Birkat Yitzchak: He’arot LeMasechet Sanhedrin, fourth edition
By Rabbi Menachem Genack
OU Press
New York, 2024
148 pages
In 1968, a twenty-year-old Menachem Genack—not yet a rabbi—published a short book of Talmudic essays on the tractate of Sanhedrin in memory of his recently deceased father, Rabbi Chaim Yitzchak Genack. As most readers know, Rabbi Menachem Genack—my teacher and mentor—has established himself as not only a leader in kosher supervision (he serves as CEO, OU Kosher) but also a premier Torah scholar and an important conduit of the insights of his esteemed teacher, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. In Birkat Yitzchak, recently released in an expanded fourth edition in time for Daf Yomi learners, Rabbi Genack shows the key to how a brilliant but inexperienced youth can embody wisdom and insight.
Birkat Yitzchak originally contained fifty-four essays on topics across the tractate of Sanhedrin. The expanded edition adds many small comments to those essays and another six related essays. The sefer is a goldmine of insights from Rabbi Soloveitchik, many of which for decades were not available anywhere except in this sefer. Rabbi Genack often builds his essays on his mentor’s insights, using Rabbi Soloveitchik’s conceptual distinctions in one place to solve other problems. In this way, Rabbi Genack attaches himself to a great scholar, studies and absorbs his approach, and builds on it to create an even greater edifice. The key to achieving greatness yourself is linking yourself to the greatness of a giant of the previous generation. Even at the age of twenty, Rabbi Genack reached the level of successfully creating his own conceptual distinctions in applying Rabbi Soloveitchik’s “Brisker” approach.
With his clear thinking and concise prose, Rabbi Genack demonstrates not only how to create Brisker Torah but also how to convey it.
Sanhedrin is a fascinating tractate that covers a lot of ground, discussing kings and prophets, witnesses and courts, Jews and gentiles, and much more. It is also a tractate that crosses between halachah and aggadah, law and lore. Rabbi Genack chooses topics across the gamut but often from among the most enticing subjects. For example, he discusses the ruling (Sanhedrin 19b) that a king may not forgo his own honor. That seems to be contradicted by the fact that Moshe was a king and set aside his own honor when bowing down to his father-in-law, Yitro. In a classical Brisker distinction, Rabbi Genack suggests that there are two aspects to the honor owed to a king: 1. honor of the king himself (gavra), as an individual, 2. honor of the position of royalty (cheftza), to the status of king as an institution. When we honor the position of the king, we constantly reaffirm his appointment to that role. A king can waive his own honor, like anyone else. However, he cannot waive the honor to his position because that would undermine his appointment to that role. Moshe was a king who was appointed by G-d, not by man. Therefore, only the first aspect applies to him, which he may waive. Any other king, though, must maintain the honor to his position to reaffirm his appointment.
The Mishnah (Sanhedrin 89a) says that someone who fails to heed the statement of a prophet and a prophet who violates his own statement are subject to Divine punishment. Why, Rabbi Genack asks, is there a need for a separate rule about a prophet who violates his own statement? Isn’t that subsumed under the rule of failing to heed to a statement of a prophet? Building on an insight of Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik, Rabbi Genack suggests that people are only required to follow the verbal command of prophecy. If a prophet fails to say his prophecy, we are not obligated to fulfill his unspoken words. In contrast, a prophet knows his own prophecy and must follow it even if he never verbalizes it. Therefore, there is a need for a separate prohibition for a prophet who violates his own, even unspoken, prophecy. Rabbi Genack then suggests a completely different answer to his original question. Perhaps the general public is required to obey a prophet himself (gavra) and not necessarily his prophecy (cheftza). However, the prophet does not obey himself. Rather, he must obey the prophecy. For this reason, there is a need for a separate prohibition on the prophet not to violate his own prophecy.
With his clear thinking and concise prose, Rabbi Genack demonstrates not only how to create Brisker Torah but also how to convey it. Readers familiar with rabbinic Hebrew and Talmudic concepts will delight in the many essays that analyze debates across the tractate of Sanhedrin. Rabbi Genack points out apparent problems, builds tension of conflicting passages and rulings, and resolves them with the clarity of precise definitions and distinctions. He then proceeds to adduce proofs for, and further applications of, his conceptual distinctions. Birkat Yitzchak is not only an extremely useful sefer on Sanhedrin but also a master class in clear thinking and rabbinic writing.
Pursuing Peshat: Tanakh Parshanut & Talmud Torah
By Dr. Moshe Sokolow
Kodesh Press
New York, 2024
350 pages
The study of Tanach has experienced a renaissance over the past century for a variety of reasons, among them the experience of living in the land of the Bible and the influence of secular Zionists who drew inspiration from Tanach. Regardless of the reason, advanced study of any area of Torah is certainly welcome. However, the existence of competing perspectives in Tanach study raises the questions of what gives us the right to interpret Tanach and how do we determine which interpretations are legitimate. Legendary educator Dr. Moshe Sokolow, professor and associate dean at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, runs straight into this complex battlefield of ideas with his Pursuing Peshat: Tanakh Parshanut & Talmud Torah.
Like any text, Tanach can be read literally, taking its words at face value without digging past surface. However, tradition teaches us that Tanach has incredible depth, with many possible meanings and interpretations beyond a simple reading. Tradition itself provides the authority to interpret the sacred text. Dr. Sokolow takes this further and argues that a text must be interpreted within its lived history. Tanach was given to an audience who understood its meaning and transmitted the text and interpretation to future generations. Therefore, a valid peshat interpretation, the “plain or straightforward meaning,” must be consistent with the tradition of the text’s reception. Tradition provides authority to interpret, and the interpretation’s validity is based on its consistency with tradition. Dr. Sokolow bases these arguments on a plethora of sources he surveys over the course of a journey through the history and geography of Jewish Bible commentary.
The existence of competing perspectives in Tanach study raises the questions of what gives us the right to interpret Tanach and how do we determine which interpretations are legitimate.
A reader might expect Dr. Sokolow to then say that we must adhere to the canon of Biblical commentary. Presumably we should be constrained by tradition to follow only the classical Torah commentaries. However, Dr. Sokolow goes in the opposite direction. As a teacher of teachers, he explores how to develop sensitive students who can read Tanach carefully and find new interpretations that are consistent with tradition. First, he presents a valuable list of skills necessary for anyone to be Biblically literate. While the list is quite intimidating, it is an aspirational ideal of how to train people to be better readers of the Bible.
The best way to teach how to do anything is to present concepts and then do it together. For example, by presenting students with an ambiguous verse and then showing them commentaries who explain it differently, you train them to look for different meanings within the text. Dr. Sokolow demonstrates this with a number of verses that are textually ambiguous and discusses whether, based on the context, there is more than one way to understand the verse. He concludes his book with eight examples of using important skills to interpret verses.
Pursuing Peshat is a tribute to the importance of Tanach for anyone who takes their Judaism seriously. In it, Dr. Sokolow introduces us to the key historical figures in traditional Tanach commentary and important methods we can use in our own study. He not only encourages the study of peshat but teaches readers how to do it themselves and teach it to others. This is a book for students and teachers alike who wish to improve their own appreciation and skills for peshat study of Tanach.
Rabbi Gil Student is a contributing editor of Jewish Action and member of its Editorial Committee.