Introduction by Ira Robinson

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Preface ix
4. Introduction by Ira Robinson xiii
5. 1. Rabbi Yechiel Mechel Halevi Epstein: His Life and Works 1
6. 2. “Long Live the Tsar”: Rabbi Yechiel Mechel Epstein and the Russian Political System 37
7. 3. “Today Not Yesteryear”: Rabbi Y.M. Epstein’s Adjudicative Process as Expressed in the Arukh Hashulhan 51
8. 4. “In Any Case There Are No Sinful Thoughts”: The Role and Status of Women in Jewish Law as Expressed in the Arukh Hashulhan 60
9. 5. The Courage of a Religious Adjudicator: Rabbi Yechiel Mechel Epstein and Modernity 75
10. 6. “Mercy is Vouchsafed From Heaven”: Halakhah’s Response to Violence as Expressed in the Arukh Hashulhan Orakh Hayyim—Sections 560 and 576–8 89
11. 7. “Secular Studies are the Supplement of Torah Studies”: Kol Ben Levi—The Homilies of Rabbi Yechiel Mechel Halevi Epstein—The First Sermon 109
12. 8. Recurrent Themes in the Homilies of Rabbi Yechiel Mechel Halevi Epstein 130
13. 9. Social Reality or the Written Word: Minhag as Expressed in the Arukh Hashulhan 145
14. Appendix: A Graphologist’s Report by Graphologist Batya Cohen 165
15. Bibliography 167
16. Index 172