OU Press, the publishing division of the Orthodox Union, announces the publication of The Concise Code of Jewish Law: A Guide to the Observance of Shabbat, published in conjunction with Maggid Books and Yeshiva University Press.
This volume on the laws of Shabbat is the first part of a landmark four-volume series covering all areas of practical halachah relevant today. Originally published a generation ago by Rabbi Gersion Appel, the Concise Code volume on Shabbat has now been revised and updated by Rabbi Daniel Goldstein, in style as well as in substance, to address the needs of the current generation. It is a modern and user-friendly text presenting the complex laws of Shabbat comprehensively, but concisely, in one volume containing everything from the laws of prayer on Shabbat to use of smartphones.
Concise Code is a perfect text for everyone from beginners to advanced students who wish to enhance their Shabbat observance and their knowledge of practical halachah. The book follows an easy-to-use format for study, with basic laws contained in the main body of the text, and annotations containing more detailed explanations as well as contemporary applications. The book contains a section of references in Hebrew providing sources for each annotation, as well as an index and list of halachic annotations, making it a helpful reference work as well.
Concise Code combines the classic sources of halachah with the rulings of poskim from the recent past and down to our own day. Perhaps unique in its breadth of sources, Concise Code draws from the rulings of a wide spectrum of leading poskim of the recent past including Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, and Rabbi Hayim David Halevy. Concise Code also incorporates the views of many contemporary poskim, such as Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch and Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, as well as Rabbi Hershel Schachter and Rabbi Mordechai Willig (who also provided letters of endorsement for the work).
OU Press, the publishing division of the Orthodox Union, publishes high quality works of Jewish thought and Torah scholarship. In addition to Concise Code, other works of contemporary halachah from OU Press include Rabbi David Brofsky’s Hilchot Tefillah, an in-depth look at the laws of prayer; and Dovid Lichtenstein’s Headlines: Halachic Debates of Current Events, discussing current topics from the perspective of Jewish law.