Menachem Mendel

Manuscriptboy has a link to info on a Conference on Halakhah and History that will be held at Hebrew University on March 28.

Posted on March 14th, 2011 under Halakhic Literature, Jewish History, Jewish Law, Public Events, Rabbinic Literature. Comments Off

See Mitchell First’s post at the Seforim blog on “The Origin of Ta’anit Esther.”

Posted on March 4th, 2011 under Customs, Halakhic Literature, Jewish Law, Purim. Comments Off

For your weekend reading: Zev Farber, “Extra-Legal Punishments in Medieval Jewish Courts,” in Mishpetei Shalom – A Jubilee Volume in Honor of Rabbi Saul (Shalom) Berman, edited by Yamin Levy (Ktav Pub, 2010). Available here.

Posted on January 13th, 2011 under Halakhic Literature, Jewish Law, Legal History, Middle Ages, Rabbinic Literature, Responsa. Comments: 3

Not long ago I wrote about the book, Derech ha-Melekh, which was written as an aswer to the book Torat ha-Melekh. In a recent issue of Ma’ayanei ha-Yeshuah, Elyashiv Reichner complains about the lack of interest shown by both general and religious media outlets about the book Derech ha-Melekh. Reichner writes that when Rabbis say [...]

Posted on January 12th, 2011 under Halakhic Literature, Israel, Jewish Law, Jewish-Gentile Relations, Rabbinic Authority. Comments: 1

According to this entry at the JNUL, there is a new edition of Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman’s Melamed le-Hoil. This new edition is edited by his great-grandson, who also happens to have the name David Zvi Hoffman.

Posted on January 3rd, 2011 under Ashkenaz, Halakhic Literature, Jewish Law, New Books, Responsa. Comments: 5

In a responsum in which he argues that there is no halakhic objection to an Israeli withdrawal from territory that has been captured as a result of war, Rabbi Hayyim David Halevy addresses the prohibition of Lo Tehanem. (Aseih Lecha Rav, vol. 4, no. 1). Rabbi Halevy first says that the prohibition of Lo Tehanem [...]

Posted on December 8th, 2010 under Halakhic Literature, Israel, Jewish Law, Jewish-Gentile Relations, Religious Zionism. Comments: 3

Great news from Vos Iz Neias: A trove of unpublished manuscripts from the late gadol and posek hador, Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, has been discovered and is being readied for publication in a series of seforim. Included are Rav Moshe’s writings on the entire Shas, as well as hundreds of Responsa on complex halachic issues. [...]

Posted on September 26th, 2010 under Halakhic Literature, Jewish Law, Rabbinic Authority, Responsa. Comments: 2

I just got a few new books that have recently (one not so recently) been printed in Israel. Thanks to my parents and the mail, here are a few of the new books on my shelf. 1. Admiel Kosman, מסכת נשים. This is the companion volume to Kosman’s study of midrashim and legends about men [...]

Posted on May 10th, 2010 under Halakhic Literature, Israel, Jewish Law, New Books, Rabbinic Literature, Responsa. Comments: 1

Nathaniel Helfgot has posted at Text and Texture on Women, Communal Leadership, and Modern Orthodoxy. Many people who oppose women in positions of communal leadership cite a statement of the Rambam in Hilkhot Melakhim 1:5. Helfgot’s comments on the reception of this Rambam are worth quoting. In this context, I would also add a question [...]

Posted on February 19th, 2010 under Halakhic Literature, Jewish Law, Rabbinic Authority, Rabbinic Literature. Comments: 4