The Unique Judicial Vision of Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk

This book analyzes the exceptional normative impact of R. Meir Simcha Hacohen’s Biblical commentary, Meshekh Hokhmah, and his halakhic commentary, Or Sameah. It examines the reliance of the poskim on R. Meir Simcha’s innovations and hermeneutic methods as well as their view of his interpretations that broadened or narrowed the scope of Maimonides’ rulings. The book explores the broad-based judicial principles underlying R. Meir Simcha’s legal decisions and approach to Jewish law. It further examines how his legal creativity was impacted by metahalakhic principles that guided him in addressing changing historical and social realities. The book also considers R. Meir Simcha’s unique attitudes toward gentiles. His approach attests to his innovativeness and his halakhic moderation, as he tried to rule as leniently as possible on matters concerning non-Jews. In this book, R. Meir Simcha is shown to be a truly influential rabbi whose contributions will long be a source of study and discussion.

Yitshak Cohen is an Associate Professor of Law and Senior Lecturer at the Ono Academic College Faculty of Law. He received rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. In 2012 he was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University Law School in New York, and in 2013 he served as a Visiting Professor at McGill University in Montreal. Cohen led various academic programs, including among them a law studies program for religious leaders at Ono Academic College and a Bar-Ilan University program for religious-secular relations. He has published numerous articles in his teaching and research fields of Jewish law, Family Law, and Civil Procedure. He is the Academic Director of the Ono Academic College Faculty of Law, Jerusalem Campus.