A guide to, and abbreviation of, the standard code of Jewish law, the Shulhan Aruch

The Ḥayei Adam, an abridged code of Jewish law, was written by Rabbi Avraham Danzig (1748-1820) and was first published in 1810. This code spread quickly throughout Europe, and the demand for it required a second publishing which the author printed in 1818. Beyond a Code of Jewish Law attempts to understand the implicit message of its author and discuss various approaches of its writer to both Judaism and Jewish law. While the Ḥayei Adam without any doubt unveils Rabbi Danzig to be a brilliant rabbinic scholar, with a comprehensive knowledge of Jewish law as well as a coherent and concise system of presentation, it also expresses his great concern for the Jewish community and each individual Jew. Aspects of this concern such as Hasidism, musar, kabbalah, are explored.

For more than four centuries, Jewish life has been based on a code of law written by Joseph Caro, his Shulḥan `aruk ['set table']. The work was an immediate best-seller because it presented the law in a clear and concise format. Caro's work, however, was methodologically problematic and was widely criticized in the first generations after its publication. In this volume, Edward Fram examines Caro's methods as well as those of two of his contemporaries, Moses Isserles and Solomon Luria. He highlights criticisms of Caro's legal thought and brings alternative methodologies to the fore. He also compares these three jurists, while placing their methods, and cases in their historical, intellectual, and religious contexts. Fram's volume ultimately explains why Caro's methodologically problematic work won the day, while more sophisticated approaches remained points of legal reference but fell short of achieving the acceptance that their authors hoped for.

Index. Bibliography: p.259-263.

"Valuable, wise, and quietly moving" (Chicago Tribune), This Is My God is Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Herman Wouk's famous introduction to Judaism. A miracle of brevity, This Is My God guides readers through the world's oldest practicing religion with all the power, clarity, and wit of Wouk's celebrated novels. "Anyone who wants to know what orthodox Judaism means to an informed and intelligent orthodox Jew, who is at the same time thoroughly American in outlook and culture, will do well to study this work." --New York Times Book Review

"Responding to a need for our generation, The Concise Code of Jewish Law is a modern and up-to-date work of halachah lema¿aseh, presented in a concise and user-friendly format. The main text is an adaptation of classic sources of halachah, loosely following the order of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, supplemented by notes which explore issues in greater depth and address a wide variety of contemporary applications. This volume on the laws of Shabbat is part of a projected four-volume series covering all areas of practical halachah. First published a generation ago by Rabbi Gersion Appel, this edition has been updated by Rabbi Daniel Goldstein, in style as well as in substance, to address new technological developments and the opinions of recent poskim. Unique among English halachic works in its breadth of sources, Concise Code includes the halachic decisions of classic works such as the Chayei Adam, Mishnah Berurah, and Aruch Hashulchan, in addition to the rulings of the greatest poskim from the recent past, such as R. Moshe Feinstein, R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, and leading poskim of our own day, such as R. Nachum Rabinovitch, R. Hershel Schachter, and R. Mordechai Willig, and many more great poskim of the past and present. Concise Code is a perfect text for students, as well as all those interested in enhancing their observance of halachah and acquiring greater knowledge about the intricacies of practical halachah in our time."

The sheer number of Jewish laws infuses everyday life with endless opportunities to touch the divine within. With this modern translation, the English-reading public can imbibe the holy ways of Jewish law as taught by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the Alter Rebbe, from the original source. In these volumes, the translation faces the newly reset Hebrew text. Notations appear when the Alter Rebbe's rulings are at variance with Rabbi Yosef Cairo's Shulchan Aruch and when other halachic works cite the subject at hand.