I want to congratulate my friend Jenny Labendz on the publication of her book Socratic Torah: Non-Jews in Rabbinic Intellectual Culture. The relationship of the rabbis of Late Antique Palestine to their non-Jewish neighbors, rulers, and interlocutors was complex and often fraught. Jenny R. Labendz investigates the rabbis’ self-perception and their self-fashioning within this non-Jewish social [...]
In Moment Guy Ben-Porat writes about his new book, Between State and Synagogue: The Secularization of Contemporary Israel. Ben-Porat discusses secularization in Israel not as reflective of less religion, but of the weakening of religious authority. The expansion of commerce on the Sabbath, a thriving non-kosher culinary culture, marriages performed outside the Orthodox rabbinate, civil [...]
One of my favorite introductory books is now out in a 2nd edition: (HT Lawrence Schiffman on Twitter) Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism (2nd Edition) NEW 2ND EDITION Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism A Parallel History of their Origins and Early Development Edited by Hershel Shanks A unique look at two of the world’s great religions This [...]
One of the towering figures of the Israeli history and Religious Zionism is Rabbi Shlomo Goren. He is one of those figures without whom the present would probably have been very different. There is already a biography of Rav Goren in English, Rabbi Shlomo Goren: Torah Sage and General, and he has been the subject [...]
Here are two recently published books that may be of interest (HT): Amir Mashiah has published a book on Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, הלכה בתמורות הזמן במשנתו של הרב שלמה זלמן אוירבך. ספר מקיף זה עוסק בפילוסופיה של ההלכה של אחד מגדולי הפוסקים במאה העשרים. הרב שלמה זלמן אוירבך (1995-1910), שנולד, חי ופעל בשכונת ‘שערי [...]
WebYeshiva has an interview with Dr. Moshe Simon-Shoshan about his new book Stories of the Law: Narrative Discourse and the Construction of Authority in the Mishnah.
Just Published! The Status of Women in Jewish Law: Responsa Special Introductory Offer until Passover The Status of Women in Jewish Law: Responsa, David Golinkin, Jerusalem: The Center for Women in Jewish Law at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, 2012, 413 pp.; hardcover, $25, special offer: $20 plus shipping Click here to order The [...]
From Academic Studies Press: Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Buber were giant thinkers of the 20th century who made significant contributions to the understanding of religious consciousness and of Judaism. They wrote on various subjects, such as the Bible, the commandments, Hasidism, Zionism and Christianity. Though they had much in common, they also differed on [...]
H-Judaic has a review of Uriel I. Simonsohn’s A Common Justice: The Legal Allegiances of Christians and Jews under Early Islam. In the year 1030 CE, Shelomo ben Yehuda, the Palestinian gaon (medieval Jewish religious authority), wrote a letter lamenting the impossible position he and his fellow leaders were in. As someone charged with upholding [...]
Ben Sommer has edited a new book, Jewish Concepts of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction. There is a nice selection of chapters by different scholars. Here is the table of contents.
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