The Ḥayei Adam, an abridged code of Jewish law, was written by Rabbi Avraham Danzig (1748-1820) and was first published in 1810. This code spread quickly throughout Europe, and the demand for it required a second publishing which the author printed in 1818. Beyond a Code of Jewish Law attempts to understand the implicit message of its author and discuss various approaches of its writer to both Judaism and Jewish law. While the Ḥayei Adam without any doubt unveils Rabbi Danzig to be a brilliant rabbinic scholar, with a comprehensive knowledge of Jewish law as well as a coherent and concise system of presentation, it also expresses his great concern for the Jewish community and each individual Jew. Aspects of this concern such as Hasidism, musar, kabbalah, are explored.
This masterpiece fills a great need for our generation--a generation characterized by a thirst for the eternal values of Judaism. Now, the English-speaking reader can enjoy a clearly written and easy to read summary of Jewish law, based on the Mishnah Berurah. Among the many topics included in this work are: Tzitzis, the daily routine, prayer, tefillin, blessings, the Sabbath, festivals and special days, the dietary laws, and mourning. Shaarei Halachah has been hailed as the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch for our time.
The sheer number of Jewish laws infuses everyday life with endless opportunities to touch the divine within. With this modern translation, the English-reading public can imbibe the holy ways of Jewish law as taught by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the Alter Rebbe, from the original source. In these volumes, the translation faces the newly reset Hebrew text. Notations appear when the Alter Rebbe's rulings are at variance with Rabbi Yosef Cairo's Shulchan Aruch and when other halachic works cite the subject at hand.