How Does Jewish Law Work?

Book excerpt: Does Jewish law permit heart transplants? Do we have a responsibility to try to prevent or report a crime? Is it permissible to pray while barefoot? Can a Jewish man who has married a non-Jew be counted in a minyan? In How Does Jewish Law Work, Vol. 2, Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen continues his remarkable research by responding to more questions of contemporary interest or concern to modern Jews who are committed to a life consistent with traditional Jewish law. As in his previously published and highly praised books, Timely Jewish Ques-tions: Timeless Rabbinic Answers and How Does Jewish Law Work?, Rabbi Cohen does not merely provide quick answers to the questions he raises. On the contrary, he invites his readers to listen in on his logic, his research, and his insights as he illustrates the process of Jewish law as it has been applied to new questions throughout the centuries. According to Rabbi Cohen, Halachah, the distinctly unique Jewish legal system, crystallizes the guidelines of Judaism. It makes us into Jews and marks us as Jewish. As such, an understanding of the halachic process provides insight into the inner soul of Jewish life itself. In this book, Rabbi Cohen clearly presents each question and carefully details the process of finding its answer. Through explication of verses from the Torah, talmudic passages, and many other sources, the reader receives the answer to the question and is also given the necessary background information to see how a rabbi arrives at the halachic decision. There are many books that provide answers to questions of Jewish observance and thought. How Does Jewish Law Work, Vol. 2 differs from others in that it places the answers in their proper contexts. For the person seeking to understand Jewish law, this book offers the opportunity to learn why Jews do certain things as they do. For those already familiar with halachah, this book will serve as a springboard for deeper study. All readers will come away with a sense of the complex system that is