Jews in Gotham: New York Jews in a Changing City, 1920-2010, by  Jeffrey S. Gurock  (Vol. 3 of: City of Promises : a History of the Jews of New York).  NYU Press, 2012. In the last 30 years we have been witness to a plethora of Jewish community histories in the US.  Many fine studies [...]

Sefer ‘Am Mordekhai ‘al Masekhet Berakhot, by Mordechai Willig. KÌ£eren Mikha’el Sharf le-hotsaʼat sefarim she-Ê»al yad Yeshivat Rabenu YitshÌ£akÌ£ ElhÌ£anan, 2012. Sefer ‘Am Mordechai ‘al Masekhet Berakhot, originally published in 1992, has now been reissued with much additional material. The author, Rabbi Mordechai Willig, Rosh Yeshiva and Rosh Kollel at RIETS, is widely recognized as [...]

Shi’ure Yesamah Av, by Eliahu Baruch Shulman. Michael Scharf Publication Trust of the Yeshiva University Press, 2012. Shi’ure Yesamah Av on the Talmudic chapters ha-Shutafin and Hezkat ha-Batim is a collection of insights and essays by Yeshiva University’s Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Eliahu Baruch Shulman. These chapters, which are part of the tractate Bava Batra, contain [...]

The Megillah: Majesty & Mystery, by Rabbi Norman Lamm; compiled and edited by Joel B. Wolowelsky. OU Press and RIETS Yeshiva University Press, 2012. Rabbi Norman Lamm’s latest publication, The Megillah: Majesty & Mystery, is a combination of old and new. The material for the book was put together by Dr. Joel B. Wolowelsky based [...]

Kuntres Yerah Tov ‘al Birkat ha-Hodesh, by Elchanan Adler. Published by the author, 2012. Kuntres Yerah Tov, by Yeshiva University Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Elchanan Adler, is a short volume, but it is overflowing with scintillating scholarship and fascinating insights into the monthly recitation of the Blessing of the New Moon. Rabbi Adler weaves together lomdus, [...]

Sefer Tov Lev ‘al Masekhet Pesahim, by Michoel Zylberman. KÌ£eren Mikha’el Sharf le-hotsaʼat sefarim she-Ê»al yad Yeshivat Rabenu YitshÌ£akÌ£ ElhÌ£anan, 2011. Rabbi Michoel Zylberman’s first published book contains two works. The first work, Sefer Tov Lev, is a collection of essays covering different topics in Masekhet Pesahim. In the second work, Kuntres Dat Yehudit, R. [...]

Sefer Yeme ha-Purim, by Yonason Sacks. 2012. Yeme ha-Purim is a collection of Torah essays on halakhic topics relating to Purim by Yeshiva University Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yonason Sacks. The essays display Rabbi Sacks’ clarity of thought and presentation. The joy of Purim and Torah study are combined beautifully in this new volume. Posted by [...]

Beyond Expulsion :  Jews, Christians, and Reformation Strasbourg, by Debra Kaplan. Stanford University Press, 2011. This book represents a study of the Jewish influence in Strasbourg in the Middle Ages and the early modern era.   All Jews were expelled from Strasbourg in 1390, and were only readmitted in 1791. Yet the Jews retained an influence [...]