Contemporary Halakhic Problems, Vol. VIII
By Rabbi Dr. J. David Bleich
Maggid Books
Jerusalem, 2024
648 pages
Reviewed by Rabbi Betzalel Sochaczewski
Writing on Judaism in October 1978, David Novak noted that “[o]ne of the happier signs of the intellectual maturity of the American Jewish community is the growing publication of halachic literature in English.” Thus he began his review of the new work Contemporary Halakhic Problems, which had emerged the previous year from “[o]ne of the foremost Jewish thinkers in this area . . . the Orthodox cleric and professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University, Dr. J. David Bleich.”
Fast forward nearly half a century and one would be hard pressed to identify an individual other than Rabbi Dr. J. David Bleich—still an Orthodox cleric, yet more commonly titled rosh yeshivah and rosh kollel le’hora’ah at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), professor of law at Cardozo School of Law, and Herbert and Florence Tenzer professor of law and ethics at Yeshiva University—who is more closely associated with the genre of English-language halachic literature. In what can indeed be an indication of the intellectual maturity of the American Jewish community, that initial volume has grown into a series by the same name, most recently expanded by its eighth volume. Suffice it to say that these works—primarily culled from Rabbi Bleich’s regular installments (now numbering over 150 since 1967) of “Survey of Recent Halakhic Periodical Literature” in the Rabbinical Council of America’s periodical, Tradition—have become staples of an advanced Anglo Judaica library.
This newest addition to Rabbi Bleich’s oeuvre hews closely to its predecessors: exhaustive aerial tours of some thirty complex contemporary halachic landscapes, populated by meticulously sourced footnotes, enriched by parallels from a broad background in secular law, medicine and ethics, and presented with his signature precision of exposition, graceful expression, and flourishes of good humor. And despite the passage of time, Rabbi Bleich’s writing has not mellowed; it continues to eschew the “pop halachah” format in favor of the dense, academic style. (I imagine that I am not alone in wondering if thinning out some of that density would not be beneficial in making these essays more accessible to those not equipped with a mental machete.) Make no mistake: This is not company for the post-cholent visit to the couch.
True to its title, the current volume surveys halachic applications to matters born of the modern age. Some are “vintage” topics of the genre, such as the relationship of the laws of Shabbos to refrigerators, instant soups, internet sales and diabetes management; or the permissibility of Shema recitation in a foreign language. Others, while also not of recent provenance, have generated controversy as of late, such as the kashrus of pineapple; yet others have recently come into the spotlight due to shifting social and legal attitudes, such as the status of cannabis.
But perhaps the issues likely to generate the most interest are those on the cutting edge of science and technology. The classic philosophical dilemma of the “Trolley Problem” receives a modern twist in the moral challenges relating to self-driving automobiles. And the seemingly inexhaustible subject of in vitro fertilization (IVF) is addressed once again, this time regarding the disposition—or ownership—of fertilized ova.
The most noteworthy section of this volume relates to that singular experience of our lifetime, the Covid-19 pandemic. The unprecedented (for modern times) circumstances that it produced in the realms of physical and mental health, medicine, relationships, education, economics, communication, society and religion generated a stream of fresh halachic challenges, many of which needed to be addressed in real time by Klal Yisrael’s dedicated senior poskim. The result was a veritable new subsection of halachic literature—“Hilchos Corona” or “Hilchos Pandemic”—with entire volumes dedicated to its treatment. Indeed, it is difficult to think of another modern phenomenon which achieved such a distinction with such expeditiousness.
The classic philosophical dilemma of the “Trolley Problem” receives a modern twist in the moral challenges relating to self-driving automobiles.
As all of this unfolded, Rabbi Bleich was on site. Readers of his columns in Tradition thus traversed the pandemic with his digests of the freshly printed halachic literature—collated, analyzed and appraised—held up against the backdrop of the emerging and ever-amorphous medical and legal data. In this first collection of this material, we are transported back to the world of masks and gloves, of porch minyanim and social distancing. What to do about a missed bar mitzvah? Missed Kerias haTorah? Is there an obligation to follow through with tuition payments if schools are shuttered? Rabbi Bleich’s positions on these and other issues renders this section an important resource (one hopes, only theoretical—lehagdil Torah uleha’adirah).
As in the previous volumes of the series, this one is headed by an introductory essay on a broader theme of the halachic process, in this case, primarily, the methodology of pesak (halachic decision-making). While the veteran reader will recognize various arguments and anecdotes from previous such essays, this is seemingly the author’s fullest expression of his halachic philosophy. Utilizing a threefold division into halachah’s “substantive, adjudicative, and prophylactic” components, Rabbi Bleich pointedly and unapologetically limns what constitutes authentic, traditional and responsible pesak—and what does not.
There are, of course, some points which are open to dispute. For example, Rabbi Bleich writes (p. 5) that “the halakhic system regards elucidation of the law by legitimate exponents to be infallible. Since such interpretation was licensed by G-d, it could not possibly be erroneous.” While this idea is possibly reflected in classical sources, namely the Kuzari (3:41) and Ramban (Devarim 17:11), it would seem to be belied by the very institution of the par he’elem davar shel tzibbur, the sacrifice prescribed to atone for mass sinning due to an error in halachic judgement by the Great Sanhedrin (Vayikra 4:13–21; Horiyos, chap. 1).1
Yet another is Rabbi Bleich’s firm endorsement of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s marginalization of the halachic value of literary latecomers, such as Meiri. Meiri’s writings were (for the most part) discovered in the twentieth century in the Biblioteca Palatina of Parma (not the Cairo Genizah, as Rabbi Bleich states [pp. 10, 51]) and have since become a staple of Talmudic analysis. While acknowledging their value in abstract learning, Rabbi Bleich asserts that Meiri’s writings are of minimal halachic value due to their absence from the historical halachic process. “Applied halakhic decision-making is also subject to masorah. Me’iri is not part of that tradition” (p. 50). While the esteemed author is certainly entitled to his approach, perhaps it would have been appropriate to take note of the dissenting view, that of halachic greats such as the Mishnah Berurah, who did take Meiri’s positions into account in their halachic analyses.2 The same could be said for Rabbi Bleich’s wholesale rejection of the halachic value of the Cairo Genizah (p. 51)—this is by no means a universal position.3
In sum, Contemporary Halakhic Problems, Vol. VIII, may deservedly take its place alongside its well-thumbed predecessors in gracing the bookshelves of serious students of halachah—while leaving space for, it is hoped, many others to follow.
Notes
1. See Rabbi Rephael Yosef Hazan, Shut Chikrei Lev (Jerusalem, 1998), YD 1:84 , p. 418.
2. See, for example, Shut Divrei Yatziv, OC 132, regarding the late publication of Maharam Halavah’s novellae on Pesachim.
3. Rabbi Uri Tieger, in his comprehensive survey of Chazon Ish’s halachic methodology, Derech Ish (Jerusalem, 2009), pp. 25–26, concludes that he was not averse to making use of new sources—including Meiri and Genizah material—in matters of halachic import, so long as he was convinced of their authenticity.
Rabbi Betzalel Sochaczewski is a freelance writer, editor and translator, residing in Lakewood, New Jersey. His original work has appeared in Hakirah, and includes a forthcoming English-language adaptation of Toldos Yaakov Yosef. He is also the host of the parashah podcast Der Pshat in Posuk.