Books Published
Title: The Shochet: A Memoir of Jewish Life in Ukraine and Crimea (Volume I)
Translated and Presented by Michoel Rotenfeld
Published: September 2023
Set in Ukraine and Crimea, this unique autobiography offers a fascinating, detailed picture of life in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Tsarist Russia. Goldenshteyn (1848-1930), a traditional Jew who was orphaned as a young boy, is a master storyteller. Folksy, funny, streetwise, and self-confident, he is a keen observer of nineteenth-century Eastern Europe, both Jewish and non-Jewish. His accounts are vivid and readable, sometimes stunning in their intensity.
Title: A Link in the Great American Chain: Studies in the Evolution of the Orthodox Jewish Community in Cleveland, Ohio
Author: Ira Robinson
Published: May 2023
This book brings together six articles the author has published in recent years on the development of the Orthodox Jewish community in Cleveland, Ohio. While a number of scholars have ably presented important parts of the history of Jewish Orthodoxy in Cleveland, Ohio, this book is a first attempt to deal comprehensively with the story of Cleveland Orthodox Judaism. Chapters one and two, taken together, present a connected narrative history of the evolution of the Jewish Orthodox community in Cleveland, Ohio from its beginnings to the early twenty-first century. The succeeding chapters present in greater detail persons and institutions of great importance to the historical development of the Orthodox community.
Title: May it Please the Campus: Lawyers Leading Higher Education
Author: Patricia E. Salkin
Published: December 2022
The book traces the history of lawyer campus presidents from the 1700s to present, exploring dozens of topics such as: where lawyer presidents went to law school; the percentage of lawyer presidents serving at public, private, community, HBCUs, and religiously affiliated institutions; geographic concentrations of campuses led by lawyers, women lawyer presidents, pathways to the presidency for lawyers, commonalities in backgrounds, and more. The author explores reasons for an exponential increase in lawyers serving as campus leaders examining the growth of legal education and myriad legal and regulatory issues confronting higher education.
Title: After The Holocaust
Author: Monty Noam Penkower
Published: October 2021
The chapters in this volume examine a few facets in the drama of how the survivors of the Holocaust contended with life after the darkest night in Jewish history. They include the Earl Harrison mission and significant report, the effort to keep Europe’s borders open to refugee infiltration, the murder of the first Jew in Germany after V-E Day and its impact, and the iconic sculptures of Nathan Rapoport and Poland’s landscape of Holocaust memory up to the present day. Joining extensive archival research and a limpid prose, Professor Monty Noam Penkower again displays a definitive mastery of his craft.
Title: Israel: As a Phoenix Ascending
Author: Monty Noam Penkower
Published: October 2021
The chapters in this volume examine a few facets in the drama of how the beleaguered Jewish people, as a phoenix ascending of ancient legend, achieved national self-determination in the reborn State of Israel within three years of the end of World War II and of the Holocaust. They include the pivotal 1946 World Zionist Congress, the contributions of Jacob Robinson and Clark M. Eichelberger to Israel’s sovereign renewal, American Jewry’s crusade to save a Jewish state, the effort to create a truce and trusteeship for Palestine, and Judah Magnes’s final attempt to create a federated state there. Joining extensive archival research and a limpid prose, Professor Monty Noam Penkower again displays a definitive mastery of his craft.
Title: The Unique Family Law in the State of Israel
Author: Yitshak Cohen
Published: March 2021
In the State of Israel, the unique family law derives from ancient Jewish law, halakhic traditions, and an extensive legal tradition spanning many centuries and geographic locations. This book examines Israeli family law in comparison with the corresponding law in the United States and illuminates common issues in legal systems worldwide. The Israeli system is primarily controlled by the religious law of the parties. Thus, religious courts were also established and granted enforcement powers equivalent to those of the civil courts. This is a complex situation because the religious law applied in these courts is not always consistent with gender equality and civil rights practiced in civil court. This book seeks to clarify that tension and offer solutions. The comprehensive analysis in this book may serve as a guide for those interested in family law: civil court judges, rabbinical court judges, lawyers, mediators, arbitrators, and families themselves. Topics central to the book include issues subject to modification, the right of a minor to independent status, extramarital relationships, and joint property.
Title: A Kabbalist in Montreal: The Life and Times of Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg
Author: Ira Robinson
Published: February 2021
This book illuminates important issues faced by Orthodox Judaism in the modern era by relating the life and times of Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg (1859–1935). In presenting Yudel Rosenberg’s rabbinic activities, this book aims to show that Jewish Orthodoxy could serve as an agent of modernity no less than its opponents. Yudel Rosenberg’s considerable literary output will demonstrate that the line between “secular” and “traditional” literature was not always sharp and distinct. Rabbi Rosenberg’s kabbalistic works will shed light on the revival of kabbala study in the twentieth century. Yudel Rosenberg’s career in Canada will serve as a counter-example to the often-expressed idea that Hasidism exercised no significant influence on the development of American Judaism at the turn of the twentieth century.
Title: Beyond The Courtroom - Resolving Disputes Through Agreement
Author: Hal Abramson
Published: November 2020
Beyond the Courtroom provides a compilation of articles and chapters by a dispute resolution scholar who has made remarkable contributions over his thirty-year career. Professor Abramson has focused his research and practice on parties trying to resolve their own disputes. This book includes publications that have contributed to launching the then new field of mediation representation with special attention on how attorneys, as gate keepers to mediation, can effectively represent clients. The book also includes his original publications that have contributed to the emerging field of intercultural and international mediation and the already robust and mature field of negotiations.
Title: Defenders of the Faith - Studies in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Orthodoxy and Reform
Author: Judith Bleich
Published: February 2020
The Emancipation of European Jewry during the nineteenth century led to conflict between tradition and modernity, creating a chasm that few believed could be bridged. Unsurprisingly, the emergence of modern traditionalism was fraught with obstacles. The essays published in this collection eloquently depict the passion underlying the disparate views, the particular areas of vexing confrontation and the hurdles faced by champions of tradition.
Title: A Century of Jewish Life in Shanghai
Edited by: Steve Hochstadt
Published: December 2019
For a century, Jews were an unmistakable and prominent feature of Shanghai life. They built hotels and stood in bread lines, hobnobbed with the British and Chinese elites and were confined to a wartime ghetto. Jews taught at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, sold Viennese pastries, and shared the worst slum with native Shanghainese. Three waves of Jews, representing three religious and ethnic communities, landed in Shanghai, remained separate for decades, but faced the calamity of World War II and ultimate dissolution together. In this book, we hear their own words and the words of modern scholars explaining how Baghdadi, Russian and Central European Jews found their way to Shanghai, created lives in the world’s most cosmopolitan city, and were forced to find new homes in the late 1940s.
Title: Discourses on Business Education at the College Level
Edited by: Sabra E. Brock and Peter J. McAliney
Published: September 2019
Drawing from doctoral-level research on how best to teach business education in college, Discourses on Business Education at the College Level illustrates new and proven ideas for engaging students. Sixteen authors from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development describe their experiences in upgrading and expanding the quality of the business education experience. Business school instructors can use this edited collection to draw inspiration and learn specific techniques to bring their courses to the cutting edge of curriculum. Topics range from teaching accounting, financial literacy, marketing, and teamwork to gamification, improving international student and intern experience, not-for-credit education, and virtual workplace learning.
Title: Palestine to Israel: Mandate to State, 1945-1948, Volume I
Author: Monty Noam Penkower
Published: December 2018
Seventy years after the creation of the State of Israel, Palestine to Israel: Mandate to State, 1945-1948 offers the definitive narrative of the achievement of Jewish sovereignty in the beleaguered Promised Land. Professor Monty Noam Penkower explores developments in Palestine and in the Arab states, including how the Palestine quagmire became a pawn in inter-Arab feuds; British and American responses both official and public; the role of Holocaust survivors; the context of the Cold War; and the saga as it unfolded in the corridors of the United Nations. Joining extensive archival research to a lucid prose, the two volumes offer a riveting conclusion to his Palestine in Turmoil and Decision on Palestine Deferred.
Title: Palestine to Israel: Mandate to State, 1945-1948, Volume II
Author: Monty Noam Penkower
Published: December 2018
Seventy years after the creation of the State of Israel, Palestine to Israel: Mandate to State, 1945-1948 offers the definitive narrative of the achievement of Jewish sovereignty in the beleaguered Promised Land. Professor Monty Noam Penkower explores developments in Palestine and in the Arab states, including how the Palestine quagmire became a pawn in inter-Arab feuds; British and American responses both official and public; the role of Holocaust survivors; the context of the Cold War; and the saga as it unfolded in the corridors of the United Nations. Joining extensive archival research to a lucid prose, the two volumes offer a riveting conclusion to his Palestine in Turmoil and Decision on Palestine Deferred.
Title: Jewish Law and American Law: A Comparative Study, Volumes 1 & 2
Author: Samuel J. Levine
Published: August 2018
These volumes contribute to the growing field of comparative Jewish and American law, presenting twenty-six essays characterized by a number of distinct features. The essays will appeal to legal scholars and, at the same time, will be accessible and of interest to a more general audience of intellectually curious readers. These contributions are faithful to Jewish law on its own terms, while applying comparative methods to offer fresh perspectives on complex issues in the Jewish legal system. Through careful comparative analysis, the essays also turn to Jewish law to provide insights into substantive and conceptual areas of the American legal system, particularly areas of American law that are complex, controversial, and unsettled.
Title: Dynamics of Continuity and Change in Jewish Religious Life
Authors: Simcha Fishbane and Eric Levine
Published: February 2018
While the oft-quoted saying “the more things change, the more they stay the same” seems to aptly describe the nature of social life, the reverse may be equally accurate: the more things stay the same, the more they change. Indeed, the recognized institutions of human society, of which religion is a primary example, are both sources of stability and continuity as well as innovation and change. The dynamics of Jewish religious continuity and change are presented in this book through a group of distinguished scholars from the fields of sociology, history, medicine, religion, and Jewish studies examining key cases and themes in religious life, emphasizing illustrations of the maintenance of tradition and facing of trends pressing for transformation.
This volume demonstrates the importance of case studies and historical, ideological, and philosophical surveys in understanding the actions of individual, organizational or communal actors attempting to create, maintain, or disrupt religious institutions, across geographical boundaries and time frames. This research has the potential not only to positively affect scholarly discussions, but also to generate greater understanding and dialogue among those who study Jewish life and those who work in Jewish organizations and live and function in religious communities. Indeed, the book brings a sophisticated understanding of Jewish law, religious texts, communities and institutions, of the interplay of internal and external social and ideological forces, of the impact of organizations, and of the potential for individuals and groups to shape their religious environments.
Title: The Unique Judicial Vision of Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk - Selected Discourses in Meshekh Hokhmah and Or Sameah
Edited by: Yitshak Cohen
Published: September 2016
This book analyzes the exceptional normative impact of R. Meir Simcha Hacohen’s Biblical commentary, Meshekh Hokhmah, and his halakhic commentary, Or Sameah. It examines the reliance of the poskim on R. Meir Simcha’s innovations and hermeneutic methods as well as their view of his interpretations that broadened or narrowed the scope of Maimonides’ rulings. The book explores the broad-based judicial principles underlying R. Meir Simcha’s legal decisions and approach to Jewish law. It further examines how his legal creativity was impacted by metahalakhic principles that guided him in addressing changing historical and social realities. The book also considers R. Meir Simcha’s unique attitudes toward gentiles. His approach attests to his innovativeness and his halakhic moderation, as he tried to rule as leniently as possible on matters concerning non-Jews. In this book, R. Meir Simcha is shown to be a truly influential rabbi whose contributions will long be a source of study and discussion.
Title: Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra’s Commentary on Books 3-5 of Psalms: Chapters 73-150
Translated and Annotated by: Norman Strickman
Published: February 2016
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra’s commentary is one of the great biblical exegeses produced by medieval Jewry. His commentary accompanies almost every version of the Rabbinic Bible, and his influence on biblical studies continues to this very day. Ibn Ezra sought to provide the literal meaning of the biblical text. However, he did more than that. His commentary is saturated with insights into Hebrew grammar, medieval philosophy, and astrology. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra’s Commentary on Books 3–5 of Psalms: Chapters 73–150 completes the publication of the translation and annotation of Ibn Ezra’s commentary to Psalms, making it available to both scholars and general readers.
Title: Contention, Controversy, and Change - Evolutions and Revolutions in the Jewish Experience (Volume II)
Edited by: Simcha Fishbane & Eric Levine
Published: March 2016
Conflict and change are fundamental elements of social reality and of the Jewish historical experience. This collection presents the work of a distinguished group of scholars exploring the themes of social, political, religious, intellectual, and institutional movements and change in Jewish history. These scholars demonstrate that social change throughout Jewish life has assumed many different manifestations, and can occur in revolutionary and dramatic ways as well as in more common gradual and evolutionary processes. In the first volume, the essays revolve around two themes: “Mobilizations and Contentious Politics,” and “Social Trends, Communal and Institutional Change.” The second volume is devoted to “Developments in Philosophy, Ideology, and Religious Practice.” Taken together, these two volumes present scholarship rich with both historical and contemporary relevance, of interest to academics and students in Jewish studies and the social sciences, communal leaders and policy makers, and anyone intrigued by the Jewish experience.
Title: Contention, Controversy, and Change - Evolutions and Revolutions in the Jewish Experience (Volume I)
Edited by: Simcha Fishbane & Eric Levine
Published: December 2015
Conflict and change are fundamental elements of social reality and of the Jewish historical experience. This collection presents the work of a distinguished group of scholars exploring the themes of social, political, religious, intellectual, and institutional movements and change in Jewish history. These scholars demonstrate that social change throughout Jewish life has assumed many different manifestations, and can occur in revolutionary and dramatic ways as well as in more common gradual and evolutionary processes. In the first volume, the essays revolve around two themes: “Mobilizations and Contentious Politics,” and “Social Trends, Communal and Institutional Change.” The second volume is devoted to “Developments in Philosophy, Ideology, and Religious Practice.” Taken together, these two volumes present scholarship rich with both historical and contemporary relevance, of interest to academics and students in Jewish studies and the social sciences, communal leaders and policy makers, and anyone intrigued by the Jewish experience.
Title: Intellectual Journeys of Recent, Mostly "Defunct" Economists
Authors: Michael Szenberg and Lall Ramrattan
Forward by: Victor R. Fuchs
Published: November 2015
This book looks into the creative minds of some recent, mostly “defunct” economists. Many of the authors, such as Samuelson, Friedman, Galbraith, and Heilbroner, have penned popular works, while their scientific contributions were limited to the most specialized scholars. Others, such as Nobel Prize winners Modigliani, Debreu, Becker, Aumann, and Allais, delved into complex issues in human organization, economic growth and planning, socio-economic theory, and model building. Economists such as Keynes and Lowe represent world-class paragons whose influences continue to percolate in current research programs. Here we unearth their best scientific work, revealing gems that might otherwise be overlooked.
Title: Paleontology and Geology of the Martinsburg, Shawangunk, Onondaga, and Hornerstown Formations (Northeastern United States) with Some Field Guides
Author: Howard R. Feldman
Published: October 2015
The chapters in this book will cover the paleontology and geology of some important rock formations (Paleozoic and Paleogene) in the northeastern United States. The emphasis will be on brachiopod paleontology, specifically taxonomy, but will also include comments on morphologic variation and community analysis. The Martinsburg formation in the lower mid-Hudson Valley has been studied for many years but recently yielded numerous marine fossils that shed new light on the community ecology of the formation in the region. The Middle Silurian Shawangunk Formation near New Paltz, New York, is an important ridge-maker that extends toward the southwest into Pennsylvania. Recently discovered rare trace fossils in the Shawangunk will be discussed along with the depositional environment of the conglomerate. The Onondaga Limestone is a well-known formation that crops out from Port Jervis, northeast toward Albany and the westward to Buffalo. The brachiopods and community structure of the formation will be covered in some detail. The paleoecology of the Paleogene Hornerstown Formation of New Jersey will also be discussed, including a biostrome of large terebratulid brachiopods.
Title: Palestine in Turmoil: The Struggle for Sovereignty, 1933-1939, Volume 1
Author: Monty Noam Penkower
Published: April 11, 2014
This comprehensive account by a distinguished historian examines the growing conflict between Arab and Jew in Palestine that first surfaced clearly in the pivotal years 1933-1939, and which proved to be an irreconcilable rift once the leadership of both peoples refused to accept minority status. A compelling narrative, lucidly written and rooted in extensive archival sources.
Title: Palestine in Turmoil: The Struggle for Sovereignty, 1933-1939, Volume 2
Author: Monty Noam Penkower
Published: April 11, 2014
This comprehensive account by a distinguished historian examines the growing conflict between Arab and Jew in Palestine that first surfaced clearly in the pivotal years 1933-1939, and which proved to be an irreconcilable rift once the leadership of both peoples refused to accept minority status. A compelling narrative, lucidly written and rooted in extensive archival sources.
Title: Judaism Examined: Essays in Jewish Philosophy and Ethics
Author: Moshe Sokol
Published: January 23, 2014
This volume of eighteen essays by a master scholar and teacher examines key themes in Jewish philosophy and ethics from the rigorous perspective of philosophical analysis. Themes include: pleasure, joy, human suffering, Jewish ritual practice and the philosophical life; autonomy, human freedom and tolerance in Jewish thought; issues in applied Jewish ethics, and the thought of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
Read more about Judaism Examined: Essays in Jewish Philosophy and Ethics
Title: At the Intersection of Education, Marketing, and Transformation
Author: Sabra Brock
Published: October 30, 2013
This collection of essays authored or co-authored by a prominent educator examines significant changes in the last decade in the fields of education and marketing. These articles will provide insights for educators and educational administrators, as well as business practitioners, especially marketers.
Title: Invertebrate Paleontology of Israel and Adjacent Countries
Author: Howard R. Feldman
Published: January 3, 2013
This book consists of a series of papers authored or co-authored by a noted scholar that help to unravel the taxonomy of the phylum Brachiopoda and describe associated marine communities in the Levant. It represents an important contribution to our knowledge of the evolution of modern marine communities.
Read more about Invertebrate Paleontology of Israel and Adjacent Countries
Title: Carmi Sheli: Studies on Aggadah and its Interpretation Presented to Professor Carmi Horowitz
Editors: A. Atzmon, A. Grossman, N. Ilan, M. Shmidman. J. Tabory
Published: March 14, 2012
Fifteen essays by distinguished scholars on subjects ranging from the status of women through the lens of rabbinic aggadah, to studies in the methods of interpretation of aggadah in the writings of Maimonides, Nahmanides and R. Moses b. Judah in the 12th-13th centuries, R. Isaac Abarbanel, R. Moses Almosnino, R. Samuel de Uceda, R. Azariah de Rossi, R. Joseph Ashkenazi, and the Maharal in the 15th-16th centuries, and R. Isaac of Karlin in the 19th century. Two essays explore the history of interpretation of a celebrated passage of the Passover Haggadah.
Title: Nasi Be-Amcha: Words of Inspiration-Divrei Hesped in Memory of Harav Dr. Bernard Lander, zt"l
Editor: Michael A. Shmidman
Published: February 2011
A collection of more than forty tributes delivered at the funeral and subsequent shloshim assemblies in memory of Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander, the remarkable Founder and first President of Touro College. The tributes contained within this volume paint an insightful portrait of this preeminent leader of twentieth century Jewry, and serve as a source of inspiration for the reader.
Title: TURIM: Studies in Jewish History and Literature Presented to Dr. Bernard Lander Volume Two
Editor: Michael A. Shmidman
Published: September 5, 2008
Essays by sixteen leading scholars in the areas of medieval and modern Jewish history, literature and thought, in honor of the Founder and distinguished first President of Touro College, Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander.
Title: TURIM: Studies in Jewish History and Literature Presented to Dr. Bernard Lander Volume One
Editor: Michael A. Shmidman
Published: May 17, 2007
The first of two volumes of essays in honor of the Founder and distinguished first President of Touro College, Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander, including contributions from thirteen leading scholars in fields ranging from the Dead Sea Scrolls to medieval and modern Jewish history, and from biblical commentary and rabbinic literature to Jewish philosophy, ethics and law.
