Torah Book Reviews

The Battle of the Generation By: Hillel S 305 pp/ SC The Battle of the Generation is a book in the “Shemiras Einayim” genre. As the title implies, guarding our eyes and avoiding sexual sins very difficult in our generation where promiscuity is respected if not outright encouraged.  The book is written anonymously by a student of Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier who gave his haskama and is mentioned several times in the book. Truth be told, I am not a fan of these types of works. I put away my Likutei Moharan because I felt that sexual issues were over emphasized. Indeed, most of the shemiras einayim books and websites these days are Breslov influenced. I find that most men in these  Breslov gotta-work-on-myself-all-day-its-the-most-important-avoda circles spend more time thinking about how not to think about sex than most men actually think about sex! Sometimes reading these books brings on more sin than if they weren’t read (as the author of this book says himself)! As ...

From Forbidden Fruit to Milk and Honey  A Commentary on Food in the Torah By Diana Lipton Urim Publications / 302 pp Hearing about this release certainly “whet my appetite” to get my hands on it. A parsha book that focuses exclusively on food in the Torah was a cool idea, I thought. Although many might mistakenly believe that the Jewish love affair with food originated at the turn of the 20 th century in the Delicatessens of the Lower East Side, this book shows that the Jewish love affair with food extends back to the Bible, and by extension, the first days of Creation. The book includes one chapter for every parsha. Each chapter begins with a general 2-4-page essay on the theme of food in the parsha that is submitted by a different author each time. Following the opening essay, Diana Lipton selects a number of excerpts from the parsha relating to food and shares her thoughts and commentary on what we can learn from these verses. Many of these opening essays and...

  Am I My Body's Keeper? By Michael Kaufman Urim / 332 pp There is nothing worse for our bodies than…food. Yes, between the additives and preservatives, combined with the inexcusably large portions which we eat --that our bodies do not need or want-- we are literally destroying our health one meal at a time.  Add to this equation the fact that we are Orthodox Jews, making the situation even more alarming. We can’t get away from food. Whether it’s pat shacharit, three meals on Shabbos, Melaveh Malka, a vort, a bris, a wedding, a l’chaim, a Kiddush, a Friday “to'amei’ah” session, or a yartzeit tikkun, we are seemingly trapped into eating. And here’s my favorite: “I’m not sure if I had a kezayis, so please pass me some more [fill in a carbohydrate and fat saturated food] so that I can be sure I can say a bracha achronal…” And I didn’t even comment on the near total disinterest and disregard for exercise in the Orthodox community. (“…because it’s bittul Torah”) ...

#Parasha Weekly Insights from a Leading Israeli Journalist Sivan Rahav-Meir Menorah / 333 pp Although I have never met her, I have always been a fan of Sivan Rahav-Meir, not because her brother in law, Yitzhak Meir, is one of my favorite singers, or because I often start my day with her husband’s [sometimes too long] commentary on the day’s news on Radio Kol Hai, but rather due to her exceptional journalistic talents that combine with her unique contributions to Israel society.  Originally from a secular background, Rahav-Meir found her way to orthodoxy and is today one of the most popular media personalities in Israel. She is a true Kiddush Hashem and inspiration to many. In her debut to the English-speaking world, Rahav-Meir presents a book with divrei Torah on the weekly parasha. Each chapter contains three or four short essays [sometimes too short] that have inspirational and contemporary messages related to the weekly reading. The messages draw on sources an...

Welcome to Our Table Rabbi Ari Wasserman Distributed by Feldheim / 465 pp. Ari Wasserman has done it again! This time with a parsha sefer, a book on the weekly Torah portion. As the subtitle says, it is full of "Words of Torah, Insightful Questions and Inspiring Stories." There are two entries on every parsha. Every entry contains a short Dvar Torah. Following the opening Dvar Torah, there is another short essay, often a story, thought, and/or practical application of the opening Dvar Torah. Finally, a question is posed that is intended to trigger the mind and the mouth. The book is made especially personable as it includes responses that the author received from guests and family when he first posed the question at his table! Being familiar with virtually every other "Family" parsha book that is available today, I can assure readers that "Welcome to Our Table" has upped the bar and set a new standard. I conclude with a sample from this week'...

Reason To Believe Rational Explanations of Orthodox Jewish Faith By Rabbi Chaim Jachter Menorah / 250 pages While I generally only write on works of halacha, and furthermore, I generally run away from works of philosophy, I was very intrigued by Reason to Believe. That's because it's not too often that you find a "Rambam" - a master of halacha and also a master of philosophy. But Rabbi Jachter, a noted New Jersey halachic authority and author of numerous halachic works, has struck a grand slam with his recent book. Although there are a number of books out there on defending Torah Judaism, Reason to Believe is very unique in that it presents arguments in support of Torah Judaism whose primary target audience is orthodox Jews! Some of the topics include Emuna, proof for the Divine origin of the Torah, lesser-known interpretations of Biblical stories (especially interesting in this category is a rationalist explanation of the ten plagues), comparing science with T...

A Concise Code of Jewish Law for Converts Rabbi Michael J. Broyde Urim / 180 pp Rabbi Michael Broyde’s newest work, A Concise Code of Jewish Law for Converts, is an extremely unique and original contribution to the world of English halachic literature. At the same, time, it also serves as a great outreach effort to converts. There are essentially two sections to the book, each of similar length. The first section addresses the halachic issues relevant to converts, and it is arranged in the order of the Shulchan Aruch. This makes it especially useful for rabbis and others studying these issues. For example, just as S.A. OC 25 discusses the mitzvah of tefillin, S.A. YD 2 discusses shechita, and S.A. CM 7 discusses judges, so too, these halachot relevant to converts can be found in the book under the same categorization. Of course, the most prominent issue of halachot relating to converts are those relating to marriage, making the Even Ha’ezer section of the book quite practi...