a special focus on discussing how their
activities were viewed by their Jewish co-religionists and by the Christian
authorities. This work concludes with a numismatic excurses that explores the
possibility that a certain medallion depicts Asher Lemlein.<i><o:p></o:p></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3F76MgK"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="335" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhuq1CpTSEk0kAeam0D2Kef44XiPTJHPZ2NWzGafvryFayqIxHCvGB56qg_97GjA-oxj6p6tz1NpzjW5IUeGJBwlfPdgwhGrs0aXMo-aoUh0AlCsePGEnsDQOI1JvKvi2xz9mT-HB-HgRzbMUG1IEpJfUHmV2WgXG5Y1DF56_bqj2luL340EmGfs9/s320/B09M4YJLH2.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" width="214" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3F76MgK">Moshe Emes: Torah and Science
Alignment</a> </i>(Pearlman YeC, 2018) by Roger M. Pearlman</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The author of this short book is
clearly a staunch exponent of intelligent design and the Young Earth Creationist
position. Following the Bible, he firmly believes that the Earth was created by
God in six days, while the reigning scientific view follows that of the Neo-Darwinists,
who maintain that the Earth is billions of years old, and that life has evolved
over time through natural selection. This work presents the author’s Recent
Complex Creation Framework (RCCF) as a way of framing the scientific
argumentation that supports the traditional Judeo-Christian understandings of
the creation of world. The Recent Complex Creation Framework theory posits that
while the One God created the entire world <i>ex nihilo, </i>the product of His
handiwork is a universe comprised of complex structures that constantly evolve
and change over time. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Another basic tenet of Pearlman’s theology is that the
Torah reflects accurate historical testimony—an idea he expands on at length in
his other works on Biblical Chronology. This particular book could have greatly
benefitted from more thorough editing, as the author’s ideas are not as well-developed
as the advanced reader would probably like. The author also freely mixes
scientific arguments with polemics and arguments rooted in religious sources,
often blurring the line between the two. At its core, Pearlman’s book argues
that Biblical Theology is not opposed to scientific inquiry, but rather can be
seen as a guide to understanding the natural world. By understanding the Torah
in this way, Pearlman believes that we can create a more harmonious
relationship between religion and science. In short, Roger M. Pearlman explores
the ways in which the Torah and science can be seen as complementary, rather
than contradictory. His work serve as a beginner’s guide to aligning the two
disciplines.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3LBa5yU"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj100Qp1FzHCKP2KW635aQB-nFi6QkXweKa7-JxwkXKAfNTwkaXea7Gm6jBjhaepFoX_b1_cSfgxXv9j5IzvCq3G6OZxFQDKOz6m14hJq3RQJ7jU6i3AD2emAsAAl7QQgnLolaCxecLzQfbNDRvmNiFIym319FtNbLrhpNC3tW2V2njGM5N7OV2M_3m/s320/B096Y79B9F.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" width="212" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3LBa5yU"><i>Kabbalah and Sex Magic: A
Mythical-Ritual Genealogy</i></a> by Marla Segol (Pennsylvania State University
Press, 2021)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book offers restatements of
several classical works of <i>Kabbalah</i>, notably <i>Shiur Komah, Sefer
Refuot, Sefer Yetzirah, Sefer Bahir</i>, <i>Sefer Chakmoni</i>, and <i>Chovot
HaLevavot</i>. These works, in part, offer varied cosmological accounts of the
world’s creation and/or how creation can be manipulated by man. The overarching
theme that the author focuses on in presenting these works is how multiple
divine elements fit together to spawn the world as we know it. She chooses to
characterize these sorts of interactions as sexual in nature, because they
entail different primeval components (like elements of nature, <i>Sephirot</i>,
or letters) fitting together to create new “offspring.” </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This book considers the
aforementioned works on Jewish metaphysics to be examples of remythologization,
presumably after the Bible had previously demythologized the Creation narrative
with the story of a Single Creator. In doing so, the author infers a sort of henotheistic
theology from these Kabbalistic works, in the sense of a multiplicity of independent
gods (or, perhaps more accurately, divine entities) that interact sexually with
one another. In this reviewer’s opinion, henotheism is a heresy that runs
counter to Classical Monotheistic theology (with which Judaism is typically
identified) and is essentially an advanced form of idolatry. Segol <i>a priori</i>
rejects the approach of "most scholars" (page 79) who understand works
like <i>Sefer Yetzirah</i> as non-literal<i>.</i> Yet, she does not explain why
she refuses to accept these mainstream understandings of the described
interaction of multiple divinities, including philosophical (giver vs. receiver
modes of One Deity) and linguistic approaches. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As opposed to Segol, this
reviewer understands that <i>Sefer Yetzirah</i> actually demythologizes the
creation narrative by attributing it to letters rather than to multiple gods.
Letters are insentient creations that have no will of their own, as opposed to
gods that can be appeased, etc. If one compares <i>Sefer Yetzirah</i> to <i>Enuma
Elish </i>(the Babylonian creation myth), the former seems much closer to
classical monotheism than the latter. The author, on the other hand, takes the
opposite approach of understanding <i>Sefer Yetzirah</i> as <i>remythologizing</i>
the creation by splitting the Godhead into multiple parts. The final chapter of
this book examines contemporary “Jewish” views on sexuality as expressed by
Yehuda Berg and Shmuely Boteach, but this reviewer had a hard time mapping how
that last chapter really connects to the rest of the book.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/37TkoQp"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_3hJ5rxOwfNOQZFT-d3LVqtr7rjmGJ3kTsI7Ssu7FC6UXH06Vnh36KQB2Rj2kqczwFe7_AQAKW-dqAwupV69A8orv1OGEQQdQVdzO0_WChBXc0KTSuIBMxUJzDxEtbgUh4MuJDYICB6fH-wE1b9G3n1BGmXwjMiBXDdL5quABwdFoFEpoVwk9tk-/s320/1598260103.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/37TkoQp">Understanding the Alef-Beis:
Insights into the Hebrew Letters and the Methods of Interpreting Them</a></i>
(Feldheim Publishers, 2007) by Dovid Leitner</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In this amazing work, Dovid
Leitner provides the reader with a deeper understanding of the esoteric
underpinnings of the Hebrew Alphabet. The author finds mystical meanings in the
orthographical representations of each of the letters, as well as in their
names. This book also touches on the meaning of the crowns (<i>tagim</i>)
and big/small letters as they are traditionally written in a Torah Scroll. Many
of the obscure meanings that the author brings to the fore include hidden
references to God and His various names, central Jewish ideas about law and
morality, and allusions to various episodes/rules recorded in the Torah. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The
author also explores such things as <i>gematria</i> (an alphanumerical
cipher, whereby each letter corresponds to a specific number) and various
modes/codes of letter interchangeability (like phonetic letter groups, <i>at-bash</i>,
and <i>al-bam</i>, as well
as lesser-known modalities like <i>achas-beta, ach-bi, </i>and <i>aiy-bak</i>).
All in all, this book is a sort of encyclopedia that is chockful of information
about the mystical aspects of the Hebrew Alphabet. Unfortunately, the major drawback
of this work is that the author fails to cite exact references, so the reader
is often left wanting more, but having no exact place to start from.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867525601330568487.post-25523473808618272012022-03-28T10:43:00.001-07:002022-03-28T10:43:42.959-07:00Mavericks, Mystics & False Messiahs: Episodes from the Margins of Jewish History<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3wJbSgR"><img border="0" data-original-height="925" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJowK0KdexQh4N2PrY_ei5pp5o8TRz3fjkvcMDT1admSnSWVc6Vy2Pzxj8Vc9DLk_x4gqkm70NQAdJa-PDT0UTeCEAYB4jUfQdqu6e9j_RXFmTiPXR990Rf8SJx3yWEio4FMSadE6HoptACoRzFyQ-0_fGGgdhT9CmVi6bElkQ_86hloEcfVDfUsm/s320/dunner_mavericks_2d_1_600x.jpg" width="208" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3wJbSgR"><i style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: center;">Mavericks, Mystics, & False Messiahs: Episodes from the Margins of Jewish History</i><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></a><span style="text-align: center;">by Rabbi Pini Dunner (Toby Press, 2018)</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;">Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: medium;">The first chapter of this book sets the tone by introducing the reader to the oft-retold story of the famous 17<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> century false Messiah, Shabbetai Tzvi (1626–1676), and how he and his handler Nathan of Gaza bamboozled much of world Jewry. As the story unfolds, more and more people began to believe that Shabbetai Tzvi was indeed the scion of David sent to redeem the Jewish people, but the story climaxes with Shabbetai Tzvi’s conversion to Islam from which point more and more became suspicious of the dubious character. Although he died in near anonymity and was buried in an unmarked grave, the repercussions of his rise and fall still reverberate throughout Jewish history.</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDMRzx5HdgLxfNgWB6J2jcA1FB8JcnJ7RASuhqm6xyRfcgVZbEN7B5Ej5StmE_X-7qfqtN3gR8ZW8VXitO2HuRn5R4ek2TqalFYmYEeGomPEKO_cbFYPu8x9MrJDkFH2O9e__s933uwsmn4Bl7BUJk09OxC_u2erGg8FZna2rI7FWzN1xnzMnv67ewWQ/s2604/Shabbetai%20Zevi.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #607d8b; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2604" data-original-width="1667" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDMRzx5HdgLxfNgWB6J2jcA1FB8JcnJ7RASuhqm6xyRfcgVZbEN7B5Ej5StmE_X-7qfqtN3gR8ZW8VXitO2HuRn5R4ek2TqalFYmYEeGomPEKO_cbFYPu8x9MrJDkFH2O9e__s933uwsmn4Bl7BUJk09OxC_u2erGg8FZna2rI7FWzN1xnzMnv67ewWQ/w410-h640/Shabbetai%20Zevi.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" width="410" /></a></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: medium;">Secret followers of Shabbetai Tzvi, known as Sabbateans continued to exist for centuries after Shabbetai Tzvi’s death. They were known for their antinomian behavior and non-standard Kabbalistic teachings. The witch-hunt against Sabbateans led to one of the most explosive controversies in Jewish History, in which Rabbi Yaakov Emden (1697–1776) accused Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz (1690–1764) of being a closet follower of Shabbetai Tzvi. Rabbi Dunner dramatizes this story in Chapter 3 of his book, peppering the narrative with details little-known to those who have already heard about the controversy.</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-H94usKkA5Dyi90iiINo1eHVDJK_UbrOaFn6lb751EfN35v9RUkl8gUpazl4SCIfW7eXjZSuvKRMjse1OKmkcUYGBsVqTpcG21WqYRFaviYDYbdWZQj6VSE4oYmPKpoLnRi4ETA75L-jj-6RCjeQPzOBFTNoAMb3plgBeWnBKmUeK2YV5bQ-PGLmRQ/s1200/R.%20Yonason%20Eybeschutz.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #607d8b; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1000" height="640" loading="lazy" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-H94usKkA5Dyi90iiINo1eHVDJK_UbrOaFn6lb751EfN35v9RUkl8gUpazl4SCIfW7eXjZSuvKRMjse1OKmkcUYGBsVqTpcG21WqYRFaviYDYbdWZQj6VSE4oYmPKpoLnRi4ETA75L-jj-6RCjeQPzOBFTNoAMb3plgBeWnBKmUeK2YV5bQ-PGLmRQ/w534-h640/R.%20Yonason%20Eybeschutz.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" width="534" /></a></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: medium;">In Chapter 4, Rabbi Dunner tells the sordid tale of a seemingly paranoid man named Isaac Neiberg from Mannheim who divorced his young bride of one week in the town of Cleves and fled Germany. The sordidness focuses not on the young groom, but on the rabbinic controversy that erupted over the validity of this man’s <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">gett </i>(“bill of divorce”). The question centered on what sort of insanity passes the Halakhic threshold to legally disqualify a person from effectuating a divorce.</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: medium;">In his concluding remarks, Rabbi Dunner implies that the ruling that this <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">gett </i>was not disqualified later influenced Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895–1986), who ruled that a person who is seemingly mentally unstable in some aspects, but is not totally insane, is not rendered a <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">shotah</i> in Halacha. This reviewer had the privilege to sit on a bus next to Rabbi Meir Simcha Auerbach, a son of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (1910–1995), who affirmed that his father whole-heartedly agreed with Rabbi Feinstein’s ruling on this matter.</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: medium;">In his work <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Mateh Levi </i>(§19), Rabbi Mordechai Horovitz (1844–1910) published a responsum that he ascribed to Rabbi Nosson Maaz (1720–1793), a judge on the Frankfurt court, that laid out the reasons for disqualifying the <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">gett</i>. Nonetheless, some have questioned the authenticity of this responsum by claiming that it was not really written by Rabbi Maaz. Despite Rabbi Dunner’s seemingly neutral position on this question, Rabbi Mordechai Emanuel of Beitar Illit, a renowned scholar who edited and published Rabbi Nosson Maaz’s writings wrote to this reviewer that a comparison of the linguistic expressions used in the responsum published by Rabbi Horovitz and those used in Rabbi Maaz’s recently published-for-the-first-time works reveals that the responsum is most likely authentic.</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: medium;">The common denominator among all the misfits and charlatans that Rabbi Dunner discusses in this interesting book is that each chapter has some connection to the City of London (save for the chapter about Shabbetai Tzvi): In his chapter about the Emden-Eybeschutz controversy, Rabbi Dunner mentions that Rabbi Emden’s father, the esteemed author of responsa <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Chacham Tzvi</i>, was offered the post of the Chief Rabbi of London, but declined. In the chapter about the Cleves <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Gett</i>, London appears again as the runaway groom’s destination. (By the way, that story concluded with a happy ending, as the young couple later reconciled and remarried.)</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: medium;">Another chapter focuses on the legacy of the folk-doctor Shmuel Falk (1708–1782), popularly known as the Baal Shem of London. He was reputed to have been a master Kabbalist and healer, and much lore has sprung up about him. Rabbi Emden accused him of being a follower of Shabbetai Tzvi, but that remains to be conclusively proven. Interestingly, for many years a portrait of Shmuel Falk was misidentified as that of the more famous Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov (1698–1760).</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUSYMsK76Lizp2q-2JTTEER4DdUP9LUjnVuIghVInP4xXpRGA-G8LWMYnIbY1HRV_K5K9U5N5Y2xWH1bCpShK9RtUHooeHJoeqippTB7SFzqsFU8S9mTMNxgZIhyyviBRDAAvzuitfXbpy8iF-Dmb4ZU9qdWRkNyMJdYrFmCng6GmIdXLcVfodwJghw/s3150/Baal%20Shem%20of%20London.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #607d8b; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3150" data-original-width="2573" height="640" loading="lazy" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUSYMsK76Lizp2q-2JTTEER4DdUP9LUjnVuIghVInP4xXpRGA-G8LWMYnIbY1HRV_K5K9U5N5Y2xWH1bCpShK9RtUHooeHJoeqippTB7SFzqsFU8S9mTMNxgZIhyyviBRDAAvzuitfXbpy8iF-Dmb4ZU9qdWRkNyMJdYrFmCng6GmIdXLcVfodwJghw/w522-h640/Baal%20Shem%20of%20London.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" width="522" /></a></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: medium;">Rabbi Dunner also presents the reader with a biographical chapter about the forger Rabbi Yehudah Yudel Rosenberg (1860–1935), who is most known for making the legends about the Maharal of Prague (1512–1526) and the <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Golem</i> become mainstream, and for publishing a counterfeit commentary to the <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Haggadah Shel Pesach</i> ascribed to the Maharal. Rabbi Rosenberg also published other forgeries, including a work entitled <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Choshen Mishpat, </i>which claims that the twelve jewels of the High Priest’s breastplate<i style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </i>have made their way to the Belmore Street Museum in London.</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: medium;">Other chapters in this book that pay homage to London by mentioning the Old Smoke include the one devoted to the peculiar story of Lord George Gordon (1751–1793)—a British aristocrat who led a failed revolt against the English crown (look up: The Gordon Riots) and eventually converted to Judaism—and the one dedicated to the fantastic tale of the escapades of an infamous Hungarian Jew named Ignatius Timotheus Trebitsch-Lincoln (1879–1943), whose various occupations include thief, member of the UK Parliament, international spy, and Buddhist monk. I am fairly confident that all these mentions of London are not unrelated to Rabbi Dunner’s hometown.</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFE6ulAeLU7VXG6vcX9Bns0ZhtiefTWHr-nswuMDovUIQYcM9GgbBCdYrMV7SdXvkwYmsbRrD-PPv8wf_8PXFb96yayUbTm4M0dQuGJcDDS4Ank_Dxt6ri4IqZS6C3jV1YI1xsrvXy7MMlK0-qh8tDWi8CQuSjOiiGBxRqohefrnhPj041sR3iMRVUQ/s596/george%20gordon%20town%20and%20country.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #607d8b; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="596" height="456" loading="lazy" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFE6ulAeLU7VXG6vcX9Bns0ZhtiefTWHr-nswuMDovUIQYcM9GgbBCdYrMV7SdXvkwYmsbRrD-PPv8wf_8PXFb96yayUbTm4M0dQuGJcDDS4Ank_Dxt6ri4IqZS6C3jV1YI1xsrvXy7MMlK0-qh8tDWi8CQuSjOiiGBxRqohefrnhPj041sR3iMRVUQ/w640-h456/george%20gordon%20town%20and%20country.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" width="640" /></a></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1iVddxr83eRIS7ZBRW_bVtEZ-KjjFnwJpRGSjxfxbJbytHDwbFCuUdYs-31mWsxHH8o9lAQT789PJEL3txs-GJp_x7cIeWLWU6-xyOVBTbmjWMg5G-Vzag5kWTUU4QIYAef-wQ_s6sfVM84jxMg2FNm8G9Y-DkDWpLCtiNMGHyaen1i-i1LhUn1ae2Q/s4480/Lord%20George%20Gordon.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #607d8b; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4480" data-original-width="3240" height="640" loading="lazy" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1iVddxr83eRIS7ZBRW_bVtEZ-KjjFnwJpRGSjxfxbJbytHDwbFCuUdYs-31mWsxHH8o9lAQT789PJEL3txs-GJp_x7cIeWLWU6-xyOVBTbmjWMg5G-Vzag5kWTUU4QIYAef-wQ_s6sfVM84jxMg2FNm8G9Y-DkDWpLCtiNMGHyaen1i-i1LhUn1ae2Q/w462-h640/Lord%20George%20Gordon.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" width="462" /></a></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Bemi7NQeAEycWeQyGx_Ng_79g12IuX1EoRfMAZRzQSO7lLdQvBpcX7zzjh6LXfy8bPLILhsFXQAbibKDgzDkTEu5YgvhCe_fTucSwdaAI6lbbQ8UgRbIEzooH40NaK5dNX-rHsm3GNhNeehTG7G3dWUh6Zhr0337hY_4A2z-92_h_tEtqIVwoQpEnw/s1404/trebitsch.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #607d8b; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1404" data-original-width="934" height="640" loading="lazy" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Bemi7NQeAEycWeQyGx_Ng_79g12IuX1EoRfMAZRzQSO7lLdQvBpcX7zzjh6LXfy8bPLILhsFXQAbibKDgzDkTEu5YgvhCe_fTucSwdaAI6lbbQ8UgRbIEzooH40NaK5dNX-rHsm3GNhNeehTG7G3dWUh6Zhr0337hY_4A2z-92_h_tEtqIVwoQpEnw/w426-h640/trebitsch.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" width="426" /></a></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: medium;">Although Rabbi Dunner presents this book to a popular audience and therefore did not provide the reader with well-sourced footnotes for every detail that he discusses (as befits a scholar of his caliber), he did offer a conclusion that sheds light on many of the different sources from which he culled information in preparing this captivating book.</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: medium;">Rabbi Dunner is a scion of a great rabbinic family and an alumnus of the most prestigious Yeshivas of contemporary times. He currently serves as a popular rabbi in Beverly Hills, but is also celebrated as a well-known lecturer, scholar, and social critic. His lectures and essays are thoroughly educational (and sometimes even humorous in his own way) and have special appeal to Jews of all stripes—including Hareidim, Religious Zionists, and even Secular Jews. Rabbi Dunner also boasts a magnificent and impressive collection of Judaica, including rare books, documents, leaflets, and pictures related to the history of the Jewish people. These resources no doubt aid Rabbi Dunner in his scholarly and rabbinic expertise.</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com