Rabbi Dr. J. David Bleich

Rabbi J. David Bleich’s volumes on contemporary halakha [Jewish legal] problems demonstrate the ability of the Jewish mesorah [tradition] to respond to changed conditions and advances in knowledge. He is professor of Talmud at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary as well as the director of its Postgraduate Institute for the study of Talmudic Jurisprudence and Family Law. In addition, he holds the Herbert and Florence Tenzer Chair of Jewish Law and Ethics at Yeshiva University and is professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. In Contemporary Halakhic Problems: Volume VII, published this year, Rabbi Bleich provides lucid summaries and analyses of classic halachic questions alongside pioneering applications of Jewish law to current social, political, technological and religious issues. Covering topics such as stem-cell hamburgers, entering a non-Jewish house of worship, video surveillance, medical and cosmetic tattooing, laser circumcision and posthumous paternity, among others, the essays in this book cover some of the most intriguing questions of our time. Of special importance is his chapter on vaccination, in which he states unequivocally that “vaccination of one’s children is unquestionably a parental responsibility” and that parents should work to ensure 100% compliance.