Freebies

A number of blogs have recently announced the availability of the Reformatted Soncino Talmud, but have not explained what it is. I asked Reuven Brauner to explain what he did. He created printable files of the English text and note of the Soncino translation of the Talmud, in a format that is easily read and printer-ready. The files are available ...

Dr. Abraham S. Abraham is one of the world’s leading experts on medical halakhah. His Nishmas Avraham, which follows the order of the Shulchan Arukh, examines a plethora of halakhic questions that arise in the practice of modern medicine. Translated and adapted into English as Nishmat Avraham (link), all four Hebrew volumes are available online: Orach Chaim, Yoreh De’ah, Even ...

The important Hebrew journal HaMa’ayan is published by the Isaac Breuer Institute of Yeshivat Sha’alvim. It began publication in 1953 and continues as a quarterly on the topics of Jewish law, thought and history. The journal’s initial editor was Prof. Mordechai Breuer and it’s current editor is R. Yoel Katan. The most recent 20 issues are available online here: link ...

R. Gavriel Zinner has published dozens of volumes in his Nitei Gavriel series of thorough collections of sources, rulings and customs on halakhic themes. His 600+ page volume on Chanukah, originally published in 1983 and revised multiple times, is available for free download here: link See prior posts here: link

R. Moshe Feinstein was a, if not the, leading halakhic authority in America in the mid- to late-twentieth century. His responsa, except for the recently published volume 9, are available online here: I, II & III, IV, V, VI(, VII & VIII) I put volumes 7 & 8 in parentheses based on the following from R. J. David Bleich’s recent article ...

The Gutnick Chumash is a Hebrew-English Pentateuch with a commentary by R. Chaim Miller based on the teachings of R. Menachem Schneerson zt”l. It is available in full online: Bereishis, Shemos, Vayikra, Bamidbar, Devarim Haftaros See prior posts here: link

Rambam’s Guide for the Perplexed (Wikipedia) is one of the most influential works of Jewish philosophy. Originally written in Arabic, it is available in free online translation here: English by Dr. Michael Friedlander: link Hebrew by R. Yosef Kafach: link Hebrew by Dr. Michael Schwartz: link See prior posts here: link

The Munkatcher dynasty includes authors of important works on Jewish law and Chasidic thought. The entire Munkatch (or Munkacs) corpus is available for free at this website: MunkatcherSeforim.org The books include all volumes of Minchas Elazar and Darkhei Teshuvah. Learn more about the Munkatch dynasty here: link

R. Esriel Hildesheimer (Wikipedia bio) was a founding figure in Modern Orthodoxy. He established what became known as the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin, a yeshiva that advocated academic Jewish scholarship within the confines of Orthodox Jewish beliefs. A formidable rabbinic scholar, his Talmudic commentaries were published only approximately twenty years ago with, perhaps surprisingly and perhaps not, a glowing ...

R. Chasdai Crescas was a 14th century rabbi, philosopher and communal leader. His philosophical work Or Hashem is a classic. In R. Shlomo Fisher’s 1990 edition of the book, he fixed many typos and added vowels. This edition is available in full here: link More about R. Chasdai Crescas here: Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Judaica, Jewish Encyclopedia. See prior posts here: link