Reviewing: “Links to Our Legacy: Insights into Hebrew, History, and Liturgy” by Mitchell First. Kodesh Press. 2021. English (with occasional Hebrew words). Softcover. 236 pages. ISBN: 978-1-947857-66-7.
Reading The Jewish Link is a weekly ritual. One of the columns I read every week is Mitchell First’s “Text Insights,” so when I was asked to review his newest book, “Links to Our Legacy: Insights into Hebrew, History, and Liturgy” (and assured that there would be no real deadline), I gladly accepted. I will refrain from any biographical information about Mr. First, as Jewish Link readers are already familiar with who he is, especially since he includes a short bio with every article.
It should be noted that The Jewish Link was not my first “contact” with First, as I had purchased his first book, “Jewish History in Conflict: A Study of the Major Discrepancy Between Rabbinic and Conventional Chronology” more than two decades ago. After all, it comprehensively covers a topic I am very interested in, and has a glowing endorsement by Dr. Sid Z. Leiman, whom I knew very well (albeit as Rabbi Shnayer Leiman) from his biweekly shiurim/lectures in Kew Gardens Hills. We have emailed back and forth about things in this book, as well as about content in his “Link” articles. As a matter of fact, when his second book, “Esther Unmasked,” came out, I noticed a missing footnote (which he sent me) and because he was now aware that it was inadvertently omitted, was able to include it in the hardcover edition when it came out.
I will make a confession, though. I did not purchase his third book, “Roots and Rituals,” which is a collection of Jewish Link articles. As it is, it’s a struggle to find a place for any new additions to my already overcrowded bookshelves. Could I really afford the shelf space for a book whose contents I had, for the most part, already read? Therefore, one of my goals when reading First’s fourth book, which is also a collection of articles written for The Jewish Link (hence the name) was to determine whether I should add his third book to my library.
This “goal” helped me solve another dilemma: This review is being written for The Jewish Link, whose readership is already fully aware of who Mitchell First is, his style, and what he writes about. If you want to sample his writings, just turn a few pages and read his most recent article for yourself! And you can read the original version of most of these articles on First’s own website (RootsandRituals.org) or the Link’s archive, and decide for yourself whether it’s worthwhile to get his book! So what purpose will my review serve? By comparing and contrasting the original versions of these articles with the print version, I hope I can help you decide whether or not the book should be added to your bookshelf, too.
Although First’s articles usually cover one of three categories—etymology, history and liturgical anomalies, often more than one is discussed within the same piece. Nevertheless, the book is divided into three sections; there are 34 articles on “Hebrew Roots,” 25 on “History,” and seven on “Liturgy.”
Occasionally, the breakdown of articles is not exactly the way it was in the Link. For example, there were three weeks’ worth of articles on “Interesting Words in the Megillah,” which are but one article in the book, although not all of the words that were in the newspaper are in the book. (One, G-Z-R, has its own article in the book, so there was no need to repeat it.) On the other hand, there are separate articles in the book for a couple of words (“mas” and “miskanos”) that were discussed in the same piece in the paper. Additionally, there are a few articles in the book that I don’t recall ever reading, nor could I find them online.
One of the unique aspects of First’s articles (besides his quirky sense of humor) is his conversational style. Despite the seriousness of his topics, and the sincerity he brings to tackling them, they aren’t presented as a lecture, or a chapter in a text (pardon the pun) book. Rather, it is if you are at a kiddush after davening, with First sharing his scholarly expertise and layman’s research with those at his table. For the most part, this comes across in the (slightly, at least usually) reworked articles, but the ability—and necessity—to have footnotes in the book does detract from this a bit. Nevertheless, the additional information often provided (especially sources, which allow for further research) is well worth it. Although there are times when there was more information (or suggestions) in the original article, overall there is significantly more information in the book.
I mentioned First’s sense of humor, which often manifests itself in the short “bios” he specifically tailors for each article. These “bios” are in the book, too, although they are not always the same as they were in the paper. I should also mention that there are no empty spaces between articles in the book, with the next article starting on the same page the previous one ended, so the number of pages was not made artificially higher by starting the next article a page (or two) later.
I have the utmost respect for Alec Goldstein, who started, and runs, Kodesh Press. He comes across as very sincere about his desire to help spread Torah and Jewish thought, and has always been a pleasure to interact with. (He had a table at the book sale I ran in Passaic several years ago.) Without Kodesh Press, it is unlikely that First’s recent books would have been published, and the same is true of many (if not most) of Kodesh’s offerings; for that we all owe Goldstein our gratitude. It is doubtful that he would have been able to pull this off without the advent of self-publishing, whose infrastructure does not demand the same upfront capital as traditional book publishing does. But this business model does have its limitations, most notably not being able to have as robust an editorial process as, say, ArtScroll. (The lack of a full editorial staff plagues most Jewish publishers, as there is not enough of a financial incentive to hire editorial staff when their primary profit comes from authors paying to have their books printed rather than from actual sales.) Therefore, even though the presentation of First’s material is greatly enhanced by being in book form—i.e. footnotes, more liberal use of italics and Hebrew letters, and the full indentation of an entire quote—they have not always been presented evenly. This doesn’t diminish the value of the information being presented, but does give the book more of a “self-published” feel. An example of the difference a heavier editing hand could have is evident by comparing his article on the difference between “lo sachmod” and “lo sisaveh” as it appears in the book and how it appears in The Lehrhaus (7/22/21).
Since one of the main benefits of First’s articles is the furthering of an already existing conversation, I will provide examples of his topics by adding some thoughts that (hopefully) further the conversation even more.
The word “totafos” has confounded many, and First discusses how it refers to tefillin. (If Rashi’s explanation that it comes from the word “two in the Coptic and African languages” is enough for you, this book will provide too much information for your level of curiosity.) The author presents the two approaches that are most widespread in scholarly circles, and the problem with each. The main issue he has with the first approach (that it comes from “N-T-F,” to drip) is that tefillin do not drip (although he suggests that the meaning expanded from ornaments that drip, such as a pendant, to those that do not). I would suggest that it does drip, from the top of the head towards the forehead, with the connotation of “dripping” being integral, telling us that it must be placed on the front half of the head, “dripping” down towards our face (“between the eyes”).
In his discussion about Esther not being found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls, what seems to be the most obvious reason was omitted. The essence of Purim is rabbinic, and, as Professor Lawrence Schiffman has demonstrated, the Qumran community was composed of Sadducees, who rejected the authority of the rabbis. How could they have accepted a scroll that mandated rabbinically decreed laws? Even though Esther is part of the Bible, and the Sadducees followed laws that are in the Bible, it was the rabbis who decided it should be included in the Bible (after some discussion), so the Sadducees would also have rejected their decision to include it!
Esther is the only Megilla whose reading is mandated by the Gemara itself, including when to read it. First discusses how we came to read the other Megillos (and whether they were originally called Megillos) and when. However, he has no clear explanation as to why we read Kohelet on Sukkot. (To his credit, First is not afraid to say that he doesn’t know the answer to questions he poses, despite taking us through a journey of possible answers.) Suggestions have been made, though, including one (by Avudraham and others) that the teachings contained in Kohelet were taught by Solomon when he addressed the nation at “Hakhel,” which was once every seven years, on Sukkot (and likely why he was referred to in this book as “Kohelet”). I wouldn’t expect First to include this suggestion, as besides not being able to include every commentary on every topic, most scholars, based on some of the verbiage, are convinced that Kohelet was written centuries after Solomon. (Not that First is afraid to go against traditional historical perspectives; he even changes the historical order of the Aleph Bet!) I do think it’s possible, though, that a record of the lectures “Kohelet” gave was extant, and the “narrator” (sometimes Kohelet is referred to in the third person; often he is referred to in the first person) put these lectures together centuries after they were given. The book is therefore still attributed to Solomon, while containing words and expressions inserted centuries later.
I have always appreciated the information, and dissection of each topic, that First provides in his pieces. The book has sufficiently more information in the updated versions of the articles, especially in the footnotes, so that anyone using his articles as reference would benefit from the updated versions. I look forward to reading his articles in The Jewish Link each week, as well as to the further conversations that his pieces should bring about. These further conversations include the updated articles in his books. I am glad that “Links to our Legacy” is now part of my library, and have added “Roots and Rituals” to my wish list.
Rabbi Dov Kramer wrote a weekly piece on the parsha for 15 years—many are archived at RabbiDMK.Wordpress.com—and has considered reworking some of them for a book. But he also has ideas for other books, so at least for now, the online versions will have to suffice.
