Originally published in Jewish Law Annual, 6 (1987), 94-108.   Jacob b. Asher (d. 1340), compiler of the Tur, prefaces the section of this code which deals with jurisprudence, ‘Hoshen Mishpat’, with a statement on the importance of justice ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published in Abraham Ezra Millgram, ed., Great Jewish Ideas (B'nei B'rith, Washington, 1964), 81-93. The key terms in Jewish life - Torah and mitzvah - are inextricably linked. In English translations of the Bible, Torah is rendered as ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published in Polin 11 (1998): 25-30. References in literature to the use of tobacco by hasidic Jews are numerous [1]. Although there is little direct evidence to indicate how widespread it was, the references suggest it was fairly ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published as 'Current Theological Literature: time and eternity', in Judaism (Fall 1969), 458-63. There are two views in Medieval Jewish thought on the relationship between time and eternity. The philosophers tend to distinguish between ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published in Judaism 34.1 (Winter 1985), 55-59. From the historical evidence marshalled by Professor Cohen it would appear that the change from the patrilineal to the matrilineal principle for the offspring of mixed unions of Jew and ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published in Judaism, Summer 1967   Although the writers of responsa are primarily halakhic authorities, with their chief interest the practical application of Jewish law, it is not altogether unusual to find them discussing ... Continue Reading ➨

Subchapter of ‘Hasidic Tradition’ in Blumenthal, David R. (ed.) Understanding Jewish mysticism: a source reader, ii: The Philosophic-Mystical Tradition and the Hasidic Tradition (Ktav, 1982) Originally published in Louis Jacobs, Hasidic Prayer ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published in New from Channel 4 (Autumn 1988). Dorothy Sayers once remarked that she had been brought up on the Bible and the Classics, but had gained the impression that while the characters in Greek and Roman history were real, those ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published by Judaica Press, New York, N.Y., 1967   Nowadays the thought of men like Tillich and Bonhoeffer, the bestselling paperback Honest to God by the Bishop of Woolwich, the ‘death of God’ debate in Protestant theological ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published in Arthur Green, ed., Jewish Spirituality from the Sixteenth-Century Revival to the Present (New York: Crossroad, 1987), 99-126.   Although for convenience’s sake we shall refer, in this essay, to light as a ... Continue Reading ➨

Subchapter of ‘Hasidic Tradition’ in Blumenthal, David R. (ed.) Understanding Jewish mysticism: a source reader, ii: The Philosophic-Mystical Tradition and the Hasidic Tradition (Ktav, 1982) Originally published in L. Jacobs, Hasidic Prayer ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published as “The talmudic sugya as a literary unit: an analysis of Baba Kamma 2a-3b”, JJS 24.2 (Autumn 1973), 119-126.   The first mishnah in Bava Kama states that there are four ‘main categories of injury’: the ox, the pit, ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published in Michael Chernick, ed., Essential Papers on the Talmud (New York; London: New York University Press, 1994), 52-69.   The Babylonian Talmud consists almost entirely of arguments having as their aim the elucidation of ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published in Judaism, Winter 1980   Professor Gordis’s brilliant analysis has placed heavily in his debt all who are concerned with the problem of how to achieve a viable halakhah. It is a privilege to have been invited to ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published in Studies in aggadah, targum and Jewish liturgy in memory of Joseph Heinemann, ed. Jakob J. Petuchowski & Ezra Fleischer. Jerusalem: Magnes Press; Hebrew Union College Press, 1981: 32-44 (Engl. Section). Republ. in L. ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published in An introduction to Jewish law, ed. Peter Elman (London: Lincolns-Prager, 1958), 11-17. Torah, Mishnah, Gemara The three main sources of Jewish Law are the Torah, the Mishnah and the Gemara. It is proposed briefly to ... Continue Reading ➨

Originally published in Concilium 10 (1974), pp. 111-118. It is axiomatic that the Law—the Torah—is a key concept in Judaism. No group of people professing the Jewish religion has ever abandoned this concept and remained within the faith, though ... Continue Reading ➨