As was the case with the earlier volumes in this series, much of the material presented in this volume originally appeared in my "Survey of Recent Halakhic Periodical Literature" which is regularly featured in the columns of Tradition. Many of those items have been expanded and amplified for presentation in their present form. One section of this material was first published in the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society. Chapter four, which is devoted to a halakhic perspective regarding the penal authority of the secular state, appeared in the Cardozo Law Review. Portions of this work served as the subject matter of shi'urim and seminars conducted for students of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law as well as of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and its Kollel le-Hora'ah.
The format of this volume differs somewhat from that of previous volumes in this series. Earlier volumes were divided into two parts. One part was composed of chapters each of which contained a series of brief discussions of related issues. A second part was devoted to more extensive analyses of particular halakhic topics. The contents of the present volume are almost entirely of the latter nature.
This work is not intended to serve as a practical halakhic guide and, indeed, no attempt has been made to present definitive psak halakhah. It is devoted to an analysis of Halakhah and halakhic reasoning rather than to definitive statements of halakhic determinations. As such, it is directed primarily to those who have at least some background in the study of rabbinic literature but lack the requisite skills or the leisure to assimilate and analyze the maze of responsa pertaining to the topics treated in this volume. It is intended as an invitation to the reader to join in the noblest of Jewish activities and the supremest of joys—the study of Torah.
I wish to express my thanks to my brother-in-law, Rabbi Mordecai Ochs, for his painstaking reading of the manuscript; to my son, Rabbi Moshe Bleich, for drawing my attention to sources that otherwise would have eluded me and for his many valuable insights; to Dr. Joel Wolowelsky, Associate Editor of Tradition, both for his patience and for his many welcome suggestions; to Rabbi Jacob B. Mandelbaum of the Mendel Gottesman Library of Yeshiva University whose encyclopedic bibliographic knowledge has been of immeasurable aid; to Mr. Zalman Alpert, Mr. Zvi Erenyi, Mrs. Chaya Gordin and Mr. Tuvia Lasdun of the Mendel Gottesman Library for their constant helpfulness and assistance; to my student, Dr. Richard Weiss, for his research assistance; to Mrs. Racheline Habousha of the library of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine for her unfailing graciousness in expediting my many requests; to Mr. Joel Grantz of the Cardozo School of Law for his secretarial and editorial assistance and for his gracious help; to Mrs. Dina Stilerman and Mrs. Els Bendheim for proofreading the galleys; and especially to my students for their incisive and relentless questioning.
My thanks also to Dr. Norman Lamm for initiating the Library of Jewish Law and Ethics; to the publisher of this volume, Mr. Bernard Scharfstein for his unfailing indulgence and patience and his warm friendship; to Dr. Ya'akov Elman for making his technical and scholarly expertise available at all times; and to Dr. Richard White for his painstaking efforts, tirelessness and good humor in shepherding this complex manuscript through the various stages of publication.
Above all, I am grateful to the Almighty for my cherished collaborators—the members of my family. Our prayer to the Almighty is that we continue to be numbered among the mashkimim le-divrei Torah and, to paraphrase the words of the hadran, ke-shem she-'azartanu le-sayyem sefer zeh, ken ta'azrenu le-hatḥil sefarim aḥerim u-le-sayyemam, lilmod u-le-lamed, lishmor ve-la'asot u-le-kayyem.