Wednesday, November 16, 2005

"HeChodosh ossur min hatorah" -- new book

Just received a feast of a new book from Israel “HeChodosh ossur min haTorah” – over 400pp of collected essays of the Hebrew U historian of Orthodoxy, Prof. Moshe Samet.

Table of contents (translated):

Introduction by Prof. Immanuel Etkes

Foreword

1 Reaction of the halakhah to modernity
2 Haredi Jewry in the modern age (I)
3 Haredi Jewry in the modern age (II)
4 The ‘Besamim Rosh’ of R. Shaul Berlin
5 Moses Mendelssohn, Naftali Weisel and the Rabbis of their generation
6 Essay on the issue of shaving on Hol Hamoed
7 Leaving the dead overnight; the history of the controversy regarding determining the moment of death
8 Changes in the synagogue rituals – the stand of the Rabbis against the ‘Innovator’ Reformists
9 The Hatam Sofer – the Masoret and the Halachah
10 Additional directions [towards defining] the biography of the Hatam Sofer
11 ‘Gerut’ and Zionism
12 The conflict on the institutionalization of Jewish values in the State of Israel


--- this is clearly of direct interest to many of our readers, particularly those following the recent posts on "R&R". It is only a shame that we are in the middle of winter and one no sooner has had a ‘shlof’ on Shabbat afternoon than it is time to go to minchah – no reading time!
  • If your appetite has been whetted – you can order the book from here – I HIGHLY recommend Books International (based in Israel, despite the name) for all books from Israel – they are fast, efficient reasonable in price, HELPFUL and have always answered my email enquiries within a day or so. Their website is great as well, and through it you can keep updated on significant new books from Israel.
  • While looking up links I came across this equally important book - has anyone read it yet??

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