January 2, 2025

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Ben Rothke

Ben Rothke lives in New Jersey and works in the information security field. He reviews books on religion, technology and science. @benrothke

Articles by Ben Rothke

The Story of Satmar

Reviewing: “American Shtetl: The Making of Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic Village in Upstate New York” by Nomi M. Stolzenberg and David N. Myers. Princeton University

The Hardest Question

Reviewing: ‘Pain is a Reality, Suffering is a Choice: Grappling with Divine Justice’ by Rabbi Asher Resnick. Mosaica Press. 2022. English. Hardcover. 416 pages. ISBN-13:

Tribute to a Brilliant Scholar

Reviewing: “Studies in Halakha and Rabbinic History” by Rabbi Eitam Henkin. Maggid Books. 2022. English. Hardcover. 456 pages. ISBN: 9781592645817. I do not think I

The Final Work of Rabbi Sacks, zt”l

Reviewing: ‘Judaism’s Life-Changing Ideas’ by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. Maggid Books. 2020. English. Hardcover. 334 pages. ISBN-13:978-1592645527. In his brilliant weekly Thursday night shiur, Simcha

Two Interesting Reads

Reviewing: “Cornerstones: The Bible and Jewish Ideology” by Rabbi Hayyim Angel. Kodesh Press. 2020. English. Paperback. 224 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1947857438. There’s a joke that two

Two New Books on Bereishit

Rabbi Yosef Soloveitchik has often been quoted as saying that if he could add to Maimonides’ 13 Principles of Jewish Faith, it would be that

My Top Five Books of 5780

The oft used term “People of the Book,” which sounds much better in Hebrew, Am HaSefer, is an apt term. Walk into any Jewish book

Easing Into Talmud Study

Reviewing: “Bright Beginnings Workbook Eilu Metzios Vol. 1” by Rabbi Aaron Spivak/Rabbi Yakov Horowitz. Israel Book Shop. 2018. Paperback. 128 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0996349765. Imagine a fifth

The Sages, Explained

Highlighting: “The Crowns on the Letters: Essays on the Aggada and the Lives of the Sages” By Rabbi Ari Kahn. OU Press. 2020. English. Hardcover.