This is the most detailed and comprehensive guide to Jewish practice for home and synagogue, written in the spirit of Modern Orthodox and Conservative movements.
The compilation is the result of a project conceived in 1960 by Dr, Louis Finkelstein, then Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, the purpose of which was to produce authoritative halakhic studies for the training of conservative rabbis. Rabbi Isaac Klein, a leading authority on Jewish law, accepted the task and produced a series of pamphlets on Jewish law and practice.
Before long, a widespread demand for access to this invaluable material developed beyond the walls of the Seminary, To answer this demand, and to provide lay members of the Conservative movement with a reliable guide to Jewish practice, these pamphlets, extensively revised and updated by Rabbi Klein, have now been gathered together in a single volume. It has become one of the largest, most complete English-language collection of authoritative Halakhah, Jewish traditions and laws.
The many subjects treated in the volume are discussed in the light of traditional Jewish sources (Bible, Talmud, Codes, Responsa, etc.), and are fully referenced for authentication and further study. The topics covered include virtually everything that might be of interest to the modern Jew: the laws of kashrut and how to keep a kosher home; the meaning and significance of the holidays and how to observe them at home and in the synagogue; laws governing such key life events as marriage, divorce, birth, adoption, conversion, death, and many others. In addition, the volume includes full discussions, from the Jewish point of view, of such pressing issues of current concern as euthanasia, organ transplantation, abortion, autopsy, artificial insemination and women's rights. Also included are relevant decisions of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly.
A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice deserves an honored place in every Jewish home. Impressive for its thoroughness and authority, it provides an answer to the frequently heard question: What must one do to lead a Jewish life today?
