The Mishneh Torah printed in Venice in the 1570s was the product of a broad and deliberate program of censorship. Beyond removing the handful of references to the Christian founder, which we discussed in the prior class, the censors altered many other words and phrases. In some places, entire laws disappear; in others, the language is carefully adjusted to soften its force. In this class, we trace the principles that guided the censors and examine how their work left a lasting imprint on one of Judaism’s foundational texts.

Censoring the Rambam: Part II

In October 1949, The New York Times announced a sensational discovery: an ancient manuscript of Mishneh Torah was discovered and it contained a long-lost provocative passage about the Christian founder. The headline sparked excitement, but the story was riddled with errors. In this class, we trace the real history of that controversial passage and examine when, how, and why it was cut by the censor.

Censoring the Rambam

The class follows the paper trail in Rabbi Yosef Caro’s Kesef Mishneh to reconstruct how and when this major commentary actually came into being. After examining its printing history and the author’s stated purpose, the discussion turns to a key flashpoint: whether Kesef Mishneh represents Rabbi Yosef Caro’s final halachic word. We work through the evidence—internal cross-references, page numbers, textual features, and colophons—and ultimately arrive at a tentative conclusion. As one of the central commentaries on the Rambam, this investigation is a fitting and meaningful way to mark the start of the new Rambam learning cycle.

Beis Yosef vs. Kesef Mishneh: Following the Paper Trail

Today, we explore Jewish life during Prohibition, when the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages were banned in the United States. While the U.S. government granted religious exceptions for wine, both the Reform and Conservative movements distanced themselves from this loophole, endorsing the use of grape juice instead. One contemporary posek passionately rejected grape juice, and we’ll examine the central arguments that shaped this debate. As we’ll see, this issue became a defining point for Orthodox Judaism in the early 20th century.

Jews and Booze: Uncorking the Wine Debate During the Age of Prohibition

This class takes us inside the Jewish wine economy of earlier centuries. We will see communities enforcing price ceilings, outlawing seller collusion, and appointing assessors to protect community members from being overcharged. In some places, the system became so aggressively strict: monopoly-style selling rights, blind tastings, barrels sealed by wine assessors, community-owned measuring jugs, and stiff fines for anyone who tried to sell wine off the books.

Wine: Blind Tastes, Price Controls, and the Most Regulated Wine Market You’ve Ever Seen

In the mid-1860s, a wave of rabbinic correspondence swept across central and eastern Europe as leading rabbis grappled with a vexing dilemma: how to respond to an antisemitic trial that touched directly on core points of Jewish theology. This case pitted antisemites against Jews, and within the Jewish community, enlightened progressives against traditionalists. Navigating this reality proved deeply contentious.

Isaiah 53 on Trial: The 1863 Vienna Case That Split Jewish Leadership

In this final class of the series, we explore the Rebbe’s comments about Israel’s lopsided hostage deals during the late 1970s and 1980s, alongside the perspectives of other poskim during that period.

The Hostage Dilemma: Part IV (Israel, 1979–1987)

In this class (third of a four-part series), we look at the halachic debate over freeing hostages as it unfolded in Israel during the 1970s. After the September 1970 triple hijacking, several poskim weighed in on whether it was permitted to meet the terrorists’ demands. The discussion resurfaced a few years later after the Yom Kippur War, and then again in the wake of the famous Entebbe raid in 1976.

The Hostage Dilemma: Part III (Israel, 1970–1976)

Today, we’re returning to the topic of hostages in Jewish history. Last time, we spent most of our attention on the exceptions to the rule. This time, we’re looking at cases where the Mishnah’s ban on overpaying played at least a partial role in shaping actual halachic decisions and communal policy. And yet, as we will see, the overarching conclusion that we reached in the prior class will hold: overpaying often occurred. And it’s all a step closer to discussing this dilemma in the contemporary context, which we will do in an upcoming class.

The Hostage Dilemma: Part II

This class takes up one of the most challenging moral questions in Halachah: how far should we go to redeem captives? We’ll look at how this issue unfolded in Jewish communities around the world during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries—what actually happened, and how the poskim grappled with the Mishnah’s rule against paying more than market value. In a future class, we’ll revisit this topic in the modern context of Israel and its ongoing struggle against terrorism.

The Hostage Dilemma: Part I