Louis Ginzberg: Keeper of the Law - Softcover

First published in 1966, this book is an unusual biography. It is written by a son about his father, by an interpreter of economics about an interpreter of rabbinics. It is done with obvious charm, with deep affection for the subject, and yet with surprising objectivity. There could not have been many students of Jewish law and legend of the era who did not at one time or another seek guidance from Louis Ginzberg - the remarkable man whose knowledge was vast and whose memory was phenomenal. In a sense, this book is the biography of a man who helped lay the foundations for an American Jewish culture.

There could not have been many students of Jewish law and legend of the era who did not at one time or another seek guidance from Louis Ginzberg - the remarkable man whose knowledge was vast and whose memory, even in his old age, was phenomenal. Many of the people with whom Ginzberg corresponded or whom he guided are mentioned by his son in this book, and the result is a vivid glimpse into the evolving scholarly community during his lifetime. In a sense, this book is the biography of a man who helped lay the foundations for an American Jewish culture. In his new afterword, Eli Ginzberg adds a number of stories about his father that were unknown to him during the writing of his original book, or that he had omitted. Next, he briefly discusses the scholarly works that were published or republished after his father's death, ending with a brief outline of a volume of his father's Responsa (legal opinions) which is being published in 1996 by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. Finally, he offers some cautious speculations about his father's likely reactions to major events, Jewish and general, that took place after his death.