Hakirah: The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought

In "Talmud Study: From Proficiency to Meaning," a noted educator proposes a method of teaching and studying Gemara in today's world. In contrast, a scientist uses quantum theory to answer the age-old dilemma between G-d's omniscience and man's free will. In "Seeing Silence..." the author sees in the work of a contemporary artist the spirit of ma'aseh hoshev and mahaseh horash of the mishkan. In "Marah: Preparing for Kabbolas HaTorah," the author uses the allegorical interpretation of midrash to demonstrate the fundamental principles that Israel needed to understand in order to be prepared for receiving the Torah. In "Rabbinic strategies for dealing with redundant legal passages in Scripture" the author contrasts how the Hachmei HaTalmud and the Rishonim dealt with this issue. In "The Mishneh Torah's Structure and its Meaning," the author asserts "that Maimonides based the Mishneh Torah's 14-book structure on his cosmology". In "The Miracle of the Answered Prayer" the authors ask, "can one ask God to do a miracle that violates natural law to heal a sick individual?... and if we cannot pray for a miracle, what is the focus of our prayers to heal the sick?" In "Bati le-Gani": A Comparison of Discourses by Rabbis Schneersohn and Hutner," the author discerns a discourse between two great leaders expressing their differing philosophies for encountering the modern world. In "On Changes in Liturgy and Customs in General," a noted scholar responds to a Hakirah article and argues for the legitimacy of changes in both Liturgy and Customs. The author of the review responds that the issues in question are those of halakhah and not minhag. In "The Origin of the Custom of Chai Rotl." The author seeks to uncover the source for an ever increasingly popular segulah and concludes that "What began as a spontaneous vow by a childless man in the 1800s has now become a cure-all segulah and fundraising tool directed at a population that is fundamentally unaware that this segulah never existed." In "Is Parchment Klaf?" the author calls for "restoring the original method for producing skins" for the writing of Sifrei Torah, Tefillin and Mezuzot. In "Genetically Modified Organisms" the author concludes that genetic modification based on non-kosher species will not affect the kashrut of kosher animals. An abbreviated translation of an article in Chitzei Giborim deals with a new Ben Asher codex that may actually have been the original upon which the Aleppo Codex was compiled. In "A Synagogue on Har Habayit in the 7th Century: Dream or Historical Fact?" the author concludes that "there is overwhelming evidence that there was an active synagogue on the Temple Mount during the Early Muslim period." In "The Itinerary of Emmanuel Levinas’ Thought," a leading expert introduces readers to his work, and shows how it changed over time, while also focusing on the Jewish dimension of his thought. In "Isaac Breuer’s Utopia," the author translates a passage from Rav Isaac Breuer's novel "Falk Neft's Homecoming," which provides insight into the understanding of Torah im Derech Eretz and the attitude to Zionism of this great Jewish writer and philosopher.