Book Corner

A central piyyut of the Yamim Noraim, “adam yesodo mei’afar” (“the human being originates from dust”), attempts to capture human frailty by comparing finite human life to “a shattered vessel, a withered grass, a faded flower, a passing shadow, a vanishing cloud, gusting wind, floating dust, and a fleeting dream.” Ten years ago, on Rosh […]

Brandeis University Press, 2024 ($40) Reviewed by Orit Avishai Israel’s High Court of Justice recently issued what would have been a bombshell had the news cycle not been rightfully consumed by the war in Gaza: A unanimous court ruled that women are entitled to sit for state rabbinic exams. The ruling does not mean that